I Won't Let You Go
No sooner had those words ended than the shimmering lights wavering around us poured down on Ian and me.
“Ugh!”
“Abigail!”
Was it because an excess of holy power flooded into my body? I couldn’t hold back a groan of pain. Ren, standing behind me, called out in alarm, but I waved him off to signal I was fine.
Biting my lip, I stared at Ian lying on the altar. Even as the holy power continued to flow into him, he didn’t so much as twitch. Anxiety gnawed at me, and I turned to the high priest.
His face mirrored my bewilderment.
So this is about the time he should be opening his eyes, right?
As the holy power emanating from the high priest’s hands began to wane, I whipped my head back to Ian.
“Ian!”
“……”
“Ian, wake up! Ian!”
I gripped his hand tightly. Not yet. I couldn’t give up on Ian yet.
“Wake up, Ian!”
“…Little Duchess.”
Sweat pouring down like rain, the high priest spoke heavily. His eyes were telling me to give up now. We’d done everything possible—it was no use. It was time to let Ian go.
“…No.”
I shook my head. I wouldn’t let go of his hand; if anything, I gripped it harder.
“No. I can’t give up.”
I felt a savage energy spreading through my body. Something boiling up from my chest took form, rising like heat haze all over me. The dark crimson mana was the dragon’s mana so familiar to me.
Unable to control it, the mana burst forth, enveloping both my body and Ian’s.
“…The Black Dragon!”
The high priest sighed as if suddenly recalling a forgotten fact.
But I could no longer spare him a thought. Every nerve was fixed on Ian, his eyes still closed. To anyone else, my eyes must have been blazing fiercely. They burned so hot, like molten lava, yet I couldn’t tear my gaze from him.
“Open your eyes. Open them!”
I screamed the words, obsessive now. It felt like both Ian and I might burn away in the dragon’s mana, leaving no trace. Filling the chapel with it, I bellowed his name.
“Ian!”
Boom. As the erupted mana subsided.
Twitch. Ian’s fingers jerked.
Was he waking? Hope surging, I stared at his face. Still pale, but thankfully, some color had returned compared to before.
“Ian.”
“……”
At last, glassy black eyes appeared.
“…My liege.”
Relief washing over me, I let out a long sigh.
“Haa, really.”
“My liege, ugh……”
Ian groaned as if in pain while trying to sit up. Startled, I gently pressed down on his shoulder.
“Don’t get up yet.”
“…My apologies.”
He’d finally opened his eyes, but Ian was still a patient. He needed absolute rest. A soft bed would be better than this hard stone altar. I’d have to ask the high priest to move him to a room.
But first, I had to say what I’d been longing to tell him all along.
“I don’t care what kind of being you are.”
“My liege……”
Ian’s eyes shook violently. Maybe he’d known his true nature for a while now. It was his body, after all—surely he knew it best. But it must have been hard to tell me. His own family had treated him like a monster.
I recalled the high priest’s cold words: Are you still alive?
I was different. Not family, perhaps, but I treasured Ian more than any blood kin.
And I realized I’d never shown him that before.
“You’re more precious to me than you think.”
“……”
“So don’t die. Protect me. You’re my guardian, aren’t you?”
“…My liege.”
My face heated at my own simple words. Ian stared at me in surprise, then broke into a faint smile.
It was the first time I’d seen him smile. Stunned, I just blinked.
My god, Ian smiling. And the high priest had tormented a kid who could smile this beautifully!
I whipped my head around and glared at him.
“Wh-what is it?”
“…Nothing. He needs rest now—move him to a room.”
“Yes, but first……”
“What is it?”
Uncharacteristically hesitant, the high priest seemed reluctant to speak. Puzzled by his discomfort, I noticed his gaze wasn’t on my face but somewhere else.
“Your hand first……”
“Ah!”
“……”
Embarrassingly, I was still holding Ian’s hand. I let go in a fluster and made an excuse to him.
“Oh, I was just holding it to heal you. To give you my mana, you know.”
“…Yes.”
I fidgeted, seeing the complicated look on his face. Even for close allies, holding hands too long was awkward. This wasn’t workplace harassment, was it? I fussed, scanning Ian’s darkening expression.
* * *
Airi Village, a border settlement near the Volta Base. The villagers here constantly fretted over news that terrifying monsters were attacking the base.
But their anxiety never lasted long. If the base truly fell, the first evacuation order would come to Airi Village. Yet no messenger had ever arrived from the base.
And everyone knew why.
Abigail Carpoem. The ducal heir was protecting them from the monsters.
Until recently, the northernmost villages had eked out a harsh existence. The cold, barren land yielded poor crops, with no mines or resources to speak of. Worse, a monster habitat lurked nearby.
Day after day, they struggled against poverty alone. Change came six years ago, when knights swept in to eradicate the hunters.
The newly minted heir had come to Volta herself to rescue the siblings of her cherished maid, who’d been sold to the hunters.
At first, the villagers hadn’t thought much of her. The duchy had neglected them for too long.
But to dispel their distrust, she’d built the outpost and revitalized the surrounding villages. She overhauled incompatible farming methods, introduced new crops, and provided ample grain and warm clothes for winter.
Now, Airi Village—once filled with constant lamentations—was enjoying peaceful, abundant days that rivaled any southern village, if one exaggerated a bit.
Under the sunlight, a woman and child faced each other with beaming faces.
“Mommy, do the scary monsters really wanna eat us?”
“Oh? Hehe.”
The woman chuckled softly at her child’s words.
“Of course not, silly.”
She gently stroked the child’s head with affectionate hands.
“Lady Abigail will protect us.”
The child’s eyes sparkled at her words.
“Right?”
“Of course.”
Abigail Carpoem was now the north’s hero. Tales of her exploits spread endlessly, and children idolized her.
The south tried every trick to disparage her, or so they said. But no one in the north believed it—especially not the people she protected.
“…Huh?”
But when the child spotted dark clouds gathering far in the sky, her young eyes wavered. The clear blue was darkening.
“Oh, is it going to rain?”
“Mommy……”
Something’s off, the woman muttered softly. The child clung to her, starting to whimper.
She patted the child, thinking it nothing serious. But an indefinable dread began to creep over the villagers.
First, birds fleeing south. Then ominous clouds blanketing the sky. And black dust rising in the distance.
A man on the hill stared intently at the dust cloud, then raised binoculars.
He cried out in shock.
“M-monsters!”
He’d thought wild boars at first, but no. Horrific, never-before-seen things tangled together, charging toward the village.
The villagers buzzed at his shout.
“What? Monsters?”
“Does that mean the base fell?”
“But no one’s come…!”
“R-run! We have to run!”
The peaceful village turned to chaos in an instant. Panicked people milled about as knights on horseback thundered in.
“Everyone, attention!”
A man recognized their emblem and shouted.
“It’s the Margrave!”
“The Margrave’s knights?”
Villagers gathered, murmuring. A roaring black lion—the emblem of Antonio Parma, Margrave of the Borders.
“Monsters are coming! Evacuate immediately!”
Someone asked amid the knight’s cry, “Did the base fall?”
“……”
The knight faltered, speechless.
Pushing him aside, a man stepped forward.
“The base hasn’t fallen.”
“B-but the monsters…!”
“They simply bypassed via another route. The base is intact.”
The man stated it firmly, then turned to his lined-up knights and bellowed.
“Evacuate them now! Battle’s about to begin!”
Under the knights’ swift orders, the villagers evacuated.
The monsters drew nearer. The man’s eyes turned ice-cold.
She was right.
Antonio Parma, Margrave. The freckled boyishness gone, he now cut a sturdy figure and drew his sword.
“Prepare for battle!”
“Yes, sir!”
At Antonio’s command, the knights moved quickly.
As Margrave, he’d held the rear in reserve, preparing for the base’s potential fall. He’d recently joined Abigail in monster hunts, becoming a veteran himself.
He couldn’t fight at the base this time—pushed aside by the crown prince—but rear defense was vital.
And just before, he’d received Abigail’s message: monsters the base couldn’t stop might hit the villages—bring your knights.