Chapter 50. A Debt Acknowledged by a Duchess Who Hates Acknowledging Things

Chapter 50: 50. A Debt Acknowledged by a Duchess Who Hates Acknowledging Things

Elsbeth walked back to the camp with her chin high and her shoulders squared, and I stayed beside the cairn a minute longer... feeling like I’d been given something very fragile to carry.

When I returned, the Nightclaw riders were looking at me differently. They didn’t smile.

But a few of them nodded. One of them handed me a canteen of water without a word.

’Whoa...? What’s this...?’ I thought. "Seems like everyone finally saw me... the real me who’s clearly not a threat.’

’Another character development... lots of them too, I’m proud.’

The fire burned low that night, a small, steady glow in the hollow of the canyon wall.

Velora found me sitting alone on a stone, with my arms wrapped in strips of cloth and my head still throbbing. She stopped a few paces away, standing very straight with her hands clasped behind her back, and for a while she said nothing.

"You may speak," she said at last. "Briefly..."

I laughed, and it hurt my ribs. "Thanks for not killing me after pushing you, I guess."

"I have not yet decided to refrain..."

"Good to know then... it concerns me if you start acting different to me."

She stood there a moment longer. Her golden eyes were fixed on the fire, and her face was unreadable.

"What... was that?" she asked. "That power you used... the speed and the strength. It’s almost like I saw the beast in you..."

I’d been waiting for that. I’d rehearsed it in my head all afternoon.

"It’s a gift of mine," I said carefully. "A human thing, I guess..."

"It’s called Apex Physique... I don’t fully understand it myself." I shrugged. "It seems to have a limit and a cost."

"A human gift..." She said it flatly. "I did not know humans had such things through their bodies other than using cheap tricks like their inventions."

"Neither did I... until recently."

It was true, in a way. It just wasn’t the whole truth.

I didn’t tell her about the blue window or the rules or what I needed to stay alive. I wasn’t going to.

There were some things I’d decided I would keep to myself, at least until I understood them better.

Letting a woman who could kill me with a flick of her wrist know that I needed something from women to survive was not a good strategy. And I already know that she’ll bite my cock off if she knows.

Velora studied me for a moment. Then, slowly, she nodded.

"House Nightclaw does not forget a debt," she said.

"You have one from me." She paused. "Do not make me regret acknowledging it."

She turned on her heel and walked away, her white coat swaying behind her, without waiting for an answer.

I watched her go... In all my life, I’d never been so surprised to be thanked.

And yes... it seems like I finally have some steps to get near her now.

Millie came to me later and sat beside me without a word. She took the cloth from my hands and began to wrap my forearm, her fingers quick and gentle, humming to herself under her breath.

I watched her work. In the firelight, her white hair had turned gold, and her long ears twitched as she concentrated.

Halfway through, her hands slowed, and then stopped... I noticed a single tear slid down her cheek and dripped onto my wrist.

"Hey..." I said softly. "What’s wrong, sweetheart?"

"I thought... you were going to die."

"I’m fine... you can see me breathing, right?" I start to breathe harder.

"You are not fine... You have so many cuts." She swiped at her face with the back of her hand. "I saw you stand in front of that monster..."

"I saw it hit you real hard... and here I thought, I’m going to lose him... I just got him, and now I’m going to lose him."

"Millie..."

I didn’t think that it was that serious for her. And yes, I get it... she’s finally having someone close to her who’s willing to stay and treat her like any normal people would do.

"And I saw you cry... When you were fighting... You were crying, Leon."

I hadn’t realized that. I touched my cheek and found it wet.

"I’m sorry..." I said. "I didn’t mean to scare you."

"That’s not the reason why I’m crying." She looked up at me, and her eyes were wide and red. "It made me feel safe... It meant you care."

"It meant you’re not a person who does this because it’s easy."

I didn’t know what to say. I just put my arm around her, and she leaned into my side, and we sat there until the fire burned down to embers.

"Sshh... It’s fine... I’m here now." I give her a gentle kiss on her head and pat her back.

Millie just nodded on my chest.

...

She fell asleep that night in the tent beside me, her head on my shoulder, one hand curled against my chest.

At some point, I felt someone tug a blanket over us both. I cracked an eye open and saw a tall, shadowy figure retreating from the tent with her ears flicking in the dark.

I closed my eyes again and said nothing.

But yep... I can’t sleep, so I just have to leave after Millie is finally feeling all safe and in a deep sleep so that I can at least breathe another fresh air.

And then, I’m not even surprised... Sylvara found me when the camp was quiet, and she settled onto the stone next to me with a soft rustle of her robes.

"If I may?" Sylvara said while looking at my arm.

"Hm?" I finished drinking my hot milk. "Oh! Sure."

She took my wounded arm in her hands and looked at it with a gentle, professional expression. A faint glow rose from her palms, cool as moonlight, and the sting of the cuts began to fade.

"You are... quite reckless for a human who wishes to live," she murmured.

"It’s one of my best qualities as a human, I guess."

"It is one of your most alarming ones." She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. "And Leon..."

"If that’s okay... I would like to ask a favor."

"Tomorrow, or the day after, when we have a moment... I would like to examine you more carefully."

Uh-oh... is this what I think it is? She’s really that desperate to examine me, huh? Well now. I let her examine the whole thing, especially my cock, hahaha!

"The thread I felt in you... I think it may be more important than either of us realizes."

"Huh...? Is that a bad thing?"

"I do not yet know." She hesitated. "There are three pieces of a puzzle that do not fit together..."

"The crystals... The seals on Millie... And the thread inside you."

"I do not like that they all seem to point at the same moment."

I looked at her. She was very close, and her purple eyes were shadowed.

For a second, I thought she might say more.

"Okay..." I said. "I’ll let you look."

"Thank you." She smiled, and this time it was real.

She held my gaze a beat longer than she needed to, and I felt my ears go warm.

When she was gone, Bryn sat down in the space she’d left. She was wrapped in a Nightclaw blanket, looking small and tired.

"How did you... do it?" she asked quietly.

"Do what?"

"The crystal... It shouldn’t have broken by anything!" Bryn said it with an overreactive gesture. "Sylvara said nothing could break it from outside, but you... What did you EXACTLY do?"

I shrugged, helplessly. "Well... I just held out my hand."

"That is... all?"

"That’s all I know, yeah."

She stared at me for a moment, and her eyes filled with tears. "Then I owe you my life... Leon Levarion."

"You don’t owe me anything. Take it for free, Bryn."

"I will owe you anyway."

I didn’t argue because I was too tired.

I still couldn’t sleep. The cuts ached, my head throbbed, and the number in the corner of my eye wouldn’t stop haunting me.

Sixty-one, going on fifty-seven, and then fifty-three. It’s fucking draining.

A few days... That was all I had.

I gave up around midnight and crawled out of the tent again, careful not to wake Millie.

And this time... The camp was silent. The fire was a bed of orange coals, and the stars hung thick and cold over the canyon rim.

But... Someone was standing at the edge of the cliff.

I recognized her from the white robe. It was Bonette.

Bonette stood perfectly still on the rim of a small ledge, her back to the camp, and looking up at the pale curve of the moon.

The wind tugged at the hem of her robe. She looked very small against the sky.

In her hands, glowing faintly, was a single thread of silver.

She was whispering something. I couldn’t make out the words.

And so I just had to look at her lips that moved slowly, rhythmically, like a woman reciting a prayer. Or reporting to someone.

I stood very still in the shadows, and my heart was pounding.

’She’s praying,’ I told myself. ’She’s just praying...’

’She lost her whole world... and it’s the most natural thing in the world.’

She lifted the thread to the moon. It shimmered, and for a second, I thought I saw it pulse, one slow, steady beat.

Then she lowered her hands and turned, and I ducked back behind the rock before she could see me.

’Shit... I hope she didn’t find me...’ I held my breath until her footsteps faded.

I stayed there for a long time, staring at the place where she’d been, and I did not know what to believe.

’That was... magical.’

’That’s why this was called a fantasy world, eh?’