I had a dream.
The third floor of the Sinclair family’s luxurious townhouse.
It was four years ago, and I was fifteen years old. Back then, I was frail and constantly sick due to my weak immune system.
“Young lady, I finally found the medicine.”
One day, my father suddenly brought home some medicine and insisted that I take it.
After about a year of taking the medicine, I became healthy—almost excessively so.
“Aurora. You must remember that name. If a child with that name is ever in danger, you must help her. Never forget that you must help her.”
I still remembered my father saying those strange words. At the time, I didn’t even know who Aurora was.
That’s right. My father definitely mentioned Aurora. He said I must save her if she’s ever in danger...
Wait. What?
I jolted awake.
It was a memory I hadn’t thought about in a very long time.
Why would I dream about that now, of all times? And why was my late father mentioning Aurora in my dream?
As my mind cleared, my vision adjusted to the sunlight streaming through the window.
Chirp, chirp. A sparrow landed on the windowsill.
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The details of the dream started fading the more awake I became. My father said I had to save someone, but their name was slipping away. Who was it again?
I sat up, leaning against the bed in the center of the room.
Had I fallen asleep while crying?
I thought I had laid Ethan down on the bed, but...
“You’re finally awake.”
I heard a man’s voice above me.
Looking down, I saw two long legs. When I tilted my head up, I saw Ethan sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at me.
His piercing blue eyes locked onto mine as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his thighs.
“...”
“...Uh. Hello.”
Ethan didn’t respond immediately.
He stared at my face in silence for a while before finally speaking.
“What exactly is going on here?”
Did he forget that I hit him in the back of the head? I hesitated and tested the waters.
“You passed out. So I brought you back to my house.”
“...”
“...Haha.”
“I remember very clearly that it was you who hit me in the back of the head.”
Damn it. So he did remember.
“The town turned into a disaster zone. There were far more monsters than survivors. If I had left you there, you would’ve been in danger.”
“There were plenty of other people in danger besides me.”
I knew that all too well.
But Ethan was more important to me than strangers I didn’t even know. I couldn’t save everyone.
The room fell into an uncomfortable silence.
“Well, what’s done is done...”
Unexpectedly, Ethan didn’t seem interested in blaming me.
Instead, he studied me with an unreadable expression before suddenly thanking me.
“Thank you... for saving me.”
“...”
Hearing those words almost made me burst into tears.
But I hadn’t been able to save Susanna, the person I truly wanted to protect.
My lips trembled as I struggled to keep them shut.
“Why are your eyes like that? They’re all swollen.”
I had expected Ethan to scold me, but instead, he asked about something else entirely.
His question made me think about the pain I’d tried to push aside.
“Susanna...”
I swallowed hard. My lips quivered as I clutched at my chest. Ethan looked surprised.
“Susanna turned into a monster... So I... With my own hands...”
The horrifying memory of what had happened yesterday surged back into my mind.
I felt like I was going to throw up.
When I covered my mouth, Ethan quickly picked me up and laid me back down on the bed.
“Breathe.”
He looked down at me and gave instructions.
“Inhale. Exhale.”
My face was flushed and ready to burst from hyperventilating. Ethan calmly helped me steady my breathing.
“It’s okay. Everything’s going to be okay now.”
He reassured me with an expressionless face.
I followed his instructions, breathing in and out until the blood stopped pounding in my ears.
“Feeling better?”
I nodded weakly at Ethan’s question.
“Thank you.”
He finally let out a soft sigh and stepped back.
“I want to know what the hell happened here, but...”
Ethan scanned the room before turning his gaze back to me on the bed.
“Get some rest for now.”
“No. I don’t think this is the time to rest. The sun is up—we need to burn them. There are monster corpses outside.”
Of course, I had no intention of resting. If I stayed still, the events of yesterday would haunt me again.
I was terrified that those memories would cling to me and never let go.
Ethan studied my expression carefully before nodding without hesitation.
“Understood. And once I’ve assessed the situation, I’ll head to the capital.”
Judging by his tone, it seemed he still hadn’t fully grasped the situation.
“My younger sister is in the capital. I need to confirm that it’s safe.”
“The capital...”
I started to respond but swallowed my words.
I couldn’t bring myself to tell him that the capital was probably in the same state.
Ethan already viewed me and the Sinclair family with suspicion. I couldn’t risk adding more reasons for him to distrust me.
I felt guilty for keeping the truth from him, but Aurora would be fine.
The heroine couldn’t die. Not until this entire ordeal was over.
The real problem was Ethan. He was here instead of by Aurora’s side, where it was safer.
As I got out of bed, I asked him,
“What exactly happened in the town?”
Ethan, following me out of the room, fell silent as if replaying the events in his mind.
After a brief pause, he began to speak cautiously.
“I was at the station all afternoon yesterday.”
That’s right. Brunel had still been fine when I left for Kintney.
The outbreak wasn’t supposed to happen for a few more days...
“Then, suddenly, we received a report. A murder had taken place at the carriage rental shop.”
The carriage rental shop.
As soon as he said that, I had a rough idea of what happened.
It must have spread from another area.
Even though Brunel wasn’t far from the capital, it was such a small rural village that even most city folk didn’t know about it. It didn’t even have a train station.
For the virus to have reached a place like Brunel...
‘The capital must already be...’
I opened the front door of Happy House and stepped outside, trying to shake off the ominous thoughts.
“But it was already too late. It was just like what we saw in this mansion’s garden. People turning into monsters, and those bitten becoming monsters too.”
Ethan frowned deeply, clearly disturbed by the memory.
He cursed under his breath and ran his hands through his hair.
“Damn it, what the hell is going on...”
He muttered curses repeatedly, his face twisted with worry for Aurora, whom he had left in the capital.
I couldn’t blame him. I was worried about Harrison too.
We walked slowly through the vegetable garden.
“Is that one of them?”
Ethan pointed to the monster corpses we had piled up and asked.
The two bodies—a bear-shaped monster and a wolf-shaped one—were exactly where we had left them yesterday.
I nodded.
“I think... the wolf was Susanna...”
I couldn’t finish the sentence.
Even when the monster appeared at 61 Maple Street, even when the farmer turned, I hadn’t felt like this.
Ugh.
I leaned over and vomited onto the dirt.
Ethan didn’t pat my back or offer comforting words.
But when I straightened up, he silently handed me a neatly folded handkerchief without looking at me.
“Thanks for saving me, but I still think we could have saved more people.”
I didn’t respond.
For me, my own survival came first.
But for Ethan, other people’s lives took priority.
The thought that the man who absolutely needed to survive in this world had such a mindset made my heart sink.
“I understand. You don’t need to abandon your sense of duty.”
Still, I didn’t think it was bad for Ethan to hold onto his righteous ideals.
In a hellish world like this, people like Ethan were necessary.
I just didn’t want him to change.
If Ethan ever tried to sacrifice himself for others...
I’d stop him.
Even if it meant he hated me for it.
At that moment, Ethan poured oil over the monster corpses.
Then, he struck a match and tossed it onto the pile.
Whoosh—
Flames roared to life.
For a while, we silently watched the fire consume the bodies.
Crackle, crackle.
The corpses burned, releasing a foul stench, but we stood there without moving.
‘I’m sorry, Susanna. I couldn’t save you.’
I prayed for her as I stood in front of the fire.
My body trembled, and I couldn’t stop it.
I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.
Tears streamed down my face again.
Ethan stood silently beside me, staring into the flames.