"Monster... that man, he's just a monster!"
A small figure ran desperately through the forest. Dry branches and fallen leaves crunched beneath her feet with a kacha kacha sound. Her breathing was ragged, and her face was filled with undisguised terror.
She was Meili, the Beast Tamer, the first layer of the mastermind behind this demon beast incident. For this operation, she had been ordered by "Mother" to completely destroy the Mansion and kill everyone inside. But there was one troublesome person: Carlisle Eltheran.
"Mother" had once told her that Carlisle Eltheran was an extremely dangerous existence, but that his personality was his greatest weakness. By exploiting that weakness, "Mother" had carefully planned this entire operation. Yet even so, Meili still couldn't understand how that man had managed to accomplish all of this.
The scene from just moments ago flashed through her mind.
That white light, like world-ending divine punishment, had instantly annihilated all of her demon beasts. The beasts she had painstakingly nurtured and controlled did not even have time to struggle before they were reduced to nothingness.
"How can a human... be this strong?" Her voice carried deep helplessness.
How had her sister ever survived facing that man?
Only one thought remained in her mind.
Escape.
Run as far away as possible, away from that man and away from that destructive white light.
The young girl moved swiftly through the forest, her figure gradually disappearing into the depths of the woods.
---
Carlisle had been asleep for three days.
Inside the Mansion, the blue-haired knight lay quietly on the bed. His chest rose and fell with faint breaths, as if he had merely fallen into a normal sleep rather than surviving a desperate struggle with death.
Natsuki Subaru woke up on the first day. Healing magic had closed her wounds, but it could not heal her broken sobs. That day, her heart-wrenching cries echoed throughout the entire Mansion until her voice became hoarse and she could no longer make a sound.
Rem's eyes were constantly swollen as well. She often unconsciously walked into Carlisle's room and quietly sat on the chair beside the bed. Sometimes she would reach out to touch his cheek, but at the last moment she would pull her fingers back. In the end she only gazed at his peaceful sleeping face, letting her tears fall silently.
Ram, meanwhile, took over most of the Mansion's work. She stayed busy from dawn until late at night. No one saw her lazy, yawning expression anymore.
On the fourth day, Roswaal returned.
When he learned from Beatrice that Carlisle had burned his od, Roswaal's expression froze for a moment. Everyone assumed he was worried, but deep within his heterochromatic eyes, a trace of imperceptible gloom flickered.
A suffocating sense of oppression filled the Mansion. Everyone felt as though a heavy stone was pressing down on their hearts.
This silence was finally broken on the fifth morning.
---
"This is..."
Carlisle slowly opened his sore eyes, his gaze gradually focusing on the familiar ceiling. Enduring the pain throughout his body, he slowly pushed himself upright.
At that moment, a sarcastic voice came from beside the bed.
"So you finally decided to wake up?"
"Betty even prepared a eulogy. 'Here lies a foolish knight who burned his life just to play the hero, even more cliché than a third-rate knight novel.'"
Carlisle turned his head and met Beatrice's eyes. She sat on the chair beside the bed. Although her tone was mocking, the worry in her eyes betrayed her.
"That is truly merciless, Lady Beatrice." Carlisle smiled weakly, his voice hoarse and rough.
Beatrice snorted but gently handed him a cup of warm water.
"Shut up. An injured person should behave like an injured person."
Carlisle softly thanked her, holding the cup with both hands as he slowly drank. The warm water soothed his throat. It surprised him slightly. He should have been unconscious for a long time, yet his throat was not dry at all.
He looked down at the cup and suddenly understood something. His gaze swept across the neatly arranged towel and the basin of warm water on the bedside table.
"Since you're awake," Beatrice suddenly said in a deliberately cold voice, "you should start thinking about how you're going to explain your 'heroic deed' to those crying people outside."
"Haha..." Carlisle gave a bitter smile and lowered his head. A strand of blue hair fell across his forehead. "It seems I made everyone worry..."
"Not. This. Again!"
Beatrice's voice suddenly rose as she abruptly stood up.
"You had better take good care of yourself! In four hundred years, Betty has seen all kinds of idiots. But an imbecile like you, someone who would burn his soul for a person he just met, is truly unprecedented!"
Even though Beatrice already understood this stubborn knight, seeing him like this still irritated her deeply.
He had almost died, yet his blue eyes were filled only with guilt for making others worry. She had never seen something so absurd. A person who had nearly died, whose first reaction after surviving was to apologize to everyone else.
This foolish gentleness made her feel both angry and... a softness she refused to admit.
She leaned forward, her small fingers tightly clutching the bedsheet.
"The number of times that blue-haired maid spoke to you can be counted on one hand! For such a trivial acquaintance, you dared to burn your soul like firewood?"
Carlisle calmly met Beatrice's furious gaze. His pale face still carried that gentle smile.
"I wanted to save her. That has nothing to do with who she is or how long I've known her."
"And besides..."
"Isn't it natural to lend a hand when someone needs help?"
Beatrice's clenched fists trembled violently before slowly loosening.
She sat back down and turned her face away.
"...You're a hopeless idiot."
---
"...You burned your od. Do you understand what that means?"
Carlisle chuckled softly.
"Hmm... I'll lose one of my senses or some human function, right? Sight, hearing, and touch are still fine..."
He tilted his head casually.
"Could it be taste?"
Although his tone was light, the brief shadow in his eyes still revealed his concern.
"Hmph." Beatrice sneered. "You should consider yourself lucky. You do not have to pay the price yet."
Seeing Carlisle's confused expression, she irritably tugged at her hair.
"Betty investigated your condition. Your soul is far stronger than that of ordinary people. That might also explain why you are so powerful. Even though you are human, the density of your soul is comparable to that of an elf who has lived for hundreds of years. This abnormal situation is as rare as an idiot like you existing in this world."
"...That forbidden technique. Burning od to exchange for life energy."
"Normally, exchanging od for mana causes people to lose their senses. They become blind or deaf, turn into crippled shells, or fall into an endless sleep."
"But you..."
"You threw your soul directly into the fire to gain that tiny bit of life force. If you continue burning it like that..."
Beatrice suddenly fell silent. A rare trace of fear flashed across her eyes.
"...You will die."
"And your soul will completely dissipate. You will not even have the chance to return to the world's origin."
"Do you understand?"
A deathly silence filled the room.
Carlisle's fingers unconsciously brushed across the bedsheet. After a long time, he spoke softly.
"Lady Beatrice... please do not tell anyone else about this."
"That infuriating reaction again!"
She stood up abruptly, the chair scraping harshly across the floor.
"Listen carefully! Betty is neither your spokesperson nor your accomplice. I have no intention of keeping such an utterly foolish secret for you!"
"And besides..."
"It is already too late to hide it, great 'Mr. Hero'."
Before Carlisle could respond, she walked toward the door.
The moment she opened it, her tone suddenly changed.
"Alright!"
Her voice was deliberately impatient.
"Betty's questioning is finished. You noisy people outside can come in now."
Carlisle looked at her straight back and gave a knowing, bitter smile.
Outside the door, faint footsteps approached.
Natsuki Subaru rushed into the room first, followed by Rem with red-rimmed eyes. Ram stood quietly by the door while Emilia and Roswaal entered last.
Every pair of eyes was fixed on Carlisle.
Subaru stopped as soon as she saw him.
Her gaze locked onto the knight sitting on the bed. He was awake. Truly awake. Not the lifeless figure from her nightmares who never opened his eyes.
But the fragments of conversation she had overheard outside the door wrapped around her heart like poisonous snakes.
"Death."
"Soul dissipation."
Those words echoed endlessly in her mind, making her fingers tremble uncontrollably.
Even though he sat right in front of her, she felt as though she might lose him at any moment.
"No... no... I already decided... I cannot make him worry..."
She blinked rapidly, trying to force back the tears gathering in her eyes.
"I... I must be strong..."
Her shoulders trembled slightly, but she stubbornly straightened her back. Even though her heart hurt terribly, she forced a smile onto her face.
The smile was stiff and strained, even uglier than crying.
"You... you're really reckless..."
She tried to keep her voice light, but the tremor in her words betrayed her.
"But... that does sound like something you would do..."
"You absolutely must never..."
"I'm sorry, Subaru, for making you worry."
Her forced smile collapsed instantly.
Subaru rushed forward and wrapped her arms tightly around Carlisle's neck. Hot tears streamed down her face, soaking his shoulder.
"...Please..."
Her voice was muffled against him.
"Don't... don't use that technique again... okay...?"
"Why..."
"Why are you the one who keeps sacrificing yourself..."
"You're the one who should be cherished the most..."
---
Carlisle gently placed his hand on her head, his fingers running through her soft hair.
"...Do you remember the restaurant we visited when we first met? The one where you helped me gather information."
Subaru slowly looked up. Her tear-soaked eyelashes trembled in the morning light, crystal droplets still clinging to them.
Carlisle gently wiped the corners of her reddened eyes with his thumb.
"Not far from that restaurant," he continued softly, "there is a very special dessert shop."
"I used to go there often with Reinhard, Felt, and that idiot who always loved showing off her spirit magic."
"The old lady who runs the shop should be over seventy this year. Her hair is completely white, but her cookie baking skills have not declined at all."
"She always secretly gives Felt extra sweets, saying the little girl is too thin and needs to eat more."
He suddenly showed an apologetic expression.
"It seems I always brought other people there, but never invited you."
"I truly owe you too much."
Soon a gentle smile returned to his face.
"But we will have the chance to fix that."
"Next time, let's go to the Royal Capital together."
His fingers gently brushed Subaru's messy bangs aside.
"We can take the earliest earth dragon carriage and arrive at the shop by breakfast. The old lady's apple pie tastes best when it's fresh and hot."
"After eating, we can go to the plaza. There is a beautiful fountain there, and a flock of very fat pigeons."
"If we buy a bag of corn kernels, we can feed them for almost the entire day."
"And in the evening we can return to that restaurant. Or perhaps..."
"I know a newly opened shop that supposedly hired a chef from Kararagi."
Carlisle's gentle voice echoed through the room like a soft lullaby.
Subaru said nothing.
She buried her face into his shoulder and continued crying quietly.
In the end she could not say anything more.
What right did she have to stop him?
Friend?
Disciple?
Those titles were far too weak to express the relationship she truly wanted.
Even when he rejected others, this man remained unbearably gentle. He wrapped his refusals in warm promises, building a beautiful cage that left her without the right to even blame him.
A subtle silence filled the room.
Everyone instinctively kept their distance.
Rem stood at the back of the group. Her red-rimmed eyes were full of tears that trembled stubbornly on her eyelashes but refused to fall. She kept watching the two figures embracing each other, yet she did not take a single step forward.
Ram looked between her sister and Carlisle. When she noticed the emotions hidden in Rem's eyes, she quietly pursed her lips and looked away.
Beatrice stood silently in the corner of the room. A faint loneliness flickered in her eyes.
She turned and quietly left.
Returning to the Forbidden Library, she closed the heavy door behind her. She slowly walked to the central desk and gently touched a blank book.
"Still blank..."
"Neither of them is that person..."
At the same time, Roswaal quietly left the room as well.
In the shadows of the corridor, the exaggerated smile that always adorned his face finally disappeared. He pulled a black book from his robe and slowly opened it.
"Why..."
His voice was low and dangerous, completely different from his usual playful tone.
"Where..."
"Did something go wrong?"
The pages rustled beneath his fingers as his expression twisted unpredictably. Madness and obsession flickered within his eyes.
---
Burning od is an extremely dangerous forbidden technique. Its essence is forcibly exchanging life energy by burning the origin of one's soul.
This technique does not increase the user's strength. It merely allows the user to sustain their life in desperate situations.
The white flames surrounding Carlisle's body were the manifestation of his soul's origin.
Each flickering flame represented a fragment of his soul being consumed.
Those flames were both a deterrent to enemies and a warning that his life was slowly burning away.
T/N- Really a foolish knight.
...
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