“What’s the situation?”
“Severe dehydration. Their body is also very weak.”
“……Damn it.”
At the physician’s words, Leonard spat out a curse. The physician froze at the chilling tone, laced with menace.
“So, what do we do now?”
“Once they wake up, they should start with non-irritating food. And they need plenty of rest. I’ll leave some medicine to help regain strength, so please give it to them first.”
“Understood. Are there any other issues?”
“Well……. I’m not sure if it’s my place to say…….”
“Speak.”
Leonard spoke firmly. He didn’t know what the physician would say, but if it concerned Yellian, he wanted to hear every detail. The physician seemed to gauge the situation before carefully opening his mouth.
“It’s, it’s not certain. However, when I studied medicine, I also learned a bit about magic.”
“Magic?”
“Yes, ah! It wasn’t dark magic or anything like that! It was healing magic, learned legally at the imperial palace. Of course, I lacked innate magical power and gave up quickly.”
“The fact that you’re telling me this now means…….”
“It seems they’re under a spell.”
“What……?”
“What kind of magic is it?”
“I’m not sure about that…… I’m sorry!”
Watching the physician quickly bow his head, Leonard was too stunned to say anything.
He had never once considered that Yellian might be under a spell. Magic was so rare, and there had been no noticeable symptoms…….
“Damn it.”
Suddenly, something flashed through his mind. Leonard muttered a curse under his breath and hurriedly left the room.
* * *
“……I’m alive.”
Yellian muttered while staring at the ceiling. Their voice sounded hoarse, as if crawling out.
Yellian habitually glanced around the room. They saw Geumdong sleeping lazily on his back. For a brief moment, a faint smile flickered across Yellian’s face before disappearing.
Gamja was still gone. Yellian pulled their knees up and buried their face in them.
They couldn’t figure out what they had done wrong. As sadness surged to its limits, they began to blame themselves.
It’s my fault. If I had paid more attention……. It’s because my fate is so wretched. That’s why this happened…….
None of these thoughts were rational or logical. Yet, Yellian couldn’t do anything but blame themselves. If they didn’t, the pain in their chest felt like it would kill them, leaving them no choice.
Staring blankly at a corner of the room, Yellian got up and gathered the flyers from the bedside table.
The moment they realized Gamja was nowhere in the estate, Leonard immediately sent someone to a printing shop to order flyers to find Gamja. He also had the duke’s estate staff put up the flyers all over the capital.
There had been a few calls, but the cats reported weren’t Gamja. There was even a ridiculous call asking if they’d like to take a kitten since their cat had given birth.
Yellian grabbed the flyers and stepped out of the room. Seeing Yellian, who had been staying indoors, come out, people seemed surprised.
“Yellian! Where are you going?!”
“I’m going to put up some flyers.”
“You know you can’t go out alone.”
Just then, Elton, passing through the hallway, stepped in front of Yellian in surprise.
Yellian knew well why Elton said they couldn’t go out alone. It was because Leonard didn’t want them going out by themselves.
They understood it in their head, but having their path blocked made resentment surge up.
“I said I’m going to put up flyers. Gamja is gone, Gamja……. Gamja isn’t here, so why can’t I even do this……. What am I supposed to do then…….”
Yellian was crying. Unaware they were crying at first, they soon felt their cheeks wet and irritably wiped away the tears.
“Damn it, why do these tears keep coming out?”
“Alright. I understand…… Come with me. You can’t go alone.”
Elton said gently after a short sigh. Since the goal was to put up flyers anyway, Yellian nodded vigorously.
* * *
Wherever there was a spot to put up flyers, they put them up, no matter where it was.
Leonard had clearly ordered the duke’s estate staff to put up flyers, but most of them were torn or had fallen off completely.
Yellian didn’t want to despair over every little thing, but each time they saw a flyer on the ground, it felt like their heart was sinking.
“Gamja will definitely come back.”
“Yes…….”
After silently putting up flyers for a while, Elton spoke. Yellian, feeling choked up from crying, could barely manage a ‘yes’ in response.
“Gamja is a clever child, isn’t it? When we played hunting games, I could tell Gamja was different.”
“……Really?”
“Yes. A very smart child. And didn’t Gamja come to the duke’s estate on their own to find you, Yellian?”
“That’s right, they did.”
Thinking back to that time, a small smile crept onto their face without them realizing it.
When they saw a cat hanging from a tree, they were so startled. They worried so much about it falling. But when they realized that cat was Gamja, they nearly fainted from shock.
Seeing Yellian smile, Elton quickly continued. Yellian, who used to smile a lot, hadn’t done so in a long time, and it felt like forever since he’d seen it.
“See? How smart is Gamja? Right now, they’re probably wandering around, sightseeing, making friends……. And then they’ll come back.”
Yellian nodded vigorously at his words. Then, with much more energy than before, they started putting up flyers again.
As Elton said, Gamja was a clever child, so they would surely return. Thinking that, Yellian bit their lips tightly and swallowed their tears.
That’s when it happened.
“Who are you to block the way?”
Hearing Elton’s unusual voice, Yellian turned around in surprise. There, they saw masked figures blocking their path.
Startled, they looked back, and it was the same behind them. Yellian swallowed dryly and hid behind Elton.
“If you don’t clear the way by the count of three, I’ll consider you enemies.”
Srrrng.
In an instant, Elton drew his sword and warned them in a cold voice. Yellian clung closely to Elton’s back.
Since there were assailants behind them as well, it didn’t feel entirely safe, but it was somewhat reassuring.
“Three.”
As Elton counted, the assassins drew their swords. They took a step closer.
“Two.”
The enemies began to surround the two of them. A quick count showed at least ten of them. Yellian crouched in fear.
“One.”
Clang, clang!
As the final number was called, the sound of swords clashing rang out.
Elton swung his sword swiftly while trying to protect Yellian behind him, not moving much from his spot. Yellian was pulled when Elton pulled and pushed when Elton pushed, staying under his protection.
“Elton! Be careful!”
Seeing an assassin charging at Elton from behind, Yellian shouted urgently. In an instant, Elton turned and stabbed the enemy rushing toward him with his sword.
As Elton pulled out his sword, bright red blood dripped from the stabbed enemy. Starting with that, Elton’s sword began cutting down the enemies one by one.
“Huff, huff…….”
After a while, Elton panted heavily. Around the two of them, fallen enemies lay scattered. Yellian gasped in horror upon seeing blood seeping from Elton’s arm.
“Elton, you’re bleeding……!”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh, we need to go back quickly and get treatment…….”
Yellian’s urgent words were cut off in vain. It was due to even more assassins surrounding them in an instant, far more than before.
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