Fall, Isolation (4)
Theodora's face drained of all color, her lips beginning to tremble. Maxim gently pressed down on her shoulder, preventing her from trying to move. With a labored breath, Theodora lowered the upper body she had been struggling to lift. Maxim gazed down at her, his brows furrowed in concern.
"Your injuries are severe, Theodora. For now, you need to rest..."
"...What happened?" Theodora asked, her face twisting in discomfort. The pain in her leg seemed to be bothering her greatly.
"While we were fighting the monster, the cliff collapsed."
"...Yeah, I remember that much."
Theodora could still recall the splitting cliff and the sensation of her sword plunging into Fenrir's nape.
"Where... are we?"
Had there been a place like this in No Man's Land? Theodora looked around. Were they trapped together inside the collapsed debris? A faint stench of decay mingled with the metallic tang of blood inside the small cave. The source of the blood seemed to be coming from a gap that looked like the entrance to a split-open cavern.
"...We're inside a hole in the cliff at the edge of No Man's Land."
"Inside a hole?" Theodora asked, sounding puzzled. "How did we end up here?"
"...At first, I was planning to hide among the fallen debris and wait for rescue."
Maxim glanced briefly toward the back of the cave.
"Before I knew there was a Deathworm burrowing through the cliff."
"...What do you mean? A Deathworm that drills through cliffs?"
Maxim let out a sigh.
"I don't know how such a specimen could even exist, but there was an enormous Deathworm that had carved out this tunnel. And the creature responsible for it was slowly making its way toward us through that very hole."
Maxim turned his gaze back to the entrance.
"I realized we wouldn't be able to hold out until rescue arrived while protecting you. So I searched outside the collapsed cliff and found this small cave."
Theodora's expression hardened.
"...This is bad."
"It is bad."
Maxim shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. The entrance, concealed by the corpses of monsters, let in only faint traces of light. Outside, darkness was gradually deepening.
"I'm sorry."
Theodora suddenly apologized.
"Why are you apologizing out of nowhere?"
"...If you'd been alone, you could've survived easily."
Maxim snorted and shook his head.
"No, why would that be something to apologize for?"
"You should've just left me behind."
Maxim's face crumpled into a deep frown.
"Don't even joke about that."
"I wasn't joking."
Theodora looked up at Maxim with sorrowful eyes. Her gaze caught the slowly seeping twilight and gleamed in ashen gray. Dark clouds swirled within them. Maxim stared quietly into her eyes before closing them tightly and letting out a sigh.
"Theodora, stop thinking such pointless thoughts. We'll both survive and get rescued. Or we'll claw our way out of this damned wasteland ourselves."
Maxim spoke to her with firm conviction.
"Don't talk about being a burden. If anything, curse me for not getting you out of here sooner."
"Maxim."
"Let me say one thing."
Theodora pressed her lips together tightly as she watched Maxim's grave expression.
"If you can't escape this place, neither will I. If you die, I'll die too."
Theodora's pupils trembled. Maxim leaned his head back against the wall, looking exhausted.
"..."
Theodora couldn't find any words to respond and simply stared at the ceiling. She thought saying thank you would suffice, but expressing gratitude felt even harder than apologizing. Maxim lifted the back of his head from the wall and changed the subject.
"For now, let's discuss how we're going to get out of here and call for help."
"Won't they think we're dead up there?"
"...They might, but I don't believe they will."
"Why not?"
"Because you're an incredibly important asset to the kingdom, and a promising talent drawing attention across the entire continent?"
Theodora let out a weak chuckle while still lying down.
"It's been so long since I've heard that..."
Theodora exhaled, her strength fading.
"About the rescue... I wonder if the flare case is still attached to my belt... Ah, there it is."
"You mean the signal flare?"
Theodora nodded and detached a small pouch with a soft tug, then opened it. Maxim looked at the single signal flare she held out to him.
"What about yours?"
"...I think I lost it while falling."
Only now remembering the flares, Maxim patted his belt, but there was no pouch to be found.
"So we only have one chance."
"That's right."
Theodora braced herself with her arms and pushed her body up.
"You shouldn't strain yourself."
"I'm not straining myself. If I just lie here, how am I supposed to respond when monsters come in from over there?"
Theodora grimaced as she leaned her back against the wall. She was looking down at her right leg.
"It's completely ruined."
"Don't even think about walking on it."
At Maxim's words, Theodora shook her head.
"If I suppress the pain with mana and reinforce my body, it should be fine. Especially since you bound it so well."
Theodora carefully touched her shin. Maxim watched that leg with worried eyes.
"It's okay. Once we escape, I can get proper treatment right away."
By now, complete darkness had swallowed the outside. This was when the monsters' feeding would truly begin. Monsters naturally appeared far more frequently and in greater numbers at night than during the day. The growls of awakened beasts, the rustling sounds of them prowling the wasteland, echoed through the air. Hunts and battles broke out, and the stench of blood and flesh grew thicker.
"I wonder if they started searching today," Theodora murmured, turning her head toward the entrance.
"Even if they did, they'd have withdrawn by now... If they stayed here through the night, the search party would be in too much danger."
Maxim shifted into a more comfortable position. This small cave was barely wide enough for him to lie down. Just enough space for both Theodora and him to stretch their legs at the same time. Maxim deliberately relaxed his body, intending to conserve his strength.
"Looks like we'll have to spend tonight quietly here."
Theodora looked at Maxim while letting her right leg hang loosely and hugging only her left one. Seeing the fatigue etched on her face, Maxim said,
"I'll take the first watch. If you're tired, sleep."
She remained silent. Maxim awkwardly avoided Theodora's stormy gray gaze, which was boring into him.
"...Maxim."
Theodora hesitated. If she spoke with him here and now, she felt like she would come across as a fool. At the boundary between life and death, what did their relationship even matter? Yet despite that thought, Theodora found it incredibly difficult to speak to Maxim. What could she possibly say to that exhausted knight? She didn't want to bring up the past again, and she hated talking about the present even more. But she had to speak. If not now, it didn't seem like that man would ever answer, and she doubted she would ever try to have a conversation with him alone like this again. It was such a foolish pride, and such a deep, petty hatred. Theodora felt disgusted with herself.
For now, Theodora decided not to think about anything. She simply wanted to talk. Rather than breaking the chains that bound the two of them so tightly, she wanted to talk about how they had ended up tied together like this. Yes, perhaps ever since that night two days ago, when she had driven Maxim out of her room after he rejected her, Theodora had been unable to stop thinking about it.
"Turn back time for a moment."
At the words that came from Theodora's mouth, Maxim lifted his head from where it had been resting against the wall.
"Let's go back three years and talk about it."
Maxim looked at her. It seemed she had made a tremendous resolution. An anxiously trembling determination floated in her eyes. Maxim felt an indescribable emotion. It stirred him from deep within his heart, like an impulse.
"Suddenly?"
"Yes. Suddenly."
Maxim's eyes wavered at Theodora's resolute attitude. But he quickly regained his composure and tried to cut off the conversation she wanted to have.
"...It'll only hurt you."
"Yes. And I'll probably be bound by that wound forever, for the rest of my life."
Theodora buried her head deeply between her knees before lifting it again.
"Your engagement. Was that something you wanted?"
Maxim closed his eyes at her question. Afraid that if he showed his trembling pupils, she would think it strange, he avoided her gaze, even if it seemed cowardly.
"Yes."
"That..."
Maxim let out a sigh.
"It was a family matter, nothing more. I simply accepted it without resistance."
"...Maxim."
Maxim denied it to the very end. And in doing so, he pushed Theodora away. The emotion in Theodora's eyes did not change.
"That wasn't the kind of answer I wanted. It wasn't an explanation."
Theodora frowned slightly, as if her right leg was bothering her. Maxim couldn't hide the fear that made his heart tremble at her words.
"Theodora, if you ask me like that, I have no choice but to deny it. Explanation or whatever, I'm just stating the facts."
Theodora simply looked at him. Maxim didn't have the confidence to endure this situation any longer. He had thought it would end if she simply hated him, but it wasn't like that. Theodora was far stronger, far less swayed than Maxim had imagined, or even than her father had anticipated.
"Maxim."
Theodora called his name. Her voice had grown subdued.
"That day, it was snowing."
She deliberately described the scenery of the day they parted, as if dredging up painful memories.
"It wasn't heavy. It wasn't sleet, just snow falling slowly, like sugar crystals. There was no wind, and it was the kind of winter day I liked—not too cold."
As Maxim listened to Theodora's words, he recalled the scenery of that day.
"After you said we should break up, I don't remember much. What I said, or what you tried to say in response. I just... probably cried, cursed, and fought."
"Theodora."
Maxim spoke to stop her, but Theodora paid no heed and continued her story.
"Maxim, there are still so many things I can't understand. Why you didn't use your aura, why you ended up as a fallen knight in that order, and how... even with a fiancée, you were so close to the vice commander."
Maxim lowered his head as he watched Theodora methodically unravel her doubts.
"I don't know, Maxim. I really don't. I hate you, I hate you so much..."
Maxim remained silent, his face shadowed, as he listened to Theodora's words. She sighed while looking at him, who refused to open his mouth until the end. Time passed. Each second felt as heavy as an hour. Theodora bit her lip hard.
"Theodora."
At that moment, Maxim spoke. His expression and voice carried so much weight. Theodora unconsciously fixed her eyes on that face.
"Let's survive and get out of here."
It was such an abrupt statement, not even an answer. But Theodora widened her eyes and stared at Maxim. A faint smile played on his lips. It was an incredibly bitter smile. Theodora could not continue speaking after that response from him. She simply pressed her forehead against her drawn-up knees. She had thought it would clear her mind, but instead, it only grew more complicated. Since he had offered to take the first watch, he would understand this much. Theodora closed her eyes.
Maxim continued to watch her like that.
"You must be tired."
As he said those words, Maxim gave a bitter smile toward Theodora, who had already fallen asleep. It felt as if a storm had swept through his mind. Truth and lies, past and present—Maxim's memories and thoughts intersected chaotically. The confession and truth he could not bring himself to voice were far too bitter. Even though they might die here at any moment, worrying about such things felt like a luxury. Yet Maxim let out a small chuckle. Perhaps it was precisely because life and death hung in the balance that such thoughts came to him.
Maxim placed his hand over his breastplate. Beneath it, his heartbeat and the curse lurked.
'Maxim, in the end, the only one who can pull someone out of that pit of agony and despair is themselves.'
I wonder, Senior Paola.
Out of habit, Maxim reached out to stroke Theodora's hair, then flinched and stopped, lowering his arm back to the ground.
He didn't know how the words 'Let's survive and get out of here' had sounded to Theodora's ears. Maxim gazed at the cave entrance where faint moonlight filtered in. The cries of the monsters echoed endlessly, as if they would overturn the entire world. Yet in Maxim's eyes, there burned not despair at their situation, but only a fierce determination to survive no matter what.