Chapter 35: Upheaval (3)
Chapter 35: Upheaval (3)
It was something he could be grateful for, being made aware of emotions he hadn’t even known he possessed in the past. However, that was one thing. Having his personal feelings interfered with at every turn like this was something he could never welcome. Jin’s expression turned cold.
“…As I’ve said before, Commander, this isn’t something you should speak on so freely.”
“She’s still unconscious due to the heavy blood loss, but fortunately, her life is not in danger. I hear she’s receiving treatment and a blood transfusion at the infirmary.”
His voice matched his expression, icy cold. It was chilling enough to cause goosebumps, but Michelle was unfazed.
She was already certain: Jin wouldn’t be able to maintain that frosty demeanor once he heard what she had to say.
Just as expected, Jin visibly relaxed at her words. At a time when he should’ve been frowning, the simple news that she was safe was enough to ease him. The fact that she had disregarded his words didn’t even register. His reaction, flawless and without hesitation, made Michelle snort lightly before adding,
“I know you won’t be able to concentrate on work anyway. Go. I’ll handle everything here until then. Just send a quick summary of the situation to my quarters.”
Jin didn’t realize his expression, upon hearing those words, had softened entirely into something almost serene.
“…Thank you.”
And in that moment, Michelle Frey understood exactly what kind of person he was.
* * *
After drying himself from the rain, Jin made his way to the infirmary where Ariel was being treated, not wasting a single second. His movements were decisively different from when he had hesitated in the forest earlier.
Using magic, he arrived at the infirmary in an instant. Outwardly, he went through the proper procedures calmly, showing no signs of agitation. But inside, he was burning with anxiety. She hadn’t been transferred long ago, and with the patient still unconscious, the formalities were particularly complicated.
He had rushed here the moment he could, but the wait felt unbearably long compared to the urgency in his heart. His rising anxiety was mirrored by the relentless downpour outside. The rain, which had begun without warning, showed no signs of stopping.
The longer the wait, the deeper his unease grew. The heavens seemed disturbingly sensitive to his emotional state. The rain intensified, and thunder rolled without aim or pause.
Of course, no one would suspect that the weather was being stirred by his emotions.
After what felt like an eternity, he was finally allowed into Ariel’s room.
Perhaps it was thanks to his standing that she had been given a quiet, well-equipped private room.
The lights were off. On a clear day, it would still be bright out, but heavy clouds had cloaked the sun, casting a gloomy pall over everything. That vague twilight filling the room felt eerily like death itself.
Feeling a chill so intense it made his skin crawl, Jin stopped just a few steps into the room.
Suddenly, all the deaths he’d ever witnessed flashed through his mind. It felt like the weight of death, as heavy and thick as the darkness in that room, had settled on his shoulders. His body, heavy as if soaked in water, moved slowly. His steps, hesitant, carried a subtle tremble.
Step. Step.
The quiet of the room made his footsteps echo sharply.
As he reached Ariel’s bedside, his gaze fell on her face. Even in the dim light, her features shone with startling clarity, like a single ray of light cutting through shadow.
She had lost a lot of blood. It was obvious at a glance with her complexion deathly pale. Seeing her like that, the emotions he thought had calmed surged up again. His heart throbbed. A tightness rose in his chest, and it wasn’t just from the traces of her past he could see on her body.
A flash of lightning lit up the window. Thunder followed like a low, distant growl. It was a heavy, somber sound, filled with the same gloom and melancholy that weighed on his heart.
He wanted to touch her.
The impulse came suddenly. Jin slowly reached out toward her face. His hand moved with utmost care, as if afraid she might awaken. His fingertips brushed her pale cheek. There was a faint warmth, a soft texture.
It felt both familiar and foreign.
Suddenly, a burning heat shot through him like a spark. Jin jolted and quickly drew his hand back. And then he realized – he’d touched her skin directly for the first time. Before, they’d only ever made contact through clothes.
A strange warmth and sensation lingered at his fingertips. As if they no longer belonged to him, Jin stared down at his hand in silence.
Was this feeling…. was all of this… because he liked her?
He lowered his hand and looked back at Ariel. She was still peacefully asleep, her eyelids unmoving, like a corpse.
‘A corpse?’
It was just a fleeting thought. He knew she was alive. And yet, a sudden wave of anxiety and dread washed over him. Just moments ago, he’d been terrified his touch would wake her, but now he feared she might never wake again.
His chest tightened, as if his lungs had filled with water. For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.
The only sound in the deathly silent room was the rain battering the window, growing even louder. With a complicated expression, Jin slowly exhaled and gazed down at Ariel. From the beginning until now, she hadn’t changed and was still asleep, unaware of the world.
His lips parted.
“I…”
The sight of her so visibly sick and frail made his heart ache. The surge of emotion choked off his words before he could finish. Without thinking, he reached out again, but stopped himself.
“I should have told you everything sooner.”
The voice that followed was strained, almost wrung out of him.
“About what?”
Suddenly, her lips, still dry and cracked, moved. Jin flinched. The hand he’d stretched out but never touched her with froze in midair. His entire body stiffened like a statue, and his half-lowered eyes widened in shock.
“What is it you mean to tell me?”
A voice dry as parched earth asked again, dragging him out of his trance. Then, the red eyes that had been quietly closed opened, sweeping aside their platinum veil.
Their eyes met. It didn’t take long for the cloudiness in her gaze to clear and focus sharply on him.
Though her sharp features looked weaker than usual, that only made them seem more cutting. Her bloodshot eyes, in contrast, were alert and intense.
She tried to sit up, wincing and curling her left shoulder. She must’ve aggravated the wound.
“Ugh…”
The brief distortion of her brow hit Jin like a sharp jab to the chest. It was another unfamiliar and frustrating feeling. He muttered without thinking.
“You don’t need to get up.”
His voice was thick with concern, but Ariel completely ignored it. Her demeanor was cold, like she was saying we’re not the kind of people who concern ourselves with that.
As she sat up, the blanket slipped down, revealing her slender arms and torso. Despite the loose hospital gown, her neck, hands, and wrists were all painfully thin. An IV was in her hand, and behind her neck, a glimpse of bandages wrapping her wounded shoulder could be seen.
Jin’s gaze lingered on that barely visible injury. His eyes dimmed with a deep melancholy. Another crack of thunder echoed outside.
Ariel noticed where he was looking and tugged her clothes to cover the wound. Gripping the fabric, she tilted her head and looked up at him.
Their eyes met once more.
“Have you finally decided to talk?”
Her cracked voice tossed the question out bluntly, almost carelessly. Yet it hit Jin as hard as seeing her unconscious in that bed. He didn’t answer right away.
Even though he had made up his mind, he was terrified – terrified of how she might see him once she knew everything.
But this time, he couldn’t run away. More than being hated by her, more than being rejected, he was afraid she might leave this world.
Because this time, he wanted to protect her.
“…Yes. If you want to know, I’ll tell you everything.”
The words felt like swallowing a mouthful of knives, each syllable cutting on its way out. But it seemed the answer satisfied her. The faintest smile bloomed on her weary, expressionless face. There was something freeing about that tiny smile. And for some reason, it shook Jin.
Was it that important to her? Did she want to know that badly? Was she really that happy?
Even as he struggled to speak, wracked with pain, she smiled.
Jin felt a sting behind his eyes. He hadn’t cried in so long, the sensation was almost unfamiliar, but it was definitely the kind of pain that brought tears.
And yet, even as his emotions churned, the face reflected in her eyes wore only the faintest trace of expression. After hiding his feelings for so long, he’d forgotten how to show them.
Suddenly, Ariel coughed, dry and ragged. That sound pulled Jin out of his emotional swell and reminded him: She was still a patient.
Alarmed, he tried to stop her.
“I’ll tell you everything… so please, rest for now…”
“That’s for me to decide. I want to hear it now.”
She cut him off coldly. Her gaze and sharp tone pierced through him, demanding an answer.
Jin fell silent again. Fear surged like a drumbeat inside his head. Just one sentence, that was all he had to say. But that single sentence scraped through his throat like shards of glass.
Several deep breaths escaped him. Still, he hadn’t made that decision for nothing. This time, Jin managed to speak the truth he had buried for so long.
“…I was the apprentice of the mage Aska.”
Aska.
The name that left his lips was both familiar and completely unexpected. Shock and confusion flickered across Ariel’s face. Her sharp eyes widened.
“Eighteen years ago, he died protecting me from a monster.”
Jin continued. Each word tore through him like a blade, but once it began, the rest followed easier.
“That man… Aska…”
Ariel mouthed the words. Her voice faded, but her expression said it all.
Jin forced out the final blow, like spitting blood.
“Yes. Aska Elias. Likely… your father.”
The answer that brought clarity to every question.
……
T/N: Ohh, I get it now… Took me too long to figure it out hahaha
