The Arrow of Destiny Cuts Through the Night

#37

As soon as Kain Starchis entered the room, he examined Jersian’s face. There was a wound on Jersian’s left cheek from Marchioness Elmerila’s ring and palm.

“…”

Noticing Kain’s gaze, Jersian slightly turned his head in another direction. It was a position where the uninjured side was visible, not the wounded cheek. But Kain’s expression had already turned cold after confirming the injury.

“…What’s the matter?”

Jersian asked about Kain’s business, as if trying to act normal in this situation.

What’s the matter? Is he serious? Kain strode towards Jersian and grabbed his arm firmly, saying:

“…Ugh.”

Unable to hide the pain, Jersian immediately frowned and exhaled. It seemed difficult to even put strength into the injured area, as he couldn’t shake off Kain’s hand.

Kain looked down at him with indifferent eyes and said:

“You’re injured.”

He could see red blood showing through on Jersian’s arm that he had grabbed. Jersian frowned and shook his arm slightly in irritation, as if telling Kain to let go.

But it wasn’t enough to break free from Kain’s strong grip. When he raised his head, his eyes met Kain’s, who was looking down at him as if demanding an explanation. Jersian slightly averted his gaze and muttered:

“…This isn’t even an injury.”

“Is that so?”

Kain said, unnecessarily pressing harder on the wound.

After enduring for a moment with tightly closed lips, Jersian finally let out a groan, “Urgh,” through the gap. His bluff had been exposed. Jersian quickly raised his gaze and said:

“Who presses a wound so crudely…!”

Immediately, he could see Kain’s green eyes staring down at him.

“You said it wasn’t a wound, so I apologize for the mistake.”

Kain muttered, as if reproaching Jersian. The strength of Kain’s hand gripping Jersian’s arm slowly loosened. Since Jersian had told the truth, there was no need to hold on tightly anymore. Rather…

Kain carefully rolled up Jersian’s sleeve where red blood was visible.

He had no interest in Jersian’s desire to not show weakness to others.

“…Ah.”

Jersian parted his lips in pain from the scraped wound as he watched Kain’s neat fingertips. The wound that had been hidden was revealed by Kain’s careful handling of the sleeve.

It was more serious than expected. The red flesh was visible as if cut by a sharp object, and blood was still flowing as it hadn’t been properly stopped.

“…”

Both of them remained silent after confirming the wound. Jersian glanced once at Kain’s cold expression and then spoke in a nonchalant voice:

“It’s just a small scratch.”

“…”

Still keeping up that pretense. At that answer, Kain’s sharp gaze immediately turned towards Jersian. He had been indifferently accepting Jersian’s capricious treatment until now.

Surprised by Kain’s look, Jersian’s captured fingers trembled slightly. Indeed, Jersian’s bravado was like self-protection, similar to young animals puffing up to appear larger.

Kain suppressed his anger, treating Jersian as if he were dealing with a young child. In fact, having only lived for fifteen years, Jersian was at an age that required even more protection than a child by elven standards.

“Where is the medicine?”

If this were Fiokhim, he would have immediately picked herbs scattered in the mountains to make medicine. But this was a human castle. With so many humans living here, they must have medicine stored somewhere, or at least a physician. Jersian’s red eyes briefly looked up at Kain before moving slightly elsewhere.

“…It’s in the drawer.”

“Bring it.”

“…”

To be honest, Kain expected Jersian to refuse immediately. But after sharing a gaze with Kain for a moment, he strode towards the drawer at one end of the room. In his uninjured hand was a slightly worn box that seemed to have been used for a long time.

Jersian placed it in front of Kain with tightly closed lips. Then, as if to preemptively block what Kain was about to do, he said:

“…I was going to do it anyway. If you hadn’t come to my room, it would have been done already.”

Ignoring those words, Kain opened the box Jersian had brought with a click. Inside were medicines, bandages, and small treatment tools that looked like they had been used steadily for a long time. He twisted his lips as he carefully moved the medicines with his fingers.

‘Why is Jersian so accustomed to treating himself alone?’

Or questions like ‘How long has he had this box?’ cluttered his mind.

What’s this? Discovering a piece of cloth among the small medicines, Kain lifted it with his fingertip, and Jersian quickly snatched it away with a snap. Jersian stuffed the cloth piece roughly into his pocket and spoke:

“Anyway, I’ll take care of the wound myself, so you can leave now.”

“Is it always like this?”

“…What?”

“I asked if Marchioness Elmerila has always treated you this way until now.”

Jersian’s face immediately sharpened at Kain’s question. He seemed displeased to hear negative comments about Elmerila.

“Whatever relationship I have with my aunt, it’s none of your business.”

“What about your face?”

“What, my face? Oh, this…”

Jersian’s cheek muscle twitched. He had forgotten to turn his head, being so focused on the arm wound.

“…”

Jersian’s lips, which had slightly parted to answer, closed tightly again. The cheek that had been fine when they met at the Baron’s mansion had been injured after meeting Elmerila. It was clear that any explanation would be a lie. Besides, it seemed Kain already knew the circumstances of the injury.

As Jersian kept silent, Kain took out a medicine bottle from the box, opened the lid, and brought it to his nose. He could roughly tell what herbs it was made from by the faint scent. Kain took out medicines that smelled of herbs effective for stopping bleeding and ones that could disinfect, then pointed to the bed with his chin.

“Shall we do it there?”

“…I said I’ll take care of it myself.”

Jersian muttered grumpily with his head lowered. But Kain, as if pretending not to hear, moved first and pulled a small chair next to the bed to sit down. He was going to apply the medicine properly.

Jersian briefly looked at Kain’s straight back before walking to the bed and sitting down lightly with a thud, as if he had no choice.

“I’m going to roll up your clothes a bit more.”

Without waiting for an answer, Kain rolled up Jersian’s clothes to his shoulder. Jersian’s mouth corner twitched, perhaps from the wound being brushed, as he sat on the bed glaring at another wall of the room. But his stubborn gaze remained the same.

Swish- Carefully pouring disinfectant on the wound and washing away the blood. Then, he took an appropriate amount of medicine that helps with blood clotting and applied it thinly. This was all Kain could do for now.

If I had a little more time, I would have made the medicine myself.

He advised Jersian with a regretful look:

“…It would be better to see a proper physician when dawn breaks.”

“…”

Jersian looked curiously at Kain, who was still intently examining the wound. It had been too long since someone had looked at such a wound with such concern. Kain’s snow-white eyelashes created shadows as he looked down. His eyelashes are white too. This was also fascinating.

It was then.

“The captain of the knights said…”

The snow-white eyelashes moved, and the light reflected in the green eyes behind them. It was a soft color that matched well with Kain’s low voice.

“That you’d want to be alone.”

Jersian, who had been staring intently at the green eyes, responded late with a “…Huh?” Kain slightly lowered his head to meet Jersian’s gaze. His long hair tickled the back of Jersian’s hand resting on the bed.

“Do you really want to be alone?”

His voice suggested that if Jersian said yes, he would leave the room immediately. The question was asked because there was no particular reason for him to stay in Jersian’s room now that the wound treatment was over.

“…”

Do I want to be alone?

Jersian’s blank gaze sharpened again. Of course, that had been the case until he entered this room alone. If that elf hadn’t recklessly let him in, insisting on standing in front of the door, he would have treated his wounds alone and gone to sleep as usual.

The time when he was hurt by Elmerila’s actions every time had already passed. She wasn’t lenient enough to give lighter punishments because he was her nephew, or to tolerate mistakes.

For Jersian, who had directly witnessed and sometimes experienced this in the Gerold Marquis family for nearly 10 years, this was nothing. It wasn’t difficult to pretend to be fine in front of Peter, who looked at him with concerned eyes.

This time too, Jersian could have lied that he was fine, that he preferred to be alone. Even if the elf could easily detect this lie, if he really wanted to be alone, he wouldn’t have let Kain into the room. So why didn’t he do that this time?

Jersian twisted his lips for a moment before opening them:

“…No.”

In fact, he had never wanted to be alone. It was just that somehow being alone had become comfortable and familiar.

It seemed like a truth he hadn’t spoken to others for a long time.