Chapter 28

Theres no serenity.

It hadnt even been a day since she met Ca.s.sion, but she could see that this was strange enough for him.

This man, when he slept, always looked strangely serene.

She looked alternately between the blanket in her hand and the man, then she quietly sat up.

Then, she looked squarely at Ca.s.sion.

Ca.s.sion.

She called out to him in a small voice, but there was no response. Even so, there were some small wrinkles beside the eyelids of his closed eyes.

No matter how you look at it

It looked like he was awake.

The blanket couldnt have flown over her body on its own, so someone must have covered her with it.

And theres only this guy in the same room. But he was desperately closing his eyes like this

Should she point out that she noticed hes awake or not?

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, and she soon reached out to the bedside table.

When she opened the second drawer, there were various first aid supplies there.

Ah, there really is something there already.

Now that she thought about it, she didnt think they would have left after just treating Ca.s.sion.

It was a room with a patient in it.

It was also a five-story room with important guests residing there, so they must have a few first aid supplies on hand.

She was very relieved that she wouldnt need to bother with calling someone for it.

After roughly rummaging through its contents, she brought out clean bandages, cotton cloths, disinfectants and a topical cream to treat wounds. Right after, the drawer was closed.

Tak.

It closed with a loud sound, but Ca.s.sion still wouldnt budge.

At this point, are you really sleeping? How can someone always sleep so well?

And the blanket somehow flew on her on its own. Sure.

With that ridiculous thought in mind, Rosetta took the bandages first.

After confirming that this would be the right length for his wound, she removed the blanket covering the man.

And when she did, the sheet was dyed red.

The blood didnt seep through, but his clothes seemed to have been heavily stained.

I would still have to call someone in the end.

She couldnt avoid troublesome things.

Maybe thats why its annoying to her.

With a short sigh, she reached out.

Towards the mans waist.

His clothes were so thoroughly soaked that blood even dripped.

Carefully holding one end of the s.h.i.+rt, she pulled it upward gingerly.

Below where the s.h.i.+rt was lifted, the apricot colored bare skin wrapped with red bandages appeared.

More than I thought

His body looked good.

No wonder he held up longer when she hadnt stepped in.

Perhaps it was thanks to repeated exercise and training, even while he was locked up in his room.

A few years ago, Ca.s.sion locked himself in his room amid the repeated threats to his life.

His anxiety reached his limit, and he had only one thought.

That even when cornered, he should at least be able to rely on himself.

He had to do something to protect himself.

He couldnt use magic, so he turned to physical training.

Since his room was small, this was the best he could do inside.

Thus, he chose to train himself from the books he had read. He eventually learned swordsmans.h.i.+p even without fundamental skills.

Truthfully, his plan wasnt very fruitful.

Aristocrats usually refrained from this method, but he basically learned everything on his own through books.

He also knew this fact.

Nevertheless, Ca.s.sion did not neglect a day of training and exercised well.

It was also a kind of compulsion for him. He would think that if he didnt do this, he would really die.

So it was a routine that he repeated.

Well, looking at his state now, it didnt seem to be fruitless.

Thanks to that, he had a solid body.

Rosetta reflected on his past as she went over to his apricot skin and removed the dirty bandages.

Her palm grazed over his hard abdomen.

The damp texture had wetted her hands, and at the same time, Ca.s.sion flinched.

She looked at his face to see if there would be any small movement, but his eyes were still tightly closed.

To the point that she could feel a vein throb on her forehead.

She stared at the mans face and felt for the end of the bandage.

It was difficult to grasp, as if looking for the edge of transparent tape.

She raised her finger and looked closely, but she couldnt see a sign of movement.

Only the muscles of his body that she touched repeatedly contracted and expanded minutely.

While she adjusted the way she sat, she touched his chest and it looked as though he was out of breath.

Whenever Ca.s.sions body would react, she would stop her ministrations for a while. And by the time hed be still again, she would move her hand.

Near his belly b.u.t.ton.

A little more to the side.

She trailed it down near his waist, then when her fingertips were about to reach his spine

Tak.

Her wrist was caught.

With a rough touch of his palm, a slight sting could be felt on the inside of her soft wrist.

The hand that held her wrist moved slowly.

He pulled Rosettas hand away from his waist and lifted it into the air.

She didnt try hard to resist, but she followed his movements.

He pretended to sleep so diligently like that, but now he finally admitted that he was awake.

Rosetta kind of pitied him for the foolish acting that made her do this.

Are you awake?

When she asked this with a smile, pretending not to know, Ca.s.sion had let go of her wrist and sat up.

His cheeks seemed red in the dark.

The ears under his black, tangled hair also looked red.

Even though he lifted his upper body to sit up, his tightly closed eyes only opened then.

Beneath thick dark eyelashes, reproachful eyes flashed open.

You knew.

What exactly?

That I was awake.

Gosh, of course not.

When she answered with a smile, Ca.s.sions lips gaped open as if he was dumbfounded.

It was obvious that you were sleeping because your eyes were closed.

Does a sleeping person flinch like that?

Oh, what else should I have done. Your bandages were all soaked. If we leave it as is, your skin would only get bad.

When Rosetta answered calmly and pointed to his waist, Ca.s.sion looked down and clutched his s.h.i.+rt.

Ill do it. Give me the bandages.

With a little urgency in his voice, he reached out his hand.

It was also a bandaged hand.

And it was stained red, too.

Rosetta glanced at his hand, placed the dry bandages on the bed, then took his hand.

For a moment, his fingertips flinched and closed like wilted flowers.

It wasnt until she grabbed the edge of the bandage and pulled it by force that the hand opened up again.

She felt his gaze on her.

But then the eyes that stared blankly at her hurriedly went away, as if it belonged to a child that was caught doing something wrong.

When she s.h.i.+fted her head to try and meet his s.h.i.+fted gaze, those eyes were averted further again.

Whats wrong with you?

He could look at her properly before.

If you were awake, then you could have sat up and cooperated. Why did you pretend to be asleep? Perhaps you did that because you wanted me to treat your injuries?

Its not like that.

The answer was both impatient and firm.

Rosetta had been untangling the bandages, but she stopped moving her hand.

Then?

She grabbed his chin with one hand so that his eyes wouldnt try to look away again.

Then what?

The crease between Ca.s.sions eyebrows deepened at the repeated question.

His lips opened and closed, then, he gulped dryly first before opening his lips to speak once more.

His pupils escaped once more as he looked down.

For example, near her lips

Earlier, in the alley

In the alley?

Towards me lips

The man who said that pulled away from her grasp.

It wasnt difficult to do since Rosetta wasnt gripping his tightly in the first place.

After pulling his hand away, Ca.s.sion turned to face her.

The face reflected beneath the moonlight was flared up, as red as an apple.

After listening to his soft breathing for a while, Rosetta tried to understand the broken, stuttering words he spat out.

Earlier in the alley, to me Aha.

With the combination of his words and his heavily flushed face, and also how he secretly looked at her lips.

It wasnt difficult to infer what he was saying.

You Youve been awake since then, huh?

From the moment Rosetta locked lips with him.

No wonder. But she was frightened that he wouldnt wake up, thats why she did that.

She thought she was doing that to save him, but it turned out that he had already woken up before she even breathed into him.

Then he would have been frozen in an incomprehensible situation.

There was no such thing as CPR here.

Kissing a dying person was not a situation that could be understood except for the old clich in a cla.s.sic novel such as this world.

Moreover, the situation was like she was a person from a remote island floating adrift suddenly kissing someone because the chance presented itself

Right now, perhaps Ca.s.sion was thinking that Rosetta was a shameless person.

Not just the usual shameless person, but a terrible kind of shameless person who would pounce on an unconscious man like that.

Haha.

Really, it was a ridiculous misunderstanding that made her laugh in vain.

Beyond the short laugh, she felt a bewildered gaze on her.

Even that gaze was funny, so she couldnt stop laughing.

Suddenly, she came to a realization only then.

Hold on. That means

The realization that sharply hinged on that misunderstanding, like an important clue that shouldnt be missed.

Her laughter, which was dying down gradually, stopped for a moment.

If Ca.s.sion woke up before I breathed into him

Huh.

This time, the laugh had a different reason behind it.

For instance, towards this d.a.m.n fate, something like awe, delight, resentment.

Why the h.e.l.l did you do that?

By the time she was thinking about how colossal of an enemy this fate was, the mans question broke the silence.

His voice was as rigid as his frozen body.

Instead of answering him, she grabbed his hand.

When his hand on the bed was dragged forward, his upper body gave way and got pulled in.

Face to face with her.

Only one handspan apart. Beyond that, the distance was short as she could see a clear reflection on his black pupils.

Her smiling face could be seen in his red eyes.

I was trying to save you.

She didnt avoid the gaze of the bewildered man.

So dont you dare run away from me again.

With her eyes fixed on Ca.s.sions face, she began to untie the bandages wrapped around his hand.

You stopped breathing.

As she said this calmly, the face in front of her hardened.

It was similar to how he looked earlier when he was previously that pale man who stopped breathing.

If there was no warmth in the hand she was holding now, she would have thought that he had collapsed again.

And the pale mans gaze reminded her of the past.

Then That

It wasnt just a feeling?

His shallow murmur fell into the dark expanse of the room. The mans empty hands fumbled onto the back of his neck.