Chapter 55
“Aiden…?”
Aiden didn’t show his face for a long while. He finally lowered his hand when the redness in his neck began to fade. When their eyes finally met, Aiden looked at her as if she were something grotesque.
“I, I…”
He stuttered, which was unusual for him. Over time, Raylenne had learned that Aiden stuttering meant he was extremely flustered.
‘Is it really just because we slept under the same blanket?’
She understood he was surprised, but she couldn’t grasp why he was so embarrassed. After all, nothing had happened except sleeping. Moreover, Aiden had been unconscious.
Raylenne, unable to wait any longer, asked him, “What’s wrong?”
The redness spread again. Raylenne was genuinely worried that Aiden might faint from a fever again.
“Did I… did I kiss you?”
Cough. The unexpected question made Raylenne choke.
‘Does he remember that?’
When she had brought her lips close to give him water, he had kissed her. But Aiden hadn’t been in his right mind then.
‘Whether it was in his sleep or an unconscious act, I’m not sure.’
Raylenne felt her surroundings heat up. The air was thick and stifling. Even without a mirror, she knew she was blushing as deeply as Aiden.
After a pause, Raylenne slowly opened her mouth, looking elsewhere.
“No…”
It hurt to deny it.
“That didn’t happen.”
Her lie was clumsy. She should have laughed it off, saying it was just a sleep talk.
Aiden might see through her awkward lie. Raylenne turned her head slightly to gauge his reaction.
Contrary to her worry, Aiden, his mouth half-covered, had a complex expression. He seemed to be both regretting and relieved.
Raylenne was curious about what was going through his mind.
“Why would you ask such a thing?”
Aiden looked up.
“I’m sorry. It must have been a dream or a mistake.”
Aiden wasn’t in his right mind to so calmly admit he’d dreamt about kissing her. He absentmindedly touched his lips.
“The sensation was so vivid…”
“Stop!”
Fearing he might recall more, Raylenne urgently cut him off.
“That’s enough of such audacious dreams.”
She cleared her throat awkwardly before asking, “Are you feeling alright?”
Aiden seemed to understand her question and moved his wrists and neck. He appeared to be fine.
“Yes, I think I’m alright.”
“Why did you suddenly have a fever? Did you catch a cold?”
“I don’t know either.”
It seemed like a rebellious response, but Aiden’s serious expression suggested he genuinely didn’t know.
“I did have a fever since yesterday afternoon, but it wasn’t severe enough to make me lose consciousness.”
His eyes slowly moved to the chain attached to his ankle.
“After breaking that chain, there were moments when I suddenly felt weak… Maybe that’s why.”
Raylenne realized she hadn’t heard Aiden’s account of that day. She had only heard Haele’s vague story about the chain breaking like magic.
“How did you break the chain that day?”
“At the time, the chain felt as thin as a ribbon, so I thought I could break it.”
How could a thick iron chain feel like a thin ribbon?
Aiden, sensing the inadequacy of his explanation, added, “At that moment, my body felt a surge of strength, and I managed to break the chain with my hands. I felt something similar before…”
He frowned in thought, then looked up.
“When a tree trunk fell towards you. The sensation was very similar to that day.”
Raylenne recalled the day they were inspecting the repaired castle wall, and a tree trunk nearly crushed them. Aiden had saved her then.
She knew the commonality between the two events.
‘Both times, I was in danger…’
The more she thought about it, the less she understood. Aiden, who had experienced war, had never displayed such superhuman strength when his own life was at risk.
But when she was in danger, he acted like a hero in a movie.
‘It’s not a movie, but he is the male lead…’
It was impressive. He responded more to others’ danger than his own.
Raylenne stared intently at Aiden.
“Did you feel any other symptoms when you broke the chain?”
“What symptoms?”
“Like your body glowing or an aura forming around you.”
Aiden thought for a moment, then shook his head.
“I don’t remember. I wasn’t in a situation where I could observe my body. But… aren’t those reactions typical of an Awakener?”
“I was just asking.”
Raylenne brushed it off, and Aiden didn’t press further. That was one thing she liked about him. He didn’t question his actions or words much. Occasionally, he would ask, but only when it directly involved him.
‘Hmm…’
Raylenne frowned.
Now that she knew the conditions for Aiden’s superhuman strength, she needed to find the source, which wasn’t easy. It was simple to assume he was a future Awakener, but he hadn’t awakened yet.
If he were about to awaken, his aura should have shown when he was under the moonlight, but it hadn’t.
“Aiden, do you think you can break the chain now?”
She knew it was a strange question. A guard asking a prisoner such a question was odd.
In a normal guard-prisoner relationship, he wouldn’t answer honestly. But she trusted Aiden to be truthful.
“It’s impossible.”
His expression seemed genuine.
There was only one explanation for this phenomenon.
‘An unawakened Awakener instinctively used his power to protect himself in a crisis.’
Only, Aiden reacted to someone else’s crisis, not his own.
As Raylenne thought about the characteristics of Awakeners from the original story, she began to understand why Aiden had suddenly lost consciousness.
An Awakener who overuses their power can lose the connection between their mind and body.
In simple terms, they faint.
Aiden probably experienced the same. An unawakened person using such power continuously would have overwhelmed his body.
Luckily, Awakeners who faint usually stay unconscious for several days, but Aiden regained consciousness overnight.
Though not entirely certain, understanding the source of Aiden’s superhuman strength and the reason for his fainting brought her some peace.
“Have you asked all your questions?”
“Yes.”
Aiden didn’t seem very interested in what had happened to his body. At times like this, he seemed quite indifferent.
Raylenne felt relieved seeing Aiden awake and watched him intently.
Aiden met her gaze, but his expression had changed. Unlike before, he now seemed displeased.
“…”
“…”
An awkward silence ensued.
Aiden’s expression slowly darkened. Judging by his increasingly rigid face, he seemed to be in a bad mood.
Moments ago, he had blushed so adorably, and now his face was cold.
Then, in a firm tone, he said, “Now that I’m awake, you don’t need to worry anymore. You won’t be scolded for not managing a prisoner properly.”
Raylenne realized why Aiden seemed so angry.
‘You are a prisoner.’
‘That’s all.’
That was the last conversation they had shared.
Raylenne glanced at Aiden, who exuded a cold air.
‘Honestly, he’s not that cold…’
Aiden wasn’t the warmest person to begin with, so his slightly hardened face didn’t seem that intimidating.
He felt more like a large dog upset with its owner.
But only she would see him this way. In the original novel, during the war, Aiden had been described as a lion from hell.
Regardless, Raylenne needed to appease her sulking stray dog.
“Aiden.”
“…”
“When I heard you were unconscious, I rushed out at night like this and stayed by your side.”
Aiden met her gaze, his eyes defiant.
“Why did you do that? I’m just a prisoner.”
Raylenne smiled weakly.
“I take that back. I was thoughtless.”
As she admitted her true feelings, Aiden’s eyes widened as if he had been ambushed.
“If you ask me what you mean to me, I can’t answer. I don’t know either.”
“…”
“But I can say that hearing you were unconscious made me rush out in my nightclothes and stay by your side.”
Raylenne was satisfied with her expression. It was precise.
You can’t measure how much you care about someone. So, she believed that how one acts for someone is a crucial metric.
For example, Aiden instinctively used his Awakener’s power to protect her because he cared and thought about her.
But if she were in the same situation, she wouldn’t have acted like Aiden.
‘I don’t care about Aiden as much as he cares about me.’
It was a cold truth.
Therefore, her expression was the clearest.
‘I was worried enough to run out in my nightclothes.’
And if she added more, it would be that she worried about him enough to kiss him to feed him fever medicine.
Of course, she didn’t tell Aiden the latter.
Even if she didn’t block Aiden from approaching her, she didn’t need to make the first move.
Aiden looked at her with complex eyes.
‘Is this not enough to ease Aiden’s mind?’
Then, she would have to use that method.
Raylenne cleared her throat as she watched Aiden, who stood motionless like a statue.
“Cough, cough. After taking care of you all night, I feel chilly. I think I’ve caught a cold.”
It was the guilt-inducing tactic.
It had worked effectively when she first met Aiden.
As expected, Aiden’s eyebrows twitched in response.
