Weren’t You the One Who Was Dying? – Chapter 88

Author: Asternkm

I like Ehit.

When he reaches out his hand, my whole body trembles, and thinking that we’ll eventually become a relationship with no meaning at all makes me sad.

I tried to keep pretending not to know. I tried to fool myself.

‘What’s the point of pretending when I’m about to die!’

The blade flew toward my neck as if it would cut me at any moment.

If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just confessed honestly—or at least kissed him!

I squeezed my eyes shut.

When that blade touches me now…….

“Aaagh!”

But the scream didn’t come from me.

At the thick, shrill scream of a pirate, I turned around.

Ehit was there, having restrained the pirate. The face of the pirate who had been chasing me was lightly crushed under a military boot.

Even though I knew that expression wasn’t directed at me, the look on Ehit’s face as he stared down at the pirate felt terrifyingly cold.

Ehit lifted his head. The anger in his eyes faded.

“Are you alright?”

“Ehit.”

“I told you it was dangerous.”

Emotion had seeped into his voice, which was usually calm and controlled.

Looking at him, I bit down hard on my lip.

“Dapflen.”

Perhaps thinking his earlier tone had scared me, he called my name again, his voice noticeably softer.

I silently watched as Ehit reached his hand out toward me.

All around us, the sounds of battle still filled the air. Above the dark, damp sea, the sharp clash of blades mixed with shouts and screams.

And yet, in the very place where I had almost died just moments ago, looking at the hand Ehit held out to me made me feel strangely like I’d finally come home after wandering far away.

I reached out. Ehit stretched his hand further and grasped mine.

I tightly held onto his cold hand, chilled from gripping his bayonet the whole time. Then I stepped forward with him.

“……Wait, you’re hurt?!”

As I moved closer to him, I cried out in surprise, only then noticing the injury on his arm.

How could he be hurt like this and not show it at all?!

“Later, please.”

There was no time to treat it.

After blocking another charging pirate, Ehit pulled me along with his remaining hand.

“You can’t stay here.”

“But you’re injured. Let me look at the wound first.”

“Are you trying to get hurt while treating me?”

“Even so, you need treatment first! The wound is opening!”

After blocking yet another pirate, Ehit dragged me toward the side of the ship.

I shouted in anxiety, but Ehit was firm.

“You must not get hurt, Dapflen. Absolutely not.”

As if making a vow, he kept moving forward step by step.

Even in the chaos, Ehit blocked every attack completely. Behind him, I didn’t get a single scratch.

I followed him silently for a moment, then finally reached out with my free hand and placed it on his injured arm. With a faint glow, treatment began and the bleeding slowed.

“Dapflen!”

Ehit shouted in surprise as he swung his bayonet ahead. His tone clearly said, Weren’t you just supposed to follow quietly?

I ignored him and kept treating his wound.

“I didn’t tell you to stop and just get treated. You keep doing your job, Ehit. I’ll do mine.”

I spoke boldly—so boldly it might’ve seemed reckless—and poured holy power into the wound.

Because he kept moving, it wasn’t easy, but I kept shifting my hands, treating it like a game of whack-a-mole.

“Don’t worry about me!”

“How can I not worry?”

“We’re holding hands. I’m following you just fine. I’m treating you while we walk, so don’t worry.”

We entered a narrow corridor inside the ship. He stopped me between two pillars, where the gap was tight.

His grip on my hand tightened.

“Your face doesn’t look good either. In your condition, right now—”

“I’m really okay.”

I was drained from using so much holy power earlier—treating Mendel and attacking the pirate—but I still had enough left to heal Ehit.

“If you get hurt because of this, I really won’t let it go.”

I placed my other hand on Ehit’s cheek. Then I released the hand we were holding and cupped his face with both hands.

I could feel the rough skin beneath my palms—his face, tanned by the harsh sun.

Yet the blue eyes glancing at my hands looked almost boyish.

“I know. I won’t get hurt. I promise.”

I emphasized promise, speaking deliberately and even forcing a smile.

Ehit placed his hand over the back of my left hand. Then he turned his head and pressed his lips to my palm, letting out a long breath.

“…….”

My cheeks grew warm at the unexpected action. Thankfully, the darkness hid my blush.

“Don’t make me a useless fiancé who couldn’t protect even his own fiancée on the battlefield.”

“M-me too.”

“What?”

“Don’t make me a useless fiancée who couldn’t protect her fiancé either.”

I replied with a slightly tense voice.

But it wasn’t something I said without thinking.

The real Ehit—the one I saw in my life flashing before my eyes—was right here, right in front of me. Injured, bleeding. How could I possibly leave him like that?

I felt Ehit smile faintly. He took my hand again properly.

“Let’s go.”

Ehit slipped out of the narrow gap and moved forward again.

Soon, we left the area where fighting was raging. Bringing me to the side of the ship, Ehit scanned the area and shouted toward the distance.

“Mendel!”

“Colonel? Aileta-nim?”

We ran into Second Lieutenant Mendel again, who was catching his breath after fighting.

Ehit put both me and Mendel onto a small boat.

“Take her to a safe place on the rear ship.”

Ehit gave the order in a low voice. Only after hearing Mendel’s firm response did he leap back into the battlefield.

Along with his retreating figure, the ship slowly drifted farther away.

****

Over the black waves, mixed into the quiet darkness, the boat moved forward. We were heading to the rear ship Ehit had mentioned.

Because I’d left Ehit behind, my expression hadn’t been good the whole time. Mendel tried to cheer me up, speaking brightly about random things.

“He said he’d finish the battle no matter what…… He’s quite stubborn, haha.”

“Yes. Extremely.”

Shivering slightly from the cold, I looked back at the ship we had left.

Perhaps feeling responsible because I was his superior’s fiancée, Mendel had been visibly tense ever since earlier.

“Are you okay, Lieutenant? Your injury.”

“Yes, I’m fine!”

Maybe doing good really does come back to you. Because I saved Mendel earlier, now he was the one escorting me.

I nodded and glanced again at the ship still in battle.

‘What if he got hurt again? He wasn’t even in good shape to begin with.’

Ehit’s wound bothered me, but at the time, I couldn’t stop him. He looked like he’d only hurt himself more if I tried to hold him back.

And I also thought that someone like me—who could heal but not fight—would only get in the way any longer.

“Is he like that in the fleet too? That stubborn?”

At my slightly sulky question, Mendel shook both his oar and his head.

“No, in the fleet he’s a very good commander. He listens well to his subordinates and gets along with his superiors too.”

“What, so he’s only like that with me?”

“No, that’s not what I meant, but…… he is a bit harsh toward you, Aileta-nim.”

Mendel said it as if he were taking my side, though his tone was playful.

“Does it seem that way?”

Still, it didn’t completely sit right with me. Especially because I was so aware of Ehit.

I thought he’d become much gentler lately, but maybe that’s not how others see it.

‘Whatever. What matters is how I feel.’

Then how do I see Ehit—what kind of person is he to me?

He isn’t a kind person.

But at least now, Ehit doesn’t feel like someone who would poison me.

‘Am I just rationalizing because of my feelings for him?’

Even so, that’s honestly how I feel. At first, I thought Ehit was someone who could destroy me at any moment without hesitation—but now, I don’t think so.

As time passed, as I spent time with him, I felt it.

Even if that future comes, it won’t be because my death means nothing to him, or because he’d wipe out my family without feeling anything.

If anything, it would be because he truly hated me.

“We’ve arrived, Aileta-nim.”

The small boat carrying Mendel and me came to a stop.

Mendel climbed up first, hooking the ship with a grappling hook. Then he lowered the rope further and reached his hand out to me.

“Please grab on.”

I nodded and reached my arm toward him.

But at that moment—

“……!”

Mendel turned around with a startled expression. He quickly drew his bayonet and disappeared into the ship.

‘Did pirates infiltrate this ship too?’