Kazan hesitated briefly, his hope that there was even a sliver of consciousness remaining in her dashed.
After deliberation for a moment, he chose to put the scattered berries into his mouth instead of the herbs.
The medication may not have been absorbed properly because she took it on an empty stomach.
After chewing the berries well, he pressed his lips to Yasiris's lips.
Of all the countless kisses they shared while their bodies were intertwined, this was the most beautiful.
One, two, three, four...
The few berries ran out quickly.
Kazan only relaxed once Yasiris safely swallowed the fever-reducing grass juice.
“Fuh.”
Feeding something to an unconscious person was harder than he thought.
She could barely swallow, and kept coughing, which made the process take much longer.
At least the basic measures had been taken, so all he could do now was wait.
“Hmm...”
Yasiris was sweating profusely.
Her wet clothes caught Kazan's attention.
If you dried like this, wouldn't you feel cold?
He frowned, then finally moved again, enduring the pain.
As he struggled to take off Yasiris' clothes with one hand, his body became drenched in sweat.
After what seemed like an eternity, Kazan collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily, and suddenly cursed under his breath.
"the curse".
Even in this position, his body reacted to Yasiris's naked form.
Her sweat-stained skin, flushed with fever, aroused all kinds of thoughts.
"Unbelievable.
Am I really that despicable?"
Kazan ran his hand violently through his hair and sat down again.
Ignoring his body's demands, he grabbed a torn cloth to wipe off her sweat, when something he hadn't noticed before caught his attention.
Yasiris's stomach was swollen.
"What?"
It wasn't very big.
If she had just eaten a large meal, it would have been understandable.
But that was not the case.
I just had a few berries for my first meal.
Kazan stood there frozen, then shook his head.
“No, it can't be like that.
If she was pregnant, she or the doctor would have told me long ago.
This must be an overactive imagination.”
Even as he tried to dismiss it, a feeling of unease remained in his heart.
Her entire body was still emaciated, except for her protruding stomach, which disturbed his thoughts.
“...I'll have to ask her later.”
Kazan put his doubts aside and continued with what he had to do.
Although his body had suffered countless wounds from being rolled over during battles, this was the first time he had cared for another person, and his clumsy hands were wiping away her sweat.
And so a day passed, and when she was muttering in a low voice that she was cold, he spent the night holding her, sharing the warmth of his body.
“Oh...”
Yasiris slowly opened her heavy eyes.
Or so she thought, but her vision was blurry and dark.
In her foggy mind, all she could feel was the dull pain throughout her body and the familiar warmth next to her.
She felt like she was her after she and Kazan participated in a difficult meeting.
“What?
Oh”
“Nghh!”
Their moans overlapped.
As Yasaris tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through her head, and her muscles screamed in protest, sapping her strength.
Feeling dizzy and confused, she tried to comprehend the situation when Kazan's tense voice reached her ears.
“Lie still, Empress.”
“Your Majesty?”
Kazan, who had thrown his injured left arm over Yasiris to keep it warm, took a deep breath.
Her sudden movement sent a shock of pain through his body, making his head throb.
“...it's still early.
Get more sleep.”
“When did you sleep…?”
"You fainted.
Right after Beowulf left.
Don't you remember?"
"Yes."
Yasiris finally understood what had happened.
Her body, which she had been forcing to hold on through pure willpower, had finally collapsed.
Did he take care of me?
Yasiris opened her lips, but did not ask anything.
Kazan also did not explain what happened.
Instead, in a tired voice, he said something else.
“We just need to hang on for a few more days.
Ozevia might turn the entire mountain upside down looking for us.”
Just hold on until then.
Hearing his whispered words, Yasiris realized something.
She didn't have the luxury of lying sick in bed.
She had to escape before the army arrived.
Even if it means leaving today.
Yasiris was unable to go back to sleep until the morning.
She may have lost consciousness briefly at some point, but she continued to plan and re-plan in her mind.
The best course of action was to fake her death and escape.
She would make it look like she had fallen victim to stalkers or wild beasts and then disappear without a trace.
However, after growing up in the palace, there was no way she could pull off a proper disguise.
If anything, it would be a miracle if she wasn't arrested immediately and subjected to a harsher punishment.
The next best option was to take a risk and escape before things got worse, but this was much more difficult.
If things went wrong, it could lead to the worst possible outcome, so she wanted to avoid this plan if possible.
“Foo…”
The only option left was to escape recklessly.
Realistically, this was the only path she could follow on her own.
Since she had some freedom to come and go from their hiding place, she could leave at any time and escape.
But this had its severe problems.
Once Kazan returns to Ozevia, wanted posters bearing her face will be plastered all over the continent.
If only I had been able to escape under better circumstances, things might have been different.
But right now, she didn't have anything of value.
She had not bathed for days and looked like a beggar.
She had lost all her valuables, and her clothes were torn...
“Huh?”
An idea suddenly came to Yasiris's mind, and she opened her mouth in shock.
“Why am I naked?
And where are my clothes?”
“You are awake”
“Your Majesty”
Yasiris turned to Kazan, intending to ask for an explanation and her clothes.
But as soon as she turned her head, the sight of his red eyes, just inches away, made her catch her breath.
His face was not clearly visible in the backlight filtering through the leaves, but his half-closed, sleep-heavy eyes filled her vision.
“Get some rest”
Ken – no, Kazan – put his face on her shoulder.
He made a satisfied sound, caressing her gently, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
Ken...no, Kazan.
He did it again.
Just like that time in the past, when I woke up from a nap under a tree.
“Oh!”
Suddenly, a wave of nausea washed over Yasaris, pushing Kazan away as she took off.
She heard him groan in pain, but she was too distracted to care.
She rushed out of the cave, vomiting until her stomach was empty, only to realize what she had just done.
“I'm sorry.
My stomach felt so bad that...”
Now.
Now is the time to escape.
But how?
To where?
“Huff, huff...”
Yasiris staggered, seeing her spin, as she leaned against a tree.
Her condition had not fully recovered, making it difficult to go far at once.
She couldn't even plan her escape properly, so she kept changing directions aimlessly.
First she headed towards the river, then veered off somewhere else, only to find herself near the river again several times.
Leaning against the tree to catch her breath, she sighed deeply.
This was all Kazan's fault.
She had not intended to leave so early, but his strange behavior spooked her, causing her to flee in panic.
Although she had spent countless nights with Kazan, waking up in his lap with their bodies pressed together was a first.
She was used to waking up on her own after exhausting herself and falling asleep in his arms.
It was amazing that Kazan cuddled her all night, but his sleep-induced actions were just as disturbing.
He was very similar to Ken.
His tone, his intonation, even the small movements – all of this reminded her of her ex-lover, causing her to instinctively push him away.
If she hadn't done that, she might have kissed Kazan's cheek while calling him Ken.
Just thinking about it was terrifying enough to make her feel nauseous.
“Huh...”
Yasiris took another deep sigh.
She knew she had to move, even if it was just one more step forward, but her body felt unbearably heavy.
Her throbbing headache was another problem.
She couldn't even begin to think of a way to fake an accident, let alone determine a direction to escape.
Everything seemed ambiguous, making any decision seem impossible.
‘Should I rest longer before moving?
How far will Ozevia's empire go to find us?
Maybe I should take another day to rest and leave tomorrow when I feel better.'
While these thoughts were running through her mind, leaving her in a daze, Yasiris absentmindedly looked up at the sky – and suddenly noticed something strange.
flutter-! flutter-!
Birds flew from one side to the sky.
And they were getting closer.
Just like the day before.
Could it be Beowulf?
Or another monster?
The attackers or knights were probably from the Osivia Empire.
Whatever, he was not a welcome visitor.
Yasiris quickly began to move in the opposite direction, her eyes wide with fright.
Small animals scattered around, fleeing in all directions, causing a brief commotion.
It felt like only seconds had passed, yet the presence of anything directly attacking her was already so close.
"the curse …!"
Knock-!
Knock-!
She could feel the vibrations in the ground.
The speed was alarmingly fast.
Then, knock-!
The ground split right behind her.
Yasiris turned around, feeling a shiver run down her spine from the impending shadow.
then …