IBMV – 22.1

Time seemed to have stopped.

Olivia’s eyelids, which had been heavily closed, opened. When she looked at him, an earthquake of waves shook Kian’s light blue eyes. His voice calling for her was biting.

“Master…….”

He had thought she was dead, but she was alive. She looked weak, like a twig about to snap. But she was breathing properly. He couldn’t believe the miraculous scene in front of him.

She smiled faintly as she saw his stunned expression.

“You’re alive…….”

Her breath was labored as if it was difficult to connect her words. The sight struck Kian like ice water.

This is not the time. You have to save her.

The rocks falling like meteorites froze and did not strike the knights. Kian was hovering over the ground and quickly had his feet touch the ground.

Faced with this unexpected situation, the knights’ faces were full of embarrassment.

 “……!”

Dirt and piles of stones and boulders fell. With a roar, a thick curtain of dust and debris rose. When a gust of wind blew, helping settle the overwhelming dirt that had obscured and dyed the witness’s irritated eyes, they surveyed the scene now that visibility had resumed.

Kian and Olivia had already disappeared. 

 ***

The numbness of floating swirled into my gut as I took in the scene of the crowds of knights on horseback and the tragic painting of the destroyed and burned earth below—running like wet paint and distorting. An exquisite sensation like a multiplying deja vu that compressed and sped across space sprinted across my body.

We moving or transporting— defying the laws of physics, and I knew I was not doing it—the man who held me in his arms was. Belatedly, I realized:

Kian’s magical powers have awakened.

Kian was a wizard.

I looked up at a face that felt familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Anxiety knotted inside as I looked upon Kian’s beautiful face. He said in a nervous voice:

“Master, hang in there—we will be there soon.”

I knew he was trying to save me. I groaned as the sensation of fainting or transporting—I knew not which—washed over me.

“…… Uh-“

Once again, space distorted, and a contorted landscape gradually came into focus.

What emerged in front was the magnificent mansion of the Duke of Ashford.

Appearing covered in blood and dirt, Kian and I in front of the once quiet mansion turned upside down in an uproar.

“Miss! What happened?”

The thoughtful butler ran out. The sleeping employees woke up all at once, trembling as a servant ran to call a healer.

Perhaps because I lost too much blood, the surrounding commotion fell further and further away. In the end, only the soft low voice heard above my head lingered in my ears.

Everything will be fine now, Master.

Is it because I was relieved by those words? I quickly let the string of consciousness I had been holding on to slip into the darkness.

***

As he carried an unconscious Olivia into the mansion, Kian thought:

She won’t die. No, you shouldn’t even think of the opposite– No, you can’t think about it at all.

“Kian, bring Miss here!”

In a hurry, as if her breath was running out, the butler guided Kian. He laid Olivia on her clean bed. Soon after, he heard someone’s urgent footsteps.

Prince Ashford woke up in the middle of the night after hearing the news of his daughter’s injury. Seeing his daughter covered in blood, he groaned in distress.

“Ah, Olivia……. What the hell is this…….”

His expression completely lost his usual calm composure. A young woman appeared behind him, holding his daughter’s cold hand, taking a deep breath. 

It was Christine, a healer, who came running to Olivia after hearing that an assassin had seriously hurt her. Her face was marred with a deep sense of dismay.

Olivia’s condition was more serious than she thought. Given the amount of her bleeding, she had already lost too much blood.

If her healing was delayed any longer, she had no chance of survival. 

Christine quickly settled next to Olivia.

“I will start her treatment.”

She gathered all of the mana in her whole body and cast a powerful healing spell on Olivia. Her hands were filled with explosive healing magic. Dazzling clusters of lights wrapped around Olivia’s wounds.

Her magic began to drain rapidly from her body. Thick beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

Christine’s healing powers were working. Olivia’s wounds began to mend. Since there was a clear improvement outwardly, everyone’s expressions became brighter.

But that was short-lived. Even after many moments, Olivia’s eyes did not open.

Christine was out of breath, and her body was wet with cold sweat. Due to her casting of the highest level of healing magic, the symptoms of mana depletion appeared.

A terrible misgiving passed her heart. Olivia’s heart had stopped beating a while ago. She had done her best to revive her stopped heart. Nevertheless, it was not enough.

To make matters worse, she had used up all of the mana she had. Christine had to stop her treatment. Prince Ashford asked frantically.

“Why? What’s wrong? Why…… Are you stopping?”

“She lost too much blood by the time she got here. I did the best I could, but a while ago… her heart stopped.”

Christine expressed the bitter reality, her voice cracking with guilt.

“I’m sorry to tell you, but…… It seems difficult for my lady to wake up.”

***

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