Chapter 75 — Someone in Danger
Chapter 75 — Someone in Danger
Translation: Godtl
The room was pitch dark, without a single ray of light.
Following the red-glowing exclamation mark, Lelia discovered Kalix collapsed in the corner.
He was covered in cold sweat, groaning in pain....
'His eyes....'
Kalix's eyes had lost their pupils, glistening with strange colors.
Gold, red, purple, and silver mixed together, his eyes shone like mysterious beads.
Despite the eerie atmosphere, he kept groaning in pain and blinking.
It seemed like the aftereffects of injuries sustained during the battle with the Mad Dragon were manifesting as a seizure.
"Kalix, Kalix!"
Lelia didn't know what to do.
She sank to the ground in front of him, frantically checking his complexion.
Should she call someone? A doctor? A mage?
What should she do, what should she do.
She was so panicked her mind wasn't working properly.
Then suddenly, something flashed in her mind.
Lelia immediately opened her item window and took something out.
It was painkillers and sedatives, game items.
They were basic alchemical potions like health recovery potions, but quite effective.
They were safe since she had used them herself before.
With trembling hands, Lelia opened the bottle's lid and poured the medicine into Kalix's mouth.
"Nngh...."
Even so, Kalix clutched his eyes in pain.
Lelia felt so sorry and guilty that she burst into tears.
She knew there would be aftereffects from that incident, but she didn't know her precious friend would suffer and hurt this much.
Had he always been suffering alone like this in places where no one was around?
Since childhood, Kalix had always pretended to be strong, never wanting to show any weakness.
Feeling sorry and pity for such a Kalix, Lelia continued to cry silently.
Meanwhile, Kalix's pupils gradually began to stabilize.
The hallucinations tormenting him started to fade.
The flashes of light before his eyes, the corpses piled high enough to trip over, the sticky monster blood weighing down his entire body, the foul odor piercing his nose.
As these disappeared, a faint voice could be heard.
"...lix... Kalix.... Kalix!"
Ah.
Kalix sighed softly of admiration and realized who the owner of that voice was.
'Leo.'
It was Leo from his childhood.
As the terrible hallucinations disappeared, a peaceful scene emerged.
A wide field with fluffy clouds floating gently.
Leo came running to Kalix, who was lying comfortably taking a nap.
"Hey, you sleeping here all by yourself?"
"What... how did you know I was here again?"
When Kalix responded in annoyance, Leo curled his lips in a wicked grin.
"You're in the palm of my hand."
"Yeah, yeah, the captain is amazing."
"Your tone when calling me captain is getting a bit arrogant, isn't it?"
As he said that, Leo lay down next to Kalix in the same posture.
Hands behind his head, one knee raised with the other leg crossed over it.
Seeing Leo mimicking him, Kalix looked exasperated, while Leo closed his eyes and smiled.
"Let's rest a bit before the others come. They're like leeches, I tell you."
"Isn't my secret hideout getting completely ransacked because of you, captain? Just let those bastards swarm over here. It's your fault."
"How cheap! By the way, I'm surprised you know how to appreciate contemplation too?"
"Contemplation? What's that? I just took a nap."
"I knew it. Like a simple kid like you would know anything about...."
"Hey, what did you just say?"
"Hey? You said 'hey'? This is to your captain—!"
Warm wind tickling his cheeks, the beautiful pink sky as sunset approached.
Leo's laughter ringing clear like birdsong.
That figure gradually blurred.
He desperately tried to hold onto the scene before his eyes, but it scattered like dust.
At the same time, he felt a dizzying sensation of the ground beneath him crumbling away.
Leo died.
The memory of the day he realized that fact pierced his mind vividly like lightning.
That day, Kalix couldn't do anything and spent the day in a daze. The shock left him unable to do anything.
When he came to his senses, everything around him was in shambles.
His eyes were damp, and his body was covered in wounds from self-harm.
As the memory of that day surfaced, his heart began to race violently. Breathing became difficult.
"Kalix!"
It was then.
Somehow, a familiar voice caught hold of his consciousness.
Smack! Smack!
At the sudden sound of impact, his mind quickly returned to its proper place.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Wait, what is she doing right now....
After blinking his eyes a few times, he saw Lelia—no, Leo... no, Lelia—with a startled face.
She was boldly slapping Kalix's cheeks with both her palms! Smack! Smack!
"Kalix! Wake up! Kalix!"
"Hey, stop it, will you?"
Kalix shouted irritably and grabbed both of Lelia's hands with one large hand.
"Ah! Th-thank goodness... thank goodness...."
Lelia's lips trembled as she started crying.
Only then did Kalix look around and gather his senses.
Ah, another episode must have come.
Damn it....
To be caught in that state—there should be a limit to how embarrassing things can get.
Kalix clicked his tongue low and raised his upper body. His whole body was soaked with sweat.
He irritably threw off his sweat-drenched shirt.
In doing so, he noticed that both his eyes were wet.
'Not just the episode, but crying too.'
He cursed himself and wiped away the moisture pooled at his eyes.
"......."
Kalix, who had been wiping his eyes and trying to get up, finally discovered Lelia sitting slumped beside him.
He felt bewildered.
"Hey, why are you crying?"
Lelia was crying so sorrowfully that Kalix felt it was absurd.
At his words, she tightly bit her lip, shoulders heaving as she tried to hold back her sobbing.
Anyone seeing her would have thought she had lost her entire family during the war.
"Hey...."
When he tapped her shoulder with his fingertips, Lelia was startled and looked up at him.
With tears welling up, she looked just like a puppy that had been scolded by its owner.
"......!"
Lelia belatedly realized her own appearance. And that it would look strange.
She sprang to her feet, rushed past Kalix, and darted out like an arrow.
"What the...?"
Kalix blinked in disbelief.
He felt inexplicably awkward.
Why... cry that much? Did I look like I was going to die?
No, even if that were true.
Is that really something to cry that much about?
Having returned to her room, Lelia threw herself face-down on the bed, buried her head, and cried even more.
She was still shaken from Kalix, and also because of the dreams that had been tormenting her for days.
It was also because of the responsibility for the future she had been bearing alone all this time.
Once the tears burst forth, all the tension that had accumulated over time collapsed, and she couldn't hold it back.
And more than anything, she cried because Kalix was pitiful and heartbreaking, because she was sorry.
Lelia lay sobbing without moving for a long while, just like a long wooden doll.
The message that had been floating before her eyes until just moments ago was completely invisible to her.
[✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧ You saved a person in crisis! Acquired the title 'Passing Sage'! 3,000 Crystals have been awarded as compensation. (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧]
The next morning.
Lelia looked at her puffy eyes in the mirror and hung her head in despair.
Just then, a small message window flickered before her eyes.
[Oh my!(ಠoಠ)!!! When your eyes are swollen like a goldfish, we recommend to reduce the puffiness!( ³⌓³)]
"...."
Is this mocking me right now...?
Lelia grumbled inwardly but still took out the medicine from her inventory as instructed.
In its own way, this 'Help Mode' seemed to be of some use.
It was almost like a 'Beginner's Guide'...
Thanks to it, she had also managed not to overlook Kalix, so it had definitely been helpful.
Lelia barely managed to reduce the swelling in her eyes, took out a few medicines, and made her way to Kalix's room.
"...."
Kalix, who had personally opened the door, glanced at Lelia with a strange expression.
His face looked incredibly awkward for some reason.
"This is... medicine I gave to Lord Kalix yesterday, not knowing the situation. I thought it might help."
"...What kind of medicine?"
"Painkillers and sedatives."
"...Oh."
With those words, silence descended.
Feeling awkward for no reason, Lelia left the room without another word.
'Come to think of it, did Romeo make it back safely?'
She was peeking toward Romeo's quarters with that thought in mind when-
Thump, thump, thump.
She heard someone approaching from afar with irritable footsteps.
Turning her head, she saw Lute wearing an expression full of rage.
"Sir Lute?"
Lute approached like an enraged bull and immediately grabbed Lelia by the collar.
Judging by the bloodshot eyes, he seemed absolutely furious.
Lelia was bewildered.
"Sir Lute...! What in the world... Why...!"
That was when it happened.
"Sir Lute! Put that hand down this instant!"
Someone else was approaching from a distance. Choking with her collar grabbed, she glanced over to see Cedric and Damian.
'What is this...'
As the imperial princes approached, Lute reluctantly lowered his hand from her collar.
Yet still seething with indignation, he clenched his fist and trembled as if he might punch Lelia's face at any moment.
An inexplicable anxiety began to darken Lelia's vision.
She coughed hoarsely and looked at the two princes.
"Wh-what..."
Cedric and Damian, now right in front of her, surveyed her from head to toe with thoroughly displeased expressions.
Then they dropped a shocking statement.
"Just why did Julianna ask to put someone like this as a fiancé candidate..."
Wh-what?
Lelia was so surprised she couldn't even speak properly.
The next words made her feel even more like fainting.
"Let us go together, Lord Raymond. His Majesty wishes to see you."
"....!!"
Lelia stood frozen like ice.
"What is this?"
Perhaps due to the commotion outside, Kalix opened the door and stood at an angle, looking this way.
He had a thuggish expression, like some gangster passing by.
But only for a moment. Seeing Lute, Cedric, and Damian surrounding Lelia threateningly, Kalix frowned.
Then he strode over and pushed Lute, Cedric, and Damian's shoulders away with his fingertips—tap, tap, tap.
As if telling them to back off.
Such insolent and audacious behavior toward the imperial family. Lelia was appalled inside.
But more than that, what Cedric had said earlier was even more baffling.
'Someone wants to see me?'
Perhaps being pushed was more offensive than expected, Damian scowled deeply.
"What do you think you're doing? How dare you to the imperial family?"
"I saw three people surrounding one person, so I thought you were gangsters, not imperial family."
Kalix said sarcastically. His own tone and expression were even more like a gangster's.
"Hah."
Ignoring Damian's disbelief, Kalix grabbed Lelia's arm and pulled her behind himself. It was clearly a protective stance.
Seeing this, Cedric and Damian made even louder sounds of disbelief.
"It is an imperial command. You had better come along before we drag you away."
At Damian's words, Lelia gulped.
She had tried so hard to avoid facing Emperor Perseus.
Truthfully, the chances of meeting him were almost nil.
No matter that she was a guest staying at the imperial palace, she was neither an imperial family member nor a hero of the Light Dragon Subjugation like Romeo or Kalix.
The Emperor wasn't some neighborhood dog out for a walk; his schedule would be busy all day long. Honestly, even if she tried to meet him, the reality was that she wouldn't be able to see his face.
So why on earth...
'Has Julianna lost her mind?'
No, yesterday she was looking at her with such scorn, and now a fiancé candidate?
If things went wrong, the fact that she was a woman could be exposed.
Lelia recalled the medicine she had prepared for emergency situations.
Just then, Kalix turned around and looked at Lelia. She realized she had been clutching Kalix's hem in her anxiety and let go.
"Hey, what crime did you commit?"
At Kalix's question, Lelia shook her head.
"But you're so terrified."
"Th-that's... Even, even so, when His Majesty the Emperor summons me, I just feel..."
"...Want me to come with you?"
Kalix asked with a somewhat reluctant expression.
Lelia tried to say it was fine, but contrary to her thoughts, she was nodding her head frantically.
"Wait."
Kalix told Cedric and Damian, then pushed Lelia into her room.
Then he went into his own room as well.
Fortunately, it seemed he still had enough common sense to know one should dress properly for an imperial audience.
After seeing him treat Cedric and Damian so rudely, she had thought he'd forgotten all about proper decorum toward the imperial family.
Lelia tied her cravat with trembling hands and went outside. She didn't forget to check that the medicine was still in her inventory.
Stepping outside nervously, she saw Kalix already waiting.
Surprisingly, he had tied his cravat in the proper fashion. Though he himself had abandoned his title, Kalix too carried the blood of the imperial family.
Perhaps because of that, dressed properly, he looked not like a thug but a dignified imperial family member.
Being tall and well-built, he exuded more authority than even the leaner Cedric and Damian.
The only problem with him...
Was that he was arguing with Cedric and Damian who had been waiting, leaning against the wall?
Come to think of it, Cedric, Damian, Lute, and Kalix.
These four all knew each other.
They had all been part of the Light Dragon Subjugation force.
However, their relationship did not seem good at all.
"If you're staying as a guest, couldn't you at least behave quietly?"
"Did I come here as a criminal? Who do you think you're ordering around?"
"...."
At Kalix's words, Cedric couldn't say anything. Because it was true.
In truth, the imperial family had been the ones to insist he stay at the imperial palace since he was going to stay in their capital anyway.
Having imperial family members and heroes from another nation stay at the Auraria Imperial Palace for an extended period would be seen in a positive light.
Especially at this tense moment in the tug-of-war between the Five Empires and the Temple.
Anyway, Lelia headed toward the main palace with them, feeling nervous.
She had never imagined Kalix would offer to come along. Somehow, it put her mind at ease.
Lute kept glaring at Lelia like he wanted to kill her, saying nothing the entire time.
'Just yesterday he was treating me like a benefactor... and now suddenly like an enemy.'
Ignoring Lute's gaze, Lelia hid behind Kalix.
"Did you borrow money from that bastard? Why is he like that?"
Seemingly puzzled by Lute's behavior, Kalix asked Lelia in a low voice.
"...Princess Julianna supposedly put me forward as a fiancé candidate."
"What?"
Kalix let out a burst of laughter—'kuek'—but quickly covered his mouth with his large hand without making too much sound.
Judging by how he was squeezing his eyes shut while laughing, it must have been hilarious.
But because of Kalix's laughter, Lute glared at Lelia even more fiercely with blazing eyes.
'He probably thinks I'm mocking him.'
I don't know anymore...
Lelia blinked slowly, like someone who had reached enlightenment.