Chapter 44
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 44. 20th Floor (1)
I staggered and walked out.
My legs were shaking and my fingertips were trembling minutely.
It was the price of wrestling in the workshop without rest for days and nights.
But the item held in my hand was shining more brilliantly than any star.
"I'm out...!"
Cassia, who was waiting anxiously outside, stopped while trying to run towards me.
It wasn't just her.
Even the servants and escort knights around inhaled sharply and stepped back.
Their gazes were fixed not on my face but on the sword held in my hand.
The overwhelming energy spewing from the entire sword was heavily pressing down on the surrounding air.
"Th... This is...."
Cassia's lips trembled faintly.
Unable to take her eyes off the sword, she approached step by step as if possessed.
I struggled to lift the sword and offered it to her.
"As promised... I made it."
My voice was cracked and terrible, but confidence was imbued in it.
Cassia blankly looked down at the sword.
It looked too beautiful and noble.
It felt so undeserved she wondered if it was an item she dared to grip.
She shook her head and tried to speak words of refusal.
"Si-woo, this is too much for me...."
But she couldn't finish her words.
Because my appearance beyond the sword entered her eyes.
A face stained with soot.
Hair drooping wet with sweat.
Bloodshot eyes and burst lips.
And fingers wrapped tightly in bandages.
A man ruined so miserably solely for her was standing before her eyes.
She bit her lip tightly.
To decline here saying it's undeserved would be an act of insulting his effort.
She reached out a trembling hand.
"......Thank you. Thank you truly."
Her fingers touched the Ebony Wood handle.
It was that moment.
—Vwoom!
The sword vibrated, making a pleasant crying sound.
It was as if the entire sword was fluctuating with joy like a puppy meeting its long-awaited master.
The light-purple energy spewing from the Orichalcum of the blade rose like a heat haze and wrapped around Cassia's body.
As if recognizing each other, that light was resonating with the color of her purple eyes.
"Ah...."
Cassia let out an exclamation and gripped the sword completely.
Her eyes grew round.
"This can't be...."
No weight was felt.
No, it wasn't that there was no weight, but it was natural as if the sword had become an extension of her arm.
The grip feeling that filled her grasp without gaps was enough to give goosebumps.
It felt as if she was born holding this sword.
She swung the sword as if possessed.
—Swish.
Not even the sound of cutting through the empty air occurred.
It was just a smooth and elegant movement like drawing a line in the empty air with a brush.
Following the trajectory where the sword passed, light-purple afterimages embroidered the night sky.
It looked like a mysterious aurora unfolding against the backdrop of the dark night sky.
I blankly watched that sight.
It was beautiful.
Her figure moving as if dancing holding the sword was itself like a painting.
White hair fluttering, purple eyes shining, and the purple trajectory blooming from her fingertips was following behind her.
Having finished a bout of sword dance, Cassia looked at me with a flushed face.
Her eyes were full of overwhelming emotion and joy.
"It is perfect.... I have never seen a sword more perfect than this in my life."
She smiled brightly.
Seeing that smile, a smile naturally hung on my lips too.
"That's a relief...."
Seeing her satisfied made a corner of my chest feel fully filled.
This is the taste of making things.
As the tension released, the fatigue I had suppressed rushed in like a tsunami.
Strength left my legs.
My vision spun, and the world began to tilt.
"Uh...?"
My body collapsed into the empty air.
A ringing sound buzzed in my ears.
Through my increasingly closing eyelids, I saw someone screaming and running towards me.
"Si-woo!!"
Cassia's face running over, turned pale.
Her reaching out her arms towards me looked like slow motion.
Don't worry.
I'm just a bit sleepy.
Muttering like that inwardly, I sank into deep darkness.
"Si-woo!"
Cassia threw her body, and her arms barely caught him right before Si-woo hit the floor.
A heavy weight pressed down on her arms, but she staggered and ultimately didn't let him go.
With a pale face, she examined the face of Si-woo held in her embrace.
Wondering if something went wrong anywhere, or if his body was damaged due to excessive crafting.
Checking his condition, a regular breathing sound of huff-puff was heard.
"Ah...."
A long sigh of relief flowed from Cassia's mouth.
Fortunately, it wasn't a critical condition.
He just couldn't overcome the extreme fatigue accumulated all this time and fell into a deep sleep.
"Your Highness! Are you alright!"
"Hurry and call a physician!"
Surprised servants and escort knights flocked over in a rush.
Flustered seeing the Imperial Princess sitting on the floor holding a man, they reached out to support Si-woo.
But Cassia shook her head and stopped them.
"Step back."
"However, Your Highness... this place is cold, and the floor is cold. Let us take the Knight to a comfortable place...."
"Did I not say it is fine. I will take care of it, so please step aside for a moment."
At her firm tone, the knights and servants hesitated, then quietly stepped back.
As the surroundings became quiet, Cassia slumped down on the cold stone floor.
Her dignity as an Imperial Princess didn't matter.
She carefully lifted Si-woo's head and laid it on her thighs.
His face, sleeping defenselessly, filled her vision.
It was a grubby face from not washing for days, but in her eyes, he looked cooler than anyone else.
"Mmm...."
Si-woo wriggled.
Is he fighting something even in his dreams?
His brow narrowed deeply as he frowned.
Cassia raised her hand and gently covered his forehead.
Her touch, cooled by the cold night air, touched his hot, flushed forehead.
She caressed his frowning brow with her thumb as if to gently smooth it out.
"Rest comfortably.... Since it's all over now."
As her affectionate touch and low voice reached him, Si-woo's expression loosened like a lie.
His wrinkled brow smoothed out, and even a faint smile hovered around his lips.
His face, breathing softly in sleep, looked peaceful like a child.
Cassia's hand came down from his forehead and headed to his cheek.
His cheek was covered in black soot.
She carefully wiped it off with the end of her sleeve.
Her white sleeve became dirty and black, but she didn't care.
Rather, that stain felt like proof of his devotion to her, making her heart feel touched.
She brushed the bridge of his nose with her finger and stroked his roughened lips.
Moisture gathered in her purple eyes as she contained his image.
"It is always a continuous string of things to be thankful to you for...."
Her voice scattered in the night air.
"You resolved the famine, protected the soldiers, and even made a sword like this for me...."
She smiled bitterly.
"Yet I have nothing I can do for you...."
She only received.
She wore the title of Imperial Princess, but compared to the miracles he bestowed, the reward she gave was too shabby.
Then the sword placed alone on the floor entered her eyes.
[Rapier]
The sword he made pouring all of himself into it.
Perhaps because its master, she, was nearby, the light-purple blade was still resonating and shining subtly.
She looked down at the sword and Si-woo.
Something hot surged up from deep within her chest.
"...I promise."
She quietly vowed.
"If danger ever befalls you... just as you protected me, this time I will protect you."
Even if it is a matter requiring her to lay down her life.
With this sword he made, she would cut down everything that blocked his path.
Cassia's purple eyes mixed with the light-purple energy flowing from the sword, shining even brighter and more intensely.
Even in the darkness, her eyes were shining like stars, no, even more brilliantly than that.
"Mmm...."
I stretched and opened my eyes.
I didn't know how long it had been since I felt this refreshed.
It felt like the fatigue pressing down on my whole body was washed away cleanly.
Dazzling sunlight came through the window, brightly illuminating the room.
High ceilings and antique furniture.
It was the familiar room where I stayed while in the Imperial Palace.
"Yawn... How did I get to the bed? I guess I just fainted."
I opened my mouth wide, yawned, and scratched my messy hair.
My last memory was the moment I handed the sword to Cassia in front of the workshop and collapsed as the tension released.
Someone must have moved me....
Just as I was raising my body to sit up properly, I felt something on my right hand.
"Huh?"
Turning my head, someone was lying face down on the bed.
White hair sparkling receiving the sunlight.
It was Cassia.
She was resting her head on her arms, sleeping softly.
"......."
I blankly watched that sight.
Why is she sleeping here sitting uncomfortably on a chair, leaving her comfortable room?
Come to think of it, I remembered someone catching me when I collapsed.
A warm and soft embrace, and an urgent shout calling me with a worried voice.
Sleeping in an uncomfortable posture, her face looked defenseless, unlike her usual dignified appearance.
Her long eyelashes trembled minutely every time she breathed.
It was the moment I was carefully moving to pull out my held hand, afraid she might wake up.
"Mmm...."
Perhaps feeling my movement, Cassia's eyelids fluttered.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Half-asleep purple eyes blinked to focus, then met mine exactly.
Silence flowed in the room for a moment.
We were looking into each other's eyes, grasping the situation.
"......Ah."
A small sigh leaked from Cassia's mouth.
She seemed to have finished grasping the situation.
Instantly, the nape of her white neck began to turn red.
That red energy spread uncontrollably, instantly reddening past the tips of her ears to her cheeks.
"Uwa... Ah...!"
Startled like a person electrocuted, she jumped up.
Her pupils lost their place and wandered this way and that.
"E... Excuse me! That is... I was worried about you, so for a moment...! That...!"
The Imperial Princess even stuttered, not knowing what to do.
She seemed to want to make an excuse that she fell asleep while nursing me last night, but shyness seemed to precede.
"Th... That's not it!"
She hurriedly tidied her clothes and stepped backward toward the door.
With her face completely red as if it would burst, she shouted.
"I... I will prepare a meal right away! Since you need to restore your health!"
—Bang!
She ran out of the room as if escaping.
The sound of the door closing rang loudly.
"......."
Left alone, I blankly stared at the closed door.
"What's going on...?"
It was the moment a hollow laugh was about to come out right after waking up.
A notification sound rang out in the empty air.
—Ding!
System messages appeared in a line before my eyes.
I swallowed my saliva in anticipation.
Since I made a Legendary weapon, the reward must be massive too, right?
A drastic stat increase? Or another hidden skill?
But the following message shattered my expectations.
"......Huh?"
I blankly stared at the empty air, then soon got furious.
"......Yes?!"
I kicked the blanket and shouted.
"What the hell is this?!"
No, if you're going to give it, give it, what do you mean suspended?
"Hey! System! Are you kidding me? Hand over what's mine!"
In my unfairness, I pointed my finger at the empty air.
But the system lightly ignored my complaint.
Rather, as if showing off, it floated the next message.
—Ding!