The Path They Walked (7)
Christine's gaze was filled with unmistakable discontent. Her eyes were fixed on Adeline's pale hand, which rested firmly atop the back of Maxim's hand. The way she held it—with a careful yet undeniable strength, as if clinging to something precious—didn't sit well with her at all.
Of course, Adeline couldn't possibly be aware of that stare. She simply lifted her head toward the direction of Christine's voice.
Adeline's voice sounded hesitant, yet her question struck right at the heart of the matter. Christine frowned as if she'd been hit, taking a step back.
"...No."
The unspoken protest was clear: If you're not his lover, then what business is it of yours whether I hold his hand or cup his cheeks?
Christine clenched her fist tightly, then seemed to reach a decision and opened her mouth.
"But Senior Arsen is... kyaa!"
Maxim, knowing exactly what Christine was about to say, swiftly jabbed her in the side. Christine's face flushed bright red as she glared at him with furious eyes. Maxim sent her a silent plea: My head feels like it's going to explode, so please, don't say anything more. Christine let out a sigh and had no choice but to swallow her words.
"Anyway! If you let go of Senior's hand, I'll be able to examine your condition properly. So could you release his hand for a moment?"
Christine grabbed both Maxim's and Adeline's wrists, practically forcing them apart. When she saw the tips of Adeline's fingers spread out in clear reluctance before curling back in, Christine's expression darkened with irritation once more.
"Senior, could you step back for a bit?"
Maxim nodded and rose from his chair. Christine took his place, settling into the seat. She studied Adeline across from her with careful attention. Adeline seemed conscious of the gaze; she flinched and pulled her head back slightly.
She's pretty.
Even with the blindfold covering her eyes, it wasn't hard to imagine her original features. A delicately tapered chin, a straight nose, and lips that drew a beautiful line. The black cloth over her eyes only added an even more mysterious allure.
Why does it feel like so many beautiful people keep gathering around Senior? The former Commander was the same... and though I haven't seen her face yet, I'm sure Senior's fiancée must be beautiful too.
Christine puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction before smoothing them back down and beginning the examination.
"It's your eyes... right?"
Adeline nodded. Christine wondered what those eyes looked like beneath the black cloth. Recalling the time she'd treated Maxim's wounds, she made her request with care.
"Could you remove the blindfold for a moment?"
Adeline reached behind her head and untied the knot. The pitch-black cloth slipped away silently, sliding down her face. Adeline kept her eyes closed. Christine could see the long lashes casting shadows over those closed lids. Before she could ask her to open them, Adeline slowly lifted her eyelids.
"...How is it?"
Christine couldn't answer Adeline's question right away. Those pupils weren't looking forward. The irises within the whites were twisted so horribly that their original color was impossible to discern. Christine's own eyes trembled in response.
The traces of extreme torture and curses. Christine thought it was fortunate that Adeline's memories weren't clear. She hid her own agitation and answered as calmly as she could.
"As you probably already know, it's not in good condition. I'll need to examine it more closely to be sure."
If Maxim's wounds had felt like scars earned in honorable knightly combat, the damage in Adeline's eyes was pain inflicted purely for the sake of pain. It was a wound created solely to wound.
"Would it be alright if I looked even closer?"
"Please do."
Christine raised her hand and began channeling mana around Adeline's eyes, observing the condition in detail. Just as she'd done for Maxim when examining the curse's traces, a golden glow settled in her palm.
"Just a moment."
Christine's hand touched Adeline's cheek. She gently tilted Adeline's chin upward, frowning at times as she tended to the injury, letting out occasional sighs. The examination took longer than expected. Finally, Christine withdrew her hand and crossed her arms again.
"There's one positive point and one negative point. Which would you like to hear first?"
Adeline blinked. She seemed quite awkward facing someone without her blindfold; her expression had stiffened, and she fidgeted uncomfortably.
"...I'll hear the good news first."
"Your curse hasn't fully taken root in your body yet. To be precise, the curse that was on the verge of settling completely was twisted by some external factor..."
Christine fumbled for the right words to explain.
"In short, even if it's not a complete dispelling, we can gradually reduce the curse's influence on you. I'll need to come and tend to you regularly, but... this isn't exactly a penalty. That's the positive side."
Adeline tilted her head, as if wondering what negative point could possibly follow.
"The bad news is..."
"Your eyes... they may never be fully healed. No, they probably won't be."
At Christine's words, Adeline's eyes widened for a brief moment before returning to their usual blank expression. In contrast to Adeline, Christine's face showed clear sorrow and frustration. She was probably wrestling with the guilt that weighed on her once again.
"This is separate from the curse. I don't know what exactly the Count did to implant that curse in your eyes, but the external damage is too severe. It's as if..."
Christine nearly said it looked like someone had taken a branding iron to her pupils alone, but she closed her mouth. It wouldn't do to stir up any unpleasant memories for Adeline.
"I don't remember much. Why I swore loyalty to Count Benning, why I followed his orders from the depths of my heart. Why my eyes went blind."
"...It's probably better that you don't remember."
Christine offered that reply with a sigh.
"Then, shall we begin the dispelling now?"
Christine placed her hand on Adeline's cheek. Fortunately, it didn't feel as soft as her own.
Wait, why am I even comparing cheek softness? What does that matter?
Christine inwardly scolded herself for making such a pointless comparison and moved her hand toward Adeline's eyes. Adeline, who had been tilting her head toward Christine, spoke up.
"...Once this curse is driven out,"
Christine paused, lifting her hand slightly to listen.
"Will I never again see Arsen as an enemy and point my sword at him?"
Adeline asked whether she would ever again, deep in her heart, regard Arsen as an enemy, aim her blade at his throat, and think of taking his life. Christine nodded in response.
"No. The Count's curse will no longer control your will or thoughts. Of course, the memories you've lost won't return immediately just because the curse is gone, but..."
"Still, that's a relief. I don't need to regain my memories right away... but I didn't want to point my sword at Arsen again."
Her voice sounded relieved, and the tension had drained from her expression. As Christine looked at Adeline's face, her own eyes turned slightly displeased once more.
As I thought, she's not someone I can let my guard down around so easily.
"It might take some time. Is that alright with you, Senior?"
Christine asked, turning her head. Maxim, watching them from about three steps away, nodded.
"I've said it several times already—don't push yourself, Christine. Not even once."
At Maxim's single worried remark, all the dissatisfaction Christine had been harboring seemed to melt away. Her expression softened. She turned her head to hide the corners of her mouth that kept twitching upward, then answered in a deliberately prim voice.
"Push myself? There's no need for that with this. And..."
Christine added in a hesitant tone.
"It's only because it's you, Senior, that I'd go that far. It won't happen again."
Her voice trailed off. Maxim smiled bitterly.
"Yeah. I'll make sure something like that never happens again."
Christine's face turned so red that she was grateful her back was turned. The corners of her mouth had completely escaped her control, curving into a wide arc. Her mood now lifted, Christine looked back at Adeline and spoke with renewed energy.
"Let's begin."
A light bloomed in Christine's hand. It was a warm, enveloping glow that reached Adeline's eyes—like the gentle sunlight of late spring. Adeline's expression turned to one of surprise.
"Ah..."
A soft gasp of wonder escaped her. Maxim, standing behind them, recalled the first time he'd received Christine's treatment. Had he made that same astonished face back then? Without a doubt, Christine's magic was mysterious. It had freed him from pain that felt like a razor scraping across his chest and heart. But more than that, the mage's magic was kind. It was a touch that reached the soul, a compassionate companion that spoke gently.
"...It's really warm."
When Adeline spoke in a delighted voice, Christine let out an awkward cough, flustered. She clearly hadn't expected such words from her. Faced with Adeline's honest demeanor, Christine gave a less-than-honest reply.
"It might feel a bit unpleasant, but please bear with it. It's a necessary step to drive out the curse."
Adeline moved her lips as if to say that wasn't the case at all.
"It doesn't feel unpleasant at all. In fact... I feel like I could keep receiving this forever."
"...Thank you."
Unable to resist such sincerity, Christine quietly accepted the compliment.
The sun shifted from noon to afternoon, casting deeper light. As if the treatment had reached a satisfying point, the glow in Christine's hand gradually faded. She withdrew her hand from Adeline's face with a faint smile, seemingly pleased with the results.
"There. That's enough for today. It will take more time to reach a truly satisfactory level, but... it seems it might progress more smoothly than I expected."
Christine placed the cloth that had fallen onto the bed back into Adeline's hand.
"As for your eyes, I'll look for every possible method I can find."
"Just driving out the curse is more than enough. How can I ever repay this kindness..."
Christine quickly pulled back. The word "kindness" felt far too generous for her to hear right now.
"No, I don't think I've bestowed any kindness. So please, don't think of yourself as having received any from me."
Christine stood up, fanning herself with her hand. She seemed unused to such a warm, slightly awkward atmosphere.
"Senior, I'll head back to the carriage first. You two can finish whatever you were talking about and come down later."
Before Maxim could stop her, Christine rose from her seat and practically fled the room. Maxim stared blankly at the spot where she'd been, then sighed and turned back to Adeline.
"Sorry about my junior. She does whatever she wants."
Adeline shook her head.
"You have a wonderful junior. I'm almost envious."
"...She's far too good for someone like me."
Maxim smiled bitterly as he sat down across from Adeline once more. Perhaps because one weight had been lifted from her heart, her face looked much more at ease than when they'd first entered the room.
"There's one thing I'd like to ask."
"Ask me anything."
"I was told that the reason I was able to survive and stand before you like this is because His Majesty granted your request, Arsen... What exactly did you ask of His Majesty?"
Maxim shrugged.
"It wasn't anything grand. I simply asked him to save one knight who had been caught in the Count's schemes and cursed."
Adeline lowered her head deeply. Was she thinking she had received far more than she deserved, or was she simply unable to understand? The corners of her usually expressionless mouth trembled slightly.
"Why did you save me?"
It was the question she'd held in her heart from the very beginning. A question she hadn't dared ask, fearing the truth. It was the inner heart of a certain knight who had said he would no longer see her as an enemy.
"It's not that I don't trust you. But no matter how I think about it, I can't find a reason why you would save me... You could have simply thought of me as an enemy and left me to die in that dungeon."
Her voice carried a note of unease. Maxim let out a hearty laugh. At that familiar sound, Adeline's lips tightened, but Maxim didn't give her a proper answer.
"There is... a reason. A very clear one."
He couldn't tell her yet. That he had once been trapped in the same curse, that he had nearly ended up in the same situation. That he didn't know what she had lost, but because he knew how agonizing and terrifying the process of being cursed was, he had wanted to save her. So when he could stand before her again not as Arsen Bern but as Maxim Apparte, he would tell her the reason. For now, he asked her to be patient just a little longer.
"But I can't tell you right now."
"Why not?"
"When the time comes, I'll tell you first. So please, don't worry too much. We won't meet as enemies again."
Adeline seemed to accept his words, yet she looked dissatisfied with the final remark he'd added.
"...I wasn't worried."
It was obviously a lie that wouldn't fool anyone. But Maxim decided to play along and let out a low chuckle.
"Will your eyes be alright?"
Maxim asked, concerned about Adeline's eyes that might never recover. Adeline nodded as if it were nothing.
"I can't see, but because of that, there are many things I can understand. Daily life isn't that inconvenient either. So even if I can never see again, I don't think I'll be too heartbroken."
Because she was blind, she could feel more than those who could see and perceive the world differently.
"You don't need to worry too much. However..."
However? Maxim looked at her with worried eyes, wondering if some other anxiety remained.
"If I can never see again, I think I'll regret not being able to see your face, Arsen, with my own eyes."
Adeline spoke in a wistful voice. Maxim raised his eyebrows in surprise at the unexpected words.
"My... face?"
"Yes. So,"
Before he knew it, the tips of Adeline's fingers had come to rest on his chin. He felt a cool touch. Maxim looked down at Adeline as she lifted her face toward him with a pitiful expression.
"Right now, I want to know your face. What shape it has. And what expressions you make."
Maxim froze for a long moment before nodding in permission.
"...Alright."
Adeline's fingertips, which had lingered around his chin, began to move. She traced the face of Maxim, transformed into Arsen, with her hands, memorizing every contour. She etched each sensation into her heart—the shape of his face, the form of his nose and the scar crossing over it, the slightly dry lips from the winter air, the shape of his forehead and hair, the outline of his ears, and even the form of his gently closed eyes.
Adeline spent a long time "seeing" Arsen's appearance with her hands like that. Finally, when the face had taken form within the darkness and become clearly imprinted in her mind as a single image, she lowered her hand back to his chin and nodded.
"...A sharp impression."
"I've heard that a lot. Does it not look ugly?"
At Maxim's half-joking question, Adeline shook her head.
"Not at all. It wasn't ugly. But even if your appearance had been ugly, it wouldn't have changed anything."
Maxim smiled awkwardly, looking troubled. As she listened to that smile, Adeline spoke softly.
"So this is the face you had."
Her voice trembled slightly, like someone whose lingering attachment or desperately held wish had finally been fulfilled. And then,
"So that even if I open my eyes again, I'll know it's you."
For the first time, the corners of her mouth lifted gently, forming a smile. Seeing that natural, impossibly soft smile, Maxim could only stare in a daze. Adeline, smiling without her blindfold, was so beautiful that he couldn't help but gaze at her in awe.
"I will always, always remember it."