Chapter 29: Absolute Proposition (10)

“…Ah.”

When she blinked her eyes open, the first thing she saw was a ceiling she had never seen before. The room was dim, the fluorescent lights switched off. Something soft was draped over her body.

Looking down, Nari found a navy-colored blanket covering her. Her head rested on a soft pillow as well. At some point, Lude’s avatar had dissipated.

The room was shadowy without any lights on, and beyond a window she had never seen before the sky had already turned pitch black. Startled and confused, Nari quickly sat up.

“What the, where am I?! Whose house is this?!”

She had no idea how long she had been unconscious, whose room this was, or when the avatar had been released. Confused, she instinctively searched for the essential tool of a modern person, her phone.

The time already pointed to 7 p.m.

“What, it’s already evening?! Is it because I went down underground…?”

She knew time flowed differently in the deep world, but she hadn’t expected it to have passed this much. Flustered, Nari hurriedly tried to get out of bed when…

[Nari! Watch your ankle, says the Lord of Chaos, offering a belated warning!]

“Uwaah!!!”

Her ankle caught in the blanket and she crashed to the floor with a loud thud.

“Ugh, shit, how nice of you to give me a fast warning you bastard…”

Nari groaned, curling her body as pain shot through her knee that had slammed straight into the floor. Just then the door burst open. Bright light spilled into the dim bedroom.

“Nari, you’re awake?”

Before she could even think of who it might be, a familiar soft voice reached her. In the light spilling in from the hallway’s fluorescent lamp, his blond hair gleamed.

“Ah.”

“Gasp, are you alright?! It looks like you hurt your knee!”

Ihyun hurried to her side, cupping her knee with both hands. As he muttered something under his breath, golden holy power spread warmly into Nari’s knee.

“Is this your house?”

“Yes. You collapsed there and I thought your avatar might unravel, so I brought you straight here. I thought about taking you to your place, but I was worried paparazzi might follow.”

“I see.”

Staring down at her knee glowing faintly, Nari slowly lifted her head. Ihyun’s gaze was fixed on her knee. Watching him, Nari muttered suddenly.

“Sorry. I didn’t know I’d suddenly collapse there.”

“N-No, it’s fine. Are you hurt anywhere else? Dizzy, maybe? It was because of the reporters, wasn’t it. I’m sorry. I should’ve warned you earlier.”

With a worried expression, Ihyun placed his large warm hand on her forehead. The moment it touched, Nari’s eyes closed on their own.

Because in that moment she understood what the Lord of Chaos had meant when he said Ihyun was moving her.

“Yeah. Guess I had something like a panic attack. It’s nothing too bad. Thanks for looking after me. Now take your hand off.”

“Oh! Yes!”

Sighing, Nari brushed his hand off her forehead and stood up. She pulled on a hooded zip-up hanging neatly on the coat rack.

“You’re leaving already? At least have dinner…”

“No, I’ll leave now.”

“Nari. Did… something happen? Why are you so suddenly…”

As she reached out to open a dimensional rift, Ihyun grabbed her hand. His blue eyes looked at her with concern.

“Nah, it’s nothing. I’m just tired. Don’t worry about it…”

“Please, stop saying that. It makes me worry even more. I’m a person too, you know. How can I not care? This is about you, Nari, not just anyone.”

Nari’s expression twisted sharply.

“About me?”

She spun around and shouted. Startled, Ihyun flinched, but Nari didn’t care, spilling her words out in a torrent.

“Why are you acting like this toward me?! Did you bet on me or something?! Did the Sanctuary Guildmaster put you up to this?”

“A bet?! No, what on earth… Did someone tell you something strange, Nari?”

“You think I wouldn’t find out?!”

Her accusations bordered on paranoia, but Nari couldn’t stop. Her anxiety has been steadily climbing these days.

Finally she covered her face with both hands. Her shoulders trembled as she squeezed her eyes shut. Forced to face a truth she didn’t want to, her voice trembled as she spoke.

“You’re the Sanctuary Guildmaster’s nephew, aren’t you? Your parents were the former Guildmasters, weren’t they? And they died because of my mother!”

Once, she had brushed off his kindness as nothing more than fleeting curiosity or pity.

But after learning his true identity, her thoughts had changed. His parents had died because of her mother, yet he still stayed by her side. Nari couldn’t help but feel suspicion on top of confusion.

“Then why are you so good to me? Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Did you think this could be buried forever?”

Tears began to spill uncontrollably from her eyes, emotions long suppressed breaking free.

“I mean, even something like a contract with an archangel, there’s always some way to get around it, isn’t there? I don’t know anymore, but if I start thinking that you are being good to me for that kind of reason, I’ll go insane!!”

Every day she lived in fear that she might do something to make him hate her.

And on top of that, the guilt about her parents weighed her down even more. Shaking her head, Nari said through tears,

“You know as well that I didn’t trust you lightly. I bet what little faith I had left on you. If you betray me too, then that’s it. I won’t be able to get back up again!!”

Would it be like seven years ago all over again, when ‘he’ suddenly left her? She could endure it once, but not twice.

“So why are you doing this to me?! What are you?! I don’t understand what’s going on in your head!! That’s what terrifies me most. I’m afraid you’ll leave me so I can’t do anything but try to be the best I can!!”

At some point she had broken down into sobs, wiping her face with her sleeve. Since the day her tears had dried up, she hadn’t cried like this.

“Nari, please calm down. And…”

Ihyun’s pale hand brushed away her tears. She turned her face away, refusing, and Ihyun gave an awkward smile.

“If all you want is a reason why I want to stay by your side, then I’ll tell you. That’s enough, right?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You think I’ll believe you?! You know how many people like you I’ve had around me?!”

“I don’t care who killed my parents.”

Nari froze at his cold tone. It was the first time she had ever heard such a voice from him. He sighed heavily, then said,

“…It’ll be better if we talk once you’ve calmed down. Please, come with me for a moment, will you?”

* * *

Now in the living room, Nari sat on the sofa, staring at the steaming mug of herbal tea in her hands. Ihyun sat beside her, fiddling absently with the teabag string, lost in thought.

After dumping her emotions on him and then being cared for by the same person, the air between them was awkward. She shifted her gaze to the mug to escape it.

The fragrant smell of tea filled the air as Ihyun finally spoke quietly.

“Let’s talk about my parents first. Honestly, I don’t care. I never liked them much.”

“…But they were your parents.”

“Not all parents love their children.”

Saying so, Ihyun took a sip of tea. Nari suddenly remembered that he had once said his parents were too busy, and that Hunter Min Jaewon had raised him instead.

‘He said Min Jaewon treated him almost like a son.’

Realizing she had made a terrible mistake toward him, Nari quickly clamped her mouth shut and fiddled with her mug. Ihyun took another sip of tea and continued.

“My aunt, well the Guildmaster now, came back from studying abroad for a while and took me out of my parents’ house, placing me with Uncle Jaewon. I still attend the state funerals, but they don’t mean much to me. So don’t worry about that.”

“Sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“No, it’s fine. If I didn’t want to talk about it, I wouldn’t have. And I learned about your situation without meaning to anyway, so let’s just call it even.”

He gave her a small smile and brushed her hair lightly. Feeling something strange from the gesture, Nari leaned back a little, and he caught himself, changing the subject.

“Anyway, you know how people are. They always label us with titles and scorn us if we don’t fit. I was the son of a national hero, and I had to live up to that.”

“Then…”

“You know that awful feeling, right? I’m not even a believer, but because of my parents’ reputation I had to go to mass every week.”

He laughed lightly, embarrassed, and Nari thought maybe that was why he had been so willing to keep her secret too.

If she was trapped under the title of a national traitor’s daughter, then he was trapped under the title of a national hero’s son.

“So yeah. I couldn’t fit in with society at all. Then one night I was alone at school and a gate burst open. And Lude showed up.”

Nari tried to recall. Has something like that happened? She couldn’t remember. She racked her brain.

“You saved me. At that school. Back then, he said,”

He had been smiling, but he stopped for a moment and glanced at her nervously.

“Wh-What…?”

“No it’s nothing. You just said something that day and my view on the world changed starting that day. I was able to meet the Archangel thanks to that.”

“What did I say?”

“I’m too embarrassed so I won’t say it. Try to remember it! Come on, you can’t have forgotten. If someone saves you, they’re responsible for you. That’s how it works!”

He gave her a playful grin, trying to lighten the mood. Nari pouted slightly.

“I mean, do you know how many people I’ve saved?”

“That’s true. You saved me, but I’m just one among many you’ve saved. But still,”

Ihyun set his mug down on the table and leaned toward her. Their faces suddenly felt too close, and as she thought that, he met her gaze and spoke quietly.

“…I feel the same.”

Nari’s chest clenched painfully. She quickly turned her eyes away, her grip tightening on the mug.

“I’m always terrified. What if you leave me? What if you… start to hate me? I’m anxious every day.”

Nari realized his eyes looked different from usual. They weren’t kind or playful.

They held something deeper. Not lightheartedness, but a desperate earnestness that couldn’t be hidden.

“I won’t leave. I promise. So promise me too. Promise me that for at least a year, you won’t leave me.”

He gently covered her hand that was still holding the mug. His voice trembled slightly, no, quite a lot.

“Please?”

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