Chapter 054
Thud.
With the sound of the pot tipping over, the surrounding landscape filled with dust came into view.
The faces of the knights rushing toward me were all pale with fear.
‘This is strange.’
Looking at their faces, I thought for sure that I must have been seriously injured.
But as I waited, I felt no pain in my body, which puzzled me. Just then, I turned my head again.
“…Evan?”
The first thing I saw was black hair covered in dirt.
As I regained some awareness, I began to comprehend the situation.
I was holding the child in my arms, and Evan was tightly embracing me.
“Phew, I told you to do your best, but I don’t think I said to get hurt.”
At that moment, a low voice that seemed to be suppressing something echoed softly in my ear.
“Evan. How did you…?”
“Madam! Duke! Are you alright?”
Just as I was about to speak, Roman rushed over and shouted loudly.
As he examined the condition of Evan and me up close, his gaze fixed on one side, and he inhaled sharply before speaking.
“Oh my, Duke. Your right arm…”
At Roman’s words, my gaze also turned to Evan’s right arm, and I soon found myself speechless, my eyes wide open.
“E-Evan. Your arm…”
His right arm was crushed under the cauldron.
If it had been a pot of ordinary size, I wouldn’t have been this shocked.
However, the pot crushing his arm was enormous and heavy enough that it would take four strong men to lift it.
The heavy pot had directly impacted his arm, so there was no way it could be fine.
“Quick, lift the pot!”
Roman joined the knights to carefully raise the pot.
During the process, Evan only slightly furrowed his brow, maintaining a face that looked no different from usual.
“Duke, are you alright?”
“Don’t make a fuss over something like this. Don’t worry about me and get things sorted out around here.”
Evan stood up, brushed off the dirt from his clothes, and reached out his hand toward me.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“What about the child in your arms?”
At Evan’s words, I lowered my head.
The child, perhaps still shocked, clung tightly to me and didn’t move an inch.
“You must have been very scared. It’s alright now.”
As I patted the child, I felt their trembling gradually subside.
While I was brushing the child’s hair back, I finally made proper eye contact with their eyes, which had been hidden by hair until now.
“Huh? Your eyes…”
Seeing the child’s eyes up close made me gasp in admiration.
The child’s eyes were a beautiful deep gray.
They were slightly lighter than Evan’s, resembling delicate glasswork.
Thud!
At that moment, the child shook their head vigorously and then suddenly dashed back to where they had come from.
With their small frame, they ran so quickly that they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
“Seeing how lively they are, it seems they’re not hurt at all.”
Evan, who had been watching the direction the child ran off in, spoke softly.
“Indeed.”
I echoed his words and looked down at my palm.
On my hand lay the crushed flower the child had given me.
‘I have to make sure to thank them properly next time I see them.’
Since I would be coming back in a week to check on things, I thought I should look for the child first.
“By the way, Evan. Are you really alright?”
I glanced at Evan beside me and asked again with concern.
“It’s not broken; I’m really fine.”
As I looked worriedly at his right arm, Evan folded and unfolded it, speaking with an indifferent expression.
For a moment, I was puzzled by his seemingly unbothered demeanor.
“It seems like the cleanup is mostly done, so, ugh.”
I hurried to catch up with him and abruptly grabbed his right arm.
Even though I only held it lightly, I felt his body flinch and stiffen.
His reaction, which clearly indicated he was not fine, prompted me to roll up his sleeve without giving him a chance to protest.
“What is this? You said you were fine! This doesn’t look fine at all!”
What was revealed beneath his sleeve left me momentarily speechless.
The area from his wrist to his elbow was visibly swollen and bright red.
Even the slightest touch with my finger made his shoulder flinch, yet his expression remained calm.
“This won’t do. We need to see a doctor right away.”
“Well, I said I’m fine…”
“I’m not fine!”
I couldn’t understand how he could say he was fine when his arm looked like this.
Without realizing it, I cut him off with a slightly angry tone.
I wore a seriously somber expression and gently took his left hand.
“Please listen to me. You got hurt because of me.”
Above all, the fact that he was hurt because of me had already brought my mood to an all-time low.
“…I understand.”
Seeing my expression, Evan finally began to follow my lead without protest.
When we arrived at the castle and immediately sought out a doctor, the diagnosis was exactly what I expected.
“Oh dear. How did you get hurt so badly? You should avoid using your right arm for at least two weeks. Make sure to apply hot compresses often.”
The doctor wrapped a bandage around Evan’s arm and explained in detail how to apply the compresses.
At first, use a hot compress, and when the swelling goes down, switch to a cold compress.
As I absorbed the doctor’s instructions, Evan made a sound that turned my stomach again.
“Ha, two weeks? You need to move it to heal faster.”
Clearly dissatisfied with the bandage restricting his arm’s movement, Evan glared at the doctor.
“I won’t be doing any heavy exercise, so take this bandage off right now…”
“Evan.”
As I sighed softly and called his name, I noticed his shoulders tense up at my tone, which had been directed at the doctor.
“Listen to me. You’re a patient right now.”
When I spoke in a deliberately stern manner, his lips pressed tightly together.
“I’ll stay by your side until your arm is completely healed.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Evan furrowed his brow and asked in response to my next words.
“What do you mean? Starting tomorrow, I’ll be your right arm.”
I felt a heavy sense of responsibility for his injury and planned to relay every detail of the doctor’s instructions to him without missing anything.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
The training ground was bathed in hot sunlight.
The knights of the Ballestein Order were sweating profusely under their master’s command, fully immersed in training once again today.
“What are you all doing? Just because the war is over, has everyone become so slack?”
The knights shivered at the chilling voice, their sweat turning cold in an instant.
Amidst the knights, a man was leisurely wandering around with a wooden sword resting on his shoulder.
The knights swung their swords even more vigorously, casting sidelong glances at Evan.
His right arm was tightly wrapped in a pristine white bandage.
A few days ago, he had severely injured his right arm while trying to save the madam, who had ventured out into Delling Street.
If he was injured, he could have taken a break from training until he healed, but instead, Evan had doubled the intensity of his training.
“Caelan. It seems you really want to spar with me?”
“Eek! No, I-I don’t!”
The knights sent a sympathetic glance toward the unfortunate Caelan, who had caught Evan’s attention.
They already knew.
Even with his right arm injured, his monstrous skill remained unchanged.
“Come out quickly.”
Evan adjusted the wooden sword hanging around his neck with his left hand.
Finally, he roughly unwrapped the uncomfortable bandage around his right arm and nodded at Caelan, urging him to come out quickly.
“Cough, Your Grace. I’m not mentally prepared yet…!”
Caelan shot desperate glances at his comrades nearby for salvation.
But all he felt in response was betrayal from those who desperately avoided his gaze.
Soon, having given up quickly, Caelan trudged forward toward Evan.
Since he was going to get beaten anyway, it would hurt less to step up confidently.
Just as Caelan finally prepared himself and raised the wooden sword toward Evan, a voice rang out.
“Evan! What are you doing right now?”
The knights turned their heads toward the voice as if they had encountered a savior.
midori
thanks! hahhaha evan really did came to save her! i wonder if the curse also makes unfortunate things happen to her…