Chapter 76

"As the cherry blossom petals danced in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there."

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"Of course, I knew you wouldn't listen to the warnings. After all, they say God made humans foolish."

The voice echoed, a sound that tickled the ears.

The moment I tried to move in response to the voice, a searing pain shot through my shoulder and hand, as if hot salt had been rubbed into my wounds.

I let out a reflexive sob and opened my eyes. What I saw was likely a ceiling somewhere. I could see the neatly arranged stone bricks. Only then did I realize I was lying down.

Where am I? What is this place?

My memory was hazy, but I understood what had happened. In front of the palace, surrounded by Elven soldiers, I was shot with arrows. I thought I would be beheaded right there, but since I'm alive, this must be a prison or something.

If I'm alive, then Karia, Fiarath, and Matia must be safe too, even if they were caught. I should pray for that.

As my consciousness awakened, my lungs, which had started to move more actively, ached every time they drew in air.

"Hey, now that you're awake, you can take the medicine yourself, right? As a cellmate, you should at least try to lighten my burden a bit, shouldn't you?"

In front of my still blurry vision, a faint outline began to appear. A face that was so refined, it looked like a doll.

The Elven princess, the Destroyer, the Mad One, Eldis.

I could feel the blood draining from my face in fear. Why is she here? No, I don't even know where I am, so it's strange to think about it. At the very least, I couldn't understand why she would be nearby.

"…What's going on? I should be talking to the gatekeeper of hell at the bottom of the earth if I had taken one more step."

Lying on the bed, I said, my lips trembling.

Come to think of it, I just noticed that the bed I was lying on seemed quite luxurious. It felt as if there was no hardness at all on my back. The texture was so luxurious that it felt indulgent. Why would there be such a thing in a prison?

A sound like a heavy sigh reached my ears.

"Don't worry. You won't be killed right away. Not until you're displayed miserably in the human kingdom."

If you want to die, I can let you die. As she said this, something was put in my mouth. The touch of slender fingers on my lips, and a pill-like object was pressed onto my tongue. What is this? It tasted terrible, a sensation that numbed my taste buds and made my tongue tingle.

"Painkiller. It should make it a bit better, so just lie still."

With that, Eldis stood up from beside the bed and slowly began to leave. My head was filled with confusion and chaos, my thoughts buried. What's going on?

Painkiller. Indeed, I could feel a numbness slowly spreading from my tongue, and the pain would soon be unnoticeable.

But why? How many times have I asked this today? But it's so far beyond my understanding. I can't comprehend why the Elven princess would care about someone like me, and I can assert that she is not the type to do so.

That princess doesn't care about humans at all. Especially someone as lowly as me, she would recognize me as nothing more than an insect if I were in her sight. No one would help an injured insect.

Yes, the only one she ever cared for and allowed to touch her was one person. Just one.

I threw my words at her back as she was about to leave.

"Wait. I have so many questions. Why are you here, and what is this place? It's not the bottom of hell, is it?"

There were countless other questions, but I had to ask this. I was not just ungrounded; I couldn't even find the ground to stand on.

Eldis's voice, slightly dissatisfied but resigned, echoed.

"This is the special prison of Gazaria. It doesn't have a name, but everyone calls it the Tower. And the reason I'm here is only one, right?"

It was a self-deprecating way of speaking, a tone that didn't suit the Elven princess at all.

"I'm also imprisoned in this tower—nice to meet you, cellmate."

*

After some time in the prison called the Tower, I realized something.

This place was too luxurious to be called a prison.

Just the bed alone, but every piece of furniture was something the common people couldn't afford, let alone be placed in a prison.

The meals that came three times a day were also unusual. Not just Eldis's, but the food given to me was also elaborately prepared.

Moreover, the prison itself was strangely spacious. The bed was placed right inside the room, but there seemed to be other rooms beyond my line of sight. Sometimes, Eldis's figure would disappear.

The guards also treated Eldis with respect, and she accepted it as a matter of course.

Indeed, something was off. She said she was a cellmate, but was that true? A whirlwind of doubts swirled in my chest.

First, from her appearance and tone of voice, she was undoubtedly the Eldis I knew, the Elven princess. Her actions and personality were different from Karia and Fiarath, but let's put that aside for now.

Then why was this princess imprisoned? And why was I, a mere commoner, placed in the same cell as her?

"You don't have to worry so much. Doubts and anxieties can eat away at your heart and kill you. It's best not to think about anything."

When I asked Eldis, it was like throwing a stone into the wind. She dodged my questions, especially the initial ones. It wasn't that she was hiding something; it seemed she didn't want to talk at all. She would quickly shut me up with words like, "We'll talk about it after you recover."

"Come on, let's talk today. I'm bored here. How about starting with the story of how you almost got killed by a monster?"

So, our conversations were mostly about trivial things. Despite saying she didn't like humans, Eldis seemed interested in stories about the world she didn't know. Her eyes would sparkle like a cat's as she always sat on the bed.

As I sighed and started talking, Eldis would skillfully give me medicine and start rewrapping my bandages. There was a slight pain in my wounds, but thanks to the painkillers, it was just a dull sensation.

It seemed more like a pastime for her than a devoted act. In this prison, it seemed the only things she did were read books on a chair, talk to me, or sometimes look at something I couldn't see, perhaps an Elven ritual.

She still dressed as a man. Well, that was natural. After all, I was a man, and there's nothing more unsettling than a man and a woman being together in a prison.

Of course, even if she had the most beautiful face in the world, I couldn't imagine touching someone like Eldis. The mere thought of it made me feel sick to my stomach.

Still, the fear from our past travels lingered in my heart, leaving a thorn in my spirit. I couldn't help but suspect that she might suddenly change and hurt me.

However, aside from that fear and the slow healing of my wounds, these days were unusually peaceful.

There was food every day, a luxurious bed, and no one to hurt or trample me. It was a life that seemed like heaven compared to anything I had experienced before.

Of course, such a life couldn't last forever.

*Knock, knock.*

The small knocking sound easily shattered the peace.

"Princess, I apologize for the intrusion."

The voice was familiar. I had definitely heard it somewhere before.

"I have been ordered by Finn to check on the princess again."

The voice was female, and her words carried an unmistakable sincerity. She knelt beside the bed.

"Is everything to your satisfaction? I apologize for the inconvenience you are experiencing. It is my fault that you are in such an uncomfortable situation..."

She continued speaking, using words I didn't understand.

Lying on the bed, I listened to her words in a daze, and finally realized.

Ah, I see. She must have mistaken me for Eldis. I could feel cold sweat trickling down my forehead.