Chapter 15
“Is it okay to let her open her eyes now?”
“Well, we can’t exactly make her close them again now that she’s already awake, can we?”
“Look at her talking.”
Two people were talking, and both voices sounded familiar.
The second one was definitely the military doctor who had come with us to the Nephile estate.
And the first and third… were even more familiar.
Schloitz.
But why did it sound like his voice was coming from right above my head?
I raised a hand—still heavy and sluggish—and rubbed my eyes.
Only then did I manage to lift my heavy eyelids properly.
The first thing I saw was Schloitz’s hand.
“…Sir.”
A hoarse voice came out. Even that wasn’t easy.
“The sedative was too strong,” the doctor explained from the side. “If you rest a little longer, your voice should come back normally.”
I moved my head slightly to look around.
“You’re in the Supreme Commander’s room now. Not the same one you stayed in before—we moved you to the opposite building. That old place wasn’t fit for a patient to recover in.”
I didn’t even have the strength to nod. I just lay there quietly, then slowly asked,
“…What about Grey?”
“She’s dead.”
“…And Jeremy?”
“Him too.”
Schloitz frowned slightly.
“Just so you don’t get the wrong idea—Princess—I didn’t kill them. One bit their tongue and committed suicide, and the other jumped out the window.”
“….”
My body trembled on its own as the memory of Grey’s monstrous face flashed through my mind.
Schloitz, still looking down at me, muttered to the doctor,
“She’s shaking.”
“Of course she is. After what she went through. Are you cold, Commander?”
“…No, not cold.”
I really wasn’t. If anything, it was warm—probably because of Schloitz’s body heat.
“….”
And that’s when I finally realized—I was lying in Schloitz’s arms.
His arm was wrapped around my back, holding me close.
No wonder it felt like his voice was coming from above.
I was literally cradled in his arms.
I tensed again. Since when had I been like this?
His strong arm shifted slightly, and as my senses returned, I could feel all the subtle textures through the fabric.
It made me even more nervous.
Watching me with an unreadable expression, Schloitz asked the doctor,
“She looks uncomfortable. Can I lay her down?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Following the doctor’s answer, Schloitz gently laid me down and rested my head on a pillow.
The doctor pulled the blanket up to my chin.
That was it.
I thought they’d both leave now—but the doctor just sat quietly nearby, and Schloitz stayed, looking over documents.
I peeked around him and saw a whole stack of paperwork.
What… is going on?
“Aren’t you busy, Sir?”
“Of course I’m busy. You got hurt, after all.”
“Then maybe you should…”
“I can’t just leave you here. Something like this happened inside the military. I’m responsible, too.”
“I… see.”
“When we get back, I’ll assign Raphael as your aide. The ranks might get a little messy, though.”
Then he jerked his chin at the doctor.
“Tell Agnes.”
“What should I tell him?”
“Tell him we’re holding a reorganization meeting as soon as we return to base.”
“Yes, sir. Should I relay the message to the 8th Commander now?”
“Yeah.”
The doctor immediately left the room. I slowly blinked.
Agnes…
He must be extremely busy right now.
He was already swamped before I passed out, and now with this whole mess happening in the Nephile estate—outside of the base—things must be even worse.
It wasn’t just Agnes. I had a feeling the atmosphere outside was tense.
“Is Sir Agnes… okay?”
“He’s definitely better off than you are.”
“…Right.”
I wanted to ask more questions, but Schuluiz was focused on his paperwork, so I held back.
I thought I might try to sleep, but I couldn’t.
I just stared up at the ceiling, blinking.
Then his voice quietly cut in.
“Why aren’t you sleeping? Are you in pain?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Then why are you still awake?”
“…Was someone trying to kidnap me?”
“We’re investigating it.”
“What about Adjutant Lora Lenin?”
“She’ll probably be cleared. She has no connection to those crazy monsters.”
My ears perked up at the word cleared.
Right—out of the three adjutants, two turned out to be weird. If the third was messed up too, that’d just be too much.
Besides, it was almost certain now that the one-eyed adjutant from the original story wasn’t Lora, but Grey.
Schloitz glanced at the clock.
“By now, the interrogation should be over.”
“Interrogation?”
I thought I misheard, but Schloitz stood and pulled the thin bell cord on the wall.
Soon, I heard a knock, and knights came in carrying something.
They dumped it on the floor.
“Lora?”
I was shocked.
Lora looked barely alive—she wasn’t even sitting up, and she wasn’t breathing properly either. She was covered in blood, an absolute mess.
What the hell? Didn’t he just say she was cleared?
How could they interrogate her that harshly?!
Sure, this was the military, but…
Still—this was a lot.
I started to get scared again. Schloitz was so brutal and merciless—I felt like my future self wouldn’t get a peaceful death at this rate.
I shrank into the blanket without realizing it.
Schloitz looked at me and asked,
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“The intensity of the interrogation… is hard to understand.”
“Oh, really.”
“……”
“Is that how it looks to you?”
Looking rather annoyed, he walked over and nudged Lora’s knee with his foot.
“Stop acting and get up. Your commander thinks I’m a complete monster.”
“……”
“Want me to rip your guts out?”
“I—I’ll get up right away!”
Lora, who had been playing dead, suddenly shot up.
I flinched and clutched my blanket even tighter.
“Commander Blandea…!”
“……”
I couldn’t even reply, seeing her bloodied face.
Had she really been tortured that badly?
Lora saw the look in my eyes and her expression crumbled.
She was clearly the emotional type—despite her tall, strong build.
There was that chick story before… and the way she always happily followed my orders.
She probably liked me a lot.
And to be honest, I felt a little guilty.
I had wrongly assumed she was the one-eyed adjutant from the original story and completely ignored her.
No wonder I felt conflicted.
“Adjutant Lora Lenin.”
“Yes, Supreme Commander!”
“Report to Commander Lefevre.”
At Schloitz’s signal, Lora stood up straight.
“I’m sorry for worrying you! Actually, my face got like this because I was attacked by Adjutant Grey!”
“…Huh?”
“Around 10 PM last night, I noticed something strange about her face and tried to touch it. I felt something was off and was about to report it when she knocked me out first!”
“…Really?”
“Yes! I deeply regret not handling it better and will work harder to improve!”
I blinked slowly.
“I…”
“Yes?”
“…I thought those injuries were from torture.”
“Pardon?”
Lora looked surprised. She firmly denied it, and then suddenly started to roll up her pant leg.
I stopped her quickly.
Apparently, the interrogation had been fairly mild—like forcing her to kneel all day or not giving her water.
Still, something didn’t add up.
“Why did you pretend to be unconscious earlier?”
Lora cleared her throat.
“Ahem… I was afraid they might interrogate me again, so I pretended to be out of it.”
“……”
“I won’t do it again!”
My cheeks turned red.
Still, she was my adjutant, so her embarrassment was kind of mine too.
Lora was dragged out again, and I looked around.
My eyes met Schloitz’s.
…I didn’t need to apologize for the misunderstanding, right? It wasn’t that bad of a mistake. Right?
“Lord Procyon,” I said slowly.
“Did you come to my room because you found Lora all bloodied?”
“I only found out about her later.”
“Then… how did you show up at my room just in time?”
As usual, he didn’t answer right away.
Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?
Just as an uneasy tension started to build, Schloitz finally spoke.
“Because I knew.”
“…Since when?”
“Since the military prison. So, about a week.”
“……”
He rubbed his eyes, looking tired.
“Raphael owes you his life. He’s like your personal disciple. He told me the adjutants’ stories didn’t add up.”
So he figured that out back in that dark prison? Even though the light was barely on half the time?
“Lord Procyon,” I said, frowning a little.
“Did you bring me and my adjutants here to Nephile on purpose?”
“It was part of the plan.”
“……”
“I didn’t think anything would happen back at base.”
“I see. Then… the reason you walked me to my room last night was…”
“Because Adjutant Grey collapsed right in front of me.”
“…Right.”
“She seemed odd. Her left eye turned a beat too late.”
“You noticed something like that in such a short moment?”
“I noticed.”
“…I see.”
I let go of the blanket.
I’d been gripping it so tightly it left marks in the fabric, which now slipped gently onto my lap.
I stared at the mattress for a while, then looked up—and flinched.
Schloitz was staring right at me.
“…Is there something you want to say?”
“You’re the one who should be saying more, aren’t you?”
“…Thank you for saving me.”
“……”
“…?”
Schloitz frowned slightly.
“That’s it?”
