Chapter 19

“Even if I die tonight because of you, at least I’ll die with a full stomach, so it’s okay.”

I had never starved before, but I agreed with Marie. If something is taken from you quickly, you might not feel it. But if you lose it slowly, while watching, it’s much more painful—especially when you can’t do anything about it.

Marie looked at me as if she wanted to ask, “Have you ever been hungry before?” but she didn’t say it out loud.

I had never gone hungry because there was no food. I’d been locked up and missed meals, but I was never in danger of starving. I smiled.

“That man looks rich. Get more money from him.”

“I do look kind of rich, don’t I?”

That man, Keith, seemed to enjoy showing up without warning.

“You’re not fully washed yet! Get out, Sir Keith!”

“The person being washed doesn’t seem to mind.”

Keith walked in casually. Marie, who was helping me wash, quickly pulled a shirt over me. Luckily, I had my back turned, so he didn’t see too much. I held Marie’s hand.

“Don’t panic. Stay calm.”

“Why aren’t you surprised?!”

“What’s there to be surprised about? Thanks for helping me wash—I feel better now.”

Marie pulled her hand away, clearly wanting to say something. I wanted to button my shirt myself, but my hands were still too weak. My fingers kept missing the holes. Keith came over and buttoned it for me.

“You really are a lady—so much work to take care of.”

“I’m not used to dressing myself, you know.”

“Well, lucky you.”

Keith grinned. Marie looked shocked, especially at me, like she had a lot she wanted to say. She looked like a responsible older sister who takes care of her siblings—and gives long lectures.

“Marie, can you give us a minute?”

“…Yes.”

I had something to ask Keith. After she left, I looked at him. He was watching me closely.

“What?”

“I’m surprised you’re being nice to poor orphans.”

“He saved me.”

He looked at me like I was misunderstanding something.

“I’m your savior, not those kids.”

“I know. You said you’d give them money.”

Keith nodded. I spoke quickly.

“We need to leave here soon.”

“They won’t find us. Why are you so nervous?”

“If it were just you and me, I might stay calm. But I can’t risk the kids’ lives. Don’t make them risk everything for a bit of money.”

“More people die from not having that little money.”

Marie also said danger is better than starving. But that didn’t mean I could just trust that blindly.

“I’d rather no one die at all. I don’t know why you saved me, but—”

“Shouldn’t that be your first question? Isn’t that why you sent the girl away?”

“Yeah.”

“Then ask. I’ll answer.”

Keith smiled.

He seemed to listen, but not really. He was very unpredictable. I frowned, but I couldn’t waste this rare chance to ask.

“Why did you save me? And how did you know I was there?”

“I was following Laila Green. I was watching closely to see what she’d do after breaking out of prison.”

“She escaped? Laila Green was in prison? Why?”

“You’re asking that? It was because of you.”

“Me…?”

I blinked in confusion. The last thing I remembered about Laila was seeing her from far away after she became a knight. In the story, the original character kind of cared about her, but she was too busy enjoying her own happiness.

Keith gave a crooked smile.

“Or maybe it was because of your husband?”

Maybe, without the main character knowing, Linus had a reason to get rid of Laila. That creepy couple always had something going on. If they wanted to kill her, it must have been something serious.

“Well, anyway, even if she was in prison, Laila wouldn’t just sit around waiting to be executed. I was actually planning to sneak her out myself, but she escaped on her own.”

Even though Laila lost a lot to the main character, she was still extremely talented. Even without the powers and recognition she deserved, she was still amazing. Keith narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin.

“She was acting like she’d given up on life, hiding quietly in prison. But then, suddenly, she ran straight here. Laila was a commoner, but not poor. She grew up in a decent home. She never had anything to do with this kind of slum, so why did she come here right after escaping? It was suspicious.”

Keith seemed excited as he talked.

“It was hard following her without getting noticed. She was so sharp, I almost got caught several times. Or maybe… she knew I was there and let me follow her.”

“…It’s probably that last one. You seem like a loud person even when you’re not talking.”

His face and vibe were just noisy.

“You’re so mean.”

He pouted like he was hurt, though it was obvious he wasn’t. When I frowned at him, he finally looked a little embarrassed.

“Anyway, after following her, she disappeared again. I went inside to check things out—and there you were.”

“…Why didn’t you just leave me?”

“Good question. I wonder why.”

In the end, that was his only answer.

“Your arm was melted and burned, your stomach had a hole with guts spilling out, your limbs were twisted in weird directions, and your face was so swollen you looked like a deep-sea fish. There wasn’t a single part of you that wasn’t broken. I didn’t even know it was you until I started healing you.”

Should I say thanks for the detailed description…? I knew I’d been badly hurt, but not that badly. Maybe they hadn’t left me to die because they thought I wasn’t the main character—they might have just wanted me to suffer slowly.

“You should be thankful I can use healing magic. Not many mages can do that.”

“You’re a mage?”

“Then how did you think I healed you?!”

“Well, maybe with potions or something…”

“Do you know how much money it would take to heal your injuries with potions? You’d have to sell a mansion or two.”

“…”

“So, I basically invested that much in you, so be grateful, got it?”

Keith acted proud. And he was right—I should be thankful. But for some reason, I didn’t feel like showing it.

“…Thanks again.”

“If you’re going to say it with that face, just keep your mouth shut.”

“Sorry.”

My apology was more sincere than my thanks. I didn’t even hesitate. Keith stared at me, then laughed quietly. It looked better than his usual smug smile.

“Since I’ve already invested in you, do me a favor too. We need to get out of here. Just throw me into a mountain where no one’s around.”

“Didn’t I just say saving you cost the same as two mansions?”

“In reality, how much did you spend? A few silver coins?”

“If I handed you a gold coin right away, you’d probably be killed for it.”

“And you know that so well, yet…”

“I’m telling you—they won’t find you.”

Keith sighed like I was being annoying.

“Spirits can’t enter places with dead bodies. You don’t have any tracking spells on you either. And you may not know, but the slums are way bigger than you think. To search the whole place, they’d need to send a lot of people—and once they do, things will get loud. That’s when we run.”

“But still…”

“Trust the expert. I know more about this kind of thing than you do.”

But he didn’t know how obsessive Linus could be.

I didn’t know him that well either—I only knew him from the book and the original character’s memories. To me, he always seemed cold and indifferent, not the obsessive or cruel type.

But he had choked me. He had tried to rape me. Just thinking about his emotionless eyes gave me chills. I swallowed hard.

I hoped Keith was right. Maybe I was just being paranoid because I didn’t know everything.

But… I had a bad feeling.