Chapter 88

‘A system window?’

For a brief second, something popped up in front of me, and it looked unmistakably like a system window. Still, I couldn’t be certain since it was completely filled with question marks.

“…My head is killing me.”

Vien’s voice, choked with pain, snapped me out of my daze. I quickly forced away the panic from my face and turned to look at him.

His tightly furrowed brow clearly showed how much pain he was in.

‘If I try to run away now, won’t his favorability drop even further? His favorability is already at zero. I’d probably get hit with a health penalty right away.’

Realizing that this wasn’t a good time to run away from him, I cautiously asked,

“I-If you’re really not feeling well, should I call a physician? Didn’t anyone else come with you…”

“I’m irritated.”

“Pardon?”

“My head’s pounding. Everything’s irritating me right now, even the smallest things.”

Through the fingers covering his face, Vien’s golden eyes flashed with sharp irritation.

The sound of his teeth grinding made me step back without thinking.

Seeing Vien, unable to even pretend to be a gentleman due to the overwhelming headache, made my anxious heart pound with dread.

‘T-This is bad. This situation is dangerous.’

And just like it was backing up my gut feeling, the system window flashed again.

‘It looked like there were fewer question marks than last time…’

It disappeared so quickly again that I couldn’t say for sure, but it definitely seemed like more of the message was readable this time.

“Are you even listening to me, my lady? Or is it that the esteemed Lady Aidelis simply doesn’t consider what I say important?”

Just then, Vien’s cutting voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

A sharp, wrenching pain tore through my chest as my health plummeted.

The shock hit so fast, my legs wouldn’t move like they were rooted to the spot. Just then, a flustered voice called out from behind me.

“I-I’m sorry I’m late. I didn’t know you were looking for me.”

The voice belonged to Nella Giordin, the owner of the Giordin Boutique.

Perhaps she had heard from an employee that Vien was here, as Nella, who had been approaching, finally noticed me standing across from him and showed a slightly surprised expression. It wasn’t until Vien finally looked away from me that I managed to let out the breath I’d been holding.

Sensing the strange tension, Nella cautiously bowed her head toward him and spoke softly.

“Ah, I’ll show you the way, Your Highness.”

It wasn’t until Nella spoke again that Vien finally lowered the hand he’d been pressing to his forehead. A faint crease still lingered between his brows, just barely visible. He was about to follow Nella when he suddenly glanced back, like he had only just remembered I was there.

Knowing that my health had just dropped in an instant, I felt a sense of suffocation under his gaze as he stared at me blankly.

‘Why is he looking at me like that…?’

“Lady…”

“….?”

He parted his lips like he was about to say something, but in the end, he didn’t say anything.

“…Never mind. We’ll be seeing each other soon anyway. You’ll be at the party in five days, won’t you?”

His twisted little smile made my stomach turn, and I bowed my head without saying a word. Either way, the most important thing right now was avoiding any further entanglement with him.

As I offered a polite farewell, Vien gave me one last look, then turned and walked off without a moment’s pause.

I bit my lip as I looked at my health, which had now dropped into the 80s.

It felt like death had taken a step closer, and a wave of unease crept up inside me.

︵‿୨ ₊‧꒰ა ཐི༏ཋྀ ໒꒱ ˚₊ ୧‿︵

Unlike Neitzia, the boundary forest wasn’t particularly famous.

And for good reason. Neitzia was where the World Tree stood and where the founding legend of Arbonis originated, so it naturally drew in visitors. The boundary forest, on the other hand, was just a forgotten stretch of land people passed through on their way to Neitzia.

While trying to evade the knights, Hans had been pushing further and further into the forest until he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He frowned at the towering trees above, their thick canopy nearly blotting out the sky.

“Is the sun already setting?”

He had been focused on getting as far from the village as possible, but since he had let his feet guide him without a plan, he now had no clue where he was.

If only he could see the sun, he could at least figure out the direction…

“I can’t see anything because of the trees.”

It was a bad situation.

Frustrated over what to do, Hans ran his hand through his hair in irritation before slumping against a tree. Night was closing in fast, and soon he wouldn’t even be able to see an inch in front of him. With no food or water, wandering around the forest was a terrible idea. It seemed smarter to rest here for a while, regain some strength, and then backtrack the way he came.

“Still, I wonder what happened to Zen. They’re not seriously searching for a dead man, are they?”