The bleeding was so severe that he couldn’t see clearly.
‘How long will this condition last?’
Everything was blurry inside the prison.
The cold floor against his cheek, the damp smell characteristic of the basement, the clear, dripping sound of water. After blinking several times to focus, he eventually gave up and closed his eyes again.
‘If the injury is this severe, perhaps Lady Leticia might have felt the same as me.’
Coughing up blood, Ahwin hunched his body slightly. Death felt noticeably closer.
‘Noel must be able to hold on in the future.’
As the final moments approached, what ultimately became most important was his lover.
‘Can she really do it?’
He was very likely to die. If he was very lucky, he might just save his life.
‘I won’t be able to be unscathed like before.’
Even if Josephina saves his life, she wouldn’t heal him completely.
‘It will leave irreversible aftereffects. That way, she can broadcast her majesty far and wide.’
She would want to show the entire Holy Empire how a mighty wing has fallen.
‘I hope Lady Leticia would help Noel.’
The problem was, once things reached that point, Noel would not be able to endure it.
‘It’s already remarkable that she has endured this far.’
If Noel had experienced the same thing as him in front of his eyes, he would have gone berserk long ago.
Yet, with a desperate heart, he thought.
‘Please hold on a little longer, Noel. Until you are safe, until you can meet Lady Leticia again.’
Going berserk was never the answer.
This place was at the heart of the Empire, the Divine Palace, where Josephina’s influence was strongest.
Rising up against Josephina here would only result in a miserable death.
‘Prince Calisto, I must find a way to send him and Noel to the Principality.’
Fortunately, a candidate to replace him as a wing had appeared.
Prince Calisto.
The Emperor’s most cherished son, and a likely candidate for the next Tower Master with immense magical power.
‘Even if he is not a wing, his hatred for Josephina might help Lady Leticia a bit.’
Then, even if he himself was ruined, it wouldn’t cause much trouble for Leticia’s forces.
‘I wonder if Banessa has awakened.’
If Banessa had become a wing, the situation would be better.
Ahwin clung to his fading consciousness and continued his thoughts.
“Cough!”
His thoughts did not continue further.
A hot lump rose up his esophagus, filling his mouth with a bitter taste.
“Cough, cough.”
He coughed for a long time.
Each cough felt as if his lungs would tear apart. After the coughing stopped, he shuddered and lifted his eyelids. The floor was covered in dark red blood. Watching this blurry sight, Ahwin let out a laugh as if the air was escaping from him.
‘Am I finally receiving my punishment……’
The years he had lived as an enemy’s wing, failing to recognize Leticia.
Although Leticia said it was not his fault, it still weighed heavily on Ahwin’s heart.
He had always thought he must atone for that guilt throughout his life.
The day to lay down that burden was both relieving and regretful.
He should not have loved Noel.
‘At least I haven’t proposed yet, so perhaps that’s fortunate.’
He had promised Leticia that he would propose to Noel when he returned to the capital.
It was truly fortunate that he hadn’t done so.
As his consciousness faded, Ahwin thought,
‘I guess I must give up the dream of being a good father as well.’
He couldn’t even ask Leticia to be the godmother for the child.
Tears of lost dreams streamed down his cheeks.
Slowly, his eyelids closed.
* * *
When Ahwin opened his eyes, a heavy vibration was shaking the floor.
‘What’s happening?’
He blinked dully, unable to distinguish between dream and reality due to his dire condition.
“It seems they went that way!”
“AAHHHH!”
“It’s a scream! It seems the guard has been attacked!”
“Damn it! Everyone, stay sharp! We’re at a disadvantage in the dark against a beast!”
“Aaaaah!”
Chaotic shouting echoed loudly. Although he knew he needed to assess the situation, he couldn’t even flicker a hand.
“Captain! We need to use lethal weapons! It’s impossible to fight with wooden swords and nets!”
“That’s right! We’ll all die at this rate! The whole knight order might become food for the beast!”
“Shut up! These are Josephina’s pet beasts! If we use lethal weapons, Josephina will have our heads!”
Someone urgently shouted.
“Either way, we’re going to die! If we want to increase our chances of survival even slightly, we have no choice but to kill them!”
“That’s right! This is a mad command! To catch a beast alive in the underground dungeon without weapons……!”
“It’s not an ordinary beast! It’s the saintess’s most cherished beast. Stop thinking unnecessarily and just follow!”
His eyes were closing, but he forced himself to keep them open. Thanks to this, he overheard a quite important conversation.
‘Josephina’s pet beast has entered the underground dungeon?’
Josephina had been raising several beasts in the Divine Palace for a long time.
She used these beasts to flaunt her power to those around her.
Often, she would throw innocent people to these beasts as food.
Those demonic beasts had never escaped.
‘Because everything was completely under Josephina’s control.’
All the demonic beasts that were supposed to be quiet inside the cage escaped.
What on earth is going on?
Why did those demonic beasts came into the dungeon where he was? …As Ahwin continued his thoughts, he lost consciousness again.
“Are you awake?”
When Ahwin opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was the black ceiling of the prison.
He was obviously hunched before this, but for some reason, he was lying in the right posture now.
“I pulled out the dagger. I used painkillers so the pain will be less, but I can’t move you. Because the wound will open. From now on, I will use herbs that help heal wounds.”
With a soft whisper, something cold and wet touched the wound on his chest.
‘Who is it?’
It was a voice he heard for the first time in his life.
Ahwin blinked in confusion.
He barely moved his eyes.
As expected, a woman he had never seen before was looking down at him.
‘A Priestess?’
It was a young woman with black hair that fell to one side and green eyes.
There was a vine pattern drawn on the sleeves of the robe she was wearing.
It was worn by the Priestesses who followed Josephina right by her side.
‘Why is a Priestess treating me?’
Ahwin looked at the pattern in confusion.
‘Did Josephina give the order to heal me?’
It didn’t seem likely.
If they were going to treat him, she would have used divine power to treat him properly.
“I’ll tell you later. I think only words of resentment will come out now.”
Why?
The woman spoke as if she knew him well.
She said that in a quiet voice and started treatment again.
“After the herbal treatment is over, I will use a holy relic that contains the power of healing. I don’t really like it because the performance of these things I got from the relic warehouse has deteriorated, but there is no other way right now.”
“…Do you mean the warehouse near the Western Palace?”
Ahwin treated the other person with respect without even realizing it.
He just felt like it had to be that way.
“Yes.”
The woman who was nodding her head paused.
Green eyes quietly looked at Ahwin.
Soon, she smiled faintly and whispered.
“You remembered.”
Of course he had to remember.
The relic warehouse near the Western Palace.
It was a place he was well acquainted with.
[Ahwin, the delegation from the Principality doesn’t seem to hate me as much as I feared. They found out I healed Enoch.]
[How did you manage to neutralize the poison? It wasn’t an ordinary poison, was it?]
[There’s a warehouse near the Western Palace where broken relics are stored. Even though the relics are damaged, the antidote herbs inside are still intact. I used those herbs.]
[I see. It must not have been easy to avoid people’s eyes on the way to the warehouse.]
[I obtained some priestess clothes to wear. With the hood up, no one recognized me.]
Under the moonlight, a gentle smile vividly emerged in his memory.
Her hair gleamed like spun gold, and her green eyes sparkled warmly like jewels.
Ahwin looked at the woman with a stunned expression.
Shock spread through his red eyes like paint dispersing in water.
A familiar energy permeated his entire body, the energy of his soul’s master, a sensation felt from only one person in this world.
It was so profound that he wondered why he hadn’t realized it until now.
“Lady Leticia?”
It couldn’t be.
Leticia couldn’t possibly appear in such a distant place.
The miracle he had so desperately hoped for couldn’t really be happening.
Despite thinking it impossible, he asked with a trembling voice.
“Are you Lady Leticia?”
The woman was silent for a moment.
Then, gently pressing his shoulder, she leaned over him.
“Don’t try to get up. I’m still treating your wounds. If you rise now, the wounds might worsen, so you must lie down until the treatment is completed.”
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