Faced with a truth he could not bear, Noance collapsed onto the spot.
I almost wished he would at least break down sobbing and scream, but all he did was stare blankly at the dirt with deadened eyes.
At that merciless barrage of facts, I frowned and looked up at Morpha. Morpha only brushed back the hair that had fallen over their tired ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) face.
"I knew from the beginning that it wasn't human. I only realized it was a Sarco just now."
"If you knew that, then why did you stay here?"
"Because aside from the Sarco, the rest of them were useful. I was planning to eliminate that thing and absorb the remaining Rebels."
A small sigh escaped me at the words, which carried not the slightest hint of emotion.
Of course, there was nothing wrong with what Morpha said. If you excluded the leader of unknown identity, Noance and Theo, and Drunkard in particular, were excellent manpower.
A small commotion continued in the distance. When I cast my gaze that way, I saw the remaining Rebels trying to calm the monsters that had panicked and come bursting out when the tent collapsed.
Whatever Adeline's intentions had been when she created the organization, I could not belittle the sincere hearts of the Rebels who had joined that cause.
I slowly lowered my head. Then I stroked Varen's face, safely cradled in my arms.
All at once, relief washed over me at the fact that even after a battle with such a dangerous parasite, not a single one of the people precious to me had died.
It was not something I could say aloud with Noance standing right there. I simply kept stroking Varen in silence, and praise fell over my head.
"Ceryl, you did well. You carried out my instruction to stay by Lord Varen's side properly."
"What did I even do? Like you said, all I did was stay next to Varen."
"That was enough. I needed bait to stand in for Lord Varen."
"......"
"Ah, I didn't expect you would be injured that badly. If I had known, I would have used a different plan."
I wonder if this bastard is hard all over like Varen too. I really want to hit him just once.
I thought inwardly about ways to beat the hell out of Morpha, but since nothing suitable came to mind, I only shook my head.
A stream of curses nearly burst out of me, but again, there was nothing wrong with what Morpha said.
If by any chance that bug had truly tried to devour Varen, I would have gladly offered up my own body.
My anger toward Morpha faded, but the more I thought about this damned world, the more foul curses rose in me.
What the hell had this innocent, young dragon ever done wrong? They cut off his tail and tore out his claws in torture, kept coveting his heart, and now some monster that looked like a bug had appeared demanding one of his legs.
My hand, which had been caressing Varen's cheek, clenched tightly into a fist. As the young dragon slept beside me, breathing in even little breaths, this world felt far too dangerous for him.
"No... Lady Adeline... Lady Adeline..."
Noance, who had dropped down beside me, kept murmuring Adeline's name, unable to accept reality.
At his voice, my chest felt tight, as if I had swallowed a lump of lead. How empty must a loyal follower feel after realizing the person he had trusted completely as his liege had actually been something else entirely?
That same dense emotion that had once, even if only briefly, forced Margon away from me was blooming right beside me now.
And at the same time, I was once again struck by how shallow the knowledge I had gained from the original story really was.
Since two beings had spoken within a single body, I had naturally assumed it was a split personality, but...
"...Wait. Are we sure Adeline is dead?"
When I looked up and asked, Morpha furrowed their brows as though asking what I was talking about.
I paused for a moment and busily sorted through the fragments of thought in my head, which had been sharpened by the dragon's medicine.
Adeline and Kain had definitely spoken to each other. Just like someone possessed.
Of course, that too could have been an act put on by the parasite, but it had not seemed like a bug intelligent enough to imitate a person with split personalities.
Besides, if it had formed the Rebels under the influence of Adeline's emotions...
"Wh-why? Why do you think that?"
At that moment, Noance, who had been slumped like a dead man, jerked upright and hurried toward me on his knees.
His face came so suddenly close that I leaned my upper body back. I raised both hands toward him, signaling for him to calm down.
At once, Noance dropped to his knees in place like an obedient dog and looked at me with shining eyes.
"Ceryl, do you mean... Lady Adeline might still be alive?"
Damn it, that one careless sentence just lit the spark of hope in Noance.
It was a hundred times better than him sitting there dead like a corpse, but still.
By now, I knew that giving someone false hope was the cruelest torture of all, so I could not bring myself to add anything to it.
"N-no. It was just my guess. If you think about it... there's no way. Adeline was eaten a long time ago, and when she was stabbed, not a single drop of blood came out. That means she isn't human anymore."
I hurriedly waved both hands and rushed to tack on the rest.
When I looked up at Morpha with a plea for help in my eyes, they were gazing at the smoke in the distance and nodding slowly.
"It would be difficult to describe her as alive, but... now that you mention it, it does seem likely that Adeline's personality remained inside that body."
You completely useless bastard.
Morpha, who had probably followed the same line of reasoning I had, threw his weight behind the torture of hope.
Then, little by little, a smile spread over Noance's deathly pale face.
"That's enough for me."
Noance sprang to his feet and gave a firm nod. His shining eyes turned once more toward the white smoke.
Before anyone could stop him, he strode away. He was small and slight, but a resolute will rose from his back as he walked, as solid as a general's.
Kallen, who had been quietly listening while watching him go, whispered softly.
"But she's been burned into a lump of charcoal like that..."
"Shh. Just stay quiet for now."
At my words, Kallen closed her mouth and looked into the distance with curious eyes.
Noance soon reached Adeline's corpse. Even though he looked as though he had steeled himself, the moment he stood before that charred mass with no recognizable shape, he lost his words.
And at Noance's appearance, the Rebel members began muttering among themselves.
"Commander, what in the world is going on? Why would Lady Adeline..."
"That dragon killed Lady Adeline. We need revenge right now!"
"You idiot, didn't you see earlier? The thing that burned here wasn't Lady Adeline, it was a monster!"
"A monster? Don't talk nonsense, you moronic bastard!"
Without anyone in control, the Rebels, who had once moved like a single body, were no more than a disorganized mob.
People with different views gradually began raising their voices. Some shouted at the others to stop standing around and help clean up instead.
For a long while, Noance said nothing.
He only stared down at the charred lump, reeking and still breathing out smoke.
"...Recover Lady Adeline's body. Everyone else, put out the remaining fire."
Only after a long silence did those words finally leave Noance's mouth.
He must have been fairly trusted by his comrades, because at his order, the uproar began to settle.
People scattered, reading the mood. Some went to fetch things to recover Adeline's body, while others splashed water onto trees that had started burning again while they were distracted.
Once everyone had gone and he was left alone, Noance sank to one knee. Then, with trembling hands, he carefully touched the large lump of charcoal.
Not that doing so would bring Adeline back to life. Yet like someone searching for his mother among black dust, he desperately dug through it here and there with longing hands.
Watching that scene from afar, Kallen fidgeted and asked me,
"Ceryl, is it really okay to leave him like that?"
"How could anyone stop that? If it were me, and there were even the slightest bit of hope, I wouldn't want to give up either."
At my answer, Kallen bit her lip and fell silent.
Family, friends, comrades. Kallen, who had watched them all burn to death, understood better than anyone how Noance might want to cling even to a heap of ashes.
And the same was true for me.
I had held Berry's remains in my arms while they were still warm from cremation and wanted somehow to turn back time.
I must have been out of my mind, because I even opened the neatly wrapped urn, tore away the paper, and examined Berry's bone ash.
I let out a long sigh and looked down at Varen's sleeping face.
"I'm just glad you're safe, Varen."
When I whispered in a small voice, even asleep, the corners of Varen's lips curved up slightly. I was stroking that lovely trace with my fingertips when I suddenly froze.
Maybe it was because I had downed that miraculous dragon medicine in one shot, but I was more energized than usual, and my senses had sharpened.
Those heightened senses were now reaching beyond the ordinary five, brushing against something like instinct itself. Even though I could hear nothing, the goosebumps running up my spine climbed all the way to the top of my head.
I looked up at Morpha with a stiff neck.
"Morpha, you... you don't feel this?"
At that, Morpha's usual detached gaze flicked across me, then moved away. Looking toward Noance in the distance, where he was digging through Adeline's charred remains, they threw out a short reply.
"Ceryl, if you felt it, then you're probably right."
And without hesitation, they lifted both feet into the air and began flying toward Noance.
I followed Morpha's trajectory with my eyes and turned my head.
And before I saw or heard anything at all,
I screamed on instinct.
"Noance, watch out!!!"
