Chapter 35
Aiden hesitated, perhaps feeling burdened by Raylenne’s gaze.
“Don’t worry, I won’t get mad. Just speak freely,” Raylenne said soothingly, like calming a frightened rabbit. Aiden lowered his gaze. Upon closer inspection, his neck was flushed. It didn’t take long for the red hue to spread to his face.
Raylenne squinted at Aiden, who looked as if he were suffering from a fever. “Why are you blushing all of a sudden? Did you have some strange thoughts?”
“…No, not at all,” he replied after a moment’s delay.
Raylenne couldn’t shake the suspicion that Aiden had been thinking something improper, but he soon spoke again.
“I just remembered our first meeting.”
First meeting…? Was he talking about when she pretended her wrist hurt to get an apology from him? Thinking about it, her face should be the one turning red, not Aiden’s. Maybe he felt secondhand embarrassment. While she was lost in misunderstanding, Aiden spoke softly.
“When you placed your hand on my cheek and looked at me, for a moment, my mind went blank. It felt as if the dark prison cell had lit up.”
Raylenne felt embarrassed by his almost reverent words and tried to brush it off with a playful smile. “I am beautiful enough to make anyone’s mind go blank.”
But Aiden didn’t smile. Instead, his expression remained serious as he spoke in a low voice. “Raylenne, your value isn’t in your beautiful appearance. You shine just by existing.”
His sincere feelings overwhelmed Raylenne. She swallowed hard, her throat moving up and down. This wasn’t the kind of response she expected when asking about her impression.
She hadn’t intended for the conversation to turn into a confession. It felt like she had dug her own grave.
Aiden wasn’t being overbearing in expressing his feelings, but neither was he trying to hide them. It was as if he was simply voicing the words of his heart.
‘How strange,’ Raylenne thought. Sometimes he seemed incredibly shy over small matters, yet other times he spoke bold words without hesitation.
The prison cell felt hot again.
‘This won’t do.’
Raylenne knelt on one knee in front of Aiden. Though his gaze felt heavy, she ignored it and took out a key to unlock his shackles. Standing up quickly, she spoke in a deliberately cheerful tone.
“This is a reward for what you found out about Helen. Let’s step outside for a bit.”
Aiden didn’t say anything. Raylenne felt sweat trickling down her palms. As she tried to leave the cell, Aiden grabbed her shoulder and spun her around.
Thunk. Her back hit the cell door lightly. It didn’t hurt, but Aiden was so close that she gasped.
Aiden placed his hand on the door, effectively trapping her between the door and himself. “I’m curious too.”
“…About what?”
“What you think of me.”
Did he really need to ask this in such a position? Raylenne felt an inexplicable tension and clutched her robe. Aiden’s gaze dropped to her hands before he slowly lifted her hand, covering it with his own.
“It’s damp,” he murmured, rubbing her sweaty palm. The feeling that he could read her mind made her neck flush with heat.
“What were you thinking when you touched my cheek…?” His words were like a temptation to tell the truth.
“I… I was worried,” Raylenne confessed, as if bewitched.
Aiden smiled. “Worried about me?”
“Yes… I was concerned about how much it must have hurt, seeing your bruised cheek.”
As soon as she finished speaking, she regretted it. She shouldn’t have been so honest. Aiden sometimes had a way of ensnaring people with his words, and this might be one of his special abilities.
But it was too late. The words had already been spoken.
“I’m glad. It makes me happy to know you were worried about me,” Aiden said, kissing her sweaty palm.
“What… What are you doing…!” Raylenne exclaimed, pulling her fingers away.
Despite the sweat, which must have been unpleasant, Aiden didn’t seem to mind. When his face moved away, Raylenne pushed him firmly in the chest. Despite her strong shove, the smile on his lips didn’t disappear.
“I’m sorry,” he said lightly, without any sincerity.
At times like this, he seemed almost playful, like a different person. Raylenne glared at him, clutching her still-warm hand, before quickly leaving the cell. Aiden followed with a leisurely stride.
It seemed he was giving her time to calm down. Although she pretended to be angry, it was just to hide her startled heart. As they stepped outside, a strong wind blew.
The wind felt particularly harsh today, but fortunately, Raylenne didn’t feel cold, possibly because of the heat she felt inside. Aiden, walking beside her, also seemed unaffected by the cold.
When they reached a deep part of the forest, they saw a section of the castle wall under repair. It was an area rarely visited by people, but signs of repair work were evident, with tools and wooden supports scattered around, propping up parts of the wall.
Raylenne approached the wall to inspect it. Maybe, just maybe, she could break through this old wall to help Aiden escape. However, she soon dismissed the idea.
The wall was cracked in places, but it was too thick to break easily. Even if she managed to break it, the collapse would create a tremendous noise, attracting unwanted attention.
Raylenne touched the castle wall with a sense of regret. The eerie sound of the wind echoed against the wall. The wooden support beams around the wall, which were supposed to reinforce it, wobbled precariously in the strong wind.
Raylenne’s gaze shot upwards. She noticed that the ropes securing the wooden supports were loosely tied. The wind swayed the supports, causing the ropes to gradually unravel and flutter downwards.
In an instant, the supports lost their balance and collapsed. One by one, like a row of dominos, they fell, crashing down towards Raylenne. She squeezed her eyes shut against the impending disaster.
With a tremendous thud, the supports hit the ground, shaking the quiet forest. Contrary to her expectation of a severe impact on her head, the pain she felt was in her back. Raylenne cautiously opened her eyes.
“…Huh?”
What she saw was Aiden, holding her protectively. His face showed slight concern as he asked, “Are you hurt?”
It was strange for him to ask if she was hurt when he was the one who had shielded her. Raylenne quickly sat up.
“What about you? Are you alright?”
“Yes, as you can see,” Aiden replied as he stood up, and Raylenne followed his movements with her eyes. He appeared unscathed.
‘How is this possible?’ she wondered. The thick wooden support had surely fallen towards her.
Looking past Aiden, she saw the fallen support on the ground. Only then did she comprehend the situation. They were no longer where she had last closed her eyes. It felt like they had teleported. Thanks to that, they seemed unharmed, but she was curious about what had happened.
Unable to find an answer, Raylenne looked up at Aiden, who also seemed puzzled by the situation.
‘This is strange…’
As she pondered what had occurred, Aiden stood up and offered her a hand. When she placed her hand in his, he firmly helped her to her feet.
“We should return,” Aiden whispered quietly in her ear. Raylenne nodded slightly in agreement. The loud noise might attract the patrol.
Aiden led the way back to the underground prison, and Raylenne followed silently.
‘What really happened…?’ she wondered. Had Aiden quickly pulled her away and rolled? But he had been quite a distance from her.
Recalling the recent events, Raylenne looked at Aiden’s broad back. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw a faint glow surrounding him. It was too faint to be called light, but it was clear that something was covering Aiden’s body.
‘…Aura?’
It was too weak to be an aura, but the original story had described the awakened ones’ auras as “shimmering.” This wasn’t shimmering, more like a faint light wrapping around him. Moreover, tonight wasn’t even a full moon.
Awakened ones emitted their aura when using their powers, but Aiden had not yet awakened. Raylenne wanted to observe more closely, but as soon as they entered the underground prison, the faint light around Aiden disappeared.
Raylenne locked Aiden back in his shackles and then stared at him intently.
“…Why are you looking at me like that?”
Aiden also seemed surprised by his swift actions earlier, but Raylenne asked, hoping for an answer.
“Aiden, when the wooden supports fell, how did you get to me so quickly?”
Aiden hesitated for a moment, then rubbed the back of his neck.
“I don’t know either…”
His gray eyes moved restlessly, as if searching for an explanation.
“I just thought I had to save you, Raylenne.”
midori
thanks! hm? seems like he’s already awakened?