The Obsessive Maniac Is Trying To Confine Me Chapter 228 - Side Story Chapter 18

The commander was startled.

The Marquis himself came….

Two days ago, news arrived that Rosie—the one who had deceived Argen and disappeared—had been found.

But it wasn’t anything remarkable. It could have been confirmed by sending someone.

And yet he came personally….

Argen arrogantly tilted his chin.

The knight commander approached him.

“The situation?”

When he asked, Argen’s green eyes were fixed on the cursed land.

Beyond it, a massive tornado was ravaging the ground.

The commander reported everything to Argen.

“…Just as I wrote in the telegram two days ago, the woman entered the cursed land.”

And Rosie must have died in there.

Even without abnormal weather, it was madness for an ordinary woman to enter the cursed land.

And now that a tornado had formed, she had surely died.

“Then send in an elite squad.”

Argen spoke.

“Your Excellency, surely you don’t mean—”

“When the tornado stops, we go in.”

At Argen’s command, the commander’s expression stiffened.

That woman was probably already dead.

After the tornado swept through, there wouldn’t even be any trace left.

Then why…

“Will you disobey?”

A knight does not disobey.

The commander knelt and bowed his head.

“…I will carry out the order.”

 

 

 

*****

 

 

 

 

This was the second time I had seen that tornado.

I first encountered one during my first year living in the cursed land.

Back then, I thought I was going to die.

But somehow, we survived.

Richard poured enormous mana into the artifact for an entire week.

And I purified him.

That was how we endured.

We’ll endure it again this time.

Of course, that tornado looked bigger than the last one…

I hurriedly dragged Yurtha into the cabin.

I swept all the artifacts off the shelf.

We had to install as many as possible.

Before the tornado arrived.

Before this cabin was blown away!

“There.”

“Huh?”

“Not there. It works better if you place it by the window.”

Limping, I headed toward the window.

My blistered foot throbbed sharply.

Then—

“…Ha.”

A sigh came from behind me, sounding completely dumbfounded.

My vision suddenly flipped.

My body was lifted into the air.

“Yurtha, what are you doing?”

“Stay still.”

Strength filled Yurtha’s arms as he carried me.

My feet were already a mess.

Running around with burst blisters while scattering artifacts had only made them worse.

Without listening to anything I said, he walked over and sat me down on the sofa.

Then, without hesitation, he knelt at my feet and carefully took my ankle in his hand.

Hey, we’re in a hurry right now!

“Ha. With feet like these, you were planning to run away, noona?”

No, I went out to check on the potatoes…

I gave up explaining.

“You’re the one who tried to drag me away with this foot.”

“I could just carry you.”

That’s horrifying.

As his hand touched my ankle, an old memory surfaced.

Yurtha twisting my ankle while holding it…

That horrible memory made me instinctively pull my foot back.

“Let go, Yurtha.”

“Stay still.”

His low voice sent chills down my spine.

“Where is the medicine?”

…Right.

We should treat it first.

Still, it felt strange.

The fact that Yurtha was the one applying the medicine…

“The medicine is on the shelf—”

Before I could finish, Yurtha stood up immediately.

I blankly watched his back.

As expected… getting close to him is impossible.

Only terrible memories come back.

There was a reason I had always kept my distance from Yurtha.

And yet, he had always tried to stay beside me somehow.

I sighed.

Yurtha returned with the medicine box.

He knelt in front of me again.

There was a water container tucked under one arm.

His movements were careful, but a strange discomfort still lingered in my chest.

“Yurtha, I can just handle it my—”

Shaa—

Yurtha poured water directly over the wound.

A sharp pain flooded my brain.

“Ah! That hurts!”

“…Does it hurt?”

“Wouldn’t it hurt for you too?”

The transcendent in front of me blinked, as if he couldn’t understand my pain.

“It hurts!”

“But we have to wash the dirt off, noona. Endure it.”

“You could pour the water gently.”

Even if he did it gently, it would still hurt.

But it would at least be better than that.

If it were Richard, he would’ve adjusted the pressure perfectly.

But Yurtha seemed unfamiliar with this kind of thing.

Well, when would a noble young master ever have served someone like this?

“I’ll just do it myself.”

I tried to take the water container from Yurtha.

“Did that bastard do this for you too?”

When I had fallen before, Richard had applied medicine a few times.

Now that I thought about it, Richard had been clumsy at first too.

But he quickly became skilled.

While I was recalling what Richard had been like, I met Yurtha’s darkening red gaze.

“So he did.”

Oh.

“How dare he…”

His low mutter was filled with anger.

“N-no, Richard didn’t.”

I hurriedly tried to explain.

Even though I had no idea why I had to explain myself.

“…You’re close enough to that man to call him by name?”

“Yurtha, calm down.”

“Do I look calm?”

His ominous aura showed no sign of fading.

He seemed genuinely furious.

So much that I was worried his jealousy might drive him to do something reckless.

I casually placed my foot on Yurtha’s thigh.

“Then you’re not going to treat it?”

“….”

My foot, which he had washed with water, was still wet.

His thigh slowly became damp as well.

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

A large hand slowly wrapped around my ankle.

His gaze, thick with desire, fixed on me.

“…I will treat it.”

His anger subsided obediently.

Yurtha didn’t move the foot resting on his thigh.

Still holding it carefully, he poured another stream of cool water.

This time, the water wasn’t too strong.

His thigh and my foot both became wet together.

 

 

 

****

 

 

 

BOOOOM—!

The tornado raged all through the night.

In the end, I couldn’t sleep at all.

Eventually I got up.

It was still early, but morning was approaching.

Outside the window was still chaos.

Several tornadoes had formed in the sky.

Some were heading straight toward the cabin.

But fortunately, the artifacts had held them off so far.

Yeah. Richard definitely won’t make it.

He probably wouldn’t be able to come for a week.

Especially since transcendent beings like Richard didn’t mix well with the malice of the cursed land.

Which means I have to live with that guy for a week….

…The thought of spending the next week with Yurtha was overwhelming.

Ha… well. Everyone lives their life somehow….

…Actually, no.

…This is Yurtha.

Still, it was a relief that he hadn’t caused a scene about dragging me out of the cursed land.

I turned away from the window and opened the door.

“…Ha.”

A low breathing sound came from outside.

The cabin had two rooms.

But Yurtha didn’t use Richard’s room.

So he had been staying in the living room.

“Hah….”

…Is Yurtha in pain?

His breathing was becoming rough, like a suffering beast.

Come to think of it, earlier at dawn I had used Yurtha to recharge a lot of the artifacts.

A considerable amount of mana must have been drained from his body.

On top of that, the cursed land was full of malice that suppressed a transcendent’s power.

And now the tornado too.

…Even if I didn’t feel like it, I had to purify him.

Yurtha had worked hard too.

So I carefully stepped out of the room.

“Ha, noona….”

Yurtha was calling my name desperately.

In the past, whenever his mana went out of control inside his body, he would call for me like this.

I quietly approached behind the sofa.

Over the back of it, I could see Yurtha’s back.

He was sunk deep into the couch, his head thrown back.

Sweat ran down his jawline and wet his throat.

…He looked pitiful, writhing in pain.

I was a little worried and was about to call his name.

…Tap. Tap. Tap.

If I hadn’t heard that strange sound.