IOWYC Chapter 107

Chapter 107

The small back of Yuliana, who was holding Denian tightly in her arms, trembled pitifully.

Seeing her flinch and pull away as if afraid of him, Kallian froze in place, unable to move closer.

“I’m… sorry.”

He didn’t even know why he said it — only that it felt like he should apologize.
It all felt like his fault somehow.

The pain in his reopened side didn’t matter; what frightened him more was Denian’s condition.

Dark red and black energy still flowed faintly around the boy, twisting like smoke.
Thankfully, it didn’t seem to be harming Yuliana herself.

She clutched Denian even tighter, as if determined not to let Kallian so much as glimpse a single strand of the child’s hair.

“I’ll go first.”

Her voice was sharp but trembling.
The boy clung to her, still crying uncontrollably.

Kallian couldn’t move a step even as she turned away and hurried off, almost running.
He could only stare helplessly at her retreating back, his chest heavy with confusion.

Only after she disappeared from sight did the pain in his wound begin to surge again.

The dagger had pierced through the bandages and into his side, but the injury wasn’t deep.
He could endure it.

But one thought struck him cold — What if that mad soldier had gone after Denian instead of me?

A shiver ran through his whole body — no, not fear.
It was rage.

His jaw tightened until his teeth ground together.

His eyes turned toward the cause of all this — the half-blind soldier who had attacked them.
The man was crawling weakly away, his ruined eyes blackened and burned.

Kallian strode after him without hesitation.

Sensing his approach, the man began trembling like an insect.
“P-please… don’t kill me…”

For some reason, Denian’s dark power had destroyed the man’s eyesight.
And Kallian knew — if this man lived, he might go after the child again.

Without a word, Kallian drove the dagger into the back of the man’s neck.

The soldier, now blind and broken, offered no resistance.

Perhaps because of the countless battles he had fought, Kallian’s hands didn’t even tremble.
He had done this too many times — removing a threat was second nature.

He watched the man’s life fade away without emotion.
Only when the body finally stopped moving did he rise again.

He looked down at the corpse, his voice low.
“You there?”

It wasn’t to the dead man — it sounded more like he was calling someone.

“Let’s talk.”

For a while, only silence hung over the riverbank.
Then, as if answering the call, Jerad appeared.

“…Have you regained your memory?” he asked carefully.

Kallian stared at him, expression unreadable.
No — the man’s face meant nothing to him.

But judging by the respectful tone, Jerad clearly knew who he was.
He had appeared out of nowhere to help and spoke like a subordinate.

“Who are you?”

Jerad hesitated before replying,
“…My name is Jerad.”

“I asked your affiliation and origin.”

“I… have no current affiliation. My birthplace is Heloica, in Valdormer.”

Even after hearing that, nothing came back.

The only thing he could infer was that, like himself — who had worn Valdormer’s armor — Jerad was also from Valdormer.
And his speech was polite, almost reverent.

His swift and precise movements during the fight earlier marked him as a trained soldier.
That meant he had likely served under Kallian’s command.

But that only raised more questions.
If Jerad was his subordinate, why had he been hiding?
Why hadn’t he searched for him after he fell from the cliff?

And something else…

Jerad’s words from earlier echoed in his mind:

“I was delayed because I was checking on the lady.”

So — Jerad hadn’t been protecting him, but her.

Kallian’s voice hardened.
“Did I assign you to guard that woman?”

But Yuliana had claimed she didn’t even know him.
Why would he, before losing his memory, assign a guard to someone he supposedly didn’t know?

None of it made sense.

“…Who is that woman?”

Jerad didn’t answer immediately.

Before Kallian had lost his memory, he had acted as though he wanted distance from Yuliana.
Even when he discovered her whereabouts, he hadn’t gone to see her himself — he’d merely sent someone to watch over her, and strictly ordered silence about her location.

It was as if he believed his presence would endanger her.

‘You seem worried for her safety, my lord. Is she truly in danger?’
‘…Not yet. But she could be, soon.’

At the time, Kallian’s tone had carried a strange weight — as if he himself was part of the danger.

And now, Jerad hesitated. Was it right to tell this Kallian — the one who had forgotten everything — who the woman really was?

This was the man who, even through years of war, had never once gone to see his wife.

The truth could only be decided once all of Kallian’s memories returned.

So Jerad said quietly,
“Return to Valdormer. You’ll understand then.”

He bent down to deal with the corpse of the Heister soldier.
“That’s all I can tell you.”

With that, Jerad hoisted the body onto his shoulder and vanished into the forest.

Kallian tended to his side wound himself, lost in thought.

The cabin felt emptier than ever — silent, almost suffocating.
In that silence, his mind kept circling back to Yuliana.

He peeled away the blood-soaked bandages and disinfected the gash without a single grimace, his thoughts racing nonstop.

He was sure of one thing now — before he’d lost his memory, he had known her.

The strange sense of familiarity he always felt around her finally made sense.

But why had Jerad refused to tell him who she was?

Jerad had said he’d know the truth if he returned to Valdormer — but the man had disappeared completely after that.

As for Yuliana — even if he asked her directly, he doubted she’d tell him anything.
She had lied about not knowing him the moment they met.

‘Maybe she’ll never come back to this cottage again.’

He couldn’t forget the way she had looked at him while clutching Denian —
not with fear of the soldier, but of him.

That look — cornered, desperate — replayed in his mind.

Kallian rubbed his face with both hands, frowning deeply.
If she was that wary of him, it had to be because of Denian.

Did she think he had endangered the boy?

No… it felt deeper than that.

He remembered the crimson-black aura that had surrounded Denian.
The Heister soldier’s eyes had burned to ash from it —
but Kallian himself had been completely unharmed.

When that dark power had brushed against him, he hadn’t felt any fear.
If anything, it had felt… familiar.

That deep, bottomless darkness — darker than night, heavier than the abyss —
It had felt like something he’d known before.

Suddenly, flashes of memory tore through his mind, followed by searing pain.

“Kh—!”

It was unlike the faint headaches he’d felt before — this was agony, sharp and consuming.

He staggered toward the cupboard for medicine, clutching his head.

‘Even if this mother is gone, you must become the master of Valdormer.’
‘If you want to lead, cast away your petty desires!’
‘A true heir puts the house above himself!’
‘You must consider the will of the vassals — that’s what it means to rule Valdormer!’

Countless voices screamed through his skull.

“Ughhh—!”

The pain was unbearable — as if his head were being split open with blades.

He collapsed to the floor, clutching his head, as the chorus of voices echoed on and on.

And then — amidst all the noise — one voice rang out clearly, full of aching warmth.

‘I love you, Kallian…’

And with that, darkness took him completely.