Chapter 17: Beneath the Fading Moonlight

The sound of autumn insects chirping seeped through the cracks in the window.

“Wow, that really hurts…”

By the time I opened my eyes after suffering through a brutal sickness, it was already the dead of night. It felt like the early hours of dawn. Shifting my gaze slightly, I saw Claire dozing off in a chair by the bed, arms crossed in an uncomfortable posture.

Since the curtains hadn’t been drawn, the room was bathed in faint, silvery moonlight. I lifted my right hand and held it up to the light, inspecting the Goddess’s crest engraved on the inside of my wrist. It was a pattern etched with powerful divinity, invisible to ordinary eyes. Maybe someone like Mitchell could see it.

I glanced back at Claire. The Goddess said I would need these people…? I couldn’t fathom her intentions. Lost in thought, I habitually licked my lips, but my mouth and lips were parched and cracked—likely the result of battling a high fever for half a day.

When I twisted my body to look for water, the blankets made a soft rustling sound. Claire, possessing the sharp senses of a master, woke up instantly. To have that reaction speed even while asleep… he truly was a swordsman said to appear once in a millennium.

“Ian?”

“Ah, Claire. Cough—”

Whether due to the fever or dehydration, my voice was dry and raspy. Claire stood up quickly, supported my back, and brought a cup to my lips.

“It’s a fever reducer. You still have a temperature. You must drink it.”

He pressed a dark liquid with a strange smell against my mouth. When I tried to spit it out, he coaxed me like a fussy infant, patting me gently and nudging the spoon forward again. The fever reducers in my memory from the orphanage were sticky liquids with a cheap, syrupy sweetness. The Imperial Palace really is different in every way, I thought idly as I swallowed the bitter medicine.

How long had it been since I felt this ill? I remembered a time in my early childhood when I had the flu and monopolized Director Janet’s care. Physically, this felt even worse. My entire body throbbed as if I’d been beaten, and despite sweating profusely, I didn’t feel refreshed—only nauseous.

My last memory before losing consciousness was the sight of the Goddess, semi-transparent like mist, leaning toward me as if she intended to pass right through me. Our foreheads had been so close they nearly touched. Even while sobbing, I remember being startled enough to hiccup. I must have blacked out shortly after that.

As I washed down the bitter aftertaste, Claire brought over fresh pajamas.

“Later…”

“I think it’s best to change now. Please, excuse me for a moment.”

The lethargy in my limbs outweighed my discomfort with the damp clothes, so I sent him a pleading look to stop. However, Claire spoke softly yet firmly as he began to undress me.

As the shirt came off, the droplets of sweat that hadn’t dried yet turned cold, sending a shiver through my skin. The body ache was so severe that even Claire’s touch with the warm towel felt stinging and sharp. The area under my armpits and near my ribs was particularly painful; I winced instinctively. Seeing this, Claire’s movements became even more cautious.

After changing me into entirely fresh clothes—underwear included—Claire sat at the foot of the bed and began to massage my calves. The pressure moving up from the soles of my feet felt incredibly relieving.

Claire was uniquely obsessed with my legs. Perhaps because he was a swordsman who relied on his body, he insisted that my muscles and joints shouldn’t be allowed to stiffen if I were to walk again. He rubbed my legs every chance he got.

Normally, I would have relaxed into his soothing touch, but today, everything hurt. Not just where he was massaging, but my entire body felt like it had been pulverized.

“It hurts…”

My lips moved of their own accord, the fever reducer perhaps loosening my restraint.

“It hurts… it hurts so much.”

The hands massaging my legs stopped. The moonlight that had been resting on my face vanished as Claire stood up, casting a shadow over me with the moon at his back.

I blinked up at him, and I felt a stray tear that had been pooling in my eye roll down my cheek. His crimson eyes locked onto mine with haunting intensity. After watching the tear fall for a moment, Claire reached out and lifted me—bedsheets and all—into his arms.

“It’s alright.”

Claire’s body temperature was high. Being held tightly against his warm, broad chest, I felt a strange sense of peace settle over my heart.

Lacking even the strength to wipe my own tears, I simply looked up at him. A rough, calloused hand brushed against my cheek. Feeling that touch, I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes.

“It hurts…”

“Is that so.”

I could feel his heavy heartbeat through my cheek. Slow, steady, and rhythmic.

“It hurts too much.”

“Everything… will be fine.”

The medicine finally seemed to be taking hold, as my consciousness grew hazy. I thought I heard the faint sound of a door opening. I drifted off to sleep, listening to the low vibration of Claire’s whisper.

Zeimer, who hadn’t been able to sleep until dawn, his senses sharpened to a jagged edge, suddenly bolted upright. He felt a faint ripple of energy. Ian.

He had been sprawling on the floor, leaving his clothes and hair a dusty mess, but he didn’t care as he rushed to the front of Ian’s room. Just as he was about to knock and enter, an unbelievable sound reached his ears.

“It hurts…”

It was unmistakably Ian’s voice. Zeimer froze in his tracks, hand poised to knock.

Someone was in the room with Ian. A blue, mist-like mana rose from beneath Zeimer’s feet, spreading into a thin layer across the floor. The invisible mana slipped through the gap under the door and returned to Zeimer instantly. Aside from Ian’s presence, the energy inside was definitely Claire’s.

As he hesitated, Felix also appeared as if rising from the ground in a flash of golden light, having sensed that Ian was awake.

“Zeimer?”

Perhaps because they had been at each other’s throats just a few hours ago, Felix called his name with a slight pause. Only then did Zeimer move his stiffened body.

“Felix.”

“It seems Ian is awake.”

From inside, the sounds of movement and Ian’s voice drifted out again.

“Shh.”

Zeimer put a finger to his lips and grabbed Felix’s shoulder as the latter tried to open the door.

“It hurts… it hurts, please.”

Hearing that voice pleading in pain like a sob, Felix also froze. Soon after, they heard the rustling of fabric as Claire lifted Ian.

“It’s alright.”

Zeimer’s hand fell limp as if he had lost the will to open the door. Felix grit his teeth and barely managed to crack the door open just a sliver.

Ian’s gaze, hazy as if intoxicated, wandered through the air. His lips, cracked and bloodied, spilled out words the sane Ian would never have uttered.

Claire held him without a single gap between them, stroking his hair and patting his back, absorbing Ian’s rare—and perhaps final—display of vulnerability. Whether Ian would remember this comfort or not didn’t matter; Claire only hoped the warmth would linger.

“Everything… will be fine.”

Until Ian’s eyes closed and his body went limp with sleep, Felix and Zeimer could not bring themselves to cross the threshold. They simply stood there, watching.

The season for falling leaves had finally arrived. That meant a significant amount of time had passed since my trip to the Temple. Back then, the maples were still vibrant; they weren’t tumbling down in heaps like this.

After that severe bout of illness, well, I resigned myself. No matter how much I thought about it, there was nothing I could do. To defy the Goddess’s will was to defy the flow of the world itself.

By my own standards, I lived quite diligently once I got back on my feet. I spent my time skillfully dodging the overprotectiveness—which had somehow worsened since my return from the holy water—and played as much as I could.

When I had woken up after falling asleep in Claire’s arms, I was alone. I could hear the birds chirping outside as dawn approached, but no one was in the room. I could only sense a single servant dozing outside the door. Judging by the tilt of the moon, it was 4:00 AM. There were still a good two hours left until sunrise.

My body felt incredibly stiff. It was the first time I’d felt this way since being blessed.

How much time had passed since I fell back asleep? Given how hungry I was, it had probably been about a full day. I watched the fireplace, which was enchanted to stay lit, crackle quietly before casting a barrier around the room.

I visualized the complex geometry, mapped the coordinates of the space, and pushed out a pulse of bluish-purple mana. The room vibrated once with a faint flash. Now, I could move without worrying about the sensitive perceptions of Felix, Claire, or Zeimer.

Only then did I sit up, my body finally moving freely. I kicked off the blankets and stepped out of bed. I stretched, pressing my right elbow over my head, and walked to the terrace. Opening the doors, the cool yet cozy air flooded the room.

Feeling a bit of a chill, I grabbed a blanket to wrap around my shoulders and sat down on the terrace floor. It didn’t matter if my clothes got dirty; I could fix that with a quick spell. Looking up at the moon, I had the illusion that it was staring right back at me.