Chapter 20
Raylenne barely made it into range. She crawled in, her face pale.
“Damn it.”
Aiden urgently sat beside her and examined her. Cold sweat trickled down Raylenne’s forehead, and she looked like she might faint any moment.
“Is there anything I can do right now?”
No answer came. She just closed her eyes weakly.
Aiden grabbed her shoulders.
“Lady Raylenne…! Lady Raylenne…!”
He shook her, but her eyes continued to close.
“Raylenne!”
The moment her face went still, his heart sank.
“Ugh…”
But soon, a groan escaped her lips. Realizing she had just fainted, he felt his body go weak with relief.
Aiden lifted Raylenne. Even before, he had noticed how thin and light she was.
‘It seems like she’s been under threat for a long time…’
His chest felt tight, as if the chains around his feet were binding his heart.
Aiden laid Raylenne on a blanket. She was still groaning, but at least she was unconscious.
He had once seen someone who had eaten Hayashin fruit. They writhed in pain for an hour.
“Ugh…”
Raylenne grimaced, biting her lip as if enduring the pain.
Seeing this, Aiden knew he couldn’t just relax. Even though she was unconscious, Raylenne was still in pain.
Her red lips were being crushed under her white teeth, blood pooling beneath them.
Her lips would be a mess if this continued.
But there was nothing suitable in the cell to use instead.
“Ah…”
Eventually, blood started flowing from her lips, yet her teeth didn’t seem ready to let go.
Aiden hurriedly washed his hands in the water bucket.
Then he knelt beside Raylenne and reached out to her mouth.
Carefully, he pried her mouth open with his hand and inserted his fingers.
Crunch—
Raylenne bit his fingers instead of her lips.
Her jaw strength was stronger than it looked. After a while, her grip on his fingers loosened.
Aiden withdrew his fingers. There were clear teeth marks, and the place where most of the pressure had been applied was bleeding.
He wiped the blood off his fingers on his clothes and looked back at Raylenne.
Her breathing had stabilized. The pain from the Hayashin fruit seemed to have subsided.
Only then did Aiden take a sigh of relief.
“…”
Aiden quietly sat next to Raylenne.
It was the same cell, but having someone else there made it feel warmer.
Or maybe… it was because the person with him was her.
Aiden’s gaze fell on Raylenne’s serene face.
Her pale skin contrasted with her dark blue hair, her red lips, and her well-shaped eyebrows.
Her tranquil face looked like a wax doll.
‘So this is how she looks when she sleeps.’
In contrast, she had a rich array of expressions when awake.
She often frowned, sometimes laughed softly, and occasionally had a dazed look on her face.
Suddenly, he recalled Raylenne’s troubled expression when she held the Hayashin fruit earlier.
Aiden’s expression hardened.
‘Helis, it must be because of him.’
Recently, after Aiden had hit Helis, breaking his nose, it seemed like he was out for revenge.
That revenge must have been trying to make Aiden eat the Hayashin fruit.
For some reason, Raylenne ended up eating it herself instead.
Aiden was curious about the relationship between Raylenne and Helis.
‘At a glance, they seemed to hate each other intensely.’
Despite Aiden breaking her brother’s nose, Raylenne had said he did well.
When Helis had visited the cell alone, he had shown hostility toward Raylenne too.
[Aiden, you’ve put on weight. Has my sister been treating you well?]
His mocking tone had clearly carried malice.
Aiden felt uneasy.
He worried Helis might harm Raylenne.
But he knew there was nothing he could do.
Aiden’s gaze fell on his shackles.
‘If only I were the one with the awakened power instead of Damian…’
He could have broken these chains and escaped anytime.
He had never felt jealousy or envy toward Damian for being the awakened one.
But at that moment, he wished he had that power.
* * *
Raylenne returned to her room, inwardly seething with anger toward Helis. What a mess because of that bastard. Although Helis had been outwardly polite recently, she knew he still disliked her. The suspicion that she was showing favor to Aiden stemmed from this animosity.
‘He must be looking for any excuse to criticize me.’
This made her suddenly curious. Why did Helis despise her so much? Compared to Caverion’s dislike, Helis’s feelings were far more visceral.
[You, who slapped the maids every other day, shouldn’t be saying that.]
[…I regret that too. I won’t do it again.]
[Don’t make me laugh. If you regret it, then why back then…!]
Helis always brought up the maids, indicating there had been some incident between the maids, Helis, and Raylenne. She tried to recall any related memories, but her recollections with Helis were sparse. Like with Caverion, their relationship had deteriorated at some point, but the memories were faded, like old paper.
Important memories always seemed to elude her.
Raylenne stopped trying to remember. She knew it wouldn’t yield any results.
‘It doesn’t matter what happened in the past.’
Regardless of their personal issues, Helis had definite character flaws. She needed a way to keep him away from Aiden.
‘…How can I manage that?’
It would be ideal to send him far away. He seemed to be around twenty now, wasn’t it time for him to get married? Getting him married off seemed like the perfect solution. Although Caverion, the eldest, was still unmarried, Helis’s marriage might not need to wait for Caverion’s, given the latter’s special role as a supporting male lead.
Raylenne decided she needed to talk to Caverion immediately.
‘I think his room is in the west wing…’
Following her memory, Raylenne walked toward Caverion’s room and stood in front of a door that seemed to be his.
Knock knock—
There was no response. A passing maid noticed Raylenne and stopped.
“Young Master Caverion is not in his room right now.”
At this late hour? It was well past sunset.
“Where is he, then?”
“He is probably at the training ground. He usually practices swordsmanship late into the night.”
Caverion was indeed a model supporting male lead. Despite his cold demeanor toward Raylenne, he was fundamentally polite and kind to others, and he diligently practiced his swordsmanship late into the night.
‘It’s a pity he won’t end up with the heroine.’
No matter how exceptional Caverion was, the heroine Karina was destined for Aiden. Because of this, Caverion’s ending was not favorable.
He would darken due to being hurt by Karina, who didn’t love him back.
Thinking about the original story, Raylenne found herself at the training ground. Under the dark night sky, she saw a lone figure swinging a sword with dedication.
As Raylenne approached, Caverion’s eyes sharpened momentarily. However, recognizing his sister, he quickly softened his expression. Lowering his sword, Caverion spoke.
“Raylenne… What brings you here?”
“I was out for a walk to enjoy the night air.”
She couldn’t tell him she came to discuss Helis’s marriage to get rid of him, so she gave a suitable excuse.
“I see. There’s a lot of dust here, not a place you’d like.”
“I won’t stay long.”
Caverion wiped the sweat beading on his forehead.
“Alright. I was just about to head back. Let’s go together. I’ll put away my sword.”
“Yes, I’ll wait here.”
Caverion quickly disappeared into a nearby hut, presumably to store his sword and change. Soon, he reappeared, having changed his clothes.
“I checked myself in the mirror for dirt, so you don’t need to worry.”
Raylenne laughed at Caverion’s joke.
“Understood. But…”
In his haste, the collar of his shirt had turned inward. Raylenne reached out to fix the crumpled collar.
“Your collar was turned, so I fixed it.”
“I was going to wash up anyway, it doesn’t matter…”
“Should I turn it back for you?”
Raylenne joked, and Caverion smiled weakly.
“You’ve really changed a lot.”
“What do you mean?”
“You, Raylenne.”
Caverion’s words made Raylenne flinch.
‘Have I been acting too differently from the original Raylenne?’
Yet, she couldn’t help but joke around with Caverion. He pretended to be mature, but his vulnerabilities made it amusing.
“Don’t worry. I mean it in a good way.”
As Raylenne stood there, startled, Caverion laughed.
“I heard you’ve been treating the servants well and even went outside the castle recently. And most of all…”
