Chapter 12

Noah Ashford was a mage.

A mage—someone with the power to turn imagination into reality.

Mages are beings capable of absorbing and releasing a kind of energy that exists in the air—magic. Through that energy, they materialize the visions in their minds.

To cast magic, nothing special was required besides the ability to manipulate magic and natural-born talent.

And that talent referred to how unrealistically a mage could manifest magic.

“Aagh!”

It hadn’t been long since Noah realized he was a mage. It had come to him unconsciously while he was living as a slave on a whaling ship.

His first spell was murder, and since that day, he hadn’t used magic again. After escaping slavery and living as Theo Grisham, there was rarely a need for violence.

Now, Noah unleashed his power without hesitation, conjuring fire from thin air. The burst of flame scorched the skin of the man lunging at him.

He ran toward the exit. Scarlet’s long hair trailed from beneath his shoulder.

“Don’t open your eyes.”

She was sensitive—one gruesome sight could easily trigger another breakdown. Noah was deeply concerned for her.

Scarlet trembled as she tried to regulate her breathing. Her arms tightened around Noah’s neck.

The kidnappers’ screams reminded her of the nightmare sounds when their employees had been killed.

“Scarlet. Are you okay?”

“The drugs… Isaac… not Isaac… not him…”

“Isaac will be fine. What about you? Are you okay?”

Scarlet inhaled shakily, then exhaled with effort.

She felt like she might pass out at any moment—but she had to hold on. If she wanted to live—to get back alive—she had to keep herself grounded.

“I’m… okay.”

I’m okay.

I’ll be okay.

I have to be okay. I have to endure this—until the day I die.

Scarlet lifted her head resolutely, forcing herself to breathe.

“Cravitz knows everything. Scott must already be on the move.”

“Yeah. Cravitz knows everything.”

Noah replied, his voice laced with meaning. He felt her forehead shift from his shoulder, as if she were trying to look up, and he urgently said:

“Don’t open your eyes. Please.”

He didn’t want her to witness the carnage.

At that moment, Scarlet was someone he had to protect. She was as fragile as a glass ornament—his pitiful, precious blood.

More than anything else, she was the only one who could save him.

“I think the traffickers have ties with the capital mafia.”

“The drugs… I need them…”

Scarlet’s voice trembled. Her nerves felt like they were about to snap.

“Are you hurting badly?”

“I need a sedative. Please… give me a sedative.”

“Hang on. I’ve got it in my pocket. Just—once we’re out of this…”

Scarlet let out a whimper. Noah conjured an ice spear and hurled it, piercing the hearts of the armed mafia men.

The sickening thud of flesh tearing, the sounds of bodies collapsing, screams, groans, and the stench of blood made Scarlet cling even tighter to Noah.

Her body shuddered violently. Then came the hiccups—followed by sobs.

“Scott! John! Jooohn! Susan!”

Lost in delirium, Scarlet cried out the names of those who were like family.

Her voice quivered with desperation, like a child wandering through the dark calling out for her mother. She looked ready to crumble at any moment.

When they exited the warehouse, the darkness of the forest greeted them. The cold night air slipped between their clothes. Scarlet curled up from the chill.

Noah ducked behind a tree and gently set her down, pulling the medication from his pocket.

“Stay with me.”

“C-cold… I’m cold… Where’s John? And Susan?”

Her eyes searched the air blankly. Her ash-gray eyes were bloodshot, her hands flailing weakly to reach Noah. She was in full panic, trembling as she spoke through sobs.

“Scarlet.”

“Why didn’t the guards do anything…?”

“Scarlet.”

“There was an intruder… I need a doctor. This is all my fault. That smell… the blood…”

Noah realized she had completely lost touch with reality. He pried her lips open and slipped the yellow sedative inside.

She didn’t even register the pill in her mouth, continuing slowly.

“Why did you kill me?”

“Chew it.”

“How long are you going to keep killing me?”

You kill me every night. I died yesterday. I died the day before. And I’m going to die again today.

Scarlet could no longer hold it in. Like a child who scraped her knee, she wailed.

“Huaaah… Aaahhhh… Jooohn… John, please save me. I think I’m going to die. Please save me… Huhuhuhuhu…”

“Scarlet!”

Noah cupped her cheeks in both hands, forcing her to meet his gaze.

She couldn’t look away from those deep blue eyes glowing in the darkness.

She looked like a herbivore frozen in place by a predator—or a fragile soul entranced by an unknown light.

“Scarlet. Listen to me.”

A deep crease formed between Noah’s brows. He wasn’t the obedient and composed Theo Grisham anymore.

Noah Ashford’s true nature was fierce, resilient, and unflinchingly bold.

His hands caressed her cheeks. The contrast of warm skin against the cold night air made Scarlet flinch.

With a low, steady voice filled with conviction, Noah said:

“We’re going to make it back alive. No matter what happens, you will survive. Don’t worry about anything. I—I can save you.”

His blue eyes did not waver. Entranced, Scarlet asked:

“How?”

“Because I’ll protect you.”

Noah’s large finger gently wiped away the trail of tears on her cheek.

His thumb rose slowly, brushing away strands of hair stuck to her forehead.

Startled by the tenderness, Scarlet’s eyes widened. But when their eyes met again, all her pain erupted in a scream-like cry:

“How?! When you kill me every night—how?!”

What was she saying? Was her pain truly that unbearable? Noah’s face crumpled in anguish.

Scarlet screamed. She couldn’t believe—couldn’t accept—that the Noah who murdered her every night in her dreams could be the one protecting her now.

“Just stop showing up in my dreams! Leave me alone!”

“Scarlet. Snap out of it. Please—come back to me. You’re okay. You’re okay. Shhh… shhh…”

Noah wrapped his arms around her tightly as she thrashed. She hit his back, pinched his side, and bit his shoulder—but Noah held firm, whispering calmly:

“Shhh… shhh… it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re okay. Good girl.”

Even as she hysterically fought him, Noah’s grip only tightened.

The strength he had gained on the whaling ship was far beyond what her fragile body could resist.

Held tightly in his arms, Scarlet sobbed and pounded against his back. Noah pressed her head into his shoulder with one hand.

She buried her tears in his embrace. His warm hand gently stroked the back of her head. The kindness in his touch made her grief overflow.

“Let… go…”

Scarlet whispered feebly. To her, the Noah who had killed her and the Noah standing before her now felt like completely different people.

Or maybe they weren’t even the same person at all. The Noah before her death had been a stranger—but this Noah had been through so much with her. Separating the two was confusing and overwhelming.

“Let me go…”

“I will. Once you calm down.”

Noah’s voice was quiet as he stroked her hair, alternating between the back of her head and her shoulders.

How could she be this fragile? How could someone be so small?

She wasn’t even physically small—but her presence, flickering like a dying candle, made her seem heartbreakingly tiny. That made him ache. That made him care.

Why are you so small, so weak? If you were stronger, maybe I wouldn’t feel this guilty. Maybe I could be selfish too.

He used to think she was sharp and irritable—but maybe it was all a defense mechanism. Maybe it had taken everything she had to endure her pain and her hatred.

Noah felt tears welling up.

In front of Scarlet, he could do nothing but fall to his knees. Because she was too pitiful. Too broken. Too precious.