Chapter 98 |
[EP.98] Didn’t You Notice This?
Astria Stigma Freeman.
Recently, she was in an extremely intriguing state.
It was because a direct descendant of Balheim, whom she had only heard about, was actually staying in the temple.
‘To think that man was a direct descendant of Balheim.’
What is Balheim?
A heroic family considered the strongest in the world.
Their reputation was immeasurable, and everyone in the world bowed their heads at the mention of Balheim.
A direct descendant of that family was currently receiving treatment in the temple.
‘Still, I have to endure.’
The first ones a patient should see upon waking up are their family.
According to Serang, the pretty girl with white hair was his fiancée.
Anyone could tell they had a deep relationship from how much she had cried.
‘Engaged, huh.’
Astria quietly gazed out the window.
Outside the temple, she saw lovers walking hand in hand.
It was something she could never enjoy in her lifetime.
If a saint became lovers with someone, her limbs might be cut off immediately for desecrating the sacred.
‘I had such childish thoughts.’
A girl who was only 14 years old this year.
Nevertheless, a saint who had to be more mature and sacred than anyone else.
That was Astria.
“Saint.”
At that moment, her guardian holy knight Diona called for her.
“I heard Mr. Kraush Balheim has woken up.”
Currently, the fact that Balheim was in the Holy Kingdom was a closely guarded secret.
The reason was that Balheim had directly requested confidentiality.
The Holy Kingdom willingly cooperated.
There was no reason to be at odds with Balheim.
“How is his condition?”
“He seems to be fine.”
“Of course, whose skill is it?”
Revealing a disposition unfitting for her age of 14, she wore a confident smile.
“They won’t say anything about going to see his face once, right?”
As Astria showed a hint of interest, Diona reluctantly nodded.
“Yes, since it’s to check the patient’s recovery status.”
Although no one would doubt the saint’s healing abilities.
Diona, who inwardly wished for her to live a bit more freely, gave permission.
“That’s why I like Diona so much.”
Hearing those words, Astria promptly stood up from her chair and gave Diona a hug.
Seeing Astria like that, Diona smiled with a sense of pride.
For Astria, who had no parents, Diona, who had been with her for a lifetime since childhood, was the closest to a parent.
And it was the same for Diona.
“I wonder if it would be rude to ask this and that. I’m looking forward to it.”
Being a direct descendant of Balheim, what kind of heroic life had he led?
Astria, who had lived her entire life trapped in the Holy Kingdom, was unfamiliar with stories of the world.
So with a heart full of anticipation, she sought the room where Kraush was resting.
“Mr. Kraush has gone out to train.”
The moment she arrived at the room, she blinked upon hearing the words of the tight-lipped attendant directly assigned to Kraush’s room.
When she entered the room, the attendant was cleaning alone, so she had questions.
She never imagined he would have gone out to train in the meantime.
“Training right after waking up?”
Since she had personally restored his body, there was nothing he couldn’t do if he wanted to train.
However, even if the body recovered, mental fatigue didn’t disappear.
‘The memory of fainting from pain must have definitely remained in his body.’
There were countless people who complained of mental distress despite being fully healed.
That’s why Astria often bestowed blessings capable of mental care on those who were severely affected.
The efficacy wasn’t strong, but people quickly recovered just from that.
And Kraush belonged to those who had suffered pain severe enough to be counted on one hand among the people Astria had seen.
So much so that even Astria, who always maintained composure in front of patients, was about to frown.
‘And yet, training.’
Should she consider him as befitting Balheim?
“Where is the training ground?”
“I heard he is using a private room in the training ground frequently used by the holy knights.”
He said he wanted to hide his identity, but he was quite active.
“Thank you. Ella, good work today too.”
The attendant happily made the sign of the cross to Astria, who kindly called her name.
Leaving the attendant behind, Astria moved her steps with large strides.
What kind of person was he to start training right after waking up?
‘I heard he’s the same age as me.’
Facing an 8-star erosion species at the age of 14.
She was curious about what kind of place Balheim was to produce such a person.
Thus, she arrived in front of the private room of the holy knights’ training ground.
There was one training room that was uniquely open.
The private rooms in the holy knights’ training ground were places where holy knights entered to train their inner selves.
It was a place where it was very easy to concentrate as all four sides were blocked by walls.
She had wondered why someone would use a private room with the door open, but soon realized.
It was because the intense heat rising from inside the door scorched her fair skin.
If the door had been closed with this heat, the walls would have melted from the accumulated heat.
‘This is.’
Black Flame burning pitch-black.
It was clearly a flame created from a curse.
And from the perspective of Astria, who wielded holy power, it was an extremely unpleasant power.
As she penetrated through the Black Flame and raised her head, there was a boy.
A boy with sweat dripping from his forehead, scattering Black Flame on a golden-glowing blade.
His black hair mixed with a hint of blue fluttered.
At the same time, his sharp features beneath it caught her eye.
Blankly watching the sweat drops flowing down his cheeks, she soon barely came to her senses.
‘He’s handsome even at a second glance.’
She had thought so even when he was asleep.
With such a serious gaze amidst the Black Flame, her eyes unconsciously followed him.
Was she the type to prefer sharp-featured faces?
She had seen holy knights a few times whom her attendants whispered were handsome.
But it was just an impression that they looked kind.
She hadn’t particularly felt any emotions looking at them.
In the first place, whether handsome or not, if the skin on the face is torn off or burned, the inside is all the same.
As a saint who had seen countless injured people, she thought she didn’t care about appearances.
‘But it was a misconception.’
She definitely did care about appearances.
Just like girls her age.
The proof was that even now, she couldn’t take her eyes off Kraush.
In the meantime, the Black Flame gradually subsided.
It was because Kraush had finished his training.
The moment he wiped the sweat with his hand and turned his head, his eyes met Astria’s.
For some reason, Astria ended up averting her gaze.
It was difficult to face a man she was attracted to who was drenched in sweat.
“Miss Astria?”
Was his voice also her type?
Astria cleared her throat as if coming to her senses.
She was a saint.
Regardless of her preferences, he was a visitor to the Holy Kingdom with the status of a patient.
What use was it for a saint to harbor personal feelings towards such a person?
She once again regained her saintly demeanor.
“I didn’t expect you to seek the training ground right after waking up. How is your physical condition?”
She spoke with a benevolent smile.
Then, for some reason, Kraush’s eyebrows slightly distorted.
As if he had encountered someone unpleasant, Astria flinched.
No matter how much she tried to maintain her saintly appearance, receiving such a gaze from a man she was attracted to secretly hurt her.
‘Is it to the extent of finding me unpleasant to look at?’
While Astria touched her own face, Kraush opened his mouth.
“Yes, thanks to you, I have fully recovered.”
To the point of training in the training ground.
The word ‘fully recovered’ truly suited him.
However, as soon as she saw Kraush, there was something that bothered her.
“May I ask one thing?”
“Go ahead.”
“The curse embedded in your body, why does it feel stronger than when I healed you?”
That had been bothering Astria all along.
Why did he harbor such curses in his body?
Judging from his training earlier, he was wielding curses.
So when Astria asked, Kraush only smiled slightly.
When Astria tilted her head upon seeing that, she noticed his response.
“…What about the answer?”
So when she asked, Kraush spoke after a smile.
“I said I would listen, not that I would answer.”
Seeing that, Astria realized one fact.
His face was definitely her type.
‘No manners.’
But his personality definitely was not.
Feeling unnecessarily annoyed, she struggled to maintain a smile.
“I see. Everyone has things that are difficult to answer.”
“Then, may I ask you a question this time?”
Astria’s lips slightly protruded.
“Even though I might not answer either?”
“That’s fine.”
And he opened his mouth with a suspicious smile.
“Would you like to go on a date with me?”
The moment those abrupt words continued from him, Astria froze.
It was something she hadn’t expected at all.
‘A date?’
She mumbled with a blank expression.
Regardless, Kraush leisurely tidied up his clothes.
“Ah, of course, after I clean up a bit.”
A man with no manners and completely self-centered.
Even a man with a fiancée.
Such a person blurted out the word ‘date’ to another woman.
And to a saint, no less.
There was no scoundrel worse than this scoundrel.
Usually, her mind, which would have quickly thought, was also stained with bewilderment and couldn’t think properly.
“I-, I’m a saint, you know?”
A date with a saint, was that even remotely possible?
So much so that even Diona, who had followed behind, was looking at Kraush with a dumbfounded expression.
But Kraush shrugged his shoulders as if it was nothing new.
“Is that a big problem? We can go on a date while talking about what’s happening in the world.”
It was an attitude that didn’t care at all about her being a saint.
Astria rolled her eyes back and forth.
Then, when her eyes met Kraush’s again, she quickly turned her head away.
“Mr. Kraush Balheim…”
Just as Diona was about to say that his joke had gone too far,
“Alright. I’m also curious about what’s happening in the world.”
Astria abruptly agreed.
When Diona looked at her with a surprised expression, Astria tried hard to hide her reddened ears with her side hair.
“Someone who is a direct descendant of Balheim wouldn’t commit any rudeness, right?”
“I’ll even put the Balheim name on the line.”
Before Diona could stop them, the date had already been arranged.
Diona looked at her with a troubled expression, but Astria swiftly turned her body around.
“I’ll be in my room, so come when you’re ready.”
She moved her steps, maintaining the calmest expression possible.
Seeing that, Diona glanced at Kraush, then sighed and followed Astria.
Thinking that the capricious saint had taken a liking to something again.
* * *
In the meantime, after Astria had left, Kraush let out a short sigh.
Fortunately, Astria had taken the hint that they should talk alone.
A direct descendant of Balheim, behaving rudely, even blurted out the word ‘date’.
Naturally, she must have noticed the strangeness in the conversation earlier.
‘She’s always been quick-witted since long ago.’
His behavior was clearly unusual, and Astria must have noticed there was a reason.
So she must have understood the date proposal as meaning they had something to discuss alone.
During the Skyborne Generation era, it was always Kraush and Astria who stayed in the rear.
Even if he didn’t know other things, Kraush was confident he knew Astria well.
‘In the first place, that girl often used this on me when having important conversations.’
[Why don’t you go on a date with me?]
Words a saint would never utter.
In other words, it meant let’s talk, just the two of us.
In reality, when he followed Astria, she would often have important conversations related to the Skyborne Generation or the world.
Saying she wanted to hear Kraush’s opinion.
Of course, the fact that she later actually asked him out on a date was a flaw.
At least, that was because she developed feelings for him as things happened with the Skyborne Generation, not now.
‘In the first place, when we first met, she didn’t particularly like me.’
At the time of their first meeting, Astria would twitch whenever she saw Kraush.
So much so that whenever her eyes met Kraush’s, she would twist her head away as if she didn’t want to face him.
And that wasn’t much different this time either.
Even today, when their eyes met as he came out of the training room, Astria immediately turned her head.
‘What did she say again? That my face was utterly distasteful?’
He recalled the answer Astria gave when he snapped at her, asking why she kept averting her eyes in an unpleasant manner.
Appearances were a matter of personal taste.
So Kraush had also let it be.
Of course, even if someone wasn’t particularly likable, often feelings developed when spending time together.
Especially when crossing the line between life and death together, Kraush knew well that such tendencies intensified.
After all, there were quite a few who developed feelings within the Skyborne Generation.
So even Astria, a saint, had unconsciously developed such feelings.
Since he was the one who spent the most time beside her, as they were both always in the rear.
And that meant, in other words, the current Astria wouldn’t particularly like him.
Moreover, he was drenched in sweat from training, so she must have disliked it even more.
Every time, she would turn bright red, telling him to wear clothes properly and wash up.
So he had added that he would wash up before coming.
“It’s fine as long as she agreed.”
He had no desire to have a bad relationship with her.
He owed her a great debt, and considering her abilities, there was sufficient value in rebuilding their relationship.
‘I should talk about the fake saint matter this time. If I just give her a hint, that girl will handle it well on her own.’
Just as Kraush thought that and was about to move his steps to wash up and change clothes before their conversation,
At the corner entrance leading to the training room, a strand of white hair was visible.
It belonged to a girl who was staring intently at him.
Seeing that, Kraush unconsciously stiffened.
“Mr. Kraush, did you train?”
But upon hearing the words that reached his ears, he briefly felt relieved.
While Bianca, who had been exhausted from crying, was asleep, Kraush had come out to train to examine the Heavenly Slaughter Star without her knowing.
This was also something Bianca would be angry about.
But it wasn’t as much as the conversation with Astria.
Naturally, it was all a misunderstanding.
However, unlike Kraush’s relief, Bianca’s eyes turned cold for the first time.
“And a date with the saint?”
Ah, she heard everything.
