Episode 14. The Moment Our Skins Touched
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“The reason you are imprisoned here. The reason you turned the staff into a tower. The reason you gradually extinguished your power.”
“...”
“The reason you prevented humans from using their power.”
Lacrahan released Bercheria and stroked his thin chin with his fingertips, as if trying to reconstruct his thoughts.
“Have you ever thought about it?”
“Have I ever thought about it...”
Bercheria’s lips closed slowly, suffocatingly.
None.
That was her life from the beginning, so she took it for granted.
When she came to, she simply wanted to escape.
That’s why she didn’t miss the opportunity that was presented to her, and now is the result.
“Lacrahan.”
Bercheria, lost in thought, suddenly jerked her head up. She looked down, then abruptly grabbed his collar.
“I hear a sound.”
“...What is it?”
“The sound of my mother coming here every day.”
Her face was now pale, almost gray.
Rattling, rattling. A familiar sound echoed in her head, a sound her body reacted to before it.
It was always the same: the sound of stones bouncing off the ground against the wheels of a magnificent carriage.
When it reached a bulge in the middle of the weed-covered road, the carriage rose as if accustomed to it, then dropped back down half a beat later.
Rattling!
The coachman whipped the horse's rump again at that moment.
"Lacrahan!"
Bercheria shouted, almost in a state of nervous exhaustion.
"Mother, Mother is coming here!"
"What do you mean? Are you okay? How is it..."
Bercheria clung to him, pleading.
"This isn't an illusion. I've heard this every day of my life. Mother."
Bercheria gasped, her words pouring out.
"Mother is coming here now. I'm right. She's not dead. That's not Mother. The real Mother is coming."
She muttered, as if she were delirious.
What on earth is a mother? How can a woman who was always so confident in front of him crumble so suddenly?
“Bercheria. Look at me. Come to your senses.”
Lacrahan’s nerves were tense.
He had no idea what her life was like, living in this filthy, small tower, without a single possession.
Just guessing at it, seeing it with his own eyes, felt absurd.
The very idea of what life was like here was absurd.
“It’s all wrong. Now I’m trapped here, forced to endure Mother’s whipping until I die,”
She whispered helplessly, like a child robbed of her beloved candy.
“Even if I want to die alone, I can’t. Mother said until the very end that she wouldn’t take that ability away from me. So I...”
How did she feel, living each day unable to die or leave?
How much must she have whipped herself to keep herself from going mad?
What must have been going through her mind as she left the tower in those dirty clothes?
“It’s over now.”
Bercheria’s sparkling golden eyes were tinged with despair.
Lacrahan felt something hot surge within his chest.
Bercheria, with a blank expression, refused to give him a single word.
He couldn't just watch her crumble like this.
Whatever kind of mother she spoke of, he wasn't there then, and he was here now.
Bercheria had to realize that.
"How long will it take?"
Lacrahan grabbed her hand, which was holding his collar, and placed it firmly over her heart.
She had said her heart raced just by looking at his face, so he hoped this might distract her.
"I asked how long it would take for the carriage to arrive at the tower."
Bercheria answered with a blank expression.
"Ten minutes. No. Fifteen minutes."
Lacrahan took a deep breath.
"Then let's do it. Everything you and I can do in those fifteen minutes."
"Yes?"
"There's no time to hesitate. Eleven minutes."
"What are you saying..."
Lacrahan hugged Bercheria tightly.
Their chests touched, and the sound of her heartbeat could be felt through his skin.
He held her tighter in his arms.
“How are you? Can’t you feel anything?”
The edge of his urgent voice trembled slightly.
In the north, where the morning sun was rising in the dusk.
A long procession had been forming outside the castle gates since early morning.
Today was the day Princess Kelita was scheduled to visit from the royal family.
Wyatt and the knights, dressed in their formal attire for the first time in a long time, were on their way to get their faces stamped on the portal. They had no choice but to avoid any gossip from the royal family, such as them being rude to the Princess when she visited.
Wyatt whispered secretly to Alex, who was riding right beside him, covering his mouth.
“So where on earth did the Grand Duke go?”
“I don’t know.”
Wyatt, who had been searching for Lacrahan all night, was in a very bad mood.
He clearly knew he had to go to the portal to fetch Princess Kelita, yet he resented him for disappearing so abruptly.
“Oh, really! What are you going to say to the Princess?”
Wyatt shouted, startling Alex.
“Can’t you... tell her the truth?”
“Are you crazy? You’re going to tell her the Grand Duke ran off into the forest in the middle of the night with a woman he doesn’t even know?”
“No, I’m sorry. Huh? Captain. It looks like the portal is about to open already.”
“What?”
Wyatt raised his head and stared at the portal, already approaching.
The massive, semicircular portal was made of sapphire, a rare mineral found throughout the continent.
The distinctive, gleaming black stone glowed softly, as if bathed in sunlight.
If the light enveloped the entire ellipse, a transparent membrane would form within the circle, and the Princess and her party would emerge from it.
“Damn it. This is really bad.”
Wyatt gazed anxiously along the path leading into the forest, hoping that Lacrahan might arrive at any moment.
Lacrahan's heartbeat was pounding, reverberating through her body like an earthquake.
Her small, fragile body, unable to accept his beats, was spewing them out onto her back.
"How do you feel?"
Bercheria said nothing, but it was easy to see that she hadn't regained her strength.
From the beginning, he knew this wasn't something a simple hug could solve.
Lacrahan cupped her face in his palms and lifted her up to face him.
"There's no time. We have to find a way before your mother arrives."
Now, his mind was growing more urgent.
He knew that without Bercheria's staff, running away was meaningless.
Just spending each day squandering her life might be more painful for Bercheria.
"Come to your senses, Bercheria."
Lacrahan, still staring at her shaking eyes, suddenly pressed his lips against hers.
This time, he didn't have time to think.
The only thing that filled his mind was the knowledge that deeper contact was more effective in urgent situations.
"...!"
It was a light, brushing touch and then pulling away, but it was enough to startle Bercheria.
Lacrahan studied her quietly.
A bright light was shining through her once-dim golden eyes.
“Ha.”
Lacrahan squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.
“Bercheria. Listen to me.”
He didn’t have the nerve to kiss her carelessly, hoping to bring her back to her senses.
Even if it was a therapeutic procedure, it was difficult for Lacrahan, who had little experience with women.
“I’m helping you here because I’m doing it for my people.”
He felt he had to at least make it clear.
Bercheria looked at him with eyes that seemed unable to understand what he was saying.
“And this is also my thanks for saving the children and Mrs. Morgan.”
“It’s okay, just do it quickly.”
Bercheria grabbed the back of his head and pulled him close to her.
Without hesitation, she kissed him.
The moment their skin touched, she knew.
This time was different.
Hot breath rushed in, and Bercheria felt as if her body had become the sun.
The golden light that extended from her exploded and instantly enveloped the tower.
If Lakrahan hadn't closed his eyes, it was a bright light, enough to blind him.
And then, in an instant, Lacrahan felt as if the ground beneath him had been ripped open, opening his eyes and looking down.
The world beneath his feet had vanished.
And at the same time, the two bodies began to plummet toward the pitch-black floor.
The portal gate opened, revealing a carriage emblazoned with the imperial symbol, an eagle.
Wyatt gulped.
Before the war began, he had been assigned to Princess Kelita as a member of the imperial knights. He had only spent two months with her, and soon the war broke out, forcing him to leave the imperial court.
Yet, even after that, he occasionally thought of her.
Whether it was because he had to spend a lot of time alone during the war, or because Kelita was the last woman he had met, he still doesn't know.
He stopped thinking about her when Lacrahan and the conversation about their engagement began. As the carriage fully exited, Wyatt stepped forward nervously.
"Knight Commander Wyatt."
As soon as Kelita spotted him, she naturally extended her hand.
“Princess. It’s an honor to have you come to the North.”
Wyatt bent one knee, kissed the back of her hand, then stood up.
Kelita looked around with wide eyes and asked,
“Where is the Grand Duke?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Wyatt was a loyal and brave man, but he wasn’t a smart man.
“He’s in the bathroom with a stomachache...”
“Huh?”
He wiggled his caterpillar-like eyebrows and scratched the back of his neck.
“He’s stuck in the bathroom with diarrhea! Sorry!”
Kelita blinked, her eyes wide, and then burst out laughing.
She covered her mouth with her hand and smiled gently, then said with a kind face,
“Then I’ll wait.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll wait here until His Highness arrives.”
The color drained from Wyatt’s face.
Kelita, who had been given the special mission to bring about the marriage with Lacrahan no matter what, did not want this visit to start off badly.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me, Commander.”
Wyatt’s large lips were trembling as he smiled back at Kelita, who was smiling brightly.
The moment his lips touched Lacrahan’s, Bercheria felt the air around her change in an instant.
An unknown power surged within her, and the world suddenly seemed to slow down.
Slowly lifting her eyelids, she saw Lacrahan’s face.
At the same time, the panorama of the tower surrounding the two of them began to squirm as if alive, then began to fold and disappear from the ground below.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”
“The reason you are imprisoned here. The reason you turned the staff into a tower. The reason you gradually extinguished your power.”
“...”
“The reason you prevented humans from using their power.”
Lacrahan released Bercheria and stroked his thin chin with his fingertips, as if trying to reconstruct his thoughts.
“Have you ever thought about it?”
“Have I ever thought about it...”
Bercheria’s lips closed slowly, suffocatingly.
None.
That was her life from the beginning, so she took it for granted.
When she came to, she simply wanted to escape.
That’s why she didn’t miss the opportunity that was presented to her, and now is the result.
“Lacrahan.”
Bercheria, lost in thought, suddenly jerked her head up. She looked down, then abruptly grabbed his collar.
“I hear a sound.”
“...What is it?”
“The sound of my mother coming here every day.”
Her face was now pale, almost gray.
Rattling, rattling. A familiar sound echoed in her head, a sound her body reacted to before it.
It was always the same: the sound of stones bouncing off the ground against the wheels of a magnificent carriage.
When it reached a bulge in the middle of the weed-covered road, the carriage rose as if accustomed to it, then dropped back down half a beat later.
Rattling!
The coachman whipped the horse's rump again at that moment.
"Lacrahan!"
Bercheria shouted, almost in a state of nervous exhaustion.
"Mother, Mother is coming here!"
"What do you mean? Are you okay? How is it..."
Bercheria clung to him, pleading.
"This isn't an illusion. I've heard this every day of my life. Mother."
Bercheria gasped, her words pouring out.
"Mother is coming here now. I'm right. She's not dead. That's not Mother. The real Mother is coming."
She muttered, as if she were delirious.
What on earth is a mother? How can a woman who was always so confident in front of him crumble so suddenly?
“Bercheria. Look at me. Come to your senses.”
Lacrahan’s nerves were tense.
He had no idea what her life was like, living in this filthy, small tower, without a single possession.
Just guessing at it, seeing it with his own eyes, felt absurd.
The very idea of what life was like here was absurd.
“It’s all wrong. Now I’m trapped here, forced to endure Mother’s whipping until I die,”
She whispered helplessly, like a child robbed of her beloved candy.
“Even if I want to die alone, I can’t. Mother said until the very end that she wouldn’t take that ability away from me. So I...”
How did she feel, living each day unable to die or leave?
How much must she have whipped herself to keep herself from going mad?
What must have been going through her mind as she left the tower in those dirty clothes?
“It’s over now.”
Bercheria’s sparkling golden eyes were tinged with despair.
Lacrahan felt something hot surge within his chest.
Bercheria, with a blank expression, refused to give him a single word.
He couldn't just watch her crumble like this.
Whatever kind of mother she spoke of, he wasn't there then, and he was here now.
Bercheria had to realize that.
"How long will it take?"
Lacrahan grabbed her hand, which was holding his collar, and placed it firmly over her heart.
She had said her heart raced just by looking at his face, so he hoped this might distract her.
"I asked how long it would take for the carriage to arrive at the tower."
Bercheria answered with a blank expression.
"Ten minutes. No. Fifteen minutes."
Lacrahan took a deep breath.
"Then let's do it. Everything you and I can do in those fifteen minutes."
"Yes?"
"There's no time to hesitate. Eleven minutes."
"What are you saying..."
Lacrahan hugged Bercheria tightly.
Their chests touched, and the sound of her heartbeat could be felt through his skin.
He held her tighter in his arms.
“How are you? Can’t you feel anything?”
The edge of his urgent voice trembled slightly.
***
In the north, where the morning sun was rising in the dusk.
A long procession had been forming outside the castle gates since early morning.
Today was the day Princess Kelita was scheduled to visit from the royal family.
Wyatt and the knights, dressed in their formal attire for the first time in a long time, were on their way to get their faces stamped on the portal. They had no choice but to avoid any gossip from the royal family, such as them being rude to the Princess when she visited.
Wyatt whispered secretly to Alex, who was riding right beside him, covering his mouth.
“So where on earth did the Grand Duke go?”
“I don’t know.”
Wyatt, who had been searching for Lacrahan all night, was in a very bad mood.
He clearly knew he had to go to the portal to fetch Princess Kelita, yet he resented him for disappearing so abruptly.
“Oh, really! What are you going to say to the Princess?”
Wyatt shouted, startling Alex.
“Can’t you... tell her the truth?”
“Are you crazy? You’re going to tell her the Grand Duke ran off into the forest in the middle of the night with a woman he doesn’t even know?”
“No, I’m sorry. Huh? Captain. It looks like the portal is about to open already.”
“What?”
Wyatt raised his head and stared at the portal, already approaching.
The massive, semicircular portal was made of sapphire, a rare mineral found throughout the continent.
The distinctive, gleaming black stone glowed softly, as if bathed in sunlight.
If the light enveloped the entire ellipse, a transparent membrane would form within the circle, and the Princess and her party would emerge from it.
“Damn it. This is really bad.”
Wyatt gazed anxiously along the path leading into the forest, hoping that Lacrahan might arrive at any moment.
***
Lacrahan's heartbeat was pounding, reverberating through her body like an earthquake.
Her small, fragile body, unable to accept his beats, was spewing them out onto her back.
"How do you feel?"
Bercheria said nothing, but it was easy to see that she hadn't regained her strength.
From the beginning, he knew this wasn't something a simple hug could solve.
Lacrahan cupped her face in his palms and lifted her up to face him.
"There's no time. We have to find a way before your mother arrives."
Now, his mind was growing more urgent.
He knew that without Bercheria's staff, running away was meaningless.
Just spending each day squandering her life might be more painful for Bercheria.
"Come to your senses, Bercheria."
Lacrahan, still staring at her shaking eyes, suddenly pressed his lips against hers.
This time, he didn't have time to think.
The only thing that filled his mind was the knowledge that deeper contact was more effective in urgent situations.
"...!"
It was a light, brushing touch and then pulling away, but it was enough to startle Bercheria.
Lacrahan studied her quietly.
A bright light was shining through her once-dim golden eyes.
“Ha.”
Lacrahan squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again.
“Bercheria. Listen to me.”
He didn’t have the nerve to kiss her carelessly, hoping to bring her back to her senses.
Even if it was a therapeutic procedure, it was difficult for Lacrahan, who had little experience with women.
“I’m helping you here because I’m doing it for my people.”
He felt he had to at least make it clear.
Bercheria looked at him with eyes that seemed unable to understand what he was saying.
“And this is also my thanks for saving the children and Mrs. Morgan.”
“It’s okay, just do it quickly.”
Bercheria grabbed the back of his head and pulled him close to her.
Without hesitation, she kissed him.
The moment their skin touched, she knew.
This time was different.
Hot breath rushed in, and Bercheria felt as if her body had become the sun.
The golden light that extended from her exploded and instantly enveloped the tower.
If Lakrahan hadn't closed his eyes, it was a bright light, enough to blind him.
And then, in an instant, Lacrahan felt as if the ground beneath him had been ripped open, opening his eyes and looking down.
The world beneath his feet had vanished.
And at the same time, the two bodies began to plummet toward the pitch-black floor.
***
The portal gate opened, revealing a carriage emblazoned with the imperial symbol, an eagle.
Wyatt gulped.
Before the war began, he had been assigned to Princess Kelita as a member of the imperial knights. He had only spent two months with her, and soon the war broke out, forcing him to leave the imperial court.
Yet, even after that, he occasionally thought of her.
Whether it was because he had to spend a lot of time alone during the war, or because Kelita was the last woman he had met, he still doesn't know.
He stopped thinking about her when Lacrahan and the conversation about their engagement began. As the carriage fully exited, Wyatt stepped forward nervously.
"Knight Commander Wyatt."
As soon as Kelita spotted him, she naturally extended her hand.
“Princess. It’s an honor to have you come to the North.”
Wyatt bent one knee, kissed the back of her hand, then stood up.
Kelita looked around with wide eyes and asked,
“Where is the Grand Duke?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Wyatt was a loyal and brave man, but he wasn’t a smart man.
“He’s in the bathroom with a stomachache...”
“Huh?”
He wiggled his caterpillar-like eyebrows and scratched the back of his neck.
“He’s stuck in the bathroom with diarrhea! Sorry!”
Kelita blinked, her eyes wide, and then burst out laughing.
She covered her mouth with her hand and smiled gently, then said with a kind face,
“Then I’ll wait.”
“Yes?”
“I’ll wait here until His Highness arrives.”
The color drained from Wyatt’s face.
Kelita, who had been given the special mission to bring about the marriage with Lacrahan no matter what, did not want this visit to start off badly.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me, Commander.”
Wyatt’s large lips were trembling as he smiled back at Kelita, who was smiling brightly.
***
The moment his lips touched Lacrahan’s, Bercheria felt the air around her change in an instant.
An unknown power surged within her, and the world suddenly seemed to slow down.
Slowly lifting her eyelids, she saw Lacrahan’s face.
At the same time, the panorama of the tower surrounding the two of them began to squirm as if alive, then began to fold and disappear from the ground below.
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