“Oh...!”
Yasiris noticed that his condition was more serious than she thought.
She didn't know how far he had drifted down the river, but he was in cold water and constantly wet with rain.
It would be normal for his body temperature to drop and for him to shiver like that, but Kazan's body was not cold; It was so hot.
“Your Majesty, you must stay awake.
Your Majesty!”
Yasiris shouted several times to wake Kazan, gritting her teeth.
She endured the searing pain in her shoulder, pushing it away with all her might as she rolled to the side.
Bang-!
His heavy, waterlogged body fell to the ground.
The arm that was holding Yasiris sagged and fell to the ground.
Only then did Kazan's injuries become fully visible.
“This...”
Yasiris choked at the horrific sight.
She hesitated, unable to touch the horrific injuries.
His left arm and right leg were strangely twisted and completely crushed.
His right arm was missing, exposing bone, and there were many other minor cuts and bruises.
Like her shoulder, it also had arrows with broken shafts embedded in it.
How is he still alive?
Yasiris ignored the question that flashed through her mind.
First, she needed to move Kazan to a safer place and give him a little treatment before his condition deteriorated or any pursuers caught up with them.
“A hiding place...”
I stumbled around, looking for a suitable place to hide.
Fortunately, I found a small cave with a vine-covered entrance not far away, but transporting and treating Kazan was another matter entirely.
Her entire body was already screaming from fatigue and pain.
The thought of transporting a man twice her weight made her feel desperate.
She didn't have good options.
“Maybe...”
Wouldn't it be better to let him go in peace now?
Yasiris stood motionless, looking at Kazan.
Her blue eyes were filled with the sight of her husband dying of a high fever.
He was a man who held a lot of grudges.
From the moment he appeared until now, countless lives had been claimed by the Hand of Kazan.
Yasiris would not have been surprised if all the countries except Osivia had united to carry out this attack just to kill Kazan.
Her fiancé, a baritone, was also killed by Kazan.
The image of her childhood friend being killed in front of her eyes still haunts her sometimes.
Above all, he was the man who would later kill her and her child.
“Your Majesty,”
Yasiris called out to Kazan harshly.
It would be easy to kill him when he couldn't even open his eyes.
And she won't even have to get her hands dirty.
If you left him here, he would definitely die within a day either due to his injuries or his pursuers.
Anyway, she was planning to escape, so the plan worked.
She might be able to live without the lifelong fear of being hunted by the Emperor.
She might even return to the empire and live a better life than before.
Once Kazan died, the child in her womb would become Tenilath's sole heir, and power would inevitably follow.
But…
Yasiris closed her eyes.
The desperate red eyes and the body that hugged her tightly to protect her evoked familiar feelings.
In a dream about Kazan.
He was standing on a cliff.
On the opposite cliff, Yasiris was standing with her back turned, and there was an old, rickety bridge connecting the two sides.
Yasaris.
Kazan called out to her, but his voice scattered in the air.
empress.
Yasaris.
Not a single word turned into a sound; They all evaporated like steam.
He frowned at this phenomenon, as if the air itself had been cut off.
He hoped that Yasiris would turn and look at him, but the environment was not cooperating.
If his voice does not reach her, he will go to her himself.
Kazan moved without hesitation.
With every step, the old bridge creaked, but the option of abandoning Yasiris for fear of falling did not exist for him.
At first, it was fine.
The bridge, sturdier than it seemed, allowed him to move towards Yasiris with confidence.
But halfway through, things took a turn for the worse.
Stepping in one place triggered a spear.
When passing through another area, a group of arrows shot out, grabbing something and sending a fireball his way.
He was also hit by the tail or whip of a giant monster.
Kazan continued walking, becoming chaotic as he moved between the traps in the limited space.
His teeth chattered together and his vision blurred from the excruciating pain, but he was fine.
Sari.
Instead of his voice, his reward was Yasiris turning to look at him when he finally reached her.
...But he couldn't see her face.
Her features were blurry, making it impossible to make out her expression.
Was she frowning?
Expressionless?
Or are you crying?
Kazan did not have time to find out the answer.
Yasiris, who was looking at him...
I cut the bridge rope.
“Oh, oh...”
Kazan fell and couldn't even extend his hand as his body trembled.
The dull pain from the dream was multiplied a hundredfold in reality.
He felt as if his entire body was burning with fire.
His mouth was filled with the taste of blood as his clenched teeth bit down in response to the violent pain.
When he hit his back against a tree, it caused internal bleeding, as evidenced by the blood he coughed up.
“Kkk, kkk, huh...”
But he was still alive.
Kazan was able to take shallow breaths while assessing his condition.
He thought he might die this time, but his stubborn life force kept him alive.
Even though his limbs felt completely destroyed, he did not worry about being disabled.
As long as he somehow returned to the Imperial Palace alive, he could be restored to full health.
Because he is from Tinilath.
Therefore, Kazan's fears lie elsewhere, outside his insanely painful body.
“The Empress.”
Where was Yasiris?
Kazan ignored the pain as best he could, and looked around with half-open eyes.
He used all his abilities to protect her as much as possible, but given the seriousness of the situation, he wasn't sure if she was truly safe.
No, regardless of whether it was safe or not, Yasiris had to be by his side.
He held her until the last minute to ensure her safety.
But she disappeared.
She disappeared.
The ominous dream increased his anxiety.
His heart was beating loudly in his chest as he couldn't find her in his field of vision.
Maybe…
Maybe, again.
Did you abandon me?
“Oh!”
Kazan struggled hard to lift himself up.
His veins bulged and his eyes turned red.
Sweat poured from his feverish body.
He was in no condition to walk, but he had to move.
If he was unable to walk, he resolved to crawl.
To find Yasiris, who couldn't go far...
Find it and…
What can he do?
The image of the white hand that cut the bridge and caused it to fall appeared clearly in his mind.
“Empress...”
Kazan could not accept this.
He couldn't bear for her to abandon him.
“Empress...!”
He didn't even think about the pursuers.
In his completely helpless state, Kazan called out to her in a loud voice.
That was all he could do.
He shouted with all his might, his voice tense.
“Empress!!”
Surprisingly, there was a response.
“I'm here”
It was like salvation.
After gathering some nearby herbs, Yasiris indifferently looked at Kazan, who was staring at her in amazement from where he had fallen.
You are in this state because of me.
I will repay your life debt by helping you recover.
And after that…
“The rain has stopped”
Yasiris slightly lifted the large paper at the entrance of the cave to look out.
The sun, which had been rising gradually, was now fully indicating morning.
With it, the dark clouds dispersed, giving a clear view of the ocean.
“Good news...isn't it?”
“At least it's better for me to look around the area, right?”
“What if... you get caught... there?”
Kazan, who spoke in labored breaths with pauses between words, made Yasiris look at him again.
Stripped down to his underwear and covered in common herbs, he looked like a patient in critical condition, but his words were still disturbing.
“You don't even know... how to... cover your tracks.”
“So should we starve here?”
Kazan was stunned for a moment by Yasiris's cold words, forgetting his pain.
Her expressionless face, looking at him from above, seemed overwhelming for some reason.
After making an effort to save him from imminent death.
His thoughts appeared in his eyes, but he bit his lip and clenched his teeth as if he was enduring physical pain.
It had been so long since he had been so weak that he didn't know what to say.
She was just worried.
It's dangerous.
To be honest, part of his fear was that she might leave him.
Now that all the conditions necessary for her to go away were met, it seemed that she might abandon him and fly free at any moment.
Just stay by my side.
Don't go anywhere.
Once my body recovers a little, I'll tackle anything that needs to be done outside.
He wanted to say so, but there wasn't enough time for his body to recover enough to move.
“Please rest”
With that brief remark, Yasaris left the hiding place.
He couldn't stop her.
It was the first morning after their disaster.