He ran forward, relying on the warmth of the hand he was holding.

As soon as he re-entered the passage they had come through, Yuder moved the earth without looking back. Darkness could no longer hold him back. With a loud noise, the solid stone walls and stairs crumbled and collapsed, blocking the passage. At the same time, hot blood explosively flowed from Yuder's nose once more, but he did not feel it.

Only after the echoing noise had subsided did the person holding Yuder's hand stop. He pulled on the hand, signaling to move forward, but Yuder did not follow. Turning his head, he saw a pale face hidden in the darkness, looking down at Yuder with an expression he had never seen before.

"...The blood."

With a groan-like whisper, Kishiar pushed Yuder's cloak back and took it off. Simultaneously, the revealed golden left eye caught his fingertips' attention, but until the hand reached his own eye, Yuder had not realized what had happened to it.

He realized the anomaly when he looked at his own face, reflected small in Kishiar's eyes.

'...What is that?'

The left eye, which had been filled with an unremovable black stain no matter what he had done, was no longer there. But what did the bright golden light emanating from within mean?

He doubted his eye, looking closer, but the light did not fade. The light flowing from within the pupil, as if someone had lit a lantern, was neither an illusion nor a delusion.

'What on earth is this...?'

The brilliant light, as if gold had been melted, strangely resembled the magic possessed by Kishiar. It felt as if he were looking at Kishiar's magic swirling and shining within the small window of the pupil.

More unusual than his blood-stained, messed-up face and clothes was that eye, and as he gazed blankly at it, Kishiar closed his eyes, and the only mirror Yuder could look into also disappeared.

Only then did Yuder calm his boiling excitement and look down at himself. Although his body was still tingling in pain, the intense pressure, which felt as if something would burst out just moments ago, had disappeared. Compared to before he expelled the water, it was no exaggeration to say that only remnants of the pain remained.

'It literally feels like something burst... burst for sure.'

The disappearance of the stain that covered his eye was a good sign. He didn't know exactly what was what, but it seemed that he had managed to control the poison's strength that spread through his body in the chaos. The medicine created by Enon, based on the research of Hellem and Mick, had finally fulfilled its role faithfully.

His mind felt lighter after confirming success, but it felt quite difficult to figure out how to start explaining to the speechless Kishiar.

'I didn't realize I had lost so much blood... He must have been incredibly shocked. I must tell him first that it's not as bad as it looks.'

"...Comm."

Commander. He opened his mouth to call him that, but the blood still pooled in his mouth flowed thoughtlessly, causing his attempt to fizzle. As Yuder wiped his face roughly with his sleeve, the man, watching with a grim expression, exhaled deeply.

After a while, long fingers reached out and gently wiped away the blood smeared below his lips. Yuder realized a little late that the hand was much colder than usual.

"You don't need to open your mouth now."

An utterly composed and elegant voice that was low enough to send chills down the listener's spine echoed in the darkness.

"Report back, and then we shall discuss."

Kishiar never lost his calm, no matter the situation.

He treated crises as unexpected joys during a game, laughing off failure as nothing more than a silly joke, yet never losing sight of reality in blind rage. He knew how to plan rationally for a distant future.

But in this very moment,

Yuder saw an unmistakable deep scar hidden within the seemingly composed eyes of the man.

A soul-shaking, shocking sensation briefly swept over Yuder's entire body, chilling him to the core. He hurriedly opened his mouth, desperate to explain.

"I'm fine. This blood is... not because of an injury......"

"I said we will discuss it later."

A hand reached out and lifted him before he could blink. There was no opportunity to request to be put down.

"..."

Yuder heard the rapid heartbeat of the man who was urgently moving, holding him tight in the dark. Though the man's face and voice hid his emotions, the pulse racing as though about to burst could not be concealed.

A sound so desperate and pressing that it pained Yuder into silence.

The moment Yuder heard that small and rapid sound, holes inside his body seemed to open all at once, twitching as though the pain was subsiding.

What could he say to that sound?

Taking medicine was an unquestionably right choice, but the quietly moaning holes brought a familiar yet new pain to Yuder Aile.

He somehow felt like he understood the sentence they had been silently screaming all along.

You will regret it.

You will regret it...

‘...Have I done something to regret again?’

Yuder squinted his eyes. A sharp pain throbbed in his head.

…

"What is this?"

Yuder roughly placed a piece of paper down before the smiling man. A mere glance would reveal what it was about, but the man feigned ignorance, jokingly.

"This is the thirteenth report about the unrest in Peletta."

"Oh my, thirteen reports. His Majesty must be tired of checking them all."

"You can't claim to be unaware that these reports keep coming, more frequent and negative. Why did you expel the Imperial Knights staying in Peletta?"

"Do you know how much they've been eating at my castle without working since I returned to Peletta? Margaret was angry, saying she couldn't feed them anymore. If I didn't deal with it, I might not get my meal either."

"Are you joking even now?"

"I'm serious... What response were you expecting? That I should rebel since we've shared a bed for a long time?"

Yuder was speechless at the man's smug smile. He took a breath, calming his excitement before he could speak again.

"...Why don't you deny it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You could deny that going to Peletta and passing on your position doesn't mean you won't acknowledge the Emperor. You can say you'll reduce the scale of the Peletta Knights if they cause unrest, and you can explain the goods that were said to be heading to the castle if you want to."

"They call me Commander once again."

At the sound of the laughter-laden voice, his mouth automatically closed.

"It has been almost a year since you became Commander, yet you have not adapted to it? I hear the Emperor was quite impressed with the strength of the new Cavalry Commander."

"..."

How could the words on his lips disappear so suddenly? But he felt too wronged to reply, so Yuder only gnawed at his lower lip. Kishiar, who was watching, picked up a piece of paper in front of him with a leisurely gesture.

"...This, too, is the same. To bring something that should never be taken out to the person in question. Do you still think of yourself as a member who can fix things if you mess up? If our new Emperor had known about this, he would never have let it go. Perhaps the beheading of a traitor would have been the responsibility of the new Cavalry Commander."

"...I!"

Yuder knew it too, of course. Secretly stealing a report that went directly to the Emperor, especially one related to treason, was a grave crime. The man before him didn't know how much contemplation had led to this action. Probably, he didn't even want to know.

Although he knew that would be the case...

Yuder clenched his teeth and bowed his head as silent footsteps approached him. A hand in a white glove delicately folded the paper and handed it back to Yuder. The moment the cold touch of leather brushed against his fingertips, his shoulders shuddered. The paper didn't make it into Yuder's hand and fell limply, rolling around.

"...Yudrain."

The man with golden hair whispered, looking at the paper.

"You're fearless, and that's the problem. But I won't deny that it fascinates me."

"..."

"But there's a limit to what I can overlook out of mere interest. Even though you're young, don't you know what the priority is? Did you think that if I denied the rebellion, you’d simply believe me?"

Of course not.

His heart grew cold. A chill wind blew.

"I suppose I must go now."

Kishiar, bending at the waist, picked up the fallen paper again. This time, he extended his fingers and handed it over personally, his movement gentle enough to feel oddly affectionate...

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