NOVEL NEXT chapter 102 - Noble (4)
Lying in bed, Bella looked at her arm, whittled down until it was nothing but bone.
When she pushed back the blanket, her emaciated body was revealed.
Bella let out a small laugh and sat up.
Her bedroom was filled only with tools for training, armor, and sharp blades.
Among all those things, there was one set of clothes she had never taken out.
She opened the wardrobe.
She’d bought it at the market for a few dozen gold, hadn’t she?
A clean outfit she had never worn even once.
She took out a dress with bright, decorative lace.
For the first time in her life, she tried on a dress.
Long silver hair, beautiful eyes. Because she was so gaunt, her beauty looked almost decadent.
And the necklace Sword King Barad had once given her.
‘It’s a birthday present, Bella.’
She fastened around her neck the emerald necklace he had offhandedly given her.
It was astonishing.
Because the reflection in the mirror was far more beautiful than she had imagined.
She smiled awkwardly.
She had lived her whole life as a knight. Once, she had been a blacksmith’s daughter, and after that, she had lived in the arena.
There had never been a “woman’s life” for her.
‘This is enough now.’
Bella smiled faintly.
Because in these first and last few minutes, she had lived as a woman.
She took out the pill she had kept carefully stored in one corner.
If you swallowed this pill down your throat when taken prisoner, you died instantly.
Bella’s devotion, having been saved by Barad, was immense.
If Barad told her to die, she was resolute enough to actually take her own life.
‘I heard them talking.’
Bella’s senses had carried to her the servants’ conversations.
That Barad was overexerting himself, trying to save her.
It was something she did not want.
For a king, it was taken for granted that knights were meant to be used and discarded.
Bella # Nоvеlight # intended to swallow this pill tonight.
‘I’m not afraid at all.’
Bella smiled faintly.
As a knight, wasn’t this a truly noble death?
If she was going to die anyway, wasn’t it better for the king to be a little more at ease?
And the only thing she could do was make sure he would not be further burdened by ever seeing her like this.
She was about to walk over and change clothes again.
Just then, a man came in.
It was Hyun.
Hyun was certain.
‘If I save Bella, His Majesty Barad will repay me in kind.’
The Barad he had seen was that kind of man.
Because of that, he didn’t think it a waste even if the Saint spent one of her twice-in-a-lifetime uses of the Saint’s Prayer.
As he walked toward Bella’s bedroom, he recalled one strange detail.
It was because of the Sudden Quest: The Woman Who Has Resolved to Die.
‘A woman who has resolved to die?’
Hyun couldn’t help being puzzled by how ominous it sounded.
Suddenly, something flashed through his mind, and he broke into a run toward Bella’s room.
When Hyun opened the door to her bedroom and stepped inside, he saw a version of her different from usual.
Looking at the pill lying in her palm, he understood at once.
For a moment, her expression showed surprise, but then she calmly put it away to one side.
“Will you keep it a secret from His Majesty?”
Seeing her give a bitter smile, Hyun shook his head.
He also told her that the Saint he’d brought was here.
Instead, she said this.
“That is a good thing. That you have become recognized as Saint Aria’s benefactor, Hyun. Now that you are a noble of the kingdom, please use that power to bring the kingdom prosperity.”
Chivalry.
That was the problem.
To value the kingdom’s prosperity and the king’s peace above one’s own life.
Hyun looked at this stubborn woman.
It seemed she had trapped herself in a corner.
Suddenly, a conversation with Nell crossed his mind.
‘Hyun, you have one other special power besides your blacksmithing skills.’
‘A special power? What’s that?’
‘You’re good with words.’
Yes, Hyun had that power Nell had talked about.
Right then, a notification sounded.
[Bella was fated to die.]
[But because you brought Aria, that fate may change.]
[A new episode may begin—one never seen before.]
‘A new episode might begin, involving Bella and me?’
Hyun frowned slightly, puzzled.
He couldn’t quite get a feel for it.
How could there be any kind of “story” starting between her and him?
‘Put that aside for now.’
It was only natural.
That, as a knight, she should wish not for a single life—her own—but for the kingdom’s prosperity and the king’s peace.
Because of that, Bella had not a shred of regret.
Then the blacksmith in front of her—the man—asked her,
“……Are you not afraid?”
That rough-edged question made Bella’s heart lurch.
But she tried as hard as she could to act calm, to act like it was nothing.
“I am a knight. A knight only finds the happiest rest when they die for the kingdom.”
Bella hypnotized herself.
I am not afraid.
This is what I must do as a knight.
In response, Hyun looked out the window. It was raining.
Staring at the cold winter rain, he said,
“Spring is almost here.”
Bella’s face twisted with pain. She knew.
That she, who refused the Saint’s Prayer and wished for the kingdom’s safety instead, would never see that beautiful spring.
Watching him talk about a spring she would never see, she thought,
Are you mocking me?
“When spring comes, we’ll go on an outing.”
“You…….”
Of course. How could a mere blacksmith ever understand her heart?
How could he understand the nobility of a knight’s spirit, the beauty of a knight dying for the kingdom……
“On that day, Dame Bella, I hope you’ll be standing by His Majesty’s side, as always.”
“……?”
She’d been wrong.
Bella looked into the blacksmith’s eyes, her own gaze wavering.
The first time she’d met him, he was a greenhorn.
The second time, he was the maker of a masterwork sword.
When she saw him again, he’d saved a territory.
Now, having become a noble, he was speaking to her.
He was not laughing at her death or dismissing chivalry.
He was embracing her—the knight who, even now, was afraid of being caught showing this last, fragile image of herself as a woman.
A picture formed in Bella’s mind.
Flowers and thickets blooming beautifully across the fields.
Barad standing before a great tree, and the knights lined up in formation as they faced him.
And between them, herself, striding in wearing silver armor with a sword at her waist, every movement crisp and exact.
She could see it right before her eyes.
As always, His Majesty Barad would smile at her with that blind, absolute trust.
Standing beside him, shoulder to shoulder, she would feel the brush of the rustling bushes and look out over the world beyond the hill.
“Isn’t it far too great a loss?”
Bella slowly fell apart.
“For such a splendid flower as you to wither away.”
With the word “splendid,” he honored her as a knight, and with the word “flower,” he protected her heart as a woman.
In the end, it burst out of her.
“I want to live……”
She wanted to keep surviving, to stand silently at His Majesty’s side as always.
“I want to live……”
And on those rare, very pleasant days—
She wanted to secretly wear this dress and stroll through the marketplace.
Sobbing as she crumpled, Bella asked,
“Why, why……?”
The blacksmith smiled a dazzling smile.
“Because His Majesty needs you.”
Yes, he woke Bella up.
He made her realize that instead of swallowing the pill and dying, what was truly right was staying alive and continuing to guard His Majesty’s side.
That hanging her life on some shitty thing called chivalry was worthless.
In this moment, Bella found the will to live again.
And……
[A new story begins.]
[It is the story of a knight who, one day in the distant future, will lay down her life to protect you.]
[Knight Bella holds another sun in her heart.]
At the end, Hyun stepped back, and Saint Aria went to Bella.
Beyond the closing door, Bella kept her eyes on the figure of the man standing there until the very last moment.
He was the one who had brought Aria to cure her sickness, and who had given her the will to live.
In that moment, she made one resolve.
‘Just as I do for my king…….’
She vowed to protect Hyun as well.
Saint Aria’s prayer began. Holy light burst forth, filling the entire castle.
The warmth of it resembled the warmth in Bella’s heart.
*****
Stepping outside, Hyun saw the most brilliant, beautiful light pouring out from the room.
[It is the story of a knight who, one day in the distant future, will lay down her life to protect you.]
[Knight Bella holds another sun in her heart.]
And he recalled that astounding notification.
‘Bella might really be able to come to Radiance?’
The Bella Hyun knew had already surpassed even the Knight Commander in terms of talent.
The strongest in the Kingdom of Goyard after Barad, whom the kingdom itself acknowledged.
‘To bring her over, I’ll have to grow Radiance.’
Barad was a friend, but a bit of a tease. He wouldn’t hand her over easily.
‘Is the reward I got this time……possibility?’
Yes, that reward was the possibility that he might one day bring Bella to his side.
But that alone was enough.
That possibility alone had value so astronomical it could never be measured in money.
Then Aria came outside.
“I will now meet with His Holiness and discuss the price of the Four Tigers Sword.”
“All right.”
The Saint and the Holy Knights departed again.
And the value of the Four Tigers Sword was extremely important to Hyun as well.
‘How much did I have left?’
In truth, Hyun knew the Four Tigers Sword alone would be enough to cover all remaining medical expenses and then some.
But what Hyun needed was money to make a fresh start.
He was a normal man.
He wanted a nice house, a nice car, a good life.
The price of the Four Tigers Sword would become the first step toward that life.
*****
Papal Palace of Ares Church.
The Pope was a man whose power rivaled that of an emperor.
The 16th Pope, Carsel, could not understand.
‘Saint Aria, how could you make such a unilateral choice…….’
Aria was the wisest person he knew.
Yet that Aria had sent Saint’s Child Belia out on her own.
And what was even more outrageous was in the courier Carsel had received.
‘I would like to designate the Four Tigers Sword as a holy relic. Ares Church must prepare a reward for the blacksmith in question, and I have personally promised to add 30% on top of its value.’
Carsel’s head throbbed. He had heard that this blacksmith was a benefactor who had saved lives.
But even so, wasn’t this a bit too much?
On top of that, a holy relic was the most sacred item symbolizing the Order itself.
‘Four Tigers Sword?’
It was absurd.
To make some sword that didn’t even count among the weapons bestowed by Ares into a holy relic?
Maybe Aria had hit her head.
He made up his mind.
He would speak sharply to Aria!
And then he began examining the Four Tigers Sword Aria had brought.
“……I did act too much on my own. Thirty percent was too much.”
Aria, who had unilaterally decided to add 30% more, wore a guilty expression.
Carsel said,
“You’re right. For an artifact like this, you should have said we’d add more! Being stingy with just 30%, what were you thinking!”
“……Excuse me?”
Aria was taken aback, and Carsel finally understood her feelings. Their Church had to maintain as close a relationship as possible with this man called Hyun.
“Let’s add another 10% and make it 40% above value.”
The Pope, Aria, and the blacksmiths together calculated its worth.
Even they were astonished by the result.
“To think we’d end up putting this kind of price on a single sword.”
“But it’s worth every coin.”
Carsel could not contradict Aria’s words.
And not long after they sent the courier, Hyun arrived, his expression stunned as he received the payment.
*****
Bank of Korea.
Bank teller Lee Dasom was working the counter as usual.
Ding-dong—
At the cheerful chime, Dasom looked up at the young man walking toward her.
‘Wow…….’
His face was covered by a mask, but he was very tall, and his proportions were excellent.
What was he, twenty-three? Maybe twenty-four?
“I’d like to check my deposits and update my passbook.”
As usual, Dasom slid the passbook into the machine.
Whirrrrr—
The passbook update and deposit history printed down the pages.
Usually, people around that age, if they saved well, had maybe ten million won—or at least a million won.
Checking that the printing had gone through properly, Dasom froze.
[1,600,000,000 won.]
An enormous sum of 1.6 billion won had just been deposited.
‘Game exchange money?’
Dasom was deeply surprised.
But as a bank employee, she showed no outward reaction and handed the passbook back.
The young man stared down at it for a long moment and suddenly began to cry.
“I sent it all…….”
At the incomprehensible remark, Dasom gave him a puzzled look.
Then an old man at the next window spoke up.
“You must’ve had debts, eh? Congratulations, young man. A grown man crying and all. Now you’ve only got happy days ahead of you.”
The young man answered with a bright smile.
“You’re right. Now I’ve only got happy days left.”
Dasom chimed in as well.
“Congratulations.”
And the young man wiped his eyes, then left the bank wearing a happy smile.