After telling Raye the whole story of what happened to me until this moment...
He suddenly stood up with an expressionless face.
He went where the corpse of the bandit leader was...
SPLAT!
And stomped on the corpse's head resulting in its head being crushed! My eyes widened when I saw that.
"You should have died more painfully."
Raye mumbled.
Then after that, he did the same to the other corpses of the bandits.
Each sound of his steps echoed faintly in the quiet forest. I didn't know if it was fear or something else I felt watching him move like that— so calm, so merciless.
"Sorry, you have to see that."
Raye apologized with a smile on his face after returning.
"It's fine."
The scene he showed me was too gore, but for some reason, I'm not scared of him. Also, he got angry in my stead, which actually made me feel better.
Even after doing those kinds of things, Raye is still clean as if he didn't do anything.
There's no blood on him or even dirt.
It's actually impressive how he can manage to do that.
Anyway, snapping out of that thought—
I asked Raye a question I'd been meaning to ask him since earlier.
"Umm, R-Raye...? Why did you suddenly... propose to me?"
That question has been really bothering me, so I have to know why... It was embarrassing to ask that as well.
At my question... Raye looked at me with a smile.
"Because I'm madly in love with you."
Then he answered that!
I immediately frowned hearing that.
"Oh, yeah? When did you fall in love with me?"
I asked him another question in frustration.
But this time, Raye didn't immediately answer... He turned his back on me—
"Since the beginning."
Then he said that.
His voice sounded... Sad. I could feel his longing.
"I've been in love with you ever since the first time we met."
Hearing his words, my heart started to hurt like crazy and tears were threatening to fall from my eyes.
I don't know why...
"You are my first love, and you will be my last... That was my promise."
After saying that— Raye faced me again.
I was about to ask him another question... When he suddenly princess-carried me!
"Huh?"
I was surprised.
And before I could tell him to let me down...
"Let's get out of the forest first, I'll carry you since you're injured and there's a lot of monsters here."
Raye said that and started running!
"W-Wait!"
I tried to stop him but he just ignored me.
...
...
*****
Upon exiting the forest, Raye placed me gently on the ground, his voice calm but firm.
"We're here," he said.
For a moment, I didn't move. My legs felt weak, my thoughts scattered. When I finally looked up, the sight before me froze my breath.
The carriage I had ridden earlier was still there— but what surrounded it was nothing short of a nightmare.
"Ah..."
The faint sound slipped from my lips as my eyes drifted over the wreckage.
The once-proud guards who had sworn to protect me were lying motionless, their bodies sprawled in unnatural positions across the ground. The stench of blood and metal hung thick in the air.
And then I saw her...
Not far from the fallen guards lay Margarette, my personal maid— my companion since childhood. Her familiar dress was torn and stained, her face pale beneath the afternoon light.
The moment my gaze found her... Tears welled in my eyes and spilled freely down my cheeks.
I couldn't stop crying. I didn't even try to.
Margarette had been with me through everything. She cared for me when no one else would. She brushed my hair, told me stories before I slept, and scolded me when I snuck sweets after dinner. Seeing her body lying still on the cold ground shattered something deep inside me.
"Come on, don't cry," Raye said gently as he extended a hand toward me.
But his words struck something raw. My chest tightened, and before I could think, my hand moved on its own.
Slap!
The sharp sound echoed between us. His hand fell back to his side, and I glared at him, my vision blurred with tears.
"I'm crying because someone important to me died! Don't be insensitive!" I shouted, my voice breaking midway.
"...!"
Raye blinked, his expression softening. A shadow of guilt crossed his face before he lowered his gaze.
"I apologize," he said quietly. "I just didn't want to see you cry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
His tone carried no defensiveness— just regret.
I bit my lip and fell silent, uncertain how to respond. My heart was still pounding, and yet... I could feel sincerity in his voice.
Without another word, Raye turned and walked toward Margarette's body.
SLASH—!
The sudden sound of tearing flesh made me gasp.
"Raye?!"
He had cut off his own arm. I froze, too stunned to move.
"What are you doing?!" I screamed, my voice cracking as panic surged through me.
But before I could reach him, he knelt beside Margarette and gently lifted her head. Then, with deliberate care, he tilted his severed arm and let his blood flow into her mouth.
"Stop—!" I began, but the word died in my throat.
Margarette's fingers twitched. Then her chest rose.
"Koff! Koff!"
She coughed— weak, but alive.
My breath caught.
"W-what...?"
For a second, I couldn't move. Then I stumbled forward, my feet dragging through the dirt until I reached them.
"Margarette!" I cried, kneeling beside her.
Her eyelids fluttered open. "Ugh... young... miss..."
Tears flooded my eyes again. She was alive. Truly alive.
I turned to Raye, searching his face for an explanation.
"She was barely hanging on when we got here," he said. "My blood acts like a miracle elixir— it can heal wounds, diseases, curses, and more."
He said it so casually that I almost didn't process it. My gaze dropped to his missing arm, and I frowned.
"Oh, this?" he asked lightly, noticing my expression.
Before I could answer, he pressed his severed arm back against the stump. Flesh met flesh— and in an instant, the wound sealed as if it had never existed.
"See? I'm fine," he said, smiling as if he hadn't just performed something impossible.
But ignoring all of that... I tried to recompose myself, and with a slight bow of my head—
"Thank you," I whispered. "Thank you for saving Margarette's life. And... I'm sorry for what I said earlier."
I mumbled.
Raye shrugged. "Oh, that? It's fine. Honestly, I already forgot. And... yeah, looking back, I was insensitive."
His nonchalance made me smile faintly, though something in my chest ached at his reaction.
*****
Time passed, and eventually my father, stepmother, and older sister arrived. I had used a [Commutative Stone] to contact them and explain what happened.
Margarette had fainted again, though Raye assured me she would recover fully. The guards, however, were beyond saving.
"I can heal the living," Raye had told me earlier, "but I can't revive the dead."
When my family reached me, my father was the first to speak.
"Kyana! Are you okay?"
His voice trembled with relief. Though I was his illegitimate child, he had always treated me with genuine care.
"I'm fine, Father," I said softly.
He exhaled deeply. "Thank goodness."
My stepmother approached next, her expression filled with concern. Though not my birth mother, she had always shown me kindness. Her hand brushed my cheek tenderly. "You're safe now, that's all that matters."
Her warmth made my chest tighten.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," I said, embarrassed by the attention.
My sister stepped forward, her eyes shimmering. "It's my fault. I should have sent more guards with you."
She was the one who had arranged my escort in the first place. Without her, I would've been dead before Raye ever appeared.
But the moment of peace was shattered by a mocking whisper.
"What a weird family," one of the guards murmured to another. "Why are they so worried? She's just an illegitimate child anyway."
It was a guard that came with father and the others.
Their words stung. I froze, unable to look up. My family turned sharply toward the offender— it was the middle son of a baron's family, a minor noble under our house.
He's a noble but has to work under a higher noble to gain achievements. My family is a Duke rank, by the way.
But we're being disrespected by a lower-ranked noble because of me...
The guard in question didn't even notice the sharp glares of my family as he continued laughing with another guard, completely oblivious.
'The two of them are probably making fun of me.'
I thought.
Father's eyes darkened. Mother's smile vanished. My sister's lips parted in fury.
But before any of them could speak, footsteps echoed—
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Steady, unhurried.
Raye walked past us, his gaze cold.
"Huh?" I murmured, startled.
He stopped before the two guards. They looked up at him, unamused.
"What do you want?" one sneered.
"Who are you, bitch?" then the other followed.
They weren't scared of Raye even though they're looking up at him because he was taller.
But well, they certainly didn't get the chance to laugh again.
FWOOSH~
"GAK?!"
"KEUK?!"
Raye's hands shot out, gripping their throats!
He lifted them effortlessly, his aura shifting like a storm breaking loose.
"Hey, fuckers," he muttered, his voice dripping with menace.
The air grew heavy. Even Father frowned, visibly strained by Raye's presence.
"Grh... w-what are you doing?" one guard choked out.
They struggled, throwing weak punches, but Raye didn't flinch. His grip only tightened. His eyes were sharp, unfeeling.
"If you have nothing good to say," he said coldly, "then just shut up."
Then—
BOOM!
He threw them into a nearby rock! The impact echoed, and both men fell limp, unconscious.
"..."
Silence followed after that.
Raye clicked his tongue. "Tsk. If you hear something like that, fight back. You're a daughter of a duke, illegitimate or not."
With that, he turned away... He was muttering darkly under his breath about killing anyone who dared say such things again.
My father looked at me then, his expression mixed with confusion and curiosity.
"Who is he?" he asked.
Mother, sister, and even the now-conscious Margarette all turned their eyes toward me, waiting for an answer.
"Well..." I murmured, my heart pounding.
Where should I even start?