Chapter 42
“Ugh…”
Eslyn pushed herself halfway up. Her soaked clothes made it difficult.
When she turned her head, she saw the black waves of the Sehaz River swelling nearby. Judging by the calmer current, she must have drifted downstream.
When she carelessly tried to brace herself with her left hand, a stabbing pain shot through it, and she bit back a groan.
She slowly got to her feet. Her wrist throbbed, and her whole body ached, but thankfully, nothing seemed broken.
She looked around.
“…!”
That’s when she finally noticed the person collapsed nearby. She rushed over to check for breathing.
She leaned in close, and the steady thump of a heartbeat reached her ears. The cold blood in her veins seemed to start flowing again.
“Haah…”
Relief washed over her, and Eslyn sat down right there.
‘Why… did I forget you?’
She wiped her eyes roughly.
The man before her had an even more mature face than she remembered.
Under the deep blue moonlight, she recalled his strong, silent expression as he carried her.
Tevet Ripherius.
The man who bore the unyielding balance scale of House Ripherius on his back.
And she remembered… how clearly she had once longed to be placed on that scale.
‘Why?’
Why did I forget everything about you?
Eslyn bit her lip.
‘And why did you…’
Hand me the poisoned cup?
Her head pounded, but no further memories surfaced.
A sharp breeze blew past. Her wet clothes clung to her, sending chills across her skin.
‘First things first… I need to get out of here.’
Eslyn shook her head to clear it.
There might still be pursuers. And Tevet, still unconscious, worried her even more.
“Sir Tevet.”
She called out to the man who lay as still as death. But he didn’t move.
A sense of dread crept up her spine.
“Please, wake up. Sir Tevet.”
She shook him again, more firmly this time, but his eyes remained tightly shut.
Then a sharp, metallic scent reached her nose.
She looked down at her soaked hands.
“This is…”
She thought they were wet from river water—but when she lifted her hand to her nose, the strong smell of blood hit her.
Her face twisted in shock.
“Sir Tevet!”
She shouted.
‘What is this blood?’
Unlike Eslyn, who was mostly uninjured, his body was battered and bruised. Especially a deep gash across his torso—it didn’t look like a wound from the fall.
‘This injury… it must’ve happened before the fall.’
Then it dawned on her—it had to be from the battlefield.
‘He rode with me even though his wounds hadn’t healed…’
And while holding me—he jumped off the Sehaz cliff…
A dizzying sensation ran up the back of her neck. Eslyn shook her head.
“No. Not like this.”
She murmured, staring at Tevet’s lips, now turning pale.
She tried desperately to move him somewhere safer, but his body was heavy as stone.
“Who’s there?”
A low voice emerged from the darkness.
“…!”
Eslyn held her breath.
A pursuer?
She crouched low over Tevet protectively and didn’t move.
Footsteps slowly approached. A man carrying a dimly lit lamp stepped into view.
“What the…?”
“Sir Jex?”
Eslyn cried out instinctively.
The face revealed in the faint light was one she could never forget.
But the man froze in place.
“Who are you? How do you know me?”
He drew the sword at his hip.
The silver blade moved without hesitation toward Eslyn’s neck. Its coldness made her lips tremble.
“Speak. Who are you?”
“I…”
Eslyn shut her eyes tightly. She never imagined she’d run into Jex, her former guard knight, in a place like this.
As she struggled to find words—
“Sir Tevet!”
A sharp scream rang out.
The man who had lain still moments ago now grabbed Jex’s blade with his bare hand. So tightly that Jex couldn’t pull it free.
Blood dripped down.
Eslyn gasped and looked at Tevet. He had only managed to lift his torso, his eyes unfocused. She bit her lip.
He wasn’t fully conscious.
“Sir Tevet, I’m fine.”
Eslyn said, her voice trembling with emotion. He rolled his eyes toward her face.
“He’s not going to hurt me. You can relax.”
She spoke each word clearly and with strength. Even in that state, he seemed to scan her face, recognizing her.
Thud. His solid body slumped over again in an instant.
Eslyn caught his upper body in her arms. The torn-up flesh of his palm pained her deeply.
“…Duke Ripherius?”
A confused voice spilled out. The man sheathed his sword. His gaze demanded an explanation.
“Sir Jex.”
Eslyn looked into those gray eyes and said his name.
At that simple call, the tall man’s lamp flickered wildly.
He was from beyond the continent. His dark skin, ashen eyes, and towering frame proved it.
Eslyn spoke through trembling lips—
To the man who had once been her loyal knight.
“It’s me. Eslyn.”
Clang. The man dropped his sword.
“Eight years ago, in the southern slave market…”
His eyes shook violently. The huge man stumbled backward.
“I saved you, remember? Don’t you remember?”
The man collapsed to the ground.
The face of the usually stoic, silent knight slowly contorted in disbelief.
“……”
The man silently threw a log into the fireplace. Though summer was nearing, the nights here were oddly cold.
“Sir Jex.”
The bear-like man flinched.
Eslyn looked down at the mug filled with hot water. Steam was rising in soft curls.
The man slowly turned to face her. His eyes, which glanced over her face, still looked confused.
“Have you been well? …Actually, probably not.”
Eslyn looked around the small cabin.
The near-collapsing house had only a single bedroom. And there wasn’t the slightest sign of anyone actually living here—no proper food, not even a common bag of tea leaves.
If Jex hadn’t lit the fireplace, Eslyn would have surely mistaken this place for a ruin.
“I… I just can’t believe what’s going on…”
The man clutched his head and sat down heavily in a chair.
Eslyn mumbled as she looked toward the door to the bedroom where Tevet lay.
“It’s just like I said. I didn’t die. I woke up possessing the body of this maid.”
“That kind of thing…”
Jex muttered in confusion, clearly struggling to accept it.
He was a straightforward man, unfamiliar with tricks or nuance.
Eslyn scratched her cheek and gave a sheepish smile.
“I know. It’s hard to believe. And since we don’t have many private memories just between the two of us, it’s even harder to prove.”
She lifted the cup and took a sip of the warm water. Her soaked body finally began to thaw.
“Right. Maxi.”
She suddenly remembered.
The bear-like man’s eyes widened.
“You remember Maxi? That dog you used to take care of.”
Jex’s lips trembled.
He wasn’t one to show much emotion. But now, his feelings were unmistakably showing. Eslyn smiled wistfully.
It had been Eslyn who had saved him, a foreigner who had wandered through southern lands as a slave.
At that time, there had been a hunting dog beside Jex. He’d said he saved the dog from the brink of death. Eslyn had rescued both Jex and Maxi together.
Though Maxi hadn’t lived long—his illness had worsened and he’d passed away shortly after.
They’d built a small grave for him overlooking the southern sea. Eslyn still remembered the stoic Jex shedding heavy tears in front of that mound. A memory they had never shared with anyone else.
“My lady…!”
Jex dropped to his knees with a thud. His broad shoulders trembled greatly.
Eslyn gave a bitter smile.
“It’s been a while since I heard that…”
“What… what is going on? I—I thought that day…”
He was speaking in a panic—so unlike himself.
“I thought you had died…”
His voice faded away in a hollow hush. Eslyn’s heart ached at the sound.
She gently patted his shoulder, as she often used to when comforting or praising him.
At the familiar warmth, Jex jerked his head up.
“Seems like I’ve got a more stubborn life than I thought.”
The firelight flickered. Jex stared at her face, almost in a daze.
It was a different face. Clearly not the same one.
Possession—what a ridiculous idea. Jex knew how unbelievable it sounded.
And yet… this feeling. The warmth. The tone. The scent. Everything was undeniably hers.
His one and only liege—whom he had vowed to serve with his life.
Jex clenched his trembling jaw. He had no idea what words were right at a time like this.
“…But why are you living like this? Out in a place like this?”
Eslyn asked, glancing around the dim cabin again with a frown filled with both concern and irritation.
She had been the one to grant him knighthood. Though he was a foreigner, they’d spent enough time together that he shouldn’t have been completely without resources.
“I returned my knighthood.”
“What? Why on earth?”
“There was no meaning in staying in a place where my lady no longer existed.”
Silence fell. Jex continued, his voice almost a murmur.
“Besides, I… I failed to protect my master to the end. Just that alone meant I should’ve ended my life long ago.”
Eslyn furrowed her brows.
“No. I told you not to throw away your life carelessly.”
“That’s exactly why.”
“…”
“That’s why I couldn’t end it. And… part of me resented you for saying that. I’m sorry.”
His gray eyes stared straight at her, unflinching.
Eslyn let out a long sigh. So that’s what he meant—because of her words, he couldn’t bring himself to die, and instead lived on in hiding, as if punishing himself.
“Still… I’m glad you followed my words.”
“Sir Jex.”
“Because now I’ve gotten to see you again.”
Kneeling with one leg up, he looked up at her with the loyal gaze of a knight awakened from a long nightmare.
And for the first time, a clear will flickered in his eyes.
