66
Silence filled the guard post.
It was so long and heavy that I almost really fell asleep while pretending to be asleep.
"…Sion."
Theon finally spoke again.
He said in a low voice.
"I want to apologize, to you. For leaving like that."
His voice was low and calm, yet it carried many emotions.
Regret. Remorse. Longing.
A sincerity that had never been conveyed.
"At that time… I was young. I thought that was the best thing to do. I thought that was the only way to protect you…"
Sion, with his eyes closed, didn't respond. But I knew he wasn't actually asleep.
At first glance, he looked expressionless, his breathing even and calm as if he were sleeping.
But as Theon continued to speak, I could feel something stirring from within Sion.
'Maybe others wouldn't notice, but I've always watched him. So I can tell.'
Theon kept talking quietly, almost like speaking to himself.
"After I left… how have you been at the Grand Duke's castle? Did the Grand Duchess, Mother, treat you harshly? Were the people of the Grand Duke's castle cruel to you? Was the annex where you stayed alone… lonely and desolate? I always wondered about those things."
At Theon's words, Sion's eyes twitched faintly. Even while sitting on his shoulder, I could feel just how cold that emotion was, the face of someone trying hard to suppress and endure an overflowing feeling.
'As I thought… Sion's heart is still tightly closed.'
Something about that sight made my chest ache faintly.
'Back then, when there was no one to love or comfort him, when he was all alone… Theon must have been the only one he could rely on. And then, one day, Theon suddenly left him behind, as if abandoning him. That must have hurt deeply.'
Theon surely knew that as well.
Even so, he left.
I found myself glaring at him with narrowed eyes, upset and resentful.
"…I can't tell you everything right now, but a year from now, when we return to the Grand Duke's castle, then I'll tell you everything."
After a brief silence, he added with quiet determination.
"Then, I'll tell you everything, why I did what I did, and why I'm doing this now."
At Theon's meaningful words, Sion's eyelids trembled faintly.
Soon, his dim blue-gray eyes opened, sinking into a calm darkness.
"You have no obligation toward me, Brother."
His voice was cold, devoid of emotion, and without any intention to carry one.
Before Theon could even reply, Sion cut him off, speaking with quiet firmness.
"It's all already in the past. Clinging to what's gone is neither efficient nor productive. Everything that exists now is merely the result of choices and actions made back then. That's all."
"……"
With that, Sion walked over to the window of the guard post and added calmly.
"Rather than dwelling on a single moment of the past, what you should concern yourself with now, Brother, is the safety and future of the North. As the Grand Duke's heir, you must have clear priorities."
His composed tone carried the unmistakable chill of distance, a firm line drawn between them.
At those words, Theon closed his mouth and fell silent.
His hand, resting on his knee, trembled slightly.
'…That's rough.'
I muttered inwardly, sprawled inside the collar of Sion's clothes.
'Looks like these two brothers… aren't meant to reconcile this time either.'
There was no helping it, really.
Still, one thing nagged at me.
'Why did Theon leave back then? And why did he stay silent for ten years? In the original story, it was described as a moment of rebellion, a brief escape from the burden of his title and duty at a young age. But something feels off. Like there's another reason that wasn't revealed even in the original….'
But there was no way to find out now.
As Theon himself had said, it was a secret that would only be known a year later.
Outside, the blizzard still raged violently. And in that storm, Sion didn't say another word.
***
The next morning.
As we stepped out of the guard post, someone, or rather, something, was waiting for us.
Grrrrr…
"…So it came after all."
As if it had been waiting for our appearance, a massive silhouette emerged through the thick curtain of snow.
It was a huge quadrupedal beast, six long tentacles writhing along its back.
"It must have tracked our trail back here…"
Sensing instinctive danger, Sion's entire body sharpened with killing intent as he murmured lowly.
Theon's voice, more serious than before, followed.
"Helgat… so it's that one."
I swallowed hard.
'H-Helgat…? Wait, that name, I know that one!'
It was the same upper-class beast that was mentioned only once during the great battle in the original story.
"A beast that size… what's it doing all the way out at the border? There's no way it got pushed out of its own territory."
Theon muttered with a furrowed brow, and Sion, seemingly thinking the same thing, narrowed his eyes and drew his sword.
At that moment, Helgat roared.
The ground shook with the sound, a deep, quaking resonance that made even the air and snow vibrate.
"S-Sion…! That thing looks really strong!"
I pressed myself flat against Sion's shoulder, readying myself for battle.
"Be careful, Lin. That thing's on a completely different level from the beasts we've fought before."
At that signal, both Sion and Theon leapt into motion at once.
"I'll take the right."
Theon's short command cut through the air.
Without answering, Sion moved to the opposite side.
Kraaaaaa-!
Helgat's six tentacles lashed out simultaneously toward them, as if they had been waiting for that exact moment.
Tense, I followed the motion of the tentacles with my eyes.
From what I remembered, each of those tentacles could easily shatter a knight's armor in one strike, a display of brute strength that left no room for mistakes.
In other words, one wrong hit… and you could say goodbye to this world.
'S-Still, they can win. They have to win! It's Sion and Theon, after all!'
No matter how terrifying the beast was, these two, the sub male lead and the main male lead, the strongest knights in the story's world, were fighting together.
There was no way they could lose.
'…Right? They won't… lose, right?'
Anxious, I bit my lip.
Sion concentrated all his focus, parrying the beast's tentacles one after another.
When the beast swung a foreleg, he dodged swiftly, rolling back to avoid being crushed.
There wasn't a single moment's rest, its attacks came relentlessly. Clinging to Sion's shoulder, I quickly cast a skill.
"<Unstoppable Devotion>!!!"
Pyoong! Pyoong-pyoong!
Countless heart-shaped projectiles shot toward the beast.
When they collided with its tentacles, the force made them twist and veer off course.
Then...
"Sion! Behind you!"
Theon shouted urgently.
I turned my head, one of the tentacles Theon had been holding off was now lunging straight toward Sion.
To avoid it, Sion threw himself sideways, rolling hard into the snow.
But that sudden movement made me lose my balance.
"Ugh…!"
And I went flying.
I tumbled across the snow, rolling and spinning until I was half-buried in it before finally stopping.
"Pfft-phooey!"
I spat out the snow that had gotten into my mouth and pushed myself up, only to see Helgat's crimson eyes fixed directly on me.
The beast flicked out its three-pronged tongue and then leapt straight toward me.
"Lin…!!!"
Sion shouted my name.
His voice, unusually frantic and desperate, made my heart drop.
'Wait, don't tell me… is this how I die?'
Just as the beast lunged close enough for me to see its gaping jaws.
It suddenly froze.
Krrrk!?
"…!?"
I looked past it and saw Sion's sword impaling one of its tentacles, pinning it deep into the ground.
Sion had anchored it down so the beast couldn't reach me.
Kraaaaaa!!!
Furious at being denied its prey, the beast bellowed violently, and then turned, charging at Sion.
I screamed.
Right now, Sion's sword was stuck in the ground; he wouldn't be able to react in time.
"Sion…!!!"
At that moment...
"Sion, fall back!"
Theon darted forward, stepping in front of him.
"W-What-!"
The beast opened its maw wide and lunged straight toward both of them.
Then Theon leapt, driving his sword into its jaw and throat in one swift motion.
Shhhhk-!!!
Blood splattered across the white snow.
And then.
Krrrk…
Helgat convulsed, twisting grotesquely, before collapsing like a puppet whose strings had been cut.
Thud…!
Theon had charged head-on at the raging beast and struck a fatal blow to its vital spot.
"We… we won?"
I murmured blankly...
And then.
Thud.
"…Kuhk."
"……!"
"……!!"
Theon fell to his knees, clutching his side. A pool of red quickly spread beneath him.
"Theon…!"
I flew toward him in a panic to check his condition. Sion, too, yanked his sword free and rushed over.
"What's wrong? Are you, hurt!?"
"Haah… haah… just a scratch, I think…"
"Let me see, oh no…!"
When I looked at his side, there was a deep gash as wide as an arm, blood gushing freely from it.
Sion's eyes trembled faintly as he saw the wound.
Then, clenching his teeth, he muttered under his breath.
"…Why would you do something so reckless."
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
0 Comments