Chapter 46
He gave her a bitter smile in return.
“…Looks like I’m the one who needs to be careful, not you.”
“I asked you what it is.”
She repeated the question, more earnest this time. It wasn’t the pain that frightened her anymore.
Thankfully, it had dulled after a few minutes. Surprising, given how intense it had been just moments ago. It was alarming to think she hadn’t even known such a serious injury existed until now. Still, looking back, the pain itself hadn’t been unbearable.
What terrified her was not knowing why.
‘My body hurts. It’s my body, but I don’t know what’s wrong with it…’
A sudden wave of fear washed over her. She drew in a deep breath, trying to steady her heart.
Was it just pain? Since arriving in Altnebra, everything had become unfamiliar for Kiara. But the one fact she could never truly come to terms with, no matter how many times she turned it over in her head, was that she was a witch.
‘I gave up trying to understand and just tried to adapt…’
Magic, curses, bindings — things she could never quite grasp surrounded her at every turn. She had been surviving on the barest understanding, enduring each day through sheer will. If something new and inexplicable happened now… would she really be able to endure it?
Her unease must have shown, because Ael let out a quiet sigh as he looked at her, something like sympathy flickering in his gaze.
“Soulmate.”
There it was again. That word — soulmate. What did that have to do with anything?
Frowning, Kiara tried to puzzle it out and then let out a startled exclamation.
“Th-Then does that mean I…? Ah!”
She scrambled to examine her side, lifting her arm awkwardly, and let out a gasp. A large bruise had formed along her waist, dark and blooming like a mirror of Ael’s.
“W-When did this even…? How did I not notice? Ugh.”
She prodded it in disbelief, as if needing proof it was real. Just a light touch sent a dull ache radiating through her side, and she winced, face crumpling.
“Do you really have to poke it to believe it?”
Ael looked at her like she’d just tried to confirm the presence of fire by sticking her hand in it.
Kiara shook her head fiercely, flustered and wide-eyed, her voice rising in helpless protest.
“A-Ah… I just couldn’t believe it. I thought maybe I was dreaming or hallucinating…”
“You only believe it after it hurts? You’re duller than I thought.”
“…Is that really important right now?”
Kiara narrowed her eyes and glared at him. Judging by that expression, it didn’t seem like it hurt as much as she claimed. Ignoring her pouty lips, Ael murmured to himself as he examined the bruise on her.
“The color’s a bit lighter, and the bruised area is smaller.”
“R-Really?”
That was unexpected. Curious now, Kiara kept twisting around, trying to inspect her own waist. She didn’t seem to care anymore that her chest was exposed.
‘She was acting like she couldn’t bear the embarrassment earlier, and now she’s completely unfazed since I’ve already seen it all.’
Ael let out a quiet chuckle. At this point, Kiara didn’t even seem to feel any pain as she kept poking at the bruise repeatedly.
Watching her like that, Ael fell into thought for a moment before finally speaking.
“…Let me ask you something. Back when you got cut by a sword.”
“Eh? Oh, r-right. The sword.”
Just as he asked, Kiara was holding both her brxxsts together to check how far the bruise had spread beneath them. The motion had pushed her chest together, forming a deep valley of cleavage.
“…Ael?”
She tilted her head when Ael fell silent, even though he had just said he wanted to ask her something. Kiara was still holding her brxxsts. The soft, pale flesh bulged out between her fingers like dough.
As Kiara stared blankly, Ael’s throat bobbed with a hard swallow.
Then he spoke again.
“Ah, when you were cut… by the sword. You said it didn’t hurt as much as you expected, right?”
He started thinking about the injury he’d sustained today.
He had nearly died.
Well, it wasn’t the first time. He’d had close brushes with death dozens — no, hundreds — of times, so it shouldn’t have felt like anything special. But this time, the blow had truly been fatal.
The moment he took that hit, a thought flashed through his mind:
Ah, this time… I really might die.
They say your life flashes before your eyes just before death. Dozens of thoughts supposedly rush through your mind.
“I had a pretty close call today too. And yet, somehow, it was bearable.”
Surprisingly bearable, even. His next thought had been: thank god it wasn’t the head. A blow to the head would have meant instant death.
But then confusion followed. Getting hit in the stomach could, in some cases, be worse than a head wound.
When your internal organs rupture — out of all the ways you could die, it’s one of the worst. Messy, agonizing, and slow.
But it hadn’t happened.
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