"People wear out quickly on the battlefield."
A soft voice continued slowly.
"When I roll around, I often get confused as to whether I am a human or a tool for killing people. Everyone was like that. I was the same way...'
A faint smile appeared on Dante's lips.
"When that happens, I think of a kid I saved."
I looked up at him in surprise. Dante's gaze was directed somewhere in the air. The voice that followed was hazy. It seemed he was talking to himself from some time ago, not to me here.
"I have saved someone. So I am not a monster who only knows how to kill. That kid is probably living a peaceful life on the distant island."
As he said that, Dante looked down at me and smiled brightly.
"That is why you must live well. You must."
" ...."
I couldn't answer and moved my lips. Dante played with my hair and continued quietly.
"That is how my life will have meaning."
The last words were so quiet that I could barely hear them. My heart was pounding as if someone was holding it in their hand and squeezing it tightly. I looked up at Dante without saying anything, and he chuckled.
"What? When I say it like this, it sounds like a will."
Then he glanced down at his bandaged abdomen as if it was inconvenient.
"It's okay. It'll get better after one night. It's true, so don't get mad at me for bragging again."
I knew that this was a lie again. I know now. Dante is a terrible liar. I hurriedly swallowed back the tears that were about to well up again.
"But honestly, I don't feel bad."
Dante looked down at me and smiled playfully.
"You're crying for me."
"..."
Tears poured out like a dam had burst at those words. Dante's eyes were filled with trouble.
"No, I didn't mean to make you cry more."
"Don't get hurt."
I whispered in a trembling voice.
"Promise me you won't get hurt again."
"...Okay."
Dante nodded soon after.
"I promise."
Thanks to the strong painkiller, Dante soon fell asleep again.
"..."
After confirming that Dante was completely asleep, I looked at the clock with nervous eyes. It was almost midnight. I took several measures as the attending doctor had instructed, such as lighting the incense again and checking the bandages.
'Tonight is the most critical night.'
The attending doctor said that the surgery went well and there would be no problems with the prognosis, but the pain was another matter. Tonight would probably be the most painful time. At around 3 a.m., Dante suddenly frowned. He groaned softly, furrowing his handsome forehead without mercy. He must have clenched his teeth so much that the veins on his temples were bulging.
I put my hand on his forehead and was startled. He was boiling with fever. I watched Dante anxiously, placing the towel I had hurriedly prepared on his forehead. Was he wandering through a nightmare filled with pain?
His distorted face did not seem to relax. As time passed, his fever only grew worse. I bit my lip and got up from my seat.
'I have to call someone.'
It was the moment I was about to pull the rope. I flinched. Dante was looking at me, not knowing when he had come to his senses.
"...Duke? Are you awake already?"
The pain was so severe that the sleeping pills had worn off. Perhaps because he was drunk, Dante's expression was more hazy than ever. I hurriedly reached out to the rope again.
"Wait a minute."
"... Why are you here?"
I heard a low, hushed voice. The tone of the question sounded confused and strangely childish. I looked back with a strange sense of discomfort, and my eyes met Dante's. The way he stared at me was unfamiliar as if he was looking at something unfamiliar.
"Is this a dream?"
The voice, hoarse from the fever, was still slow as if he was wandering in a dream.
The strong medicine seemed to have made Dante think that this place was not reality but a lucid dream. His hand approached and touched my hair as if he was dazed.
"You've grown so much. Was my imagination really this good...?"
I stared blankly at him. The sense of discomfort that I had felt since the moment Dante woke up became palpable.
"You've grown up so well, Lili."
My heart thumped and sank to my toes. Dante had never called me by that title. I had only once told him that nickname.
"What's your name?"
"My name, Lili...."
When I was very young, just once. I hesitated and groped my lips slightly.
"...Brother?"
Dante's smile grew a little deeper. That sight gave me confidence. The one who had woken up there was not the Dante I knew, but a fragment of a time in the past. The Dante of my childhood.
"People wear out quickly on the battlefield."
A boy who was forced onto the battlefield and had to have his humanity destroyed every day in exchange for killing people and surviving.
"At times like that, I thought of the little girl I saved."
"That's why you have to live well. You have to. That way, my life will have meaning."
The only meaning in life was the memory of saving a little kid he met by chance one day. Realizing this, I moved my lips for a moment and then impulsively whispered,
"I'm doing well."
Dante's eyes widened slightly. Thinking back to a boy who suffered from insomnia a long time ago, I continued to whisper,
"I'm living peacefully, eating and sleeping well in that faraway island."
"... Yes."
Dante, who had been looking at me with surprised eyes, soon smiled slowly.
"I knew it."
"That's why you have to come back safely."
I said firmly.
"I'll be waiting there, on the island."
How meaningful it would be to ask for a favor from someone who was under the influence of drugs. However, if I didn't get at least this kind of promise, I felt like he would leave me forever. Perhaps because he saw my desperation, Dante's eyes widened.
"..."
For a while, he stared at me blankly without saying anything, but after a moment, he smiled brightly.
"Yes. Certainly."
His voice, consumed by fever, was unusually hoarse, I swallowed back my tears and said,
"Then go to sleep now. I will sing you a lullaby."
Dante closed his eyes obediently like a well-behaved child. I slowly sang the lyrics. It was too late, but this lullaby would not be able to reach the real Dante of his childhood across time...
I hoped it would be a comfort to him now. Soon, I heard regular breathing. As I looked down at his face, which was quietly closing its eyes, a strangely strong desire surged through my chest.
I wanted to make this man happy. By any means necessary, by any means necessary.
"Good night, Duke."
I couldn't speak out loud, afraid of waking him up, so I whispered to myself. No matter how long it took, I wanted him to rest as much as he wanted before he woke up. I didn't care how long it took. I could wait now.
***
Three days had passed since then.
[Uncovering the collusion between the deposed Prince and the Dawn Squad!]
[The deposed Prince's group that ran away is also being arrested one by one...]
[According to lawyer A's prediction, the deposed Prince will at least not be able to avoid the death penalty...]
In the meantime, the world was in an uproar like a beehive that had been stirred up. Just by looking at the front page of <Empire's Morning>, you could clearly feel the atmosphere of the entire system. People in the world unanimously criticized the deposed Prince and were shocked by the existence of corrupt forces that were connected to him.
As if trying to compensate for the confusion and betrayal, they praised Dante, the greatest contributor to this war, even more fervently. And to me, all of that felt like news from another world. For these three days, my reality only existed in this room.
"..."
I folded the wet towel that the servants had sent me thickly and placed it on Dante's forehead. Dante had not yet woken up.
"Madam, please rest a little."
Entering the room, Rio looked at me with a worried face. However, as if he expected my stubbornness, he didn't press me any further. Instead, he looked down at Dante and sighed.
"He's sleeping well today, too. Did he decide to force himself to sleep in the sleep he's never slept in his entire life?"
Rio muttered bitterly and shrugged.
"Well, honestly, I'm not too worried. He has such incredible vitality."
Rio's eyes were dark as he said he wasn't too worried. I smiled silently, knowing that Rio had secretly shed tears when he visited Dante yesterday.
"It's because all the energy Is directed to that area during the process of detoxifying the body, so he can't open his eyes. The attending doctor said that it's natural and positive for him to continue sleeping like this for a while."
"Yes. Madam, everything you said is correct."
Rio nodded, looked at the calendar on the wall, and muttered in a small voice.
"But it would be nice if he woke up within two weeks."
Two weeks? I looked back at Rio with blank eyes.
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