Swear to Me
Vivian had hoped for salvation, but she never truly believed anyone would come.
The situation around her made that clear enough. The flames raged too fiercely, and the smoke was so thick she couldn't see an inch ahead. Finding a person in conditions like these was no different from hunting for a needle in a haystack. Even if someone managed to find her, escaping would be an entirely separate problem.
And yet, in the middle of all this, Kailo had come.
Of all the countless people who might have appeared, the one she least expected—the one she had assumed would show up last—had arrived.
"...Why? Why..."
Vivian couldn't finish the sentence, drowning in shock and confusion. Kailo's actions defied every scrap of understanding she possessed.
Had there ever been any sense of duty or special feeling between them worth staking a life on? On the contrary—weren't they bound by pure, unadulterated enmity?
Saving her from the poison and this situation were fundamentally different. In the poisoning, Kailo had carried no personal risk. But a fire consuming the castle was something else entirely. He was here staking even his own life.
The burn marks alone on his shoulder told her how many dangers he had braved to reach her. Seeing the flesh already cooked and peeling away, she knew those wounds would become scars he would carry for the rest of his life. And the fact that he had endured every bit of it to save her was something Vivian simply could not comprehend.
While she remained speechless and flustered, Kailo let out a sigh and withdrew his hand. Then he tore at his own clothes. Whether he had doused himself in water or not, the strip of cloth he ripped free was still damp. He crouched in front of her and pressed it against her mouth. His hand covered her nose and lips.
"Keep this over your face."
Startled, Vivian couldn't react right away. But the cool moisture seeping from the cloth made breathing noticeably easier.
Rumble! Crash!
Another pillar collapsed nearby. Vivian flinched and tried to turn toward the sound, but Kailo's solid hand kept her head from moving.
"No time. Get ready to stand. How long am I supposed to wait..."
He started to urge her in that firm tone—then stopped. The urgency in him slowly settled the moment he faced her properly.
Vivian had been trembling for a long while under the terror of death, and even now she could barely believe he was real. With so many incomprehensible things piled on top of one another, her expression must have been quite the sight.
"...You were crying again, weren't you."
He said it like an accusation, yet his voice had gone soft. His hand wiped the tear tracks from her face without hesitation. At his words and his touch, some nameless emotion surged up inside her, and fresh tears began to fall. The situation was so desperate she didn't even register that this was nothing like the distance that usually stood between them.
"If I save you, will you swear to stop sniveling for the rest of your life?"
Even now he twisted her insides with that characteristic teasing tone of his. Yet Vivian could vaguely sense that this was simply Kailo's own way of comforting her. Her heart was easing. This space that had felt like the threshold of death was transforming, through his words and actions, into a place where a thread of hope became visible.
"Will you swear, or won't you?"
"You... even in a situation like this..."
Watching her look so incredulous, Kailo flashed a grin and spoke again.
"If you don't like it, then snap out of it. We have to get out of here."
"..."
He wasn't wrong. Vivian nodded and tried to push herself up off the ground.
"Ah!"
Her twisted ankle seized her again. From her expression and the way she moved, Kailo seemed to grasp the problem at once.
"...You really are something else."
Realizing how serious things had become, he frowned and thought for a moment. But Vivian could only look at him. She couldn't tear her gaze from his face. Every nerve she had was fixed on him alone.
When he finished thinking, Kailo sighed and said,
"Hang onto me."
"What?"
"Hurry. I can't get us out just supporting you. The paths are all blocked, and we're out of time."
"W-what do you mean the paths are blocked... Then how are we supposed to escape—"
"No time to argue. You would've died if I left you alone anyway. Trust me."
"..."
Vivian swallowed hard and nodded. She understood now that accepting the situation and following his judgment was the right choice.
"T-turn around. I-I'll get on your back."
Kailo shook his head and opened his arms wide, offering his embrace. Vivian froze, not understanding. Then he lowered one shoulder and showed her the upper part of his back.
Her breath caught.
From the shoulder down, his back was red and tattered from the burns, flesh cooked and hanging in shreds. He was silently telling her that his back was impossible. Seeing that, she couldn't ask to ride on it.
The only way to hang onto him was to be held in his arms. That was why he had opened them.
But even knowing it, she couldn't easily entrust herself to his embrace. Her head understood that she had to be held by Kailo if she wanted to live, yet her heart kept holding her back. For the past year she had built layer upon layer of hostility with him. Being held in his arms could never be a simple act for the sake of her own survival. It was the same as tearing down every wall of wariness she had constructed. She had felt their relationship shifting little by little, but letting go of all those feelings and sinking into his arms required a resolve of an entirely different order.
"Hurry."
At his continued urging, Vivian came back to herself. She couldn't keep wasting time here. The flames were swelling by the second, and she could feel in her bones that there was almost no time left to remain.
"..."
So she crawled forward on her hands and knees... and slowly entered his embrace.
Kailo's left arm wrapped behind her thighs; his right supported her back and neck. Vivian, in turn, held onto his right shoulder so he could carry her more easily. Her left arm circled his neck, careful not to catch on his injured left shoulder. The two of them locked tightly together.
Her heart pounded harder.
Thump... thump... thump...
How long had it been since she felt another person's warmth? How long since anyone had held her? The embrace she had longed for so desperately was, paradoxically, unfolding in the arms of her mortal enemy. And just as paradoxically, Vivian could not understand why she felt safe.
Without realizing it, she hugged Kailo Allen tightly. Like a drowning person grabbing anything to stay alive, she clung to the long-missed sense of relief. And while held against him, she newly registered how much he had grown. At their first meeting they had been nearly the same height; now he towered over her. The strong northern build that had matured so powerfully seemed to envelop and protect her.
Holding her close, Kailo quickly scanned their surroundings. Being pressed this tightly against him, she almost felt she could read a little of his heart and thoughts. Then he began to run through the castle, seeking any path that might keep them alive.
After racing for a long while, his breathing grew rough. In the castle's heat, sweat poured from him like rain. At first she had thought he was damp because he had soaked himself to enter; now she saw he was simply sweating heavily. Born in a cold region, he clearly did not handle heat well. Yet no matter how slippery he became, Vivian only nestled deeper into him.
Then Kailo stopped in front of a window. He did not look exhausted. He looked as if he had made a decision. His left arm gripped her legs more firmly; his right pulled her back deeper against his body. Her face pressed closer still, close enough that she thought she could feel his heartbeat.
"Kailo Allen... surely you aren't..." she whispered, as if sensing what he meant to do next.
"..."
He gave no answer. He only stared at the window with the same eyes he had worn when he brought the blade down on condemned prisoners' necks. After stepping closer and looking down, his face grew even more resolute. The drop looked to be at least three stories. Survival was far from certain.
He let out a short breath and held her more tightly still. In that instant Vivian felt a fierce conviction that he would never let her go.
"Just once. Close your eyes tight."
She couldn't even manage to tell him not to. She entrusted everything to his judgment and shut her eyes.
Kailo backed away from the window for a moment, then exploded forward with every ounce of strength in his body. Thud-thud-thud—he pounded across the burning floor, cutting through the heat that stabbed at his face. At full speed he reached the sill, planted a foot, and launched them both into the open air.
The sudden weightlessness made Vivian dizzy. The rush of air past her face filled her ears with a dull roar, and air so cool it felt almost cold enveloped them. For a moment she felt as if she were floating in the sky for an entire lifetime. Every time she registered that they were falling, she clutched him harder. And each time, as if answering, Kailo held her deeper.
At the moment of impact he curled around her and rolled forward. Even so, the jolt stole her breath and slammed through her body. He never once let go; he kept her safely wrapped and protected until the end.
They came to rest sprawled on the ground. Kailo kept letting out shallow groans as he fought to steady his breathing; Vivian struggled to calm her racing heart. Even knowing she was alive, she stayed still inside his arms. She could scarcely believe they had escaped the flames unharmed.
When he finally recovered enough breath, Kailo carefully raised his upper body, checked her condition, and said,
"...Looks like my leg is broken..."
Vivian looked at his leg without a word. The left one was bent at a grotesque angle. At the horrific sight she quickly turned her face away. Knowing he had been injured while saving her only deepened the guilt.
A long silence stretched between them. They lay there as if they might never move again. Yet as the reality of survival settled in, a question rose with it—one she had never had the chance to ask while the fire still raged.
"...Kailo Allen."
"..."
"...Just... why did you save me?"
"Just... why did you save me?"
The moment the question hit me, a sigh slipped out on its own.
I didn't know what answer to give, or even how to begin explaining. Whether she wanted a clear reason or a plausible excuse, I was certain she wouldn't be able to accept it. I myself didn't properly understand why I kept doing these things—so how was I supposed to make Vivian understand?
It would have been easier if she simply believed I had some ulterior motive. With my heart this tangled, the idea of revealing anything felt like a bother. Whether she believed me or not, whether she understood or not, it was starting not to matter.
But the instant her stubborn gaze locked onto me, I realized that hiding anything longer would only make it harder.
With a body that had begun creaking all at once the second everything ended, I forced my upper body upright. Vivian, who had been lying across me, slid down and sat up as well.
"Ugh..."
A groan escaped before I could stop it. The burns on my back and shoulder stung viciously, and my leg throbbed with a pain that was pure hell. I knew we needed treatment soon, but it would still take time for the retainers to notice us and come looking. Better to settle this while it was just the two of us.
"What's so confusing?"
I asked her. Vivian's eyelids trembled. Her expression said she couldn't even grasp what my question meant. I sighed and tried again.
"Is the reason really that important?"
She bit her lip in silence, hesitated a long while, then finally forced the words out as if wringing them from her throat.
"What... what scheme is this if it isn't... the retainers too... no, staking your life just to... just..."
Confusion soaked every syllable. Anxiety and suspicion filled her eyes. She had clearly decided I was still the enemy, and she wanted an answer she could understand.
"It is important...! I still don't know what scheme you're running...! It's driving me crazy—my heart...!"
"Scheme? In this land where I don't have a single ally, what the hell kind of scheme would I be cooking up?"
"You said it yourself!"
Vivian shouted.
"That you wanted to see me suffer more. So is that why you saved me? Staking even your life... Did you do all this just because you wanted to torment me that badly...?"
Her question froze me for a second. If I really had come this far for a reason like that, everything would have been simpler. The truth was, I was just as frustrated as she was—I didn't know why I had thrown myself into this either.
"...Do I really look that much like a devil to you?"
The question left my mouth before I could stop it. Vivian quietly shook her head. Then she clutched the fabric over her chest and spoke in a low voice.
"No. That's why it's even more confusing... You, the one I should hate most of all... keep..."
She couldn't finish. She covered her face with both hands and stayed frozen for a long time. I was just as sick of this conversation. I didn't know what to say to her, and she seemed to feel the same.
"...If you'd just stayed put, you could have been safe. There was no reason to get hurt this badly. You need a reason to act, don't you?"
As if determined to drag the frustration out into the open, she pleaded with me in a desperate whisper. I scoffed.
"...Safe, my ass. It's not like I'm back home."
"..."
"You keep forgetting—I'm in just as precarious a spot as you are. How do I know someone won't show up and stick a knife in my gut? Sitting still doesn't change a damn thing for me."
She still stared at me as if none of it made sense. Maybe she was still waiting for some persuasive reason. I sighed and gave her the honest answer.
"I don't know the reason either."
As expected, she couldn't accept that. I wouldn't have either, in her place. Her voice rose, edged with anger.
"What is that supposed to mean?! Who answers that they don't know the reason?!"
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do?! My body just moves—why do I need a reason for that?!"
I snapped back, heat rising in my own chest.
"...What?"
Her red eyes fixed on me. I met them straight on, steadying my breath.
"I don't know either. Maybe I'm feeling some kind of responsibility, some kind of guilt about leaving you alone. Or maybe your mother's request, or your brother's, is still circling around in my head."
...Or the witch's curse, for all I know.
"..."
She still looked like she needed something she could accept, so I tossed out the easiest answer I could think of.
"Or maybe, since you're the most incompetent one around, I just want to keep you sitting right where you are. If someone else grabs real power, my life gets a lot more complicated... so maybe I just want you to stay head of the Rondore family."
She averted her gaze as if the words had stung. Even that look was so pitiful I couldn't stop the rest from spilling out.
"Whatever it is, just..."
"..."
"Just... I..."
She focused on me completely. I chewed on the words that wouldn't come for a long moment, then finally whispered them.
"Just... I don't want to see you die."
Vivian went rigid. I shut my mouth after that. Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine, searching for the truth. It was the face of someone who had just heard the most unbelievable thing possible. In a world where almost everyone wanted her dead, the words must have sounded especially alien. Disbelieving shock filled her gaze.
"Then all this time you..."
She asked it carefully, quietly, as if voicing the most sensitive and least believable question of all.
"...Whatever it was... you were just protecting me?"
Her words hit me like a wall coming down. I realized there were no more excuses left, no more extra explanations I could hide behind. There was no longer any reason to conceal these feelings I couldn't even understand myself—and honestly pouring them out was something I needed just as much as she did.
I looked into her wavering eyes and let out a tired breath. In this one moment, I finally spoke my true feelings without holding anything back.
"...Idiot. You're only realizing that now?"