Side Story Chapter 21: Illusion


    <strong>Side Story Episode 21: Illusion</strong>


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    “What on earth is going on…!”


    It was nobody’s fault. It could not be the fault of the old innkeeper. n knew that fact well.


    Despite this, heshed out fiercely, scattering his sharp resentment.


    “Is it eptable that there isn’t a single physician here?”


    “Is, is thedy ill? There is a physician in the neighboring vige. If we contact them—”


    “The neighboring vige?”


    The flustered old man iled his arms and added hurriedly.“Yes! It’s a ce called Louishe. If you go east until the forest ends—”


    n had already burst out of the old brick building before the old man finished speaking. He rushed straight to the stable and mounted his horse.


    Outside, the sun was already setting. n, who had briefly looked at the forest stained with sunset red, furrowed his brow and tightened his grip on the reins. His once-calm gray eyes gradually narrowed as he regained hisposure.


    Eastward along the forest. He recited that simple phrase like a mantra and urged his horse forward. His usually elegant riding skill was nowhere to be seen. The path left by the wild racing horse and its rider was only marked by swirling dust.


    With his chest heaving, his dark hair tousled by the biting wind, his cravat loosened, and his coat haphazardly tucked at his waist, he looked like an embodiment of the harsh winter.


    n, who had quickly tethered his horse to the fence, entered the wooden two-story house without hesitation. This was the ce where the only physician in the vicinity was said to live.


    The house, reeking of medicinal smells, was already crowded with many people. Some had bandages on their heads, others groaned while clutching their knees. There was even a baby taking its first steps and a crying mother.


    n made his way through the crowd without hesitation. With each step, the snow and dry pine needles that had collected on his head and shoulders fell away. His eyes shone with a cold, piercing light, as if his spirit were the oing winter.


    “L, Lord n Leopold?”


    One of the assistants, recognizing him immediately, carefully blocked his path and signaled someone else to call for the physician.


    Soon, the physician appeared through the door. He was a man in his early fifties. After wiping his hands, which were stained with medicine, with gauze, he took off his sses and rubbed his tired eyes. His voice was dry.


    “What brings you here, when you have been so busy? Didn’t you leave the kingdom?”


    Whether it was because the ugly truth about Leopold had be known or due to the interruption of his duties, he did not bother to hide his sensitive attitude.


    n adjusted his clothes and tidied his hair. Then, in a very low and polite tone, he replied.


    “My wife is very ill. Right now—”


    “I’m sorry, but there are patients here too.”


    The physician coldly interrupted n’s desperate plea.


    “There is no one here who doesn’t need treatment urgently. There is no distinction between the desperate and the less desperate, so please wait. Some have been waiting since the morning.”


    “Ah.”


    n’s eyes went nk. He murmured with his parched lips as if lost in a desert.


    “If you could see my wife first… I will request the royal court to provide manpower and resources here. I will alsopensate for the dy in treatment for the patients here. No one will be at a loss.”


    “Hmph.”


    The physician crossed his arms, making the white coat rustle.


    “I am a doctor, not a businessman. No matter how important someone is, even if Her Majesty the Queen herself were toe, my answer would be the same. Please wait.”


    “…”


    n felt all the beliefs he had built up crumble before him. In the face of this obstinate professional attitude, he was utterly powerless. Despite being a significant asset holder, having debts to the royal family that were immeasurable, and being called the noble Count Elsinore in the principality…


    Even so, he could do nothing for Melissa, who would be suffering in the lingering heat of fever…..


    “Even if you turn the horse around right now, it will bete at night. If something happens to her after I’ve been away for so long without doing anything…”


    Suddenly, n’s body crumpled helplessly. The delicately embroidered coat trailed sadly on the dirty floor.


    “Please… I beg you.”


    The physician was at a loss for words, surprised by the sight. He could not have imagined that this arrogant man would show such a face and voice, that he would kneel so easily. Wasn’t he designed to be incapable of such behavior?


    The man before him looked disheveled, as if he had fought his way through a thicket. Soaked in sweat, he still looked handsome, but he was far from the image of someone who had traveled in a splendid carriagefortably.


    But he was a rigid physician. Although this moment would be a memorable one, and this scene would be remembered for a long time, he was not someone who would easily abandon his principles.


    “I am someone who deals with lives. The anguish of a physician who must save lives and sometimes watch unfortunate deaths is something you may not understand, but—”


    “I understand that too, Albert.”


    At that moment, an elderly woman with white hair walked into the room. Her movements were very slow but graceful.


    “He has saved more lives than you have.”


    “Mother!”


    “Do you not know how precious the lives he has saved are?”


    She stopped the two assistants who were hurrying to support her with a raised hand and added in a soft voice.


    “Your charitable work has indeed saved many people. You have done a noble thing. And… I regret the matter of the family. The matter of your adopted father as well.”


    “…”


    “I am a physician too. I raised my son to be a physician.”


    “Mother…”


    The old woman, who had be very weak and rarely left her room, was now standing outside. The physician looked at his mother with a dazed expression. In return, he received a gaze that was several times more resolute.


    “You take care of the patients here. I will go see the patients outside.”


    “…”


    There was a brief silence, with no one daring to object.


    “How is thedy?”


    “She has a fever… she is shivering from the cold. She has no strength left…”


    n, unable to rise, looked up at the old woman with a desperate gaze. Despair hung like a shadow over his face.


    “Fever and chills. Has she been in a crowded ce recently?”


    “No, just the two of us…”


    “…”


    “Oh, we arrived here on the Moonlight.”


    The woman’s face hardened like a statue.


    “Where is the patient now?”


    “In Whitewood…”


    It would be a long journey. The old woman muttered softly and wrapped herself in the cloak the assistants had brought.


    “Mother! It’s dangerous outside, covered in snow. I will see the patient early tomorrow morning.”


    “Do not underestimate me, Albert. Prepare my bag.”


    The old woman silenced her son with a stern voice and gently asked the young assistant.


    “Sorry, child. Will you help me onto the horse?”


    * * *


    When they returned to the inn in Whitewood, it was already deep into the night. n and the old woman met the innkeeper’s daughtering down the stairs, holding a candle in one hand and a bowl of water in the other.


    “Did you take care of Melissa?”


    The old woman, who had emerged from behind n, asked calmly.


    “How is she?”


    “She still has a fever… she hasn’t been able to eat at all.”


    “Understood. Lord, may I show you to the room?”


    At those words, the woman handed over the candle. n took it and extended his arm to the old woman, and soon the cautious footsteps of the two echoed down the dimly lit stairs.


    When n stopped in front of the door at the end of the corridor on this floor, the old woman whispered very softly.


    “I will go in alone.”


    “But I too…”


    She shook her head with a resolute look. The shadows cast by the candlelight made her face appear even more solemn.


    “Please wait here. Pray that it is not a contagious illness.”


    With those words, the door closed, leaving n alone in the empty hallway. The flickering candlelight’s soot gently brushed against him.


    Amidst the oppressive silence on his shoulders, he copsed into the chair next to the door.


    “…Ha.”


    The emotions he had been holding back poured out with a sigh. Fear. Anxiety. Helplessness. Despair. Terror. And extreme exhaustion. It was only natural after running for nearly half a day without rest, driven solely by the determination to show her to the physician.


    Melissa Flynn was truly everything to him. Even if he were to hear again that he was a fool, it wouldn’t matter. Without her, his life was literally nothing. Any honor or value crumbled to dust in the light of her presence.


    She was like an immense sea. He was but a pitiful breeze drifting over it.


    In the midst of swirling anxiety, n inevitably thought of something he never wanted to imagine.


    “A life without Melissa…”


    It felt like the ground beneath him was giving way, as if he were falling into an endless chasm. A ce where there was no light or hope, where the cycle of life he had thought he hadpletely escaped awaited him.


    At that moment, as if by magic, the candle went out. A profound darkness immediately enveloped him.


    <em>‘Is this an illusion?’</em>


    n blinked in the darkness. Even with his eyes closed, his vision remainedpletely shrouded in ck.


    The moment he hesitated and stood up, he heard a distant cry. Though he hadn’t dreamed of it since leaving Runoa, he recognized it instantly.


    It was undoubtedly that dream. He was seeing the strange dream that had been tormenting him once again.


    He felt dark blue waves swirling around his ankles. n looked down at his feet with a dazed feeling. It was then he realized he had never been in this water before.


    Surprisingly, the water was warm. The light, like scattered stardust, shimmered steadily and softly, like gentle music.


    Although there were no visible moons or stars, he pondered where the light came from. As he lifted his gaze, he saw a transparent, silvery mass moving near the surface of the distant sea. It was creating powerful waves.


    n rubbed his eyes and approached slowly. Without knowing how deep the sea was or how far the creature swam, his clothes soaked and in disarray, he stepped forward blindly.


    At that moment, the silvery orb created a massive waterfall and then let out another long cry. Amid the shattering, jewel-like droplets, n saw a silver sh.


    A massive tail.


    <em>‘…A whale?’</em>


    The realization struck him with intense force.


    As he stood frozen, the door creaked open behind him.


    “Lord n.”


    “…Ah!”


    Damp light seeped through the crack in the door. Only then did n realize he had returned to the corridor. The candle was still burning precariously.


    “Ah, how is my wife…? How is Melissa?”


    He asked urgently with a broken voice, drenched in sweat. The old woman let out a shallow breath and responded.


    “She has the flu.”


    “Then…”


    “Fortunately, she is better now. With enough rest, she will gradually—”


    “Ha…”


    n copsed in a heap, his strength drained by the profound relief. He let out a slow sigh, his head bowed. A gentle voice reached his ear as he stood still.


    “You seem to have umted quite a bit of fatiguetely. You must take good care of your wife. Do not forget that it is your duty.”


    “……”


    “You might have forgotten how harsh the winter is in Sorne, but such reckless outings are uneptable. No matter how charming they are, she is a naturally frail woman.”


    It was as if she was giving the same scolding he used to give Melissa. n listened quietly, feeling like a chastised child, and then slowly rose to express his gratitude.


    At that moment, the old woman added softly:


    “You are no longer alone.”


    “…What?”


    n stood frozen, forgetting to breathe. With a superhuman effort to regain hisposure, he asked:


    “Does… does my wife know this?”


    “Of course. I informed her.”


    Seeing the man, who seemed out of ce in his agitation, the old woman smiled gently. n’s hands, which had been covering his sweaty face, slowly clenched in front of her. It seemed as if he was submerged in an overwhelming flood of emotions.


    His lips trembled urgently.


    “Is she asleep?”


    “No, go in. Let her sleep early.”


    The old woman checked her bag and adjusted it firmly.


    “I’ll be on my way now.”


    “…I am truly grateful. As promised,”


    “Take loving care of your wife.”


    The dignified old woman did not even listen to his words to the end. With a light step, as if she hadpleted her duty, she passed by n. In the stairwell, the young assistant was waiting with a tense face.


    n twisted the doorknob with his sweat-soaked hand. The moment the door opened, it felt like an illusion, utterly detached from reality.


    Inside the room, where mes flickered in the old firece, Melissa sat propped up against the headboard of the bed with a startled expression. Her previously rosy cheeks seemed slightly gaunt after just a day. Her small lips, upon seeing him, barely parted but made no sound.


    “…Melissa.”


    n called her in a deep, strained voice. As he approached the bed step by step, tears finally welled up in his eyes.


    “…n, ah…”


    Melissa burst into tears, crying out with the intensity of a newborn. n rushed to her, pulling her small body close. Both of them were drenched in sweat, but they didn’t mind, burying their faces in each other’s necks.


    “The smell of the winter forest…”


    With that small whisper, a ticklishugh escaped, the source of which was unclear. Melissa tenderly kissed his neck, chin, and lips, her eyes glistening with moisture.


    Then she held his face in her hands and whispered:


    “Somehow, it smells like the sea.”


    n smiled wearily. Surely, there were so many things he wanted to say. Perhaps he was uncertain about how to convey his feelings.


    It was the same for n. He also wanted to tell her that he had just returned from the sea and that he had finally understood what he encountered there.


    But as he looked into her eyes, which were sparkling with countless emotions, his heart trembled and he could not utter a single word. Only the name of his beloved woman remained on his lips.


    “Melissa.”


    At that moment, tears that had been held back began to fall. The scattered, shimmering droplets traced paths down her graceful cheeks, and Melissa, as if entranced, watched them. When n gently touched her face with his fingertips, he tilted his head slightly. The light that passed between their lips seemed to carry a delicate, shimmering quality.


    It was then that Melissa realized that their hearts were beating in sync. In that rapturous harmony, she embraced n’s waist, her eyes slowly closing. She saw a star with a long tail slowly falling across the night sky, stirred by a gentle breeze.


    It was a night entirely filled with love.


    Here, a sacred love dissolved any arrogance or prejudice.


    <strong>—End of Side Story.</strong>


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