Chapter 11
—[You bastard! Do you have any idea how worried I was when you suddenly left…!]
Garrett stormed toward Cyrus as he entered the cabin, looking ready to slap him across the face. But then he stopped, shocked into silence.
It was because he saw the dagger lodged in Cyrus’s shoulder.
Only then did Lizi notice the wound. Enraged (“If you’re hurt, say you’re hurt!”), she poured a healing potion on him—one known to be “so effective, it could kill you”—and Cyrus let out a short grunt.
The tiger that had dragged in the unconscious assassin behind him was now stuck in the small cabin doorway, howling loudly.
—[Lizi! Help!]
Thanks to the tiger’s wailing, the assassin, who had momentarily regained consciousness and instinctively tried to dash forward, was promptly knocked out again—this time by a ladle violently swung by Ratatouille, who had been preparing lunch.
Afterward, a debate broke out about what to do with the assassin ([Tiger! Eat it! No assassin if we count to five!], “He’s not food, I said!”). But as soon as a delicious-looking stew was finally served, the cabin fell silent.
In that hard-earned moment of peace, Ratatouille nodded with pride.
[Is it good?]
[Totally! The best!]
As the tiger roared in delight, and the palm-sized Ratatouille coughed with pride, Cyrus quietly stood up after finishing his meal.
He washed the dish and spoon he had used, along with the small empty bowl Garrett had carried over in his beak. While doing so, he noticed Lizi smiling at him, and fell silent.
“……”
“……”
She looks way too pleased.
Seeing Cyrus’s uneasy expression, Lizi spoke with a smile.
“Still, I feel relieved.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
He responded bluntly on purpose, but her next words left him speechless.
“I’m glad the person I treated isn’t a bad guy.”
“……”
Cyrus knew it too.
What the rumors said about him.
—…So you didn’t know who I was when you treated me.
—If I had, I wouldn’t have helped you.
The words the wizard had said back then hadn’t hurt him.
After all, it was nothing more than what anyone could say just by looking at the way others viewed him.
Besides, fear and dread from others helped him maintain his position as the Duke of Blanchard. There was no reason to deny or correct it.
But watching Lizi Atkins’s warm smile made him suddenly think:
I hope that smile never turns into fear or disappointment.
“What the…”
Suddenly realizing what he was thinking, Cyrus brushed back his bangs in frustration.
“This is insane…”
His violet eyes, tinged with embarrassment, and his finely sculpted features sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the cabin.
[Wow. He’s insane.]
Cyrus didn’t notice Garrett’s beak drop open in shock as he sighed.
Apparently, he was losing his mind.
He had only met this wizard three days ago, didn’t even know her real identity—yet here he was, hoping not to disappoint her.
It was absurd.
Shaking off the foolish thought, Cyrus quickly grabbed the sword from the table.
“…I should go.”
“Oh, time really flew, huh.”
Fortunately, Lizi didn’t seem to have noticed the absurd train of thought he’d just had.
“I’ll pay for the treatment with a promissory note…”
“No need.”
She waved her hand at his words.
“I can earn money if I want to.”
Her gaze drifted to the window.
Following it, Cyrus realized what she meant.
“Those ridiculously huge crops fetch a good price, huh.”
“Ah…”
While Cyrus was stunned by the shocking realization that this wizard, who didn’t look like she had a cent, was actually rich, Lizi walked over to a cupboard and began packing things.
Pulling out a worn bag she always carried, she started putting in bottles.
“The white ones are for stopping bleeding.”
Several large glass bottles filled with white liquid went in.
“Green ones are for wound healing.”
A few green bottles followed.
“The black ones are for restoring stamina. Just take a sip when you’re tired. Oh, and take this too.”
She added a small palm-sized black bottle to the bag, then pulled another one from her pocket.
It was almost empty, with just a little red liquid pooled at the bottom.
“This one erases memories.”
Technically, it didn’t erase memories but rather covered them like a thick blanket—but Lizi didn’t bother explaining.
After packing all the bottles, she grabbed a feather pen and scribbled something on a scrap of paper.
“One drop erases about a day’s worth of memory. Three drops should do it—after you get the info you need. And… hmm…”
As she muttered in frustration while trying to squeeze more into the overstuffed bag—
“……”
Cyrus’s gaze fell on her messy, bright carrot-colored hair.
Her delicate features and wrinkled brow peeked out beneath the hair that swayed with her movement.
At times, she looked like a small rabbit. At others, a fierce tiger.
Granted, the rabbit here was more proper than cute, and the tiger more clumsy than scary, but still.
And then there were those eyes.
The most radiant part of her face.
Her deep forest-green eyes, blinking beneath pale lashes, held an unfathomable depth that contradicted her youthful appearance.
Just like now…
“What are you staring at?”
“…!”
Cyrus’s heart nearly dropped.
At some point, Lizi had been staring right back at him with those green eyes.
“Um… well.”
“I said I don’t need a promissory note.”
“No, that’s not it…”
“Then why are you spacing out?”
“……”
He didn’t even know what she’d asked.
Of course not.
He’d been too distracted staring at her face.
He didn’t want to admit it, but it was true.
“Uh, yeah… okay.”
He nodded without knowing why.
Lizi raised her brows in surprise.
“I thought you’d refuse. Well, okay then.”
“……”
What just happened?
As an odd sense of dread crept in, Lizi handed him the bag and the scrap of paper.
“In case you forget, I wrote down what each potion does.”
“I can remember everything.”
She smiled half a beat later and said,
“Well, just in case.”
Before Cyrus could reply, she opened the cabin door and stepped out. As he followed, she handed him something.
A giant cabbage.
“……”
So that’s what she was asking about earlier.
Cyrus accepted the cabbage, cursing himself for being too stunned to refuse.
“The tiger will take you down the mountain,” Lizi said.
“Got it.”
As he replied, Cyrus glanced back at her.
The sunset cast colors across the eyes that looked back at him.
“Well then.”
“Take care.”
Cyrus Blanchard nodded and turned away.
He disappeared slowly into the mist between the hazel trees, never once looking back.
It was a quiet farewell.
Fitting for memories that spanned only three days.
“……”
And now, Lizi was beginning to understand.
Why Cyrus Blanchard had become so cruel.
It couldn’t have been easy to survive without killing the people trying to kill him.
The original novel had a happy ending, but Cyrus’s fate had been tragic.
That was the author’s intended justice. Back then, Lizi had thought it satisfying.
But now, all she could do was hope.
That the Cyrus Blanchard she knew—the one who didn’t seem like a bad person at all—wouldn’t kill the people who betrayed him.
That’s why she packed those healing potions for him.
After all, the Duke of Blanchard’s infamy grew after this very incident.
Now, it was up to Cyrus.
If he could just get through this, he might remain merely a mildly scary character in people’s eyes.
But why did she feel so uneasy?
“Haa…”
Lizi sighed, thinking again of the side effects she still hadn’t identified.
And finally, she realized the source of her anxiety.
“…It’s you.”
[Sniffle.]
“Why are you crying now?”
Garrett covered his face with his black wings and sniffled.
[M-my…]
“Your what?”
[I wanted to put him in my tomato patch…]
“……”
[He was the shiniest human I ever saw…]
“…Seriously, what kind of crow are you?”
[Hrrrrng!]
As Garrett blew his nose, a sound Lizi never thought she’d hear from a crow, she shook her head in disbelief.
“Forget it. He’s never coming back.”
[Sniffle… huh?]
“He won’t remember this place anyway.”
[N-no way! After everything I did for him—wait, don’t tell me—]
Garrett’s black eyes narrowed as if realizing something. Lizi held up three fingers.
“Three drops. Three days’ worth of memories.”
The crow looked shocked.
[You… so that’s why you offered him a meal…]
“I had no choice.”
Cyrus would forget everything about the little cabin among the vast fields.
The abnormally large tomatoes, the crow that followed him around, and even Lizi’s face.
The Cyrus Blanchard she met here hadn’t been the villain of the original story.
But she couldn’t stop him from becoming suspicious—about the Morghillen cure, the oversized crops, the forest animals, and the strange location of the farm.
If he decided to investigate again…
“Neither I nor this forest would be safe.”
[…]
“…I can’t take that risk.”
Her voice was bitter and conflicted, but Lizi didn’t realize it.
And that was the end.
Of the story between Lizi Atkins and Cyrus Blanchard.
The main villain, the secondary male lead, and the nameless druid extra—ended their encounter with a farewell that was neither too cold nor too tragic.
Or more precisely…
That’s what Lizi Atkins thought at the time.
