IVPCB 14

Chapter 14

Worried that Jurhan might get hurt, I carefully lowered Atropos to the ground and quickly moved closer to Jurhan.

“Hey!”

I called out with all my might, but there was no answer, and his pupils remained unfocused.

“Hey, Jurhan, wake up! You’ll get a crooked mouth if you sleep here!”

Still, not a single stir.

‘How am I supposed to wake him up?’

Unable to bring myself to grab his bruised forearms, I gently placed my hand on Jurhan’s shoulder. In the process, I felt the distinct outline of his shoulder blade beneath my palm, and my heart ached for a moment, making me pause.

“Hey, come on, wake up!”

It was just as I put a little weight on my hand to shake Jurhan.

*Grip.*

Suddenly, a strong pressure clamped down on my forearm. Jurhan had grabbed the very arm I was using to shake his shoulder.

‘No way, he’s so skinny, but where does he get that strength!’

Jurhan pulled me by my arm, and before I could react, I toppled right on top of him.

‘…A warm scent.’

Before the sound of landing with a *thud*, before the slight pain in my grabbed wrist and knees, the sensation that reached my nose first.

Next, I saw his pupils that had widened upon seeing me, then contracted. His irises, bearing a warm hue like his own scent, the pink lips that parted in surprise and cried out “You…!”—truly.

He was beautiful.

*Blink, blink.*

His long eyelashes fluttered, drawing me into Jurhan’s eyes.

Just as I was unaware that I was being entranced under the moonlight—

*Swoosh, thud*, and with that sound, the strength in Jurhan’s hand gripping my forearm gave way.

“Ugh…….”

Jurhan, pinned beneath me, let out a long groan, and snapping back to my senses, I quickly scrambled off him.

He seemed to have come to his senses. This was a perfect situation to be mistaken for a pervert, so I needed to explain myself fast.

“Um, Jurhan? So, this is because I was trying to wake you while you were asleep—”

*Rustle.*

The sound of grass brushing against each other came, and Jurhan stood up, striding closer to me as I remained crouched awkwardly, having moved aside earlier.

Because he stood with the moonlight behind him, Jurhan’s face was shadowed, and I couldn’t make out his expression.

*Huff!*

Tension made me inhale sharply, and Jurhan took another long stride forward.

“Um, where were those garden shears? A fifty-centimeter—a massive, terrifying weapon, my garden shears—ah…….”

I muttered to myself in a voice trembling horribly, starting to feel around the ground for the garden shears.

Just then. Jurhan took one more step, and this time, the direction he turned his body was not toward me but slightly past where I was crouched, deeper into the bushes.

“Oh… where were they?”

Then, without even glancing my way, Jurhan mumbled in slurred pronunciation.

“What?”

“Need to… find it. Need to memorize it…….”

‘What? What is he doing? Wasn’t he coming for me?’

My tension eased briefly, and I stared blankly at Jurhan.

Stumbling, Jurhan moved deeper into the bushes where he had been sitting, hesitated for a moment, and then crouched down right there.

‘What on earth is he doing? Is he unconscious again?’

Jurhan had definitely met my eyes earlier. But now, he was acting as if he didn’t even notice my presence.

To observe the situation a little longer, I stealthily crept closer to Jurhan, keeping my footsteps as quiet as possible.

In front of where Jurhan sat lay a thick book carelessly opened, titled “History of the Bergen Empire—Volume One.” About a dozen pages had been torn out. I guessed he had crumpled them up and thrown them at my window.

‘Should I stop him?’

While I hesitated for a moment.

*Rip!*

The sound of Jurhan tearing out a page from the book split the night air.

*Rustle.*

Jurhan roughly crumpled the torn page in his hand, making it into a fist-sized ball.

Then, he brought the crumpled paper to his lips and opened his mouth. He put the paper ball into his mouth and started chewing.

‘…What in the world!’

Without time to think deeply, my body lunged forward, and I fiercely grabbed Jurhan’s arm.

“What are you doing?!”

The boy, his eyes still hollow, didn’t answer. Even though he swayed from me grabbing his arm, he simply kept on chewing the paper.

‘He’s insane! This isn’t right!’

Chewing and swallowing paper covered in ink can’t be good for his health. This was something even a seven-year-old wouldn’t do. I knew I had to stop him.

I gripped both of Jurhan’s shoulders firmly, pinning him down so he would face me and snap out of it.

It wouldn’t be hard to force him to spit out the paper ball by patting his back, but doing that while he was unconscious could cause him to choke.

“Stop it! Spit it out!”

I shouted so loudly my own ears rang, but Jurhan kept mumbling and chewing the paper.

‘If he can’t hear me even when I shout this loud, it seems like no ordinary method will bring him to his senses.’

I couldn’t slap him or shake him awake, the usual ways to wake someone unconscious, because he might bite his tongue or swallow the paper incorrectly.

‘I’m really sorry, Jurhan. I didn’t want to do this. But it’s to prevent an accident…’

I took a deep breath and squeezed Jurhan’s forearm with all my might. I knew his forearm was bruised, but I did it anyway, and my heart ached with guilt.

“Ah… ugh!”

Jurhan let out a short cry, then bit his lips hard to stifle any further sound.

And when Jurhan finally emerged from a long dream back to reality, it was as if time stood still for a moment.

A gentle spring breeze carried the scent of some nameless flower. His shallow, heaving breaths steadied, and his dazed eyes slowly but clearly began to focus on me.

By then, I had quickly released the grip on Jurhan’s forearm.

“Um, sorry for hurting you.”

At my apology, Jurhan blinked a couple of times and gave me a puzzled look.

“You…….”

Jurhan tried to say something to me, mumbled a few times, and then frowned.

It seemed he had finally noticed the paper in his mouth.

“…You, you ate paper.”

As if finally grasping the situation, Jurhan’s eyes widened. Embarrassed, he tried to quickly turn away and escape into a corner, but I gently caught his shoulder.

“Crouch down over there in the corner.”

I meant it as an offer to help, since he must have been disoriented. At my words, Jurhan’s face flushed bright red.

“I’ll turn around and won’t look.”

At that, Jurhan obediently crouched down, and afterward, I patted him on the back as if to help him.

After that, under the moonlight, Jurhan vomited up the paper he had eaten.

In my past life, I had a pretty high tolerance for alcohol, and because of that, I was often the one taking care of friends who had blacked out, so I was used to this kind of thing.

‘I just never thought I’d be doing it here, too.’

Anyway, after emptying his stomach in front of me, Jurhan kept his head hung low.

I sighed and rummaged through the front pocket of the jacket I had been wearing. I found a small handkerchief.

After pulling it out, I reached out and held it within Jurhan’s line of sight.

“I’ll turn around, so wipe yourself.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Jurhan took the handkerchief.

After a brief time passed, I heard the rustling of grass. It seemed Jurhan had finished cleaning up and stood.

Now fully conscious, Jurhan looked quite like a proper young noble, except for his slightly pale complexion. It was as if his sleepwalking state had been a lie.

“…Are you okay?”

After a little hesitation, I asked first.

“Seems like it, as you can see.”

With a faint smile on his pale face, Jurhan mumbled softly. His voice was drained, showing how taxing it must have been.

With his energy depleted and facial muscles relaxed, Jurhan looked quite gentle. His long, thin drooping eyes and thick, long eyebrows reminded me of a white puppy.

And I realized that the wariness I had initially held toward Jurhan had gradually eased.

Jurhan of ‘Seonghada’ was an outstanding swordsman, and I had come to steal a branch of Nebula, so I had feared him.

To be honest, I still hadn’t completely let my guard down. But right now, Jurhan looked just like a boy his age, and it didn’t seem like he would harm me immediately, making it relatively easy to speak to him.

“Well then, just remember one thing. I’m your lifesaver.”

At my words, Jurhan gave me a questioning look.

“You were unconscious, you know. If you’d swallowed that wad of paper in that state, something bad could have happened. It’s true that I helped you, right?”

It was a bit of a stretch, but not a complete lie.

And the reason I said this was to lower Jurhan’s guard. From what I knew, Jurhan wasn’t cold-hearted enough to threaten someone who had helped him.

“…Right.”

After a pause, Jurhan’s answer was brief. I had at least expected a thank you.

‘Well, at least I made him aware that I helped him. That’s enough.’

Jurhan’s face was still expressionless, but he didn’t seem particularly hostile toward me. Relieved, I said what I really wanted to.

“What are you, a goat? What on earth were you thinking eating paper?”

“…I don’t know. I don’t really remember why I ate it.”

“You don’t remember? Is it, like, sleepwalking or something?”

At my question, Jurhan’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘So it is, sleepwalking.’

Jurhan looked around, confirmed no one was there, and then leaned closer to whisper in my ear.

“…Please, keep this absolutely secret from everyone else. No one can find out I sleepwalk.”

I was going to promise to do so, but seeing Jurhan’s nervous expression, I felt a little like teasing him.

“Why? Is it because you’re the Aldebaran Young Master?”

I already knew Jurhan’s identity, but I deliberately asked as if I didn’t.