Riven drew in a deep breath and answered with a hoarse voice, not bothering to hide his feelings.
"Because I don't want to leave you."
The words slipped out simply, yet they carried weight. That had been the very reason he went after Ashtoria after the bear attack that night. He had never imagined it would end like this. Lying broken, his body ruined, all because of a choice that had seemed so small at the time.
Ashtoria's lashes trembled faintly, a small reaction that revealed just how deeply his confession struck her.
Riven continued, his tone laced with bitterness and honesty.
"And because I've already gone too far… there's no turning back."
If he had known then that every step closer would grind his body beneath an invisible weight, perhaps he would never have dared to take another step. Perhaps he would have turned away, focused on protecting himself and his sister without forcing it. Riven knew full well he was not the type to risk his life for someone he had only just met.
And yet… when he remembered holding Ashtoria as she sank into her nightmares, her fragile body trembling in his arms, a strange truth settled in him. He couldn't regret it. Even if it had nearly cost him his life—strangely, he did not regret it at all.
Silence filled the room. Ashtoria said nothing, only gazed at him with eyes impossible to read.
At last, Riven broke it with the question that had weighed on him, a question he had already asked twice but she had always avoided.
"Aria… what really happened to you?"
His stare was steady, filled with curiosity and concern.
"Are you truly all right? I saw you collapse once… blood pouring from your mouth and nose, and you looked trapped in some nightmare. At first I thought it was an illness. But the next day you were fine, so I didn't ask again. But now…"
Ashtoria glanced at him, her cold mask flickering, though still tightly shut. Riven waited, then added more softly,
"If it's too hard to say, that's fine. You don't have to answer. I'm just… curious."
The silence finally broke.
"…I was poisoned."
The short reply left Riven stunned.
Ashtoria went on calmly, as if speaking of something trivial.
"But I'm fine now. Poison can't kill me. I've been poisoned many times since I was a child… so this is nothing."
Riven swallowed hard, unsure what to say. He could sense an ocean of bitter stories hidden behind that simple statement, but it was clear Ashtoria had no intention of opening them. For now, he chose to hold his tongue and not dig deeper.
The silence returned, but this time Riven broke it with a half-joking tone, trying to ease the air.
"In that case… Aria, after you've injured me this badly, shouldn't you take responsibility?"
Ashtoria turned to him, tilting her head slightly as if to decipher his meaning. "Very well," she replied flatly. "What do you want from me?"
Riven froze for a moment. A fleeting thought crossed his mind when his eyes caught her figure so close. He quickly pushed it away, forcing his face to stay calm.
"Come with me to retrieve my carriage… once I've recovered."
Ashtoria studied him briefly, then gave a small nod. "All right."
Riven had been unconscious for almost two full days. In the days that followed, he obeyed the healer's advice and rested as much as possible. But something strange made it hard to truly relax. Every night, Ashtoria slept beside him. Not only that, she held him close, as if he were nothing more than a pillow.
For Riven, who had rarely ever been near a strange woman in his life, it was unsettling. Her warmth, the faint scent of her red hair so close, even the steady rhythm of her breathing against his chest… all of it made it hard for him to sleep.
Once, Riven tried to protest. He managed to tell her she should sleep in her own place. But her answer left him speechless. With a calm voice, Ashtoria said only that holding him kept her from having nightmares.
He should have refused, told her it wasn't his problem. He should have been stubborn, forced Ashtoria to face her nightmares alone. But in the end, he couldn't. The words stuck in his throat and came out only as a weary sigh.
And if he was honest with himself, there was another reason he couldn't turn her away. There was a strange comfort in closing his eyes with Ashtoria beside him, and in waking to find her still sleeping at his side. It was foreign, but not entirely unwelcome.
There was also the warmth of her skin and the softness of her touch when she held him. As a man, it was hard not to feel a certain quiet happiness in that.
The problem was, Melly always caught them. Almost every morning, she stood by the bed with her arms folded, glaring at them with sharp eyes. That glare said everything: So this is why you nearly died? You must be enjoying yourself now.
Riven answered her glare with a helpless look of his own, as if silently saying: I don't have a choice, Melly.
Days passed. Three days later, Riven's body had improved greatly. He could move without pain, though his steps still felt weak. When the healer came, instead of good news, he handed Riven a bill.
Riven stared at the number written there, twenty-eight gold coins.
It felt like something was tearing inside his chest. That much money could have supported them for months if spent frugally. Now nearly all the coin he carried was drained by medical fees. What worried him more was that all their supplies and belongings were still in the carriage. He hadn't stopped thinking about it. What if someone had found it? What if everything was gone?
As his mind sank into unease, loud voices rose from outside the house. Riven turned to the healer and asked what was happening.
Meanwhile, outside, Melly and Ashtoria—who had been out for some fresh air—stopped as well, drawn by the noise. The village streets were packed, the crowd pressing in along the roadside. They whispered among themselves, eyes fixed on a single woman being paraded down the main street.
Melly held her breath. Ashtoria narrowed her eyes, gaze sharpening.
The figure was a beautiful woman in her thirties, her face smeared with dirt, her body bound, forced to walk under the stares of hundreds of curious eyes.