Chapter 71: Was Once a Victim
I trembled as I can’t blink because of the kunai knife that was only inches away from my eyes. If it wasn’t for Night, I would have been pierced already. That’s when I felt something dripping on my palm, and Night immediately pushed the person away and threw the kunai knife toward the wall. "Y-Your hand." It was blood coming from Night’s hand.
I can’t believe he used his hand to stop that knife.
Night didn’t bother saying anything as he was about to charge toward that person in all-black, but the person dodged and rushed out of the window. ’W-What just happened?’ I was too stunned that I stayed sitting there for like more than 3 minutes.
That’s when I realized that Night’s hand is still bleeding. "I’m going to ask for help." I stood up from the floor and was about to rush out of the door but Night grabbed my arm.
"Don’t." He said with his face as pale as snow, and he immediately fell to his knees.
"Night? What’s going on?"
Night’s body fell to the ground and my heart started beating too fast. I couldn’t hear anything else, and I felt fear creeping into my heart. The fear of losing someone. "I-I need to go and ask for help." Even though I tried to leave, Night won’t let my arm go.
"You can’t."
"Why?! You’re going to die if I don’t."
"This poison won’t kill me."
P-P-Poison? There’s a poison on that kunai knife? And Night just grabbed it with his bare hand? "W-What if you die? W-What should I do?" He pointed to the drawer. "What?"
"First aid kit."
I rushed towards the drawer and opened it. There’s a first aid kit. I brought it out and went back to where Night was. ’I don’t know what to do.’ "F-First let’s stop the bleeding." I wrapped his hand with some cloth inside the first aid kit. But what should I do next?
"I can do it." Night said as he pulled the first aid kit from me. "Just go to sleep."
Go to sleep? "After what happened? I-I almost died. How can I fall asleep?" I unintentionally raised my voice at him causing him to wince. "S-Sorry, I’m just scared."
"This is what I always go through. You should have thought of it more before marrying me." He said. Always? Does he always get in danger like this?
"I-I don’t get it. You always get assassinated like that?"
Night nodded while he wraps his wound with a cloth after disinfecting it. "Just go to sleep. That thing probably won’t go back again." Thing? Does he mean that person?
"Who even wants you dead?"
"Don’t know." He said with no emotions. "Go to sleep."
I placed my hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "You at least have a clue, don’t you? Tell me."
"What will change if I tell you?"
R-Right, nothing might change but I want to be careful too. "What if they try to kill me too because of what happened?"
"That’s none of my business."
I scoffed. ’I know it’s none of his business, but I don’t want to die.’ "I won’t shut up if you don’t tell me. I’ll tell this to grandpa right now." When I was about to stand up, Night grabbed my arm again stopping me from going anywhere.
"It’s my uncle."
"Uncle who?"
I saw a different expression on Night’s face. "I don’t know." Is he lying to me? "I don’t care so I didn’t bother trying to find out. It’s only speculation that it’s my uncle since they don’t want me to become the heir." Hearing that for the first time made me sit in front of him again.
"When did this start? I mean, the assassination?"
Night didn’t look at me, and I can tell that he doesn’t want to tell me. "I’m going to tell grandpa—"
"Ever since I became the heir."
’I didn’t want to blackmail him but it’s the only way to make him talk.’ "Since you became the heir? When was that?" It’s the first time we’re having a normal conversation. Although the topic is not in the least normal.
"When I was 11 years old."
11 years old?! He’s been going through attempted assassination since he was that young? The only thing I can remember when I was 11 was wanting to have that pink huge doll house and my father bought it for me. I don’t know what to say as I felt bad for him. "T-Then why don’t they just be the heir? Why are they doing this to you?" Night didn’t answer, and I didn’t force him to do so.
"It wasn’t sure that time since the first heir was still alive."
First heir? "Then did they try to kill you?"
"Just go to sleep and forget about what happened." Night said as he moved closer to the wall, leaving the futon in the middle of the room. "Use that." He said as he lay on the floor with nothing to cover him up even though his body’s trembling. It might not be because of the cold, but because of the poison entering his system. ’What can I do to help him? He got poisoned because he protected me from being stabbed in the eye.’
"You know I think you need to sleep here more than me," I said as I moved the futon closer to him.
"Shut up."
I frowned after hearing that. Why can’t he just trust me with this one? It’s not like I’m doing this for myself. "Why are you so mean to me?" I asked as I lay on the futon. ’If he doesn’t want to, then don’t.’ How will I go to sleep now after almost facing my death?
"Night? Are you sleeping already?" He didn’t say anything so it’s either he’s asleep or he’s ignoring me again. Do his uncles hate him? Even though they look like they were such kind people. ’I really can’t judge a book by its cover.’
Just when I thought I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, the tiredness from waking up at 5 in the morning caught up to me and I was already in dreamland in no time.
"Ugh."
I heard someone grunting causing me to wake up from my sleep. "What, I already fell asleep?" I murmured to myself as I look at Night who was sleeping just beside the futon. He’s groaning in his sleep, and I saw how his grip on his right hand tightened. ’It’s bleeding again!’
I quickly brought the first aid kit back. What’s so hard with disinfecting a wound anyway? I can probably do it too. That’s what I said but I’m too scared to see blood and I can’t even remove the cloth on Night’s hand to put a new one.
"I can do this." I took a deep breath as I removed the bloody cloth from Night’s hand. He’s not waking up and screaming at me, better finish this fast.
As I wiped Night’s hand, I felt how rough it was. It’s different from a woman’s hand, you can feel callouses all over it. Did he suffer like this all the time he visits here? Even though Night’s been mean to me, I feel bad for him. No one deserves to go through such pain, not even a murderer like him.
"There you go."
I smiled after seeing how nice the new cloth on Night’s hand is. "See? I can do this too if I want to." I told myself, but that’s when Night started huffing for air. "Night?" He didn’t respond as he moved closer to me and suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Don’t leave."
I was dumbfounded after hearing that. ’Wait! Don’t be fooled! Maybe he’s dreaming about Tomoe. There’s no way in a million years that Night will tell me not to leave. More like he’ll want to push me out of the room if he learned that it’s me he’s holding onto, not Tomoe.’
I sighed as I lay beside him. Staring at his sleeping face makes me relaxed. If he’s just this calm and peaceful when he’s awake, then we’ll probably get along well. "Did you go through a lot?"
I can’t help but think about how 11 years old Night reacted the first time he learned that one of his uncles was trying to murder him. He’s not even sure if it’s only one, and who it was. How terrifying must it be for him to sleep alone in a room where he doesn’t know if he’s still safe or not?
I’m supposed to hate him, but learning about his past makes me pity him. Though that doesn’t mean I’ll forget all the bad things he did to me. "I guess you were once a victim like me too."
I placed my hand on his forehead, and he’s burning! "I should probably call Kenji."
When I was about to stand up, I forgot that Night was still holding onto my arm, and I was immediately pulled back to the futon. ’I didn’t know he’s still strong as ever in his sleep.’ I sighed as I stared at his face again.
"Don’t blame me if you died because of the poison, okay?"
