R4STWH - Chapter 136
Chapter 136
“There’s no need to waste time on unnecessary things. Just leave me be.”
The woman closed her eyes, briefly glancing at me, as if trying to shut herself off from the world.
As she said, time was of the essence. A strange noise echoed through the castle just as I reached for the magic barrier, proving her point.
It sounded like something huge overturning, sand trickling down with a ‘tinkle’.
I reflexively checked the quest window.
If the Saintess had died, a failure message would have popped up, but thankfully, it was silent.
‘…To feel relieved at a time when someone’s life has ended because of my incompetence. In a way, what I spouted to Zero was close to hypocrisy.’
Perhaps this was what it meant when they said ideals and reality were different.
I was relieved that someone else had died instead of the Saintess or this woman in front of me.
Of course, this didn't mean I was suddenly overwhelmed with shock or self-loathing.
I knew from the beginning that I was far from a righteous person.
“You can come out now.”
Two minutes earned at the cost of someone I didn't know. I rescued Elias’s mother first.
“……”
I was about to pass by, but then I noticed her ankles, withered and thin as if unable to walk, and offered my back.
“Hop on. You should at least greet your son.”
“……My son?”
I pulled the hesitant woman onto my back and started running again. The world was in chaos. I wasn’t sure this frail, weakened woman with no will to live could survive.
So this might be the last chance.
“Elias is here.”
I felt the woman stiffen against my back.
“And he’s hurting a lot right now.”
“Hurting? Where?”
Her grip on my shoulders was surprisingly strong, a stark contrast to her previous listlessness.
“His heart.”
“……?”
“He's so tired and worn out that his heart seems to be deeply wounded. To the point where he can't react normally.”
I deliberately didn’t read his memories, so I didn’t know exactly how his emotions toward others had become so dulled. So, I just blurted out something based on my own situation.
“He'll probably be the same even if he sees you. He might have missed you once, or resented you even more, but now he’ll just be numb.”
Thanks to Crow doing his part well, there were no barriers left on the first floor. I headed straight for the second floor, continuing to chatter to the silent woman on my back.
“I'm an orphan too. I grew up not knowing my parents' faces. If someone asked me what I wished for regarding my parents, I'd say I wish they'd come and see me.”
As I headed in the opposite direction of Crow’s presence, I saw others still trapped.
“I wish they’d tell me they’re sorry for abandoning me, that there were unavoidable circumstances, that they’d make all those pathetic excuses. I wish they’d tell me they missed me so much that living felt like dying, even if I yelled at them to stop.”
Although I blocked out such thoughts later on, I used to imagine and hypothesize countless times when I was younger.
‘Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe they didn't abandon me, but lost me. Maybe they’re frantically searching for me, crying their eyes out.’
The most terrifying thought was seeing them happily living with a new child, as if they’d erased me from their memory. I’d rather never see them again if that were the case. Selfish as I was, I couldn't wish them well without me.
In the end, I was spared the worst-case scenario.
Everyone in my world, except me, had died.
“Don't suffer alone in some empty place for his sake. Go to him and show him. Show him how much you missed your young son, how you struggled with grief.”
They might think, ‘What do you know to be saying all this?’ but I did hear from Clea.
"When I was born, Mother was already deeply depressed. Because of the betrayal by her ex-husband, resentment towards her family, longing and guilt for her son."
This woman didn't live well.
Thankfully.
Of course, this woman might mean nothing to Elias now. A long time gap must have formed as he regained his memories from another worldline.
But no matter how I thought about it, this woman was the most suitable person to stimulate his dulled emotions.
As someone who was an exception from the beginning, it was something I couldn’t do for him. That’s why I was doing this, meddling as I pleased, even though neither Elias nor this woman would want it.
“Are you, perhaps…”
The woman, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.
“The Duchess of Tenaclad?”
“Yes, I'm Elias's wife.”
Busily undoing the next magic barrier, I added defensively,
“I’m from another country, so I'm a bit clumsy with the Imperial language. Please understand if I make any mistakes.”
I learned honorifics from Luna from time to time, but since I rarely had a chance to use them, I wasn't used to it.
“I see…….”
She trailed off, then let out a long sigh for reasons I couldn’t comprehend.
After clearing the rest of the second floor, we reached the central staircase.
“Ilesha.”
At the sound of my name, I looked up and saw Elias standing about halfway down the stairs from the third floor to the second. Clea, who seemed to have followed him, widened her eyes and ran down.
“Mother!”
I blinked and looked down the hall. There was no one beside Crow, who was coming towards us.
“Where's the Saintess?”
“She wasn’t upstairs.”
“She wasn't in the basement either…?”
I hurriedly checked the quest window again. The quest to rescue the Saintess was still ongoing. As I froze in bewilderment, Clea helped the woman off my back and led her away. Time continued to tick by, but I still had no clue where the Saintess was.
“Have you checked the tower?”
Just then, the woman asked me in a small voice.
“The tower?”
Then I remembered something protruding from the northwest side of the lord’s castle. And if that was also within the area Yumi had designated…
“Where do I have to go?”
“There's a connecting passage at the end of the first-floor corridor. It would be hard to find the entrance if you’re not familiar with the castle.”
“I’ll guide you!”
Clea, after glancing at Elias and me, carried the woman on her back and ran off.
‘Less than a minute left.’
I was in a hurry, but there was no other way. I silently followed Clea, who was practically flying using her spirit.
‘Should I not have saved her?’
For a brief moment, regret flashed through my mind. Because I rescued everyone, even those unrelated, there were only three left, including the Saintess. So, if we were late, the probability of the Saintess dying…
“……Hey, Elias.”
“Yes?”
“Did you… save everyone?”
It suddenly occurred to me that Elias might not have made the same choice as me. In the short time waiting for his answer, I asked myself,
‘What kind of answer am I expecting?’
‘I shouldn't have asked……’
If Elias had made the same choice, he might be hurt by my question. Even if he hadn’t saved them, telling me that wouldn’t be pleasant.
‘Ugh…’
As I groaned, unable to take back my words, he intertwined his hand with mine.
“I didn't save anyone, so don’t worry.”
As I looked at him whispering in a low voice, smiling sweetly enough to melt me, I felt tears prick my eyes.
‘As expected, Elias……’
‘There's definitely something wrong with him.’
“Here it is!”
Clea said, pulling back the cloth covering the passage. It certainly looked like something one would overlook.
Without time to reply, I dashed ahead, Elias right behind me. How many seconds were left now?
‘Please, let us not be late.’
When we climbed all the way up the six-story spiral staircase, an open space appeared.
“Lady Ilesha!”
The Saintess, her eyes so swollen from crying that she was almost unrecognizable, cried out again at the sight of me, “Waaah!”
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