LADAD Chapter 8

"Khan!"

The dog that had opened its mouth toward Amelia's ankle abruptly froze. Its master had called its name. Khan, who stepped back from the unconscious Amelia, wagged its tail docilely.

"......"

Khan, the pack leader among the three, was a dog that obeyed only its master's words completely. When Khan stopped, the other dogs naturally ceased all movement and turned their eyes to Aaron. Aaron stroked each dog's head once, then unlocked the door and went inside.

"I don't want to go this far either."

Aaron crouched down. And he gently stroked the face of the unconscious Amelia as he whispered.

"But why do you invite such danger upon yourself?"

Amelia, sprawled unconscious on the filthy floor, was like a flower blooming amid carnage. Aaron silently observed that wretched sight, then carefully gathered her up in his arms.

Her arms hung limp in the air, swaying like a corpse's. Aaron watched this as he ascended the stairs and let out a soft laugh.

After all, Amelia's life was hardly different from that of a corpse.

"Hah!"

Amelia bolted upright. She thought she heard a dog barking somewhere.

"Sacred Maiden?"

Without caring whether Louise, who had been keeping watch, was startled or not, Amelia threw back the covers and inspected her body. Had the dog she'd faced before losing consciousness bitten her ankle or shoulder somewhere? She couldn't even breathe while checking.

"What's the matter?"

Louise asked with wide eyes. After running her hands over her body here and there, Amelia discovered she was unharmed aside from the scratch on her ankle, and only then released the breath she'd been holding.

"You really must have been in poor condition. Fainting on the street like that."

Louise clicked her tongue as she spoke.

"I fainted on the street?"

"Yes. So the High Priest carried you back."

Louise, who had checked Amelia's forehead with her palm, got up from her seat. A knock came from outside.

"On the street?"

Amelia sneered at the excuse Aaron had put forward. She had collapsed on a floor, that much was true. But it wasn't a street floor. It was the floor of the kennel where Aaron had shoved her, knowing full well that Amelia was deathly afraid of dogs.

"High Priest."

"Has the sacred maiden opened her eyes?"

A gentle, hypocritical voice could be heard. Amelia stared with loathing at the man's silhouette showing through the white, sheer canopy.

"Yes, she's awakened. She doesn't seem to be seriously hurt anywhere."

"What did the physician say before leaving?"

"Just that she seemed exhausted. He prepared medicine to restore her energy and left."

Louise, unaware of the full circumstances, was calmly explaining to Aaron.

"Still, we can't be sure yet, so watch over her more carefully."

At Aaron's command, Louise nodded enthusiastically. Coming to check that she had awakened and leaving these words was clearly a warning.

"I understand. Don't worry too much."

That the same thing could happen again at any time. And that others would never be able to know what it was.

Her hands shook. Amelia clutched the blanket tight with both hands. Tears dropped onto the rustling, crumpling blanket. She didn't want to live this wretchedly.

"Live."

But the heartbreaking thing was that she didn't want to die either, like some inevitable future that would surely come. As if her mother's final words telling her to live had been seared into her very being. Her will to survive always tormented Amelia.

"...But I still want to live."

But that alone kept her going through this agonizing life. If not for that, she wouldn't be able to grasp any purpose to living at all. It felt as though being exploited and dying like this, as Aaron claimed, might truly be life's only value.

Amelia bit down hard on her lower lip. It was meant to stop her tears, but it had little effect.

Was this really all there was to life—living like this and then being thrown away when the time came?

Amelia pressed her face into the blanket and curled her body into a ball. Her body started burning up and her breathing grew labored.

Deep in the night, Amelia opened her eyes. Stress had made her delicate body ache, so she'd spent several days doing nothing but sleep. Having slept as much as she could, her head felt only dull and heavy, but sleep would not come.

She closed her eyes again. If she was going to live like this until she died anyway, whether she died lying sprawled on her bed or simply died—that's what she was thinking.

"Amelia."

Just then, Amelia heard a voice calling her name from somewhere. Her eyes snapped open. That voice sounded exactly like what people commonly refer to as divine revelation.

Ivan.

"Ah."

Amelia sighed briefly. She had forgotten about him.

"What day is today..."

Amelia sat up and threw back the covers, hurriedly climbing down from her bed. She ran her finger along the calendar hanging on the wall. Thanks to Louise faithfully marking it, checking the calendar wasn't particularly difficult.

"Friday."

Every Friday was the day she'd promised to meet Ivan. They'd agreed to meet at midnight, so he must be waiting, yet she'd been lying here doing nothing.

Upon this realization, Amelia hastily threw an indoor dress over her nightgown. Having always had others dress her, she struggled somewhat, but changing clothes by herself posed no real challenge. Her garments were neither elaborate nor difficult to put on, owing to the principle that a sacred maiden should live modestly.

"Are you going out?"

The guards stationed in front of her bedroom door asked.

"I'm just going to the prayer room briefly."

She had no particular grievance against them. Amelia told them her destination.

"I'd like to go comfortably, so there's no need to follow."

They simply nodded quietly. They felt no need to escort her to the prayer room attached to the annex, and Louise had recently instructed them not to interfere with every single movement within the building. Moreover, there were guards stationed outside the prayer room as well.

Thanks to this, Amelia was able to reach the prayer room near the north gate that connected to the annex on her own. Last time she'd ended up using the outer door while searching for Ivan in the garden, but in truth, for Amelia to move undetected, it was better to use the door that connected from indoors.

"Ivan?"

But she felt no sign of anyone in the empty prayer room. Had he not arrived yet? Amelia called Ivan's name as she opened the door that led from her chambers to the prayer room.

"Ivan...!"

Or had he perhaps lost interest and decided not to come anymore?

Amelia was standing there helplessly in the prayer room like a child who'd lost her parents when a man emerged from an impossible-to-predict spot.

"......"

It was Ivan. Ivan, who wore his hood pulled up as always, gave a faint smile upon discovering Amelia. Then, as if there was no longer any need to conceal his identity, he casually swept it back over his head.

"Amelia."

And as though he understood exactly what Amelia hoped for from him, he called her name with enticing warmth. Her heart seemed to drop. Amelia gazed straight into the man's eyes that gleamed eerily in the moonlight.

"I thought you weren't coming."

Amelia spoke with a trembling voice. Ivan, seeming to feel that trembling too, tilted one eyebrow sideways.

"I was a bit late because I had something to bring."

Ivan answered calmly as he perched on the central platform. It was an attitude without particular reserve or discomfort, even knowing that Amelia was a sacred maiden.

"Come here."

Ivan. A commoner without so much as a family name. Yet he was undeniably a being of this world. He made Amelia plant her roots as someone who truly existed on this earth.

"Yes."

Amelia replied docilely as she walked toward the center of the prayer room. It was such meekness that Louise would have grumbled about how nice it would be if she were always this well-behaved.

"I took some time getting this."

Ivan rummaged inside his robe and pulled out a bottle. It was a bottle commonly used for holding water.

"I remembered you saying last time that you were curious about what alcohol tastes like."

Amelia's eyes went round. His boldness in actually smuggling in liquor despite her saying it was fine left her astonished. As Amelia marveled at this, Ivan uncorked the bottle and offered it to her.

"Try it."

"...Will it be okay?"

"You're supposedly God's representative. Then your will is God's will. Why pay attention to mere priests?"

And he placed that bottle in Amelia's hands. Amelia fixed her gaze on the amber liquid contained in the bottle.

"Why are you kind to me?"

"Isn't everyone else the same?"

Ivan responded indifferently to Amelia's question. He didn't seem particularly surprised either.

"It's different. Other people only treat me as a sacred maiden."

At Amelia's answer, Ivan made a thoughtful "hmm" sound.

"I'd prefer if you didn't do that."

Amelia said this as she looked up. And she met Ivan's gaze directly. His forest-green eyes curved affectionately.

"Very well, Amelia."

Tap. Ivan gave the bottle's opening a light flick with his finger. The liquid inside swirled and rippled. Amelia's heart wavered just as helplessly.

"If that's what you wish."

In that instant, Amelia came to the foolish certainty that she would inevitably give her heart to the man who had given her new life.

Having someone who called her by name, someone who saw her for who she truly was—it made this life too precious to simply throw away.