When the Black Moon Rises - Chapter 47
Chapter 47
Trying to understand the situation, she barely managed to lift her heavy eyelids, but her vision was still blurry.
Just as she was about to look around further, she noticed a strange man sitting beside her.
A man so perfectly beautiful, it was as if he had been painted, sat beside her, watching her without even blinking.
‘Baek…!’
Her startled body recoiled instinctively.
“Baek Giha.”
“Yeah.”
The man’s large hand reached toward her head, softly stroking it.
“I’m here.”
“……”
Her gaze lingered blankly on his face, which wore a gentle smile.
His quiet voice spoke once more.
“I’m here.”
“……”
“I’m here.”
...What was it about those words?
What was it about his presence that made her nose ache so much?
It was as if her heart, which had felt so desolate as if she had been left alone in a vast ocean, was being filled with warmth.
“Are you hungry?”
A gentle voice asked.
“Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
She shook her head to indicate no, but her eyes involuntarily began to well up.
She didn't want to acknowledge the immense relief she felt upon seeing him.
Not wanting to show him her face, which was now a mess, she turned her head away.
However, as she tried to wipe away the tears, she felt something else on her hand.
‘…Blood?’
Why was there blood here?
At that moment, she realized.
She suddenly sat up to check his hand.
A bright red wound, still unhealed, was clearly visible on his wrist, revealing how deeply it had been cut.
He panicked as he noticed her gaze and quickly hid his wrist behind his back.
“It’ll heal soon, just a little longer.”
As she glared at him, her lips pressed into a thin line, he added hastily,
“Things like this are nothing to me. You know that.”
“……”
“It's just that you weren’t waking up for so long. Blood can transfer spiritual power faster than an spirit orb.”
“Are you insane?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if you’re insane.”
“……”
“I told you not to do this. I told you not to. I told you not to do anything more for me.”
“……”
“I told you not to do anything! So why are you doing this?!”
‘Why are you doing this? I told you not to. I told you to stay away because it won't do you any good. I told you to distance yourself from me.’
“Why did you even come here?! Why?!”
Even though she knew it was unreasonable anger, she couldn't control her emotions.
“……Why won’t you listen to me?”
She pressed her chest, trying to control the hot lump rising in her throat.
He had only tried to help her, so how angry must he be hearing these words?
But the overwhelming feelings simply couldn't be contained.
‘What is this? What is wrong with this?’
“Stop doing such foolish things already!”
That was what she said.
At that moment, when she would have preferred him to be angry at her for speaking that way, or to storm out, or to do anything else, he said—
“You did well.”
He said something completely unexpected.
“You did well.”
Dumbfounded, she asked, as if angry, "What did I do well?”
“All those times.”
“……”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“……”
For a moment, she forgot her anger and just stared at him.
Baek Giha's eyes were also quite red.
With a serious face, he said that she had endured it well.
“You endured well.”
“……”
That she did good.
“You did well.”
“……Why.”
“Huh?”
“……Why. To me. Why… always why.”
“……”
“Why.”
She was stunned.
‘What do you know to say such words?’
What did he know about those times to say such things?
She was so angry her face contorted, and her chest felt tight with unresolvable resentment.
How dare he say such things when he knew nothing?
To the point where she wanted to blame him for something that wasn’t even his fault.
Do you understand how that feels? Do you think you can understand that situation if you weren’t the one going through it?
…But still.
“You endured well.”
And yet, somehow, his words were so comforting.
Her lips trembled, and tears flowed down her face from the corners of her eyes.
Completely flustered, he hurriedly wiped her tears with his large hands.
“Why are you crying? Are you in a lot of pain? Is that why?”
As she felt his warmth, a useless thought came to her mind.
‘Maybe it would be alright if I just ask for help. If I just ask him to join me in my mission…’
Such thoughts.
Just having him by her side seemed to give her strength.
The foolish thought that with this man beside her, none of the tasks she had to accomplish would seem frightening.
…She was still young.
Even in her previous life, it hadn't been long since she had completed her exuviation, and even that she had gone through alone, without any guardians from the Baek Clan.
She had endured her life in the Baek Clan with the sole desire to meet her family and live a happy life with her betrothed.
But what awaited her upon her return was the betrayal of the person she had trusted and loved the most, who threw her into a dungeon.
After suffering from inexplicable torture for five years, and finding out that her beloved cousin had betrayed her.
Without anyone to protect her, she had eventually died tragically along with her family.
All that sorrow, the sorrow that only he knew about, had burst out in front of him.
Even though she had sworn so many times not to involve him in her revenge.
He replied in a trembling voice to her, who was crying with her face soaked in tears.
“You did well.”
“……”
“You endured well.”
“……”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
No matter how hard she bit her lip, no matter how hard she pressed her eyes with both hands, her tears wouldn't stop; they just kept overflowing.
Unable to hold back any longer, Sehwa just began to cry, sobbing loudly.
She was still so terrified.
What if that day were to repeat itself?
What if the pain of those times in that dark, torturous prison would repeat itself?
“All this happened because of you, sister, so don’t be so resentful. If only you hadn’t acted so proper in front of me, if you hadn’t been so pretentious. If you hadn’t stupidly meddled in my affairs, lecturing me about not attending improper gatherings... none of this would have happened.”
“You’re dying because of you, sister. You and your entire family.”
What if her family suffered because of her?
What if those tragic times were really all her fault?
The fear that had been suppressed under extreme guilt exploded.
Uwaaaaah.
She hadn't planned to cry, but once she started, she couldn't stop. Even as choking sounds came from her throat, endless sorrow kept overflowing, unable to form words.
A large hand touched her curled back.
His warmth was comforting.
His presence was even more comforting than his warmth.
To her, who had been betrayed by those she trusted most, he offered his life, and despite not being immortal, came all this way to see her.
‘How could I not love someone like you?’
While she cried like that for a long time, he didn’t try to stop her tears.
He just patted her back for a long time, as if telling her to do as she pleased.
That alone seemed to wash away so much.
She released all that came out throughout that night.
Many words that couldn't be formed, that would never be spoken, were mixed in with those tears.
That she was sorry.
That she was truly grateful.
That she... loved him.
I’m tearing up rn
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