Old Memories Come to Mind (15)
I sprang from the chair in an instant. Having suddenly returned to my original body from that of a child's, I couldn't control my strength properly. The chair I'd been sitting on shattered into pieces. I crossed the wide grassy field in the blink of an eye and charged straight at the lab wall, without even thinking of going back to the door. As always, I planned to smash through the wall instead of opening it normally. But Mideronde was faster. Just before I hit the wall, she parted space itself, letting me leap through the gap and straight into Idi's bedroom.
The room was small, like one of our inn's single rooms, with blackout curtains over the window making it pitch dark. There, on the bed, Idi sat huddled, clutching her head and screaming.
"Idi!"
I jumped onto the bed and pulled her into my arms.
"I'm here, Idi."
"Bertrand...!"
Idi wrapped her arms around my waist and sobbed like a wild animal. Her cries were so heartbreaking and wretched that it felt like my own chest was tearing apart. I had no idea what had her crying like this, but now wasn't the time to ask. I held her tight, stroking her hair until she calmed down. By the time sweat beaded on my forehead from her feverish heat, her sobs began to subside.
I spoke softly. "It's okay now. Nothing happened."
Idi looked up at me, as if confirming I was real, her voice hoarse. "I opened my eyes... and it was so dark... I thought I was back in the basement..."
"This is Mideronde's lab. She cured you after that lich's black magic nearly killed you."
"Thank goodness..."
Idi smiled through her tear-streaked face. "I thought it was all a dream... That whole near year at the inn... Just a one-night dream..."
Her smile faded, and she trembled. "Wandering filthy back alleys all night, crawling back at dawn... Curling up on the moldy straw bed in the corner of that damp, stinking basement... Dozing off in the stifling heat... And then I dreamed..."
Her fingers clawed at my back. "A world completely different from that pitch-black basement... Clear skies and cool breezes... Warm baths and delicious meals... Kind, gentle people... Flowing rivers... Bustling streets... I thought it was all a dream..."
I stroked her hair tenderly. "It wasn't a dream, Idi. It was all real."
"I know... I get it now... But when I woke up, I really thought it was a dream... That I was back in that dank basement... With a cauldron bubbling in the corner, spewing filthy steam... My one ragged robe, soaked in blood and sweat, tossed beside me... Cursed body that wouldn't die... Worrying how many heads I'd snag tonight..."
Idi shuddered violently and clung to me harder. "Not a monster or a demon... But cutting off human heads to make talismans and sell... Not even knowing right from wrong... I thought I'd turned back into that worthless cockroach-like freak..."
"Why would you be a freak? You're my most precious employee."
"I'm scared... I don't want to go back... Don't abandon me... If you leave the inn... I might just die..."
Her words were desperate, each one laced with raw plea. I knew her entire past and had watched how much she'd changed since joining our inn. No one understood her desperation better than I did.
"I'll never abandon you. I won't let you go back to that dark cave."
Idi whispered against me. "Hold me... Like we'll never part... Even if this is a dream... Even if I wake in that basement... Let me remember this embrace and be happy..."
I held her close as she wiped her tears on my chest, her shoulders shaking.
Following Mideronde into the lab, Brione headed straight up to Idwild's bedroom. Her scholarly thirst for the elf mage's tools and books burned hot, but Idwild came first. Bertrand seemed furious that Brione felt no remorse toward her. Now that Idwild was awake, she had to apologize and give thanks. It was the only way to soften his anger even a little.
But at the door, the voices leaking from inside froze her solid.
I'll never abandon you. I won't let you go back to that dark cave.
Brione had never heard such a voice from him—overflowing with affection. After that, Idwild and Bertrand continued whispering softly.
Brione gnawed her thumbnail, not even realizing it, lost in thought.
Why... is he so tender and sweet to that black mage...? Back when we traveled together for Al-Jasha, he showed no interest... He just grabbed any black mage he could for the job... Clean break after it was done... And we traveled together for years after... No, even before the black mage, we'd been together... Sure, comrades came and went... But no one stuck around as long as me...? And... I was the first to give him my body... Not that big-titted bimbo... I even gave up my virginity... But he never spoke to me like that...
Brione hadn't fallen for Bertrand at first. Ambitious rookie mage Brione needed a fast track to promotion. She'd heard of a special civil servant who tackled impossible missions no human could, and they needed a mage. She signed up. His jobs were deadly—bodies often vanished without a trace—so no established mid-level mages applied, letting newbie Brione team up with him.
Bertrand at first sight was the typical hunk—fit, handsome—but not intriguing. To the arrogant, haughty mage Brione, he was just a lowly sellsword living off his blade.
But traveling together for so long, Brione gradually warmed to him. His taciturn, serious nature (though softer now), inhumanly immense strength, fearless daring, and relentless drive to achieve his goals. Females instinctively crave absolute, powerful males. Even Brione couldn't resist, eventually offering her virginity—half affection, half ambition.
Once her probation ended and she'd gained some experience, she returned to the palace. But she never forgot Bertrand. Much later, when ordered to track his whereabouts, she rejoiced. But that joy was short-lived. She saw him entangled with that bug-like black mage Idwild all night.
Stolen by a black mage she saw as subhuman—dark jealousy bloomed. That's when obsession took root. When someone else claims what's ambiguously not yours, desire flares. For Brione, used to getting everything, the shock hit harder.
How dare that bitch...?
And now Bertrand vowed to that black mage he'd never abandon her—in a warm voice Brione had never heard.
Why...? Why...? Unless... that milky boy seduced him with her tits while working at the inn...?
Then Brione had an irrational fantasy.
So... if I work at the inn... I could win his heart too...?
No, that's ridiculous. What am I thinking? Bertrand sees me as the cunning bitch who used him for promotion. No amount of slave labor at the inn will open his heart. Just give up. Better to forget that whore-mage and whatever they do. Return to the palace. Eliminate chief mage candidates. Plant more spies in intel. Finish Gobert's assassination plan. Purge old king's faction. Find Duke Alvis's body... I can't neglect those vital tasks obsessing over Bertrand. And I've got a mountain of questions for Mideronde, whose name I only knew from magic academy lectures.
Brione turned away resolutely. Then dizziness overwhelmed her, and she collapsed in the hall.
Propped on the floor, head bowed, she stayed like that for a long while. Slowly, she lifted her head.
How do I work at Bertrand's inn...? No, scratch that. How do I escape the queen's shadow, live without threat, and work at the inn...?