Shadowless Night

“Is everyone okay?”

"Yes, Your Highness.”

“…Yes.”

As the rain falls heavier and stronger, their physical strength will drain, and past traces will wash away easily.

After the fight in the empty field, the Knights of the White Night decided to act separately. The more people moving at once, the bigger the tracks and the more danger they face. They already sent the carriage and horses in different directions to confuse the enemy.

[The glory of Idelavhim to you.]

The knights kissed the hem of Ricardis' cloak. It might be the last time they saw their master, so the knights looked at him over and over again. The sight of the light of Idelavhim, the one who removes the descending darkness, floating beautifully in the gray forest made the knights' hearts strong. It was a blessing from Ricardis. Their wounds vanished, and their bodies began to revitalize.

They didn't even have time to recover the bodies of their fallen comrades. Each of them cut off the hair of their comrades and put them in their arms. It was a time when the battle was over, and the atmosphere relaxed and entered a lulled state. A Black Moon raider, who was holding their breath pretending to be dead, was aiming for such a careless moment.

He threw the incanted vial in his arms and rushed towards Ricardis. However, his attempt was unsuccessful. The flying vial was blocked by the senior knight Hale, and Ricardis escaped from danger in the arms of Rosaline as she quickly embraced the 2nd Prince. Her agility and amazing form when she rolled on the floor, even in that urgent situation, made sounds of admiration flow from the surroundings.

Rosaline felt blood running down her shoulder. It seems she had received a cut by the assassin's sword. Luckily she wasn't seriously hurt. The Black Moon assassin's head was split in half by Raymond's blow. It was a sharp sword fueled with anger.

The escort knights left their current positions and dispersed. Ricardis moved along with his deputy commanders Nathan and Raymond and the senior knights Hale and Rosaline. The five of them made their way through the forest at high speed.

“…”

Rosaline took a deep breath. Only this amount of running already felt difficult. It was proof that ‘It’ was gradually becoming human. When she first became ‘Rosaline', she could still restore broken bones and wounds at a fast pace. But, now, an hour has passed, and the wound on her shoulder still hasn't healed. The bleeding had stopped, but the broken flesh was recovering at an unusually slow pace. But that wasn't the only thing taking away Rosaline’s stamina. Foreign energy that had entered through the wound was rushing through her body. Rosaline quickly recognized its identity as it was the kind of power she could see.

‘Fragment.’

Could this be the reason why the assassin's eyes were desperate for the final blow? When she was still ‘It’, no poison worked. But in her present state of being physically assimilated into a human, it was impossible to guarantee immunity as pieces of life had begun to mix. Now, she was not a mass of magical power but a creature with a body. The power of ‘Fragment' was clearly affecting Rosaline.

Huff, huff… The sound of heavy breathing sounded. While concentrating on the condition of her own body, Rosaline quickly glanced around her. Although the situation was not good, she could not neglect to be vigilant about her surroundings. The moment her sharp senses turned to the surroundings, Rosaline heard a moan filled with pain. At the same time, she realized that the knee of the senior knight Hale, who ran behind her, had buckled, and he'd fallen onto the ground in an instant. Rosaline quickly took his body.

“Sir Hale!”

His face was paler than a corpse. Hale breathed harshly through his nose and then took a deep breath. Raymond looked back at the urgent voice.

"Your Highness! Sir Hale…!"

It was a low-pitched voice, but everyone stopped walking. They rushed over to Rosaline and Hale. Ricardis took off Hale's clothes and checked his condition, and his eyes and hands moved busily. He was clearly experiencing a symptom of ‘Fragment’ poisoning. Deputy Commander Nathan and Raymond watched the situation nervously. They knew that if even Ricardis couldn’t cure it, no one else could do anything.

Ricardis soon found a long, drawn scar near Hale's wrist. Black veins were already bulging on the wounded area. A misty white light erupted from Ricardis' hand, and a small, white swarm of fireflies enveloped the mist. Idelavhim's light stayed by the wounds for a long time, but the black veins that spread like spider webs showed no sign of disappearing. Ricardis frowned.

“Damn it…!”

He had already poured a considerable amount of holy power, but Hale’s condition did not improve. When the energy entered his body, it only worked to the extent of lighting up his face for a moment. Hale's eyes began to turn red. As Ricardis tried again, Hale grabbed his hand and held him back. Hale staggered to his feet, supported by Rosaline.

“Y- You’ve already used… a lot of strength in battle, Your Highness. There’s still a long… long way to go. You should… save your energy.”

“You only have to go a little further. Sir Raymond will support you. Walk just a little bit more. Just a little bit more.”

Desperation reflected in Ricardis's cracked voice. Hale shook his head. At first, he thought it was a small wound, but he soon realized the pain that secretly penetrated his body. That death is imminent. He couldn't drag them down any further than this. The assassins will still be approaching this very moment.

"I… will leave this road and walk elsewhere, creating a trail."

Ricardis bit his lip tightly. Hale was a knight who had survived Vista's hunting competition and had been an escort by his side for a long time. So foolishly… So fleetingly… How easy is it for a person to die? Hale bent his knee with difficulty and kissed the tip of Ricardis' dirty boot.

“And so, may the light of Idelavhim dwell in Your Highness’ path… I earnestly wish you well.”

Hale gave Rosaline a worried look, “Please take good care of the prince, Sir Rosaline.” 

It was a harsh voice as if blood had clogged his throat. Rosaline saluted, and he smiled faintly and walked away. The misty forest quickly swallowed up a person's figure. 

“… Move.”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

Rosaline ran again, looking in the direction where Hale had disappeared. She began to feel pain in the wound on her shoulder. But an intense rage ran wildly through her head so that she couldn’t even care about the pain anymore.

***

Darkness fell in the forest. On a muddy dirt road that dragged down one’s feet, in constantly pouring rain, and with bodies tired from not being able to rest or eat properly, they moved for hours in these harsh conditions. They were so exhausted that they couldn't even speak, so they decided to sit down and rest for a while. Rosaline luckily found a little hidden cave. Judging by the smell of animals, they presumed that it was a house of something. It was a cave carved deep into the rocks where even the faint moonlight did not penetrate. Ricardis took off his cloak, laid it aside, and sat down.

“It will be difficult to find traces of us in this darkness. You should get some sleep, Your Highness."

"Yes. You too, get some rest. We'll have to move again after a while."

His voice sounded tired. Rosaline looked at him for a moment, then filled the canister with rainwater running down the cavern wall. In the meantime, the remaining knights checked their respective pockets for food.

"Your Highness. Here. Jerky."

Ricardis followed her voice and shifted his gaze, but all he could see was darkness. It was not easy to distinguish between individual forms in a cave where a fire was not lit. Ricardis’ gaze did not reach her, and it still wandered around. 

‘Why are you doing that? Oh. Humans cannot see well in the dark.’ Rosaline secretly nodded her head in the dark.

Ricardis trembled at the taste of the savory meat as Rosaline shoved it into his mouth. He was bewildered for a while, but he didn't curse at her action. Ricardis struggled to chew and swallow the jerky, and almost immediately, a sweet treat entered his mouth. He had an ominous feeling that if he let Rosaline continue, he would become like a baby bird fed by the mother bird.

“…Can't you just put it in my hand, Sir?"

“Ah. Alright.”

Rosaline took Ricardis' hand and handed him the jerky and canteen, and Ricardis gulped down the water. He was so thirsty after running around all day.

He leaned against the wall of the cave and closed his eyes. There was no difference between opening or closing his eyes as it was all dark all around. In his ears, he heard the sound of the three escorts sharing food. Crunch. Crunch. There was the sound of cookies breaking in their mouth. It was an everyday sound that did not fit the current situation, which caused his body to relax and his beating heart to calm down. Ricardis fell asleep while hearing those sounds.

At dawn, after the rain had stopped, the sky began to take on a blue color. Ricardis sensed the faint light shining on his eyelids and opened his eyes. 

"…Heuk!”

Ricardis took a deep breath. Rosaline, with her eyes closed, came into view. Her flowing hair was lightly tickling his face. Ricardis felt the warmth wrapped around the back of his head, and he started sweating profusely. He wondered, ‘Am I lying on her thighs right now?’ As Ricardis understood the situation, he was astonished. ‘This… crazy. I- I must be crazy right now.’

He got up carefully so that Rosaline wouldn’t wake up. However, despite his desperate efforts, she opened her eyes as if she had been waiting. Then she glanced at the entrance to the cave and turned her gaze back to Ricardis. 

“Did you sleep well?”

Ricardis was still cursing his brain. ‘No matter how tired you are, how could you not notice that you’ve been touching someone else’s body!’

“I know we’ve been moving all day, but, this… What a stupid thing to do!”

“It’s okay, I’m alright.”

Rosaline jumped up and stretched with a gentle movement as if to prove what she was saying.

“When you were sleeping on the floor, I first tried to use my arm as a pillow, but I changed it because I thought it would be softer to sleep on my legs. Do you not like it?"