ITMWG 91

Chapter 91…

Lit the light on.

“…”

“…”

Both Blan and Nadia looked at each other in silence, feeling lost at the unexpected turn of events.

They smiled awkwardly at each other, perhaps thinking of the same person.

“I don’t think this is something we can solve on our own.”

Blan took the initiative and spoke up with caution, and it was exactly what was on Nadia’s mind.

She had to tell Altair everything.

But how will Altair take this?

No one would be able to calmly accept the fact that their parents’ deaths as a child were not a simple accident.

She herself  was also very shocked to hear that her parents’ deaths might not have been a mere accident.

Back then, her hands were shaking and her head was ringing.

The grief she had tried to bury along with them and the sense of loss she had not been able to overcome came rushing back to her. She didn’t know what to do.

Altair lost his parents at a much younger age than I did.

Altair now seemed like an indifferent person who didn’t dwell on the sorrow of his past, but he never wanted to concern himself with the fire incident that killed the Baron and his wife.

A person who had let go of their past would never neglect traces of the past like that.

Perhaps the death of Altair’s parents is the greatest weakness that shakes his heart.

A trauma hidden deep inside had the power to break even the strongest person.

Even now, I’m afraid of blood because of the memory of that day when I lost my parents…

That’s why Nadia planned to carefully tell Altair the situation after finding out the truth.

But now, the plan completely went awry because of the suspicions hidden behind the incident.

She wasn’t the only one who thought like that.

Blan, who had watched over Altair for much longer than she had, would know well what the death of his parents meant to him.

Moreover, unlike Blan, who was outspoken, she kept hesitating and agonising over it herself.

“Then I will tell his lord-…”

“No. I will.”

Nadia shook her head, stopping Blan, who was about to volunteer delivering the news.

“I think it would be better if I, who experienced the same thing, spoke to him.”

“Ah, I see. This isn’t just a simple situation report…”

Blan sighed, thinking she was right.

“Family matters are best told by family. I can’t tell you how fortunate it is that he has a family at times like this.”

“Altair considers Blan as his family as well.”

“Of course, I know that he considers us as family and keeps us close… but ‘being there by his side’ and ‘being a real family’ are different.”

“That may be so, but…”

The knights, including Blan, felt more like family to him than her, whose heart still fluttered at the word ‘family’.

They knew Altair longer than she did, understood him better, and…

The series of thoughts suddenly came to a halt with a realisation.

This seems as if I am jealous of the knights.

Her own absurd thoughts made Nadia’s face turn red.

As if Blan could sense the change on the outside, he bent down, lowered his eyes, and looked at her face with concern.

“Madame, your face is red. Are you feeling unwell?”

Her already flushed face became even hotter at the concern of the kind knight.

Whenever she was with the Aylesford people, she felt the affection she had forgotten under her uncle’s torment, and her mind became hazy like a fever dream.

How could it be so embarrassing and ticklish to directly accept someone’s kindness?

“How high must your fever be for your face to be like this…”

Blan naturally reached out, intending to touch her forehead to measure her temperature, but then abruptly withdrew his hand with a startled ‘Oops!’

“Oh pardon me. I only do this to Anna. If I hadn’t realised it quickly, I would have been scolded by the lord again.”

Nadia burst into laughter at his clumsy gesture, but Blan’s shoulders slumped with a playfully pretentious seriousness.

“This is not a joke, Madame. Our lord is the kind of person who finds fault with everything, like, whenever you talk to us, he’ll ask ‘Why are you looking at her?’, ‘Why are you talking to her?’, ‘Why are you accepting something she gave you?’… That’s how it’s always been.”

Blan’s exaggerated grumbling made her laugh even harder.

At that moment, they heard Altair’s voice from beyond the door.

“Nadia?”

As Blan’s teasing made her forget that they were having a secret conversation, she unconsciously raised her voices so loud that the sound seemed to have reached Altair’s room, which was connected through the small door.

Blan and Naida immediately clicked their mouths shut and turned to look at each other.

They had something to tell Altair, but they didn’t think that they would have to do it so unprepared, so they were both taken aback.

“Uh, I have to tell him to come in first…”

The moment Nadia tried to walk forward in a panic, her feet got tangled and her body staggered.

“Ah!”

She fell forward with a short scream, but fortunately, Blan, who was next to her, quickly reached out and pulled her up, so she was able to avoid the unfortunate scenario of rolling around on the floor.

Blan and her both let out a sigh of relief.

However, as if it was too soon to feel relieved, a familiar yet incredibly low voice reached them.

“… Blan? Why are you here?”

Nadia turned her stiffly creaking head while still leaning on Blan’s arm, and saw Altair standing in front of the open door, looking at Blan coldly.

“That’s…”

Blan looked back and forth between Nadia and Altair, flustered.

His presence here was not the result of Altair’s orders, but rather Nadia’s.

Thus, she thought she needed to step forward and explain the situation so that Blan wouldn’t be in trouble.

“Altair. I asked Blan to do something. So Blan is here to-…”

“You asked Blan?”

Altair’s eyebrows rose slightly. It seemed that he was feeling uneasy.

“What did you ask him to do?”

“That…”

It was not something that could be easily brought up in this atmosphere. Before long, Altair walked over to Nadia and grabbed her hand.

Unlike the tense atmosphere, the hand that grabbed her was cautious. As she gave Altair a strange look, and his brows furrowed.

When her body completely turned towards Altair, Blan lightly raised both hands, sighed deeply, and gave her a quick glance that seemed to say.

‘See. I told you.’

She then gathered strength in her legs and straightened her posture.

Now she could stand without any problem even if she let go of Altair’s arm, but she carefully parted her lips while holding onto his arm.

“There was something I had to find out at all costs. It was about…Altair’s parents.”

“What?”

Altair’s face, which had displayed discontent so far, was instantly replaced with questions, perhaps because the matter had come up completely unexpectedly.

Nadia took a deep breath and nodded. Her hands became sweaty at the thought of having to talk about something so heavy.

But Altair has always done difficult things for me.

This time, it was her turn to repay Altair’s favour, which she had only received unilaterally.

“It seems that the fire that killed the former Baron and his wife was not a simple accident. And high chances are I was involved in a similar incident.”

“… What are you talking about?”

Altair put his hand on his forehead as if he couldn’t understand it right away.

When he glanced at Blan to ask for further explanation, the knight continued on the matter naturally as if he had been waiting for the cue.

“The Madame heard of something strange from the doctor named Leon. That you, our current lord, was the one who killed the previous lord, and that his father was also killed because he knew the truth about the previous lord’s death.”

“What nonsense is that?”

Altair’s face hardened as he listened. It was natural since it was a story that was hard to accept.

Blan remained unshaken and recited the contents of his investigation in front of Altair.

Altair’s eyes, which had been filled with confusion as the long story went on, were becoming clearer and clearer. What’s left were the sharp and cold eyes of a hunter.

“… Haahh.”

At the end of the long narration, Altair didn’t respond at all. He just let out a sigh.

Altair needed to make a decision on the course of action going forward, but they couldn’t rush him.

Blan thought his lord needed some time, so he cautiously walked away, leaving Altair deep in thought.

It seemed like he was going to wait in Altair’s room for a while.

Nadia was also about to move to follow Blan, but he smiled and shook his head.

It seemed like he wanted her to stay by Altair’s side.

At that, she stopped near Altair, who was standing blankly, not even bothering to sit down.

Blan slightly bowed his head as if asking her for a favour and moved to the other room, leaving the two of them in a heavy silence.

Altair seemed lost in thought, not knowing who was around him or who had left.

Seeing him completely disengaged, unlike how he was always sharply alert, Nadia could tell how complicated his heart was.

In times like this, being silently by his side is a big help.

She also lost her parents, and having Marie by her side gave her great strength.

She didn’t believe in the saying that sharing sorrow would make it halves.

Grief was grief, and one could not share this overflowing sadness with any other.

However, she believed that she could firmly support someone who was staggering with sadness so that they wouldn’t fall over.

And so, Nadia didn’t say anything and just stayed by Altair’s side silently.

Gradually, time passed and the bright surroundings became dark.

It seemed like Blan had taken special caution, as Marie and Anna, who would normally have come to the room to put on the lights, didn’t show up either.

Nadia didn’t feel like leaving Altair in the dark like this.

I should light the lamp on.

Originally, it was something that was left to the servants, but while living in a shabby room under the oppression of her uncle, she had tried lighting the lamp herself many times.

Nadia carefully walked to the lamp so as not to disturb Altair’s thoughts.

In the mansions of high-ranking nobles, lanterns using magic stones were often used, but perhaps because Duke Viosques valued tradition, they used old-fashioned lanterns here and there.

When she lit the lamp with a tool, the flames flared up with a sizzle.

The light was not enough to fill the entire room, but she felt more relieved when the surroundings brightened up a little.

After looking at the burning flames for a moment, she turned around, and a huge shadow appeared in front of her nose.

When she raised her head in surprise, she saw Altair was standing in front of her.

“Altair.”

“Have you been here the whole time?”

When she nodded at the calmer question than she thought, Altair reached out and gently touched her cheek.

As her shoulders shrunk a little at the ticklish feeling, Altair chuckled and lowered his gaze.

“I always thought my wife was weak, so I had to protect her. But today, you’re the one who’s protecting me.”

“I couldn’t say anything to comfort you, I couldn’t come up with a solution either… I just stood there blankly.”

“What are you saying? You just lit the light on. No one did that back then…”

Altair muttered to himself, looking at the light behind her.

“Right. This time, you lit the light on.”

He then leaned down and lightly pressed his lips against hers.

Altair’s eyes, which briefly met hers before he pulled away, were sharper than ever.

“Now that it’s really ‘our’ problem… we’ll need to dig into it more thoroughly.”