Chapter 50
“Pogos.”
My eyes widened at his next action.
Without hesitation, Pogos knelt down on one knee, rested his arm on it, and bowed his head deeply—like a person of lower status paying respect to someone of higher rank.
“I thank you for saving the life of Felicia Melvin el Oakley. Oakley and Sitz will never forget this.”
I stammered in surprise.
“Stand up, Pogos. Felicia is… also my friend. I only did what was natural.”
I hadn’t intended to form such bonds, yet before I knew it, I had.
I had promised myself I didn’t need—and would never want—such soft, warm relationships.
But… I couldn’t help it. A faint smile crept onto my lips.
When he lifted his head, his eyes shone with unwavering resolve.
“Even so, the fact remains that you saved her. Felicia is the heir to the Marquisate of Oakley. She will one day be the great lord who governs the entire eastern borderlands.”
His low, loyal voice continued,
“Not only Oakley and Sitz, but every family rooted in the East owes you a debt they can never repay.”
Felicia, with tear marks still on her cheeks, also nodded firmly. Her voice trembled as she addressed me.
“Kalia, I’ll never forget that day. You held me steady when I was at my weakest and most shaken… Thank you so much.”
Then Pogos’s quiet vow echoed in the room.
“Kalia Estel, we swear to be your loyal allies from this day forward. We will always remain your steadfast supporters, and anyone bearing the name of Estel will find shelter in the East.”
It was a promise far greater than I deserved. At first, I felt burdened, but soon I changed my mind.
I didn’t want to reject my friends’ goodwill. So I simply smiled and nodded in thanks.
After that, Felicia clung to me, her voice choked with tears, expressing her gratitude and affection over and over.
She made me promise to visit both the marquis’s mansion in the capital and their main estate in the East. Even as she left, she kept looking back at me with regretful eyes.
Then it was Ayla and Ridmore’s turn.
“My heart nearly dropped being next to you, my lady!”
Ayla, having calmed her tears, was now firmly angry.
“Please, don’t make us worry. Don’t get hurt. Don’t get sick. Just… please, stay healthy.”
She glared at me through forced wide eyes, but tears quickly betrayed her.
She bent over me, sobbing, and no matter how much I tried to lift her up, wipe her tears, and comfort her, she wouldn’t budge.
Helpless, I glanced at Ridmore for help.
But with his arms crossed, he clearly had no intention of rescuing me.
“Ayla is right about everything.”
He solemnly agreed.
“You heard the young master! From now on, avoid dangerous things altogether. Don’t even glance at them. You disappear the moment we look away, always end up injured, or in trouble.”
“Well, it’s not like I do it on purpose… How was I supposed to know the dungeon would turn out like that…?”
I tried to protest weakly, but Ayla’s sharp eyes silenced me. In the end, I agreed.
A bit calmer, Ayla then told me what had happened while I was unconscious.
“The whole Empire was in an uproar. The investigation team dispatched to Mount Medina alone had over a hundred members. The Academy, feeling fully responsible for the unexpected accident, promised to do everything to uncover the truth. And then…”
Before she could continue, Ridmore quietly placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Yes?”
Ayla looked up at him in confusion.
“Let’s go.”
“But don’t you want to know what happened after the lady returned? I think we should tell her…”
She wasn’t wrong. I was listening with interest and felt a pang of disappointment. I wanted to hear more.
But Ridmore shook his head and glanced toward the back of the room.
I followed his gaze—
And saw him.
Sitting quietly in the farthest corner of the spacious room, unnoticed until now—Claude.
Through all the commotion, he had made no sound, simply sitting in a chair.
“I’ll come again tomorrow.”
Ridmore said his farewell, and Ayla, still looking regretful, stood.
“See you tomorrow, my lady.”
Leaning back on my pillow, I waved slightly. They slipped out, closing the door gently behind them.
Only the two of us remained.
Claude still didn’t move. Arms crossed, legs folded, he just sat and looked at me—expression unreadable.
Softly, I called to him.
“Your Highness.”
No reaction. I cleared my throat and spoke louder.
“Claude.”
Only then did he move. Slowly, he unfolded his arms and legs and approached.
The last time I’d seen him, he had been visibly exhausted—face pale, lips dry and cracked.
Now, he carried the full dignity of the Imperial Prince. His clothes were buttoned neatly to the collar, free of blood or beast fluids.
Not a single wound marred him; he looked perfectly healthy.
At last, I let out a sigh of relief, tension draining from my body. I leaned loosely against the pillow.
Unlike me, fully at ease, he remained silent even as he reached my bedside, only looking down at me.
Cautiously, I spoke.
“What happened after…?”
I had been certain he was dead. I couldn’t think otherwise—because the cave was collapsing.
The ground I had stood on seconds before had split open, swallowing the spider’s corpse and debris into the depths.
From above, ancient stone pillars and jagged rocks that had supported the dungeon rained down.
“I got out of the passage and cleared the boulder that was crushing you.”
“Ah…”
It must have been a moment of life and death.
I could picture it easily—him clearing the rock from my broken body while disaster threatened from all sides.
“Then I dragged you into a tunnel and activated the teleportation magic circle in the chamber at the end.”
I bit my lip.
If anything had gone wrong—if even a single detail had been off—all four of us would have been buried.
I had hoped it wouldn’t be that way. I’d closed my eyes, wishing that even if I was certain to die, the other three would escape as quickly as possible.
I shut my eyes tight, thinking of the terrible ending that could have been. My voice trembled.
“I’m… glad it turned out well.”
“You think it’s something to be glad about?”
His cold tone made me open my eyes. I looked up at him.
For the first time, his previously blank, spotless face showed expression—
Anger, unexpectedly. Perhaps even despair.
A mix of endless fear, anxiety, doubt, and guilt weighed on his features.
His voice was sharp, almost like a growl.
“Tell me—did you think I’d be happy if you shoved me away and died instead? That I’d sing songs of joy and live out my days in comfort after you were crushed to death in my place?”
“Your Highness—”
“You could have warned me! I could have used aura to cut the rock, or dodged. There were other ways—ways that didn’t involve you being crushed under that damned thing instead of me!”
“But…”
“Instead of bleeding out and dying in front of me! Instead of giving up on life on your own, taking on everything without even asking to be saved, and just… closing your eyes like that!”
“My body moved before I could think! In that moment, when I thought you might die, I acted without realizing… It wasn’t something I could control…”
My defensive words crumbled as soon as I saw his face.
It wasn’t a hallucination after all.
The last thing I’d seen before closing my eyes in the dungeon—the sight I never wanted to see again—was happening now.
A tear slid down his uninjured face.
But the pain in his expression was the same as back then.
“What do you think I felt, watching you die? You, crushed under that rock, your body broken—after you saved me…”
My heart ached—worse than being crushed under stone.
“Don’t ever do that again. Promise me you’ll never try to save me like that again, Kalia.”
“Claude…”
“Please.”
He begged, tears dripping from his pale blue eyes. This was the truth he had hidden and run from, refusing to let me see until now—laid bare at last.
“I’m begging you.”
His trembling voice was so pitiful I couldn’t resist.
“…I promise.”
“…Thank you.”
He raised a hand to wipe his tears. A stifled sob escaped him.
He seemed to be trying to hide it, but failed; his shoulders shook occasionally.
I turned my eyes away from him, staring quietly at the blanket covering me.
After a moment, I heard the sound of a chair being pulled back. Claude sat down on the four-legged chair Ayla had used earlier, legs spread slightly, hands clasped.
His expression was now composed, save for the faint redness around his eyes. Pretending not to notice, I asked carefully,
“Could you tell me what happened? How much time has passed, where we are now… I’m curious.”
