Chapter 98.1: A gentle touch

***

When she lost consciousness, she dreamt about her past life.

That day, Rishe looked back to the memories of her life as a knight.

Body pain.

Blood seeping down her body and her trembling arms.

It was a dream of the last day of her life, when her heart creaked painfully, but she still tried to protect what she had to protect.

[Get His Highness and the others to the location as soon as possible!]

[Our Light, our Lord! Protect him with your life, and even if it takes your life, keep the path alive!]

The sound of swords clashing scattered here and there with battle cries echoing. In a battle so fierce that even sparks exploded, her friends died one after another.

The one who brought them this despair was the man who led the enemy army.

–Arnold Hein

Rishe glared at the man, gripping her blood-soaked sword.

His dark, murky blue eyes flickered towards her. That was enough to make her instincts warn her to run.

His frighteningly well-formed face was stained with the blood of those whom Rishe had cherished.

The expression on his face didn’t change a tiny bit.

And yet, a murderous spirit without emotion pierced through him. But even though he dominated the air in the place and the tension was so numbing that even breathing was laborious, she couldn’t turn away from him.

His Majesty, Captain, and the commander were all killed by this man…Senior Joel also protected me…

She let out a short breath and gripped her sword tightly.

She cared nothing about dying miserably. She fought for the princes, hoping that they would at least escape.

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“…”

In order to stall him, Rishe desperately wielded her sword.

Other knights also attacked Arnold one after another.

They were easily reaped, and the pile of corpses grew until there was no one left alive. The tip of Arnold Hein’s sword eventually pierced Rishe’s heart.

It was a dream of the last few moments of her life that ended there.

But the moment her consciousness collapsed and dissolved, she remembered Arnold Hein whispering in her ear.

[――――――――]

Ah…

That part of her vague memory flashed back vividly for a moment.

He definitely said that at that time.

The moment she understood, she forgot everything she had seen in this dream, and her memory slowly unraveled.

Someone was stroking her cheek.

In response to this sensation, Rishe slowly awakened.

***

The hand touched her cheek gently and yet as if to shake her out of sleep.

It stroked her cheek carefully and meticulously, as if checking for fever. Rishe didn’t know whose hand it was, but it was a very gentle touch.

When she felt it move away, she opened her eyes.

“…?”

In a room filled with the darkness and silence of the night, Rishe looked up hazily.

“Arnold, Your Highness…”

“…”

Arnold was sitting beside the bed where Rishe was lying down.

She called his name, but he remained silent. His well-formed face was beautiful even with his furrowed brow.

It was undoubtedly his hand that had woken Rishe from her slumber. However, she wondered why Arnold was by her side when she was in the guest room of the Grand Shrine.

After pondering about it for a while, she finally remembered what he just did.

“Your Highness, how are you feeling?”

Hearing her scratchy voice, Arnold’s wrinkled brow worsened.

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“How can you be worrying about me when you just woke up?”

“Because…”

She tried to speak, but she was burning and felt lethargic. She felt hot and heavy everywhere, signifying a high fever.

Arnold sighed and put his arm around Rishe’s back.

“Uu…”

He prompted her to get up, but she couldn’t seem to muster the strength. In the end, Arnold supported her most of the way as she raised herself up on the bed.

With one arm around her back, he reached toward the bedside table with his other hand.

The small bottle with the lid still open was, of course, familiar to her.

Arnold took the bottle and placed the rim against Rishe’s lips.

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“I just retrieved it. Drink it up.”

“…”