Entangled Hearts and Wounds
The window showed a bright, clear morning, yet inside Veronica’s room only damp darkness had settled. Even the thin blades of sunlight that forced their way between the heavy curtains felt like sharp awls stabbing into her. Veronica clutched the sweat-soaked sheets as though they were a lifeline, her knuckles white.
“Haa… ugh… haa……”
Hot, ragged breaths tore from between her cracked lips. This was no ordinary sickness. The words Rodin had hurled at her yesterday—colder than ice—were lodged deep in her chest, slicing her over and over.
‘I’ll erase you from this mountain stronghold too.’
Every time that voice echoed in her ears like a hallucination, Veronica’s heart plummeted. Her fevered mind spiraled into one grim delusion after another. That woman, the captain of the Red Rose Mercenaries. The glamorous women who knew Rodin’s past, who had walked the same blood-soaked battlefields beside him—they were all vividly pictured stealing the place at his side.
“You’re… truly a cruel man, Rodin.”
Veronica’s hoarse whisper barely carried. Tears slid down her cheeks and soaked the pillow, but the scorching heat evaporated them almost instantly. Had those women meant that much to him? Had the hand that had pulled her from the empire’s discard pile and given her shelter truly meant nothing?
“After everything I’ve done to reach this point for you… after everything I’ve endured……”
For a fleeting, miserable moment she wondered if dying right here might make him grieve her even a little. But she immediately shook her head and gripped the sheets harder. No. If she died, those mercenary women would simply fill the empty space. She could not allow that even in death.
“Rodin… you belong to me. You have to die by my side. I will never… let you go.”
A dangerous glint burned in Veronica’s eyes. Even through the fever-blurred vision, her obsession only grew sharper, honed to a lethal edge.
At the same time, the usual raucous laughter that shook the entire stronghold had vanished. Instead of the savory smell of roasting meat, the kitchen held only clammy dampness and silence.
Dagan stirred the porridge inside the huge cauldron with a dazed expression.
“Hey, Gil. Did you see Sis’s face? Looked like she might collapse any second.”
Dagan’s voice was a full octave lower than usual. Beside him, Gil had stopped chopping radishes with his kitchen knife and was simply staring at the wall.
“The boss is worse. He’s locked himself in his room since yesterday and has been drinking nonstop. Just walking near that door gives me chills—I can’t stand it.”
Gil shuddered as he answered. With Veronica—the stronghold’s sun—bedridden and Rodin—their pillar—crumbling, the bandits’ morale had hit rock bottom.
“It’s all because of those rose-flower mercenaries or whatever they are. Pretty women really are poison. Look what they’ve done to our mountain.”
Dagan brandished the ladle angrily.
“Brother, is that the issue right now? If those two keep going like this, the whole stronghold will fall apart!”
At Gil’s desperate cry, Dagan could only stare silently into the porridge. The carefully boiled meat broth smelled rich and savory, yet neither of them had the courage to deliver it.
“If I take it, I’ll probably get a ‘Get lost!’ and a slap across the face, right?”
“Then why don’t you go to the boss?”
“Are you crazy? In his current state, if we bother him we’ll all end up as fertilizer in the cabbage field.”
Dagan let out a deep sigh. This morning he missed the peaceful days of simply planting cabbages and grilling meat with an ache that bordered on physical pain.
That evening, Rodin’s room was submerged in pitch-black darkness. The air reeked of strong liquor and carried a bone-chilling aura that seemed to slice at the skin.
Rodin sat slumped on the floor beside the bed, drinking straight from the bottle. The burning liquid that slid down his throat felt like it was scorching his insides, yet it was nothing compared to the pain in his chest.
“……Just disappear already, damn it.”
Rodin growled at the empty air. The moment he closed his eyes, the blood-soaked battlefield from that day unfolded before him. Screams from every direction, the mangled flesh of his comrades, and the final gaze of his captain who had shoved him aside and died in his place.
‘At least you must survive, Rodin.’
That cursed last wish tore through his eardrums again and again. To Rodin, survival itself was a sin, and peace was an unaffordable luxury.
“Why do you people keep showing up and ruining everything? I just want to live… I just want to try living like a normal person for once.”
Whether from the alcohol or the hallucinations, Rodin’s voice trembled. The effort he had poured into forgetting the past by planting cabbages alone was vanishing like foam on water.
The mercenaries Veronica had brought. The metallic stench of blood and iron that clung to their clothes struck his trauma head-on.
“That idiot woman… she doesn’t know anything.”
Just thinking of Veronica made a corner of his chest throb. The cruel words he had spat while avoiding her desperate, clinging eyes. Yet he had believed it was for the best. Anyone who became entangled with him would eventually die. His strength was not a power that protected precious things—it was a disaster that reduced everything around him to ashes.
“It’s better this way. Cutting ties and distancing myself is safer for her too. If you stay with me… you’ll end up like them.”
Rodin hurled the empty bottle to the floor. The sharp crash of shattering glass rang out, but he didn’t even flinch. He had wanted to get drunk, yet his mind only grew clearer. Another night of brutal insomnia was about to begin.
Unsteady footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor. Veronica braced one hand against the wall and dragged herself forward step by step. Her head felt like it would split open and her entire body burned like a living coal, yet she refused to stop.
“Haa… haa… Rodin……”
Her vision was already half gone. Still, the sharp reek of liquor leaking through the door crack awakened her instincts. He was in pain. He was destroying himself. That single fact was the only force moving her now.
When she finally reached Rodin’s door, Veronica grabbed the handle with a trembling hand.
“Rodin… I know you’re in there. Open the door.”
There was no answer. Only heavy silence flowed from the room.
“You’re drinking, aren’t you? Thinking about those women… plotting how to throw me away while you drink, right?”
Sorrow bled into Veronica’s voice. Jealousy, worry, and the terror of being abandoned swirled together until they paralyzed her reason.
“You’re awful. Truly awful… I can’t even breathe because of you, yet you hide away by yourself?”
She leaned her forehead against the door and slowly slid down until she was sitting on the floor.
“If you don’t open it… I won’t move from here. I’ll just die right here and make sure you can never forget me for the rest of your life.”
Veronica’s nails scraped down the wood.
“Please… Rodin, I’m scared. You not looking at me… is more terrifying than dying.”
Her desperate sobs echoed hollowly through the dark corridor.
The unlocked door creaked open weakly. Veronica stumbled inside as though she were falling. The air in the room was far heavier than she had expected. It was not mere atmosphere—Rodin’s unconsciously released, overwhelming aura was crushing the entire space.
Rodin sat on the edge of the bed with his head bowed. Veronica staggered over and collapsed to her knees in front of him.
“Rodin……”
Rodin slowly lifted his head. His eyes were bloodshot, and unshed tears of grief pooled at their corners.
“……I told you not to come. Why do you keep crossing the line?”
Rodin’s voice was hoarse. It was not anger. It was a scream disguised as rejection.
“Why does your face look like that? Why are your eyes so full of pain?”
Veronica reached out with a trembling hand to touch his cheek. Rodin moved to slap it away roughly, then stopped, strengthless.
“Go away. I don’t want you stained with the smell of blood too. I’m a monster, Veronica. If you stay beside me, you’ll eventually break as well.”
“No. You’re not a monster. You’re just my foolish man.”
Veronica reached out again and seized his large hand. Rodin’s hand was ice-cold and shaking violently.
“I… I killed all my comrades. I was too strong, so only I survived. Do you have any idea what that feels like?”
A single tear finally slipped from Rodin’s eye. It was the raw confession of the man once called the Invincible Mercenary King.
Veronica pressed that cold hand against her own burning cheek.
“How could that be your fault… Thank you for surviving. Thank you for enduring and living long enough to meet me.”
Her sincere voice pierced straight into Rodin’s heart. In that moment, he finally noticed how abnormally hot her hand was.
“You… why is your body like this?”
Focus returned to Rodin’s eyes, followed by alarm. Veronica’s eyelids fluttered weakly, and she collapsed into his arms.
“Hey! Veronica! Wake up!”
Rodin instinctively flung aside the liquor cup he was holding and caught her. The body in his arms burned like a living flame. The ghostly visions of the past that had been crushing him scattered like lies. The person he needed to save right now, the warmth he had to protect, was right before his eyes.
“……It’s warm. As expected… being by your side is the best……”
Even as consciousness slipped away, Veronica clutched tightly at Rodin’s collar and murmured. Rodin’s heart pounded violently. The imperial princess who had been nothing but bothersome, troublesome, and a constant hassle had somehow burrowed deep into his soul.
“Ah, seriously… causing people to worry like this. What a pain in the ass.”
Though his mouth complained, Rodin’s touch had never been gentler. He laid her on the bed, quickly fetched a wet towel, and cooled the fever burning on her forehead. His hands no longer trembled.
Even in her sleep, Veronica struggled to keep holding onto his sleeve. Rodin gently placed his own hand over hers.
“Sleep. I’m not going anywhere.”
In the dark room, the mingling warmth of their two bodies slowly began to melt the frozen air. The very wounds that had tried to push them apart had, paradoxically, become the deepest bond pulling them together.