NOVEL NEXT Chapter 11
Rudell opened his eyes again sometime later.
Ugh…
With a sensation of his head spinning, what entered Rudell’s view was a familiar ceiling.
The mansion of the Duke’s House. His own room.
…!!
As that information sank into his mind, he hurriedly tried to get up.
No. To be precise, he attempted to get up.
Gaaahh…!!
At that moment, a sharp pain in his chest made Rudell groan as he collapsed back onto the bed.
What on earth happened?
With that thought in mind, Rudell slowly began to recall his memories.
The intense pain felt while cleaning up after the battle with the church guys and leaving the inn.
His memory cut off after seeing the arrow embedded in his chest.
…
It was a blunder.
Those guys were far from honorable.
Thinking that the visible enemies were all there was too complacent.
This was the price of that complacency.
And it didn’t stop there.
With his existence exposed, the Duchy was no longer safe.
Damn it…
Feeling an indescribable frustration, Rudell covered his face with his hands.
At that moment…
You’re awake!
Kyle…
The door slowly opened, and Kyle, dressed in casual clothes, entered carrying a box filled with bandages and medicines.
How’s the injury?
I think it’s okay. You did this, right?
Yes.
The potion bottles rolling on the floor and the bloodied bandages told the story of the frantic situation from just moments before.
However, the fact that the Duke’s House was still quiet meant Kyle’s work was efficient.
I feel like I caused unnecessary trouble.
Please don’t say that. Rather, it’s me who couldn’t properly serve you, young master. I will accept punishment humbly.
Please don’t say you’re going to commit seppuku…
Kyle, who had set the box down on the table next to the bed, knelt, and Rudell couldn’t help but chuckle at him.
Even without Kyle, there were enough headaches already.
If you say so, young master…
Did you really intend to do that?
Seeing Kyle nod, Rudell couldn’t hide his astonishment.
So, what happened with that sniper?
We succeeded in capturing the one who shot you, but…
But?
Kyle trailed off, making Rudell tilt his head in confusion.
He committed suicide. Those bastards were quite ruthless.
The fact that Kyle didn’t explain how he did it indicated that the process was horrific.
Thanks for your hard work.
Although it was unsettling that they couldn’t extract any information from him, if asked whether that was a significant problem, the answer would be NO.
He already had all the information in his head.
What their objective was. How they operated. Where their base was. What they were planning.
Did anyone manage to escape?
We dispatched people to search thoroughly, but we couldn’t find any traces.
That’s a relief then.
Weinstein County had many skilled hunters.
No one could rival them when it came to tracking footprints or traces, so there was no need to worry about that anymore.
Hah…
Perhaps because the situation had settled and the tension had eased.
As a short sigh escaped his lips, he felt sleepiness wash over him.
I’ll change your bandages one last time.
Okay. I’ll leave it to you.
The blood-soaked bandages showed signs of treatment.
It was common sense to keep bandages clean at all times.
Rudell strained to get up, and Kyle slowly began to unwrap Rudell’s bandages.
The sound of the bandages brushing against each other echoed in the room, and just as Kyle was about to pull out a new bandage from the box…
Creeeak…
The old door of Rudell’s room began to creak open.
At that moment, both Rudell and Kyle froze in place, and what appeared beyond the open door was…
Uuugh… Rudell…?
It was Leje, rubbing her sleepy eyes with a drowsy expression.
…
This is bad.
This is really bad.
The moment he laid his eyes on her, those were the words that popped into Rudell’s head.
How on earth was he supposed to explain this?
Imagine waking up from a nap, wandering into a friend’s room, and finding a tall, dark figure in a room torn apart, wrapping a bandage around your friend’s chest, with empty potion bottles and bloodied bandages all over the floor.
And the two people frozen in place looked like they had been caught with an unspeakable, terrifying secret.
Think, Rudell. Think of an answer.
The best answer to escape this situation.
Just then, as a silence that felt like a year passed in one minute…
…
Huh…? H-huh!?
Leje’s body began to tilt, and she fell backwards, completely stiff like a stone. Rudell and Kyle could only stare in silence at the fallen Leje.
For a moment, the silence lingered in the room…
Is this something we should be happy about?
I… I guess so?
At Rudell’s question, Kyle answered with a surprisingly flustered voice.
And just like that, a crisis that didn’t exist in the story slipped away from Rudell.
—
The warm sunlight streamed in on the morning.
Hrrk!?
With an unintelligible groan, Leje shot up from the bed.
Huh…? H-huh…?
Then, with a dazed face, she looked around the room, tilting her head in confusion.
But that was only for a moment.
Hah…
A short sigh escaped her lips as she surveyed her surroundings.
That sigh contained nothing but relief.
The dream she had last night.
It was so vivid it was hard to call it just a dream.
It had been so vivid that her hands were still trembling.
The pool of blood covering the floor. And in the middle of it, the sight of Rudell lying there, cold and lifeless.
That was a scene so horrific she couldn’t even imagine.
How could she not feel relieved knowing that was just a dream?
This is no time to be like this.
At that moment, murmuring to herself, Leje rose from her spot.
Someone once said.
Dreams are like windows to the future.
Even seemingly trivial dreams could be warnings about the future.
If that were true, there was only one thing she needed to do.
Rudell! Good morning!
With all her might, Leje opened the door to Rudell’s room and greeted him…
What? Did he already go downstairs…?
As she looked at the completely empty room, she said in a low voice.
Fortunately, Rudell’s room looked exactly as she remembered.
The pool of blood that filled the room and Rudell, who was lying on the bed covered in blood, were nowhere to be seen.
Not a single trace of the ominously vivid dream was visible.
Thank goodness…
Murmuring that to herself, Leje closed the door and headed downstairs.
Having checked this place, it was now time to check the next location.
—
The mansion of the Duke’s House was the same as usual.
But perhaps due to the ominous dream, Leje felt strangely like the atmosphere wasn’t the same as usual.
I hope it’s just my imagination…
The suffocating sensation tightening her chest made Leje frown.
The thought that it was just a dream kept circling in her mind, yet for some reason, every step she took made her feel more anxious.
A little while later, she arrived at the dining room, letting out a brief sigh before fixing her expression.
Then, carefully, she opened the dining room door.
Good morning, Lord Weinstein. Lady Weinstein.
Good morning, Duchess Lagrind. I hope you weren’t uncomfortable during the night?
Carlos greeted her with a polite gesture, befitting the daughter of the Duke’s House.
No, thanks to you.
Nodding, Leje headed towards the empty dining table…
You’re a bit late today.
I had a rather troublesome dream last night.
As Rudell spoke to her from the table, she replied.
A dream? What was it about?
Well…
Just as she was about to speak, she hesitated at Rudell’s curious expression.
The room filled with a pool of blood. The vision of Rudell bandaged up in blood…
Leje?
It was a dream about falling from a high place. It was really scary…
As Rudell questioned her with a puzzled voice, she stammered in response with a sigh.
After all, it was a dream that made her feel incredibly uneasy, and how could she tell the person involved about it?
At that moment.
Hmm… I see?
What is that look?
No, it’s just…
As Leje shot a sharp glare at him for narrowing his eyes at her answer, Rudell, who seemed to contemplate whether to say something, suddenly grinned.
They say dreams of falling from high places are dreams that short people have when they want to be taller.
Ugh! You come here!!
Why was she even concerned about such a guy?
As that thought crossed her mind, Leje rushed at Rudell, forgetting that this was the Duke’s House.