Waiting For Your Reincarnation Chapter 143

“Oh, no. I’ll pretend I didn’t see yours, so you can pretend you didn’t see mine.”

 

Iris glanced at her bare arm, and then, with a smug look on her face, pulled her sleeve down to her wrist. Zephyto pursed his lips wordlessly as he fastened the loose button.

 

He wondered who she was saving when she was in even more of a mess than he was.

 

Iris smiled coyly as she dusted her herb-covered hands in the air, trying to pretend the wound was nothing.

 

A face that said the wound was nothing. Zephyto couldn’t help but smile back at her, a strong smile. Iris arched an eyebrow at his foolishness.

 

“You do know the way down, don’t you?”

 

“I climbed up on my own two feet.”

 

“Well, then, I’ll go down first, because I’m going to be in trouble if I stay here any longer.”

 

With those words, the girl turned away without a second thought, and with a casual stride, she made her way down the forest path.

 

Zephyto leaned back against a tree and watched the figure until it became a dot and disappeared. His first meeting with the girl had passed like a dream.

 

Since that first meeting, they had met in the forest quite often. For him, the forest was a place of escape, and it seemed to be the same for her. He would arrive first, settle down to read, and Iris would arrive around the same time to gather herbs.

 

As the sun set over the tallest trees beneath the dense forest. This was the time when they would meet in the forest and do their own thing.

 

There was an unspoken agreement between them, even though neither of them had said it first.

 

Unlike their first meeting, when she had embarrassed Zephyto with her inane conversation, Iris was by his side like a shadow. She seemed to be keenly aware of his tendency to be wary of others.

 

Though they knew each other’s wounds grew with each passing day, they didn’t speak much, just stayed by each other’s sides. Sometimes, when his wounds were too severe, Iris would speak to him, tending to them with her eloquence.

 

‘How could he not open up to her?’

 

Soon, whenever they were in the forest, Iris was not reading a book but gathering herbs. When he realized that she was in his eyes, which shone like black pearls, his heart would vibrate like a firecracker going off.

 

Looking at the girl made him think.

 

He’s putting up with this shitty life in the Yellow City just to meet Iris.

 

With that realization, the mockery of being a bastard, the tiresome noble society, and Ragnar’s relentless violence became bearable. After such a time, when he reached the forest, Iris was always there, waiting for him.

 

But the seemingly eternal meeting was cut short the following summer, when the greenery was glorious.

 

Zephyto remembered the last time he saw her clearly: when he arrived at the forest like any other day, she was breathing heavily and collapsed in the same spot where Zephyto always sat. 

 

The basket she carried like a stuffed animal was nowhere to be seen.

 

“Iris?”

 

“Um…”

 

He said her name out loud for the first time. The name slipped out of his mouth, and Zephyto had a hunch.

 

A hunch that he might not be able to say Iris’s name for a very long time.

 

Her brow furrowed slightly at the sound of his voice, but she never fully regained her composure. Zephyto tried to calm his seething mind and assessed Iris’s condition.

 

Her chunky lower lip was busted out in a way that made him frown, as if she’d hit something. 

 

She let out a pained groan and pressed her hand to her chest. Her irregular breathing seemed to stop at any moment.

 

“Someone hit me.”

 

“Who? Who did it?”

 

The voice was cold and low, even for him. Iris’s eyes widened at the cold voice, and she blinked once, slowly, with a faint smile.

 

‘What could this smile mean?’

 

‘What unspoken promise had brought him here in this body?’

 

Iris was completely out of it, and no longer opened her eyes at Zephyto’s call. He was confused, not being as skilled with herbs as she was.

 

But soon Zephyto regained his composure; even in his brief moment of distress, the spark of life was dying.

 

He draped the black robe he had brought over Iris’s head and picked her up. Carrying her was nothing compared to the swordsmanship training he received every morning at the Imperial Palace. She felt lighter than a sandbag.

 

As they made their way down the deserted forest path in solitude, he was silent.

 

‘Where could he go to save her?’

 

If he were to use his princely status to help Iris, he should have gone to the capital, but he could not.

 

His position in the Yellow City was weak, and he was a stranger. If he went into the capital to help Iris, he would be seen by Ragnar.

 

Standing on the border between the forest and the capital, Zephyto’s eyes widened as he stood still in thought. Then he grabbed a wagon and headed off somewhere.

 

The ramshackle carriage was headed for a duke whose family had been producing imperial knights for generations. The figure he was looking for was already getting out of the parked carriage.

 

“What is it?”

 

“You’re the only one I can think of.”

 

Elita’s sunset-colored eyes widened with bewilderment at the sudden appearance of Zepito. At her low question, her twin brother Elpias, who was behind her, stood beside her with a curious look on his face.

 

Zephyto gently lowered Iris from his back to the ground. Elita looked down at her with a grim expression. Seeing the human inside the robe, Elpias tried to approach her.

 

“Don’t touch her yet.”

 

Zephyto stopped Elpias with a firm voice. Startled by his ferocity, Elpias stopped in his tracks.

 

Once he was sure Iris was safe, he glared at Elita.

 

“Get her some medical attention. Her injuries don’t look too bad, but I think she’s got some broken bones.”

 

“Hah. What a surprise. Did you mistake the duke for the prince?”

 

“Not the Duke. He has many eyes.”

 

“Are there fewer eyes here?”

 

“Kolok.”

 

Iris coughed, and silence fell between them. Elpias, who had been watching the two of them exchange glances, spoke up.

 

“Elita, let’s not do this here, let’s go inside and talk. People are going to die.”

 

“What does that have to do with us?”

 

Elita said coldly and firmly. Zephyto smiled weakly, as if he had expected her reaction.

 

As expected of a knight, she was as human on the outside as she was on the inside. Zephyto’s pale gold eyes glinted with intelligence.

 

“So, I’ve come to make a deal.”

 

“What kind of deal?”

 

“I’ll give you that sword duel you mentioned.”

 

For the first time, Elita’s dull eyes lit up. It was a strange thing to hear, but she understood at once what it was.

 

A man who was a wall she had never been able to cross. After losing her first swordfight, she had asked for a dueling partner, but had been rejected as too much of a nuisance.

 

No amount of cajoling would convince him, and now he offered to duel her first.

 

Elita narrowed her eyes and stared at the woman grunting in her robes.

 

For something so small…

 

Elita rubbed her calloused palms together. Gaining swordsmanship experience with Zephyto would be of great benefit. Calling the councilman was the easy part. It would do more harm than good for Elita.

 

“Elpias.”

 

“Call the councilor by my name.”

 

“…Huh?”

 

“Say my name and get the councilor. Send this girl to her room.”

 

Elpias shrugged, his hazel eyes filled with amusement. Then he summoned a servant from inside the mansion and brought Iris in.

 

Zephyto watched her with a piercing gaze until she was completely out of sight inside the mansion. Crossing her arms, Elita spoke quietly.

 

“Don’t forget what you promised me.”

 

“An hour before the guards report for duty. The place is the apprentice knight training grounds. Better if you don’t bother coming.”

 

“Can I summon you every day?”

 

“Keep her alive.”

 

“Judging by the injuries, they’re not fatal.”

 

“Then set her bones clean.”

 

“I’ve summoned the councilor, so I’ll leave it at that. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

 

With that assurance, Elita entered the mansion with a relieved look on her face.

 

Zephyto stood before her and looked down at his two palms. They were warm, as if she could fly away at any moment. Zephyto exhaled slowly and walked toward the capital.

 

He looked forward to meeting Iris again in the forest, healthy and alive.

 

But Iris did not return to the forest that day.