Chapter 13 part 2
“I don’t have a name.”
“There’s no one without a name…”
“I don’t remember.”
“That’s… no way. Your family or friends…… they would have called you by your name.”
“I don’t remember anything.”
“That’s… too… I feel bad for you.”
The man just laughed.
I slowly took my hands near his tough chin and cheeks.
He closed his eyes without saying a word, as if he allowed my somewhat rude touch.
The skin on the back of my hand was cold, but I didn’t hate it.
“If you win, I’ll name you…”
I couldn’t finish talking and exhaled.
He slowly opened his eyes, and his intense gaze reached out to me.
It seemed like I was eagerly waiting for the last words, but I couldn’t overcome the drowsiness and closed my eyes.
Instead of waking me up or urging me to get up, the man just whispered quietly.
“I want to know your name.”
… was what he said.
* * * * *
Clank clank.
I opened my eyes wide to the sound of a metal falling down.
‘Oh, my back hurts.’
It wasn’t a bed. I wasn’t even lying down.
I was half leaning on a hard cushion.
‘Why is it so dark?’
I couldn’t see anything.
It won’t be this dark even at late night.
I feel like I’m trapped in a box without a single light.
“It’s daytime.”
I groaned at the voice that reached my ear.
Only then did I think of what happened at dawn.
The memory of treating the man in the quarantine room and falling asleep.
“The priests will come soon.”
“… What?”
That’s a big problem.
I didn’t know what rumors would spread if people found out that I fell asleep here.
A Count Daughter!
“I have to go.”
My voice cracked badly.
I tried hard to raise my body, but I had no strength in my legs.
I was thirsty belatedly.
‘But I didn’t overdo it last night.’
But, more than that, the cause of this might be because I took a sip of the poppy juice.
As soon as I took a rough breath leaning against the cushion, the cushion wrapped around my arm, and I raised myself at once.
“… You were the cushion.”
No wonder it was hard.
Awkward by the smell of herbs hovering around the tip of my nose, I barely took a step with my legs shaking like a newborn calf.
It was then. Something was stuck in my foot and rolled around.
Clank.
I was startled by the loud noise, and when I stiffened, he explained it to me first.
“Lantern. That’s what you brought.”
“Oh.”
It was this dark because the wick was burnt out because it was on all night.
‘I’m thirsty. And my head hurt!’
Even though it was only a few steps to the door, it was hard.
When I touched the cold iron door, I naturally burst into relief.
‘First of all, I should go to the infirmary and drink water first.’
That’s what I thought and pushed the door… Strangely, the door was stuck.
‘What? Why is this like this?’
My head went blank.
‘Is it locked?’
Was that the clinking sound I heard earlier?
This makes me crazy.
“But I have to go out…”
I put my ears on the iron door, but I couldn’t hear anything outside.
As soon as I was in a hurry and tried to hit the iron door with my fist, the man gently stopped my hand.
“Backwards.”
When I stepped back as he asked, he pushed the door slowly and little by little light began to enter through the gap of the door.
The iron door was opening.
He opened the door in a formidable thickness.
Soon enough, the gap widened enough for me to go out.
‘What is this?’
I was shocked at the fact that he opened the door with his bare hands.
Even though I already could escape, I still had not left.
‘Why?’
I didn’t understand.
But I couldn’t afford to think long.
Because I heard someone walking down the stairs.
When I left the quarantine room in a hurry, he closed the door again.
Somehow I felt sorry that I had to leave him behind that closed door.
However, he did not move a step inside the quarantine room.
It was cowardly, but fortunate for me to avoid difficult situations.
Before closing the door, I said thank you before leaving him.
“Thank you.”
We, who couldn’t see each other even though we were together all night, barely faced each other through the gap of the door.
He narrowed his eyes as if he was stinging at the sunlight from behind my back.
He added, asking to hang a latch when the door is closed.
“If I survive, give me a name.”
I nodded heavily.
“… I promise.”
Before closing the door, I felt like I saw his sincere smile for the first time.