R4STWH - Chapter 125
Chapter 125
A woman he loved?
'There’s no way I could have something like that.'
There wasn't a single woman with whom Elias had shared his heart in his life.
The only one who had been connected to him, even if only by law, was the 2nd Imperial Princess Rosine, but she was the one who had strongly instilled his distrust and hatred towards women.
It was because he had witnessed her having an affair with a knight while looking for her to check if she needed anything right after the lavish and extravagant wedding that had been held according to the bride’s picky taste and right before the banquet.
There was no way he could have accepted a woman, who was busy enjoying herself with another man right before their first night, as his wife.
Although he had passed by quietly without questioning her due to reasons that had made him unable to break the engagement, she had been shamelessly defiling not only her own bedchamber, but even the bed that had been prepared for the couple.
How much of an idiot would he have to be to love her, even so?
[No, not that woman. You will meet a woman in a different timeline than this one.]
Neo had said as if chanting something.
[You'll be attracted to her the moment you see her, and you'll love her deeply without even realizing it. You won't feel that your life is worth anything, even if you were to sacrifice it for her sake.]
He didn't even think it was worth it to reply, so he closed his eyes, and a low laugh reached his ears.
[You’ll know once you meet her yourself.]
The moment he sharply opened his eyes at the strangely suspicious voice, his vision froze.
Darkness, where it was impossible to see an inch in front of you, should have been spreading in front of him, but now, he was among ruined buildings that were being buffeted by a strong sandstorm.
No, when he looked closely, they weren’t really buildings. They just looked like that because they were piles of garbage that were as high as a mountain.
'What is this……?'
Bewildered, he tried to touch his body, but he couldn’t feel anything. He was only there as a shapeless existence, like the wind that was flowing around.
“It’s your turn this time, Pinky.”
“I did it last time……!”
“So, are you saying you won’t do it?”
Elias’s gaze turned towards the young voices that he had suddenly heard. His body naturally flowed in that direction just by looking.
“It’s not that…… I’m saying it’s not fair.”
A small, gaunt girl who was probably about six years old was surrounded by other children who seemed bigger than her.
The orange eyes that were glimpsed between the bushy pink hair were filled with sadness.
“Fair?”
One of the children scoffed.
“You should be grateful that we’re even including you. What can you do other than being bait? If you don’t like it, then you can leave our group right now.”
Although her lip was bitten, the girl didn’t say anything.
At that moment, what sounded like a pack of wild dogs started howling in the distance. Screams that sounded like they were tearing apart also followed.
“It seems like they’re here already!”
“Hurry up!”
While all of them were rushing around, perhaps because they all had roles to fulfill, several of them pushed the girl from the back.
“Quickly! If you’re late, you’ll have to starve for a week!”
Eventually, the pink-haired girl started walking unsteadily towards somewhere.
'What’s that…… Is that a monster?'
What he had thought to be a pack of wild dogs were actually monsters that looked like nothing he had ever seen before. The bodies of the monsters that were running in a pack through the path were at least three times bigger than the girl.
When the group had nearly passed, the girl who had been quietly waiting, suddenly sprang up and ran into the path.
A monster that had been running at the end of the group stopped at her presence and turned its head back.
“……!”
At the moment he saw its eyes that were shining with madness, the child started running away.
Using limbs that seemed like they would break at any moment, she ran through the piles of garbage that were scattered all over, and the monster, drooling, chased after her.
'Damn it…….'
It felt like the monster would catch up to her at any moment and tear the girl to pieces. However, the shapeless Elias had no way of helping her.
Fortunately, the girl had safely reached the place where the other children had set a trap.
After passing the point, she collapsed as if she had fallen, and nobody paid attention to her.
-Kyak!
“We caught it!”
“Pull it!”
They were all gathered around the monster that had been caught in the trap.
Elias approached the child who was lying on the floor, panting hard.
Her face that was covered in tears and snot was dirty, but for some reason it didn't feel dirty at all.
Her orange eyes, which resembled the sun, were filled with a desire for life. They sparkled like a beautiful jewel with the will to survive.
All the child had received was just a small lump of flesh that was about the size of her fist.
'Is she even allowed to eat something like that…….'
Elias couldn't leave her, and stayed by her side.
Just as he had expected, she suffered from a high fever and was severely ill, but she still managed to survive.
That kind of event repeated itself.
Sometimes it would be three days, or sometimes it would be a week.
The girl survived each time while being used as bait.
'Where is this? Why are these children living so miserably? Aren't there any adults?'
At first, he would look around and check the other children, but at some point, he always stayed by the side of the pink-haired girl.
It was because she looked especially vulnerable.
He didn’t know why he was wandering around here, without a shape or form, or how long he would be stuck in this situation. However, he had decided to stay by the girl’s side.
Then, it happened one day.
When the girl, who was hiding in a shelter that she had managed to squeeze herself into among the piles of trash, suddenly turned to look directly at him.
“Butterfly.”
As if her small lips were moving, she whispered softly.
'……?'
“I don’t know what a butterfly is. But it’s small, pretty, and flies around.”
'Is she talking about me?'
Elias stared blankly at the girl.
“You can’t go anywhere. You have to stay with me, okay?”
As he watched the girl who had smiled brightly while hugging her knees, he stretched out his nonexistent hand and carefully stroked her bushy hair.
His memories of comforting someone were too vague.
That was why he didn't know what to do with the emotion that was making his heart ache.
However, it bothered him that the girl, who was more vulnerable than others and was always being bullied by others, reminded him of his past self.
Whether it was a butterfly or not, he felt relieved that he was able to make her smile, even for just a little while.
'If there is any way I could help her.'
Just like he had so desperately wanted to when he was young, he wanted to be able to give her any kind of help.
If he could, he wanted to.
His intention was to stay with the girl while this phenomenon, that was as unclear as a dream or a hallucination, lasted.
However, his time with her was much longer than he had expected.
The hallucination, that he had thought would end soon, continued.
When he was feeling fatigue from being without a body and closed his eyes only for a moment, when he opened his eyes again, the girl had grown more than before.
“Why have you come back after so long?”
The girl who was trapped inside a small cage whispered.
“I thought that I wouldn’t see you again.”
'Where is this? It seems like the place has changed.'
In a building that he didn't know the purpose of, Elias was finally able to discover the adults.
'Are they trying to treat the children?'
There were children trapped in cages like the girl, and there were also children trapped in things that looked like transparent cylinders.
At first, Elias felt relieved that the girl had been moved to a safe place, but he was soon shocked after realizing the truth about this place.
It was a place where cruel experiments were taking place, like in the laboratory of a notorious black magician.
'She has to run away. She might really die this time.'
When Elias was nervously pacing around while watching the children’s corpses being piled up by the dozens every day, the girl, who had been hiding her face in her knees, raised her head.
Her orange eyes, which were shimmering with tears, were looking at him.
“You’re pretty. Butterfly…… you’re really pretty.”
Even when he wanted to say that, ‘That’s not the point now,’ his heart ached.
However, even now, there was nothing he could do.
Even when the girl was being used as the subject of a cruel experiment and was struggling in pain, even when she was crying out in agony, he could only watch powerlessly.
'Anyone would be fine, just please…….'
However.
Contrary to his wish to have someone appear and save her, the girl escaped that hell-like place by herself.
“It’s thanks to you.”
And then, she whispered with a face that had lost its smile.
“So from now on, I will protect you.”
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