I crossed my arms and responded with a determined tone, refusing to back down.
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“Then shouldn’t you, Lord Ludfisher, share your information first? Depending on the quality and quantity of what you disclose, I’ll offer information in return. After all, in times like these, the one with more information holds the advantage.”
Nox looked genuinely surprised by my answer, as if he hadn’t expected me to respond like that. Then, as if I’d landed a solid hit, he burst out laughing.
“Ah, Cherry, you really can’t be underestimated.”
Of course not. Anyone who underestimated me after witnessing my brute strength would be in serious trouble.
But still... did Ethan know about all this?
At the very least, Nox and I each had pieces of the puzzle about this ruined world—pieces we were keeping from each other.
“You’ve heard of the Westmore urban legend, right?”
“...No? What legend?”
“It caused quite a stir in the news last year. Don’t you read newspapers, Cherry?”
The only reason I’d read newspapers after moving to Brunel was to check for signs that the apocalypse was coming. Before that—
“I wasn’t interested unless the article was about me.”
Nox sighed and patiently explained the Westmore urban legend.
“Last year, there were reports of screams and animal-like howls coming from a mansion in Westmore every night. But when the police searched the property, they found nothing. Still, people passing by the mansion at night claimed they kept hearing the sounds. In the end, with no witnesses and no evidence, it was dismissed as nothing more than an urban legend.”
No evidence—that’s enough to make it an urban legend. But it definitely sounded suspicious.
“Could those howling noises have been these damn monsters?”
“No idea. But the reason I’m bringing this up is because a large quantity of Elphinus herbs was discovered in that mansion in Westmore.”
Elphinus herbs were found there too? Was that detail even in the novel?
I was sure Love in a Ruined World only mentioned the mansion at 61 Notium Street.
“There were Elphinus herbs at 61 Notium Street as well. Both mansions are tied to monsters. So we can’t exactly say the herbs and the monsters are unrelated, can we?”
I had to admit, that part had seemed odd to me, too. The novel never explained why the mansion at 61 Notium Street had Elphinus herbs in the first place.
“Maybe this damn virus outbreak is somehow connected to those herbs.”
“I think so too. Was there anything unusual about the mansion at 61 Notium Street? You were the only witness when the incident happened, Cherry.”
“I didn’t have time to look around. A monster jumped out the moment I went inside.”
I had thought the Elphinus herbs were just a kind of vaccine—but could they be tied to the origin of the virus itself?
I sighed, pressing my fingers against my temples. Talking to Nox had me thinking too hard, and now my head felt like it was burning up. My forehead felt hot.
Still, I told him about the man I’d seen that day.
“I wasn’t the only witness. There was another man.”
“Ah. If you’re talking about the man who escaped that day, I looked into him too, but his trail went cold.”
“He said he was the brother of the tenant at 61 Notium Street. He claimed his sister hadn’t contacted him for days, so he came to check on her.”
“Oh no. By the time I got to that mansion, the monster was already tied up in a room. He said his sister hadn’t responded for days, so he came by—and found that thing...”
That’s exactly what the man had told me.
“It’d be nice if we could search the mansions at Notium and Westmore again.”
I muttered, and Nox nodded in agreement.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
But we both knew the truth.
With the world in ruins and us stranded in a rural village far from the capital, there was no way we could investigate those places now.
A heavy silence fell between us.
After glancing up at the sky, Nox stood and extended his hand to me.
“Shall we head down?”
I nodded and took his hand.
As I tried to stand, dizziness suddenly hit me again. My body felt as heavy as a waterlogged rag—like something was pulling me down from below.
“Cherry?”
My body tilted to one side. Heat surged across my face.
“Cherry! Are you okay?”
Nox caught me, his face twisted with concern.
That was the last thing I saw before I blacked out.
*****
Ethan sat in the chair beside Cherry’s bed, quietly watching her sleep. Across from him, Nox sat in another chair, carefully monitoring Cherry’s condition.
“It seems like it’s just exhaustion. Overwork, probably. She doesn’t seem to be resting properly.”
“Overwork...?”
Cherry was burning up. Even in her sleep, her brows were furrowed, and she let out pained murmurs as if she were having nightmares.
Ethan clicked his tongue and shook his head as he studied her face.
“She doesn’t take care of herself. She overestimates her strength.”
Nox seemed to agree, at least partially.
Cherry had always been tough. From the moment they’d met her until now, there hadn’t been a single moment when she hadn’t shown strength.
“She’s probably just completely worn out. The stress must’ve hit her all at once.”
Nox placed his hand on her forehead again to check her temperature. Then, he wrung out a cloth from the water basin he’d brought and gently laid it across her forehead.
“For now, we should just let her rest.”
Both Ethan and Nox stared at her with worried expressions before quietly leaving the room.
*****
Ethan had been determined to leave Happy House today.
That is, until Cherry suddenly collapsed.
Now, he sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the bag he’d packed and left on his desk days ago.
It was still sitting there, untouched. The bag—and everything inside it—had been prepared by Cherry.
“This is a bribe,” she’d said when she gave it to him.
“There are bound to be more survivors in the capital than here. You might even meet someone working on a cure. Just don’t forget about me—or this Happy House—when that happens.”
To be honest, Ethan doubted there’d be survivors in the capital. They hadn’t seen any here, in this remote village. And developing a cure? That sounded like wishful thinking.
Ethan stood up. The sun had already set, but he hadn’t left—and Cherry still hadn’t woken up.
Nox hadn’t left his room, except to check on Cherry’s condition from time to time.
Ethan slowly walked down the hall toward Cherry’s room.
She was still asleep, as still and quiet as if she might never wake up.
He brushed back the damp strands of hair that clung to her cheeks, then tapped her cheek lightly with his fingers. Her skin felt soft—round and smooth, like it still carried traces of baby fat. It was... unexpectedly cute.
Ethan sat back down in the chair beside her bed and continued watching her.
At first, she seemed to be sleeping peacefully, but then she began to whimper and writhe again. Her hands trembled and fumbled as if searching for something.
Without thinking, Ethan reached out and held her hand.
The moment he did, her restless movements stopped. Her breathing steadied, and she looked calm again.
Her lips parted slightly. She mumbled something under her breath, her voice barely audible, before trailing off.
Ethan leaned in closer.
“...Don’t...”
Her voice was faint, almost swallowed by the room’s silence. She repeated the words again and again until, finally, Ethan could make them out.
“...Don’t leave me behind...”
A tear slid down the corner of her eye.
Ethan froze for a moment, caught off guard. He hadn’t expected to see Cherry—always so strong and stubborn—looking this defenseless.
“She’s still just a girl,” he muttered. “No one could stay sane in a situation like this.”
“But you’re saying you’re going to leave her here, just like that? Honestly, I’m worried about Cherry too. What if she’s just pretending to be okay?”
Maybe that was it. Maybe she had been pretending. Or maybe... maybe she wasn’t okay, but didn’t even realize it herself.
Another tear rolled down Cherry’s cheek. Ethan reached out and wiped it away.
Then another fell.
He wiped that one, too.
He repeated the motion over and over until her tears finally stopped.
Ethan wasn’t sure why he was doing it.
Maybe he should’ve just let her cry.
But for some reason, he couldn’t.
He kept wiping away her tears until Nox returned to check on her again.