Episode 71
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 71
Evan stared at the wall of his room. On the other side of it was Elysia’s room, which he knew would be strewn with all sorts of books, papers, and strange chemicals.
She had a habit of leaving so many things on the floor that he usually knew she was home by the telltale clatter of something falling over.
But today, she was late.
He found himself checking the clock, then froze. He wasn't some nagging husband waiting for his wife to get home. What was he doing?
“…She’s late.”
He hadn’t meant to, but before he knew it, he was still waiting for Elysia, not even having washed up. He let out a deep sigh, pushed himself up, and headed for the bathroom.
He unbuttoned his shirt and sank into the bathtub, the water now lukewarm from his long wait. The surface rippled violently before spilling over the edge. Naturally, his thoughts drifted to her face.
She was a person who startled easily, thanks to her more sensitive-than-average senses, and who was slow to let down her guard around others. She found people difficult.
It was as if an invisible barrier surrounded her; whenever someone got too close, she would instinctively pull back.
It was the habit of someone used to being alone, and Evan had recognized it at a glance. He couldn’t have missed it, as it was a habit he shared.
There was a time when he thought that because they were two similarly lonely souls, they could find comfort in each other’s mere existence. That just walking side-by-side would be enough.
“How about a hug? Just… as one person to another.”
It had been a long time since he’d felt a desire like this. Unable to bear it, he had grasped her round shoulders. He’d pulled her into a sudden embrace. Without hesitation, Elysia had surrendered to his strength and hugged him back.
The memory of her long fingers caressing the space around his shoulder blades made his face flush. He had to duck his head under the water to cool the heat.
As he stepped out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel, he heard the clatter of horse hooves. The carriage that ran between the dormitory and the city shouldn’t be operating at this hour.
Puzzled, he opened the window and stepped onto the balcony, where he spotted the crest of Duke Ror’s family emblazoned on the carriage.
His usual smile vanished completely as he looked down with a cold expression. The carriage door, adorned with a gold-overlaid eagle in bas-relief, swung open, and a familiar head of platinum blonde hair emerged.
Next, a brown-haired woman blatantly ignored Cain’s outstretched hand and leaped lightly from the carriage.
She pushed away the man’s shoulder as he bent down to playfully meet her eyes, then gave a reluctant nod in thanks.
After exchanging a few more words, Elysia turned without a second thought and disappeared into the dormitory building as if she were fleeing.
“…Why?”
The single word escaped his lips. Why were those two together so late? His hand, gripping the railing, tightened unconsciously. In that moment, his eyes met Cain’s.
The man, who had been staring up at him on the balcony with a blank face, turned away with a smirk. It was unmistakable mockery.
The sound of tired, shuffling footsteps echoed from the hallway. Knowing exactly who it was, Evan spun around in a hurry.
Not even sure what he was thinking, he bolted to his door and threw it open. He called out her name, not even pausing to catch his breath.
“…El.”
“Ah!”
Elysia jumped in surprise, lost her balance, and tipped backward. The memory of her being carried in on Adrian’s back, unconscious from a simple fall, flashed through Evan’s mind, and his face went pale.
Without a moment’s thought, he shot his hand out and wrapped an arm around her waist. He’d grabbed her in such a rush that he failed to support her back. Elysia, bent nearly in half over his arm, let out a choked cough.
“Are you oka—”
“Ugh, my back! My back!!!”
He quickly slid a hand under her back to lift her up and froze when he heard a distinct crack.
Elysia, who had instinctively thrown her arms around his shoulders to steady herself, struggled to recover from choking on her own spit.
“Cough… Cough!”
“I’m sorry, I should have caught you properly—”
“It’s fine, I’m fine… Oww, no, I’m not. I’m not fine.”
Trembling, Elysia clung to his neck, her eyes welling with tears as she muttered something. Half of it was profanity, but the gist was that she was in pain. She groaned as she tried to straighten up on her own, clutching at her aching back.
“Shit, fuck. Hold on, I can’t get up. Feels like my third lumbar vertebra just gave out.”
SYSTEM: HP -500 (3,238 / 4,800)
Movement is slowed due to the injury.
Evan pushed open the door Elysia had been opening and helped her inside.
He was surprised once by how spacious her room was, and a second time by her terrible habit of cluttering that large space with all sorts of junk, leaving no spot empty. They had to stop just inside the door, unable to take a single step for all the things scattered everywhere.
There was a path, but it was far too narrow for two people to walk through at once. Spotting the state of her room, Elysia grumbled.
Another curse. Evan bit his lip gently. Why did a word that should sound so coarse sound so endearing coming from her? He really had it bad.
“I really need to clean this up…”
“Request it from the dorm. They handle everything from cleaning to drawing baths.”
“…How can I let someone else handle papers with drug manufacturing processes written on them?”
That was one reason, but the truth was, it was also due to her sensitive nature. Elysia hated it when anyone other than herself touched her things. That was why she never requested cleaning services, even as she complained about her pigsty of a room.
Seeing the long journey to her bed, she joked weakly.
“Hey, Senior, can’t you just throw me onto the bed from here?”
“…Throw you from this distance? You’d throw your back out again.”
Seeing her groaning and clinging to his shoulder, he felt bad for making her go through the trouble.
He smoothly shifted his position to carry her on his back, then carefully navigated around the scattered objects to lay her on the bed. He pressed the small of her back with his fingertips and asked softly.
“Does it hurt here?”
“No, a little lower than that…”
“Here?”
After pressing her back in three different spots, he finally pinpointed the extent of the injury and breathed a sigh of relief. Her talk about her lumbar vertebra had made his heart drop, thinking she was seriously hurt, but it seemed she had just pulled a muscle.
Leaving the groaning Elysia for a moment, he walked to the bathroom, brought back a towel and a small basin, filled it with hot water, and soaked the towel.
When he returned to the bed, Elysia was still lying face down, whimpering.
He needed to place the hot compress on her, but…
“…”
The words to ask her to lift her shirt wouldn’t come out.
He could feel Elysia, who had been grumbling with a frown, now staring up at him as if to ask what was wrong. Unable to meet her eyes properly, he said.
“I need to put the towel on.”
“Ah.”
“Your shirt, if you could.”
In the dim light, he could see Elysia’s ears turn red. With a nervous air, she unfastened her suspenders and pulled the hem of her shirt out from her pants.
It feels like it’s on fire, Evan thought, unconsciously fiddling with his own ear. After a moment’s hesitation, his hand reached out and lifted the hem of her loose shirt. The small of a woman’s back was revealed, her spine creating a delicate hollow in her pale skin.
As if to deliberately cover it up, he immediately placed the hot towel over the spot and apologized.
“There’s no problem… with your vertebra. You just pulled a muscle. I should have caught you properly. I’m sorry.”
“This is better than face-planting on the floor.”
“Today…”
He barely managed to stop himself from asking the pathetic question, ‘Why were you with him?’ He was being uncharacteristically childish. With a soft sigh, he decided to ask indirectly.
“How was your day?”
“Oh, Adrian found some good information. I went to check out a suspicious place.”
“By yourself?”
The woman’s brow furrowed slightly, as if she’d recalled something unpleasant. Elysia muttered through clenched teeth.
“…I was alone at first.”
“Why didn’t you take me with you?”
He placed a hand lightly on the damp towel, finally unable to hold back the question. An unreadable emotion flickered across the face of Elysia, who was looking up at him from where she lay. It was a mix of bewilderment and surprise.
“You’re busy. And, it’s my problem, so I feel bad… like I’m always imposing on you.”
“You know I like you.”
He removed the now-lukewarm towel to soak it again, studying her expression. She seemed flustered that he had said something they both already knew out loud, not surprised to learn a new fact.
He placed the towel back on her lower back and continued.
“I won’t say something as arrogant as ‘your business is my business.’ Like you said, it’s yours. Just like I have my surgeries and my patients, you have your own work.”
He knew how much Elysia’s eyes sparkled whenever she was struggling to figure something out. In fact, it was that sparkle that had captured his heart, so how could he not know?
And he knew her capabilities. She was fundamentally smart with a quick mind, only struggling occasionally because her body had been weakened for some reason.
So he couldn’t tell her not to take risks, nor could he tell her to take him with her every time. He might be helpful on occasion, but he could just as easily be a nuisance.
His calm, green eyes smiled at her.
“Still, couldn’t you give me a chance sometimes?”
“…”
“I want you to feel comfortable with me. I want you to impose on me without a second thought. Would that be difficult?”
“Uh, um…”
“Give the man who’s courting you a little opening.”
The focus returned to Elysia’s eyes as she stared at him blankly. She shook her head slightly to clear it, her lips parting and then pressing firmly shut. Evan waited patiently.
Finally, a voice so small it was barely audible even at this close distance spoke.
“…………you.”
“What?”
“I was… disappointed today. Because… you weren’t there, Sen…ior.”
Heat rushed to his head. Evan felt an immediate urge to kiss her deeply as he stared down at Elysia with a dazed expression. She bit her lip hard and muttered.
“Is this… enough of an opening…?”
With a pained sigh, Elysia whipped her head around and buried her face in her pillow, the tips of her ears bright red. The man, who had been momentarily stunned as if struck by something, let out a soft laugh.
“Really?”
Seeing that she was still hiding her face in the pillow, he tried to calm himself. Ah, but how could he?
“You’re not one to lie. But… really? You really felt that way? Ah, El. That’s a wonderful opening. Can you give me more?”
“Stahp…”
Her words were completely muffled by the pillow. Elysia realized the mattress where he was sitting was shaking. This man is laughing.
Just as she was about to get annoyed, a gentle hand landed on her head, smoothing down her messy hair. She didn’t refuse the touch, accepting it naturally.
He stroked Elysia’s head as if petting a stray cat that allowed only him to touch it.
“So, what did you find out?”
Whip. Her head turned back in an instant. Elysia lifted her face from the pillow and looked up at him, her expression thick with bitterness. Just as he was about to ask what had happened, she answered.
“…I found bloodstains.”
His calm green eyes wavered. His expression seemed to ask, ‘Was there a body?’ so she quickly answered.
“There was no body. Just traces…”
“Then we can’t be sure of anything yet.”
Elysia, stifling a tired yawn, let out a small laugh. A pleasant surprise bloomed within her as the man voiced the exact same thought she’d had.
On impulse, she reached out and pulled on his forearm. She could feel the muscles twitch with tension under her fingertips. The man’s gaze fell upon her face. A moment of silence passed.
She was by no means ignorant of the warmth of the emotion in his eyes. The moment she’d noticed it, she had tried to leap away like a frog thrown into a boiling pot, so how could she not know? The reason she was calm now, despite knowing, was because that feeling no longer scared her.
After a moment of thought, she answered belatedly in a sleepy voice.
“Yeah, you’re right. We can’t be sure.”
She smiled faintly and gestured toward the desk.
“Senior, could you hand me a pen and paper? I think I need to write a letter to my client.”