Chapter 62: The Unseen Observer

Cough cough.

When the girl’s voice, carrying a hint of coolness, rang in his ear, Nolan jolted, slowly lifting his head.

“Ah! Tiya, you… you’re awake?”

I propped myself up, looking at the boy curled in the corner.

My hands pressed on the rough bedframe edges, the wool blanket sliding from my knees to pile at my feet.

But I didn’t know that my gaze on Nolan, in his eyes, seemed unusually sharp.

“Why didn’t you agree to him?”

“Huh… what do you mean?”

Nolan leaned against the wooden wall, eyes widening in surprise.

“The partition’s thin. I heard your conversation,” my gaze locked on him without blinking, trying to infuse it with unyielding pressure.

“Ah—got it,” Nolan said, seeming relieved.

“Did he disturb you?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

I furrowed my brows slightly, staring at Nolan, each word bitten clearly.

“You mean… Gareth’s wild stories?”

Nolan’s tone flickered.

“It was just his word. Why would I trust a stranger’s urging?”

His rebuttal carried deliberate, almost ironclad decisiveness.

“But aren’t those your doubts too? What if there’s a conspiracy, hidden dangers? Are you content sitting here, ignorant, waiting for trouble to brew and strike?”

I couldn’t hold back the urgency in my voice, pressing relentlessly.

Time slipped away.

Nolan should be meeting Gareth, not wasting it with me.

“Because of possible danger, instead of rushing to investigate on a whim, I should stay here, right?”

Nolan, head tilted, suddenly lifted his eyes to meet mine.

“Stay here?”

I couldn’t grasp his meaning for a moment.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Nolan stammered, hesitating, then said:

“After hearing Gareth’s words, pushing you to recklessly scout would worry me more. These matters don’t concern us. As long as we arrive safely, isn’t that enough?”

This… was truly bad.

I nearly glared at Nolan, sensing his hesitation and retreat clearly.

If the original novel’s protagonist had one striking trait, it was his blazing, fearless spirit of adventure.

Yet I couldn’t fathom what chained a heart meant for exploration.

‘Excuses! All excuses!’ I thought.

There must be some unknown reason making him timid.

‘But this won’t do—the plot must advance.

If Nolan backs out here, everything could veer further off track.’

“Tiya—where are you going?”

Nolan’s head snapped up, seeing the silver-gray-haired girl lightly step from the bed’s edge.

“You’re not going, so I will. Stay here, be good.”

I glanced at Nolan, hidden in the corner’s shadows, grabbed the cloak from the wall, draped it hastily, and walked out without looking back.

“Wait! Tiya!”

Nolan froze, stunned for a moment.

Snapping back, he climbed up, leaning on the wall to exit the berth.

In just a few breaths, the girl’s figure had vanished.

“Where’d she go—”

Nolan took two urgent steps, his gaze sweeping wildly.

At that moment, a massive wave hit from the sea.

The ship lurched violently under the impact, the deck groaning.

He flung out his only working arm, trying to balance, but lost his footing in the sway.

The damp floor made his boots slip.

His forehead rushed toward the hard wood.

“Steady!”

“Where’d she go—”

Nolan took two urgent steps, his panicked gaze sweeping the dim corridor.

At that moment, a massive wave crashed from the side.

The ship shuddered under the blow, the deck creaking ominously.

He flung out his only working arm, grasping for balance.

But one arm wasn’t enough.

In the violent lurch, his body tilted uncontrollably.

The fog-slick deck made his boots skid.

His forehead hurtled toward the unyielding floor.

“Careful!”

In that split second, a hand shot out from the side, firmly gripping his tilting shoulder.

With that force, Nolan pushed off his legs, regaining balance on the rocking ship.

“You… you didn’t leave? Weren’t you going to investigate?”

Nolan, heart pounding, turned, meeting familiar crimson eyes under the swaying light—Gareth.

The youth had appeared silently behind him.

Nolan saw, in the dark, a faint, inscrutable smile on his lips.

“Well… exploring alone lacks thrill. I turned back halfway.” Gareth said lightly, his gaze sharp, sweeping the empty corridor.

“He saw you charging out, nearly face-planting.”

“Right!”

Nolan suddenly remembered, grabbing Gareth’s arm urgently.

“Did you see Tiya? Just now—she passed here!”

“Your little companion?”

Gareth raised a brow, eyeing Nolan’s frantic look with interest.

“She your sister? Doesn’t look like it. Or something else? Why so worried about her?”

“No… not my sister,” Nolan said absently, his gaze still searching wildly.

“But she’s an important friend—very important.”

He took a deep breath, finally turning to Gareth:

“Sorry, I have to find her now… I’ll thank you later.”

“Wait—”

Nolan had barely stepped when Gareth’s voice stopped him.

He froze.

“Rushing around blindly—do you even know where she went?”

“She… she overheard what you said before. It probably piqued her curiosity,” Nolan swallowed, but Gareth chuckled, taking two steps:

“Then isn’t that perfect? Her goal aligns with mine—or doesn’t it? Round and round, back to the start.”

“You mean…”

Nolan’s eyes flickered, grasping the hint, though still hesitant.

“Follow me.”

Gareth said no more, turning ahead.

He was surely heading to investigate the so-called sanctified monk.

To find her, they had to go the same place.

Nolan gritted his teeth, finally deciding, watching the youth’s straight-backed silhouette in his neat coat, stepping after him.

But Nolan, hurrying to follow, didn’t notice—

When Gareth’s gaze pierced the porthole’s thick shadows, his lips curved in an irrepressible, lonely smile.

He bowed his head slightly, humming almost inaudibly:

“Tch tch… this is getting much more interesting, isn’t it, light novel?”

“She spotted me.”

In the ship’s dark, damp corner, fate’s curtain quivered faintly.

A seam cracked open, shadows flowing away like water, coalescing into a dark red cloak, draping softly over the girl’s slender shoulders.

I stepped slowly from the black magic’s hiding place, gazing at the corridor where Nolan and Gareth had passed.

The wall lamps, untended for days, flickered dimly, their wicks barely burning, casting jagged shadows across the passage.

No matter what, the plot had returned to its rightful track.

Nolan and Gareth, just as the novel depicted, joined for this tense but harmless probe.

It should’ve eased my mind.

‘My task is done… done, right?’

Logic said my meddling should end here.

Best to turn back, keep playing the sleeping role.

But Gareth’s glance at this corner, that seemingly casual stray light hiding depths, left an unshakable unease.

I knew this black-haired, red-eyed “youth” was a self-serving sort at heart.

In the novel, he was a gray-area figure, aligning with protagonist Nolan only through coincidences and tangled fates.

In theory, I trusted Gareth wouldn’t harm Nolan—but words on a page paled against the chill I felt.

That glance from Gareth, the inscrutable intent in his eyes before turning, pricked like a fine needle in my heart.

‘Still… I should follow and check.’

Silently, I stepped forward, the dark red cloak’s hem swaying gently with my pace.