The Village's Quiet Burden
The air was quiet, and that silence was unbearably oppressive.
Yet the only sounds that broke it were the heavy thuds of footsteps against the ground and the ragged, gasping breaths of someone struggling to keep pace.
The situation had unfolded exactly as the unnatural quiet had suggested: no one dared to shatter the awkward silence.
I stole a glance, my eyes darting to the only person who could possibly explain the situation—the one whose silence had sparked it all.
Grace. That was the name she had used before I fell asleep.
—Leave that matter to me. I’ll talk slowly with you, Master Berry. Go inside and rest.
'What the hell did she say last night? Why does that kid look so depressed?'
Between Grace and Liliana, an odd tension still lingered, but I noticed nothing different from last night. Grace was as serene as ever. Liliana, however, had walked in silence from the very morning, refusing to meet the eyes of any party member—not even mine.
Her role as cupid had been abandoned, but I had never expected this. So my gaze kept returning to her, and she finally turned to face me.
Just as I thought I might finally hear an explanation for Liliana’s strange state, her expression shifted.
It was the exact look of someone pitying an orphan who had lost their parents—melancholic, hollow, as if the world itself had emptied her eyes.
I had no idea what had been said between them last night, yet the result was pure hell.
Liliana let out a sigh heavy enough to make the ground seem to crumble beneath her. Grace regarded me with the same compassionate gaze. Anna, the alchemist, was already at her limit, panting as if her lungs might burst.
“Let’s rest for a moment.”
In the end, I was the one who broke the oppressive quiet. Liliana and Grace both turned their curious eyes toward me.
Even though we were almost at the destination, I had suggested a break.
I gestured toward Anna, who was still trailing behind. Both girls nodded hesitantly once they understood her condition.
Liliana looked puzzled. Grace, however, immediately understood she had failed to notice Anna’s exhaustion beforehand and began to berate herself.
“I’m sorry, Miss Anna. Allow me to use Healing.”
Grace quickly helped Anna sit on a nearby rock and began channeling her holy magic.
“I-I’m sorry… My stamina was too low… My luggage is already being carried by Master Berry…”
“Don’t worry about it, Miss Anna. Everyone has their own strengths and the roles that suit them.”
Grace soothed the teary-eyed Anna, patting her shoulder and offering quiet words of comfort.
Considering how weak her mental state was and how I had still chosen her as a party member, Grace was the absolute best choice.
'Yet even so… doesn’t every bargain have its own price?'
Yes. What was done was done.
Most likely, the overly kind-hearted Grace had crossed the line in her attempt to say something.
She had only fulfilled her original purpose by stopping Liliana from playing cupid.
I turned my back on Grace, who was still tending to Anna, and walked toward Liliana.
It was my role to soothe her mood.
THUD. THUD.
Liliana stood staring at the ground as if it might swallow her whole. The footsteps approaching her slowly lifted her gaze, and finally they met mine.
“What business do you have?”
“I believe I already know exactly what I’m about to say.”
I wasn’t wrong. Yet the girl could only offer a curt refusal.
“I’ll handle it myself. Just leave me alone for now.”
One bitter memory can leave a scar that never fully fades.
Knowing that the love she had poured into a dead servant could never be repaid had broken her heart.
Yet in her pain, the servant’s successor—a boy who had once looked at her with the same gentle smile—had appeared.
The girl had no choice but to distance herself.
It was guilt. Pure, unbearable guilt.
The servant who had sacrificed everything for her love had died without ever receiving even a single moment of repayment.
…Or rather, she had killed him. Not with her own hands, but the result was the same.
Yet now the situation was different.
The boy who bore the servant’s legacy was showing her affection. The same kind of love the servant had given.
It wasn’t a matter of yes or no. It was simply terrifying.
She feared the boy might receive even a hint of repayment for his feelings. She feared she might accidentally show him even a trace of warmth without realizing it.
The servant had saved her life, given her everything—even his own life—and she had been unable to repay him.
So she always remained cautious with her actions toward the boy.
She feared that a boy already harboring kindness toward her might misunderstand its meaning.
That was why her joy when she had seen the boy speaking with Grace had been impossible to contain.
If it had only been simple rejection, it would have been easy. But maintaining even a moderate level of closeness with the boy was an almost impossible task for the girl.
She had to act while still staying within the boundaries where her kindness would not be misunderstood. Yet she could not be cold to him.
It was an impossible riddle for a girl who had seen so little of the world.
That was why she had been thrilled when her plan unfolded exactly as she hoped. When it began to falter, she had grown openly disappointed.
Of course. Grace was beautiful, attractive, and had the kind of figure that made men lose their minds.
Yet the boy had never once shown even the slightest kindness to such a girl.
She had never imagined his feelings would be so easily resolved.
Then fear returned, creeping toward her again. It wrapped around her kindness and affection, knocking at the door of her heart.
So the girl sharpened her thorns to protect herself. The boy’s heart was pierced through her sharp words.
“I was just… worried.”
“Worried? What are you to worry about this?”
“We’re in the same party.”
“Are you serious?”
“Huh?”
“I was only worried because we’re in the same party…”
The boy’s voice trembled with emotion he could not quite voice.
The girl realized she had been too cold, yet she could not turn back.
If she withdrew her words now, she would have to apologize, and the distance between them would shrink too much.
Of course, there had been a perfect solution for this situation.
But the boy—Kim Bin—had never formed proper relationships with people in his painful life.
The girl had never done so either.
For two such people to find the right balance and finish their conversation was an almost miraculous probability. And, of course, miracles had not come to them.
Instead, the girl had moved her lips again, staring at the boy’s tightly pressed mouth.
“It would be nice if you were more careful. I know I owe you a debt of gratitude, and I’m not without feelings for you. That’s why I’ve been joining your party without complaint. I’m prepared to maintain a certain level of closeness with you alone.”
“I-I see…”
The boy was happy the girl had said she would maintain closeness, yet he felt a deep sorrow.
The tone of her words had already hinted at what was coming next.
The girl glared at him with a hardened expression of resolve.
It was not malicious. Not cold. Yet it still hurt the boy.
“But that’s enough. Keep to the line. Your best option is to remain ‘friends.’ If I see you again trying to go beyond that…”
“I will repay my gratitude in another way and sever our connection.”
“Sever our connection.”
The girl’s words had become needles, stabbing the boy’s heart. Tears welled up, threatening to spill over.
“I… I didn’t do anything, did I? Then why…”
Why react like this? The boy had known what she would say, yet he remained silent.
“I know your gaze. And that kind of gaze… I don’t want to receive it from someone who doesn’t feel it in their heart. I’m saying this for your sake. Just keep to the line from now on.”
The moment the girl’s words reached him, the boy recalled the bitter memories of the past.
When he had looked at her with affectionate eyes, she had glared back at him as if he were disgusting. When she had beaten him with magic.
Pain and sorrow crashed over him like waves, squeezing his heart until it felt ready to burst.
Yet he still could not understand.
Who was this person? The Ian Cedric he knew? No, someone who had taken the girl’s affection all for himself?
It was a question he had never dared ask, given how resolute and ruthless her actions had been compared to the original story.
“May I ask one more thing?”
That was why the boy had mustered the courage to speak. He could hardly believe what he was about to say.
“What is it?”
“When did you… fall in love with your fiancé?”
The girl tilted her head.
She could not understand the boy’s intent.
If he had been asking about her identity, that would have been normal. Age, background, any other personal detail.
But the boy had not asked about her fiancé. He had asked when she had fallen in love with him.
Only that. So the girl could only tilt her head.
“A few months before entering the Academy.”
The boy’s shoulders trembled.
He had finally understood that the girl he had been pining for had done the unthinkable.
He had fallen for an extra who had never been part of his plans.
Yet he could only feel agony.
Every step toward the destination—Trian Village—forced him to think deeper.
The more he intervened, the more he realized how much the world and its circumstances had diverged from the original story.
Then Liliana Yekaterina, who had never received even a shred of affection from Ian Cedric from the beginning…
Stealing the heart of a girl who had already fallen in love was not a rescue—it was dragging her toward the NTR route.
The boy loved the girl. He wanted to protect her.
He did not want to lose her. He wanted to protect his first love.
He did not want her to be hurt.
Even the kindness he showed her might be poison to her.
Yet he could not abandon her. The fear that she might fall into danger at any moment remained.
At its core, he wondered if his own thoughts and assumptions were even valid. There was no solid evidence.
So many complex emotions and thoughts swirled together, making it impossible to reach any clear conclusion.
Even after arriving at the destination—Trian Village—the boy continued to wrestle with his thoughts. He needed to find the answer.