IRER 17

Chapter 17 – Fall

“Brody!”

“Bri!”

As soon as she vanished from sight, the two men began running, following her tracks.

Fortunately, it seemed she wasn’t exactly a professional at fleeing, as she hadn’t completely hidden her traces.

The environment here was fundamentally different from the North, making the pursuit difficult. The sweltering heat and the thick, unfamiliar vegetation impeded Aidan.

‘No matter what, she’s still a person running away—how could she leave such traces?’

Aidan occasionally tilted his head in confusion as he chased after Brody.

“Argh!”

A sudden scream made him glance sideways—Jax, who had been running at a similar pace, had suddenly fallen.

“This plant!”

A carnivorous plant, the size of a human head, had latched onto Jax’s leg.

It seemed Jax had no tracking skills and had merely been following Aidan’s lead.

Already annoyed by Jax’s presence, Aidan took this opportunity to leave him behind and continued running.

“Hey! You’re leaving me behind? After all the time we’ve spent traveling together? Don’t you think that’s a little heartless?”

Jax shouted desperately.

‘Well, you’re wearing boots. If you sacrifice one shoe, you should be able to shake it off. Worst case, you’ll lose a leg—if you have the guts to cut it off yourself.’

Aidan didn’t look back.

Without Jax, his concentration seemed to sharpen. Perhaps it was the hesitation he felt when Jax was with him that had slowed him down—it didn’t feel right to catch her while Jax was around.

What reassured him most was that she didn’t want to be caught by Jax. He had worried that she might run to him gratefully, but instead, she had hidden behind him. That alone made Aidan’s heart swell.

Though the intruder had interrupted them and they hadn’t had a proper conversation, at least she hadn’t run from him—even if she ran from Jax.

He recalled the way she had blushed and been conscious of him before Jax showed up.

He wanted to catch up to her, see that look again, feel her warmth, and finish their interrupted conversation.

Following her trail with practiced ease, he finally spotted Brody again.

“Bri!”

Brody turned slightly, saw him, and startled—then began to run even faster.

‘Damn it.’

A breathless chase began.

‘What is this?’

As Aidan watched her while chasing, he finally realized what had been causing the sense of unease he’d felt during the pursuit.

The plants were moving—as if alive—seemingly trying to protect her.

In truth, they were growing and retracting rapidly, but to Aidan, it looked as though they were consciously moving to shield her.

“Don’t follow me!” Brody cried out, nearly gasping.

“Why are you running away?” Aidan shouted in frustration.

He stared incredulously at a massive wall of foliage that had suddenly grown in front of him, then drew a dagger.

Slashing through the thick underbrush, sharp branches and leaves scraped his skin, leaving cuts all over, but he didn’t care.

Just as he neared the end of the thicket, he saw her again in the distance.

She had stopped running. Brody was no longer turned away; she stood facing him directly.

Relieved, Aidan was about to run forward when he stopped short.

A massive chasm separated them.

It was so deep, darkness pooled below, making it impossible to gauge how far down it went.

The distance across was roughly twenty meters. Aidan stared across at Brody with bewildered eyes.

‘How did she even get across that?’

He turned his head, checking the width of the ravine. Though the end seemed visible, it was too far to loop around in time—Brody would have long escaped by then.

“Bri…”

He bit his lip and murmured. From across the void, Brody responded.

“You know my name, Your Highness. But that’s not it, is it?”

Aidan fell silent at her cold voice. He didn’t know what more to say.

Brody continued.

“Why are you chasing me? To capture a spy?”

“A spy? What could you have possibly done?”

“Didn’t Lord Jax tell you everything? That I was one of them, and I…”

“You didn’t poison me.”

At the word poison, Brody flinched. So, he really did know everything.

It wasn’t her who had done it—it was the former Brody. But now, she was Brody.

And the consequences of those actions would fall squarely on her shoulders.

Aidan frowned at her phrasing—”one of them”—and pressed further.

“Why didn’t you kill me? You had so many chances. I ate and drank everything you gave me without suspicion.”

“You’re not blaming me for not killing you, are you?”

“I’m asking why.”

Brody bit her lip and stayed silent. She had no way to explain it.

“I don’t want to answer. Go back, Your Highness.”

With that, she turned her body firmly away.

A spy sent by the imperial faction to assassinate the Grand Duke—and the Grand Duke, once her enemy.

Even when he hadn’t known this in the past, no future between them had seemed possible. Now, even more so.

‘It’s best not to desire what can’t be.’

And if one must stop desiring, the cleanest way is to cut it off coldly.

That way, the pain is at least a little more bearable.

As Brody turned away, Aidan called after her.

“Bri, just answer me one thing. Did you run away because…”

He paused, grinding his teeth, then forced the words out.

“…because you hate me?”

Brody’s steps stopped.

‘Hate you…?’

Of course not. How could she?

She’d tried to ignore it, but she knew his feelings for her.

His careful kindness, gentle gaze, innocent smile, and the heat of his touch—all of it.

She had only kept a distance because she believed she couldn’t accept it.

As she hesitated, Aidan made up his mind.

He swallowed hard, then spoke calmly.

“Brody, I want you.”

He unfastened a small vial hanging from his neck.

At his resolute declaration, Brody instinctively turned around, her heart trembling.

“Ack!”

He tossed the vial into the ravine. It arced through the air and disappeared into the darkness.

“Why did you throw it away?!”

Brody looked on in dismay.

She’d worked so hard to make that medicine.

She could handle pain and endure wounds—but harming herself had been terrifying. Still, she had made it because he needed it. Her own blood…

“I don’t want you because of that.”

With those words, he turned away.

After about twenty steps, he turned again, unfastening the belt that held his sword.

He laid the long sword down.

‘The ground is uneven and the run-up is short… this is going to be rough.’

He gripped a dagger in his hand and steadied his breath.

“Your Highness, are you insane?!”

Maybe. Maybe he was.

His heart wouldn’t be pounding this wildly if he weren’t.

So many things awaited him, yet all he could see was Brody.

It was your life to take, and yet you didn’t take it. So once more, let me stake it on you.

As Brody screamed, Aidan sprinted forward. At the edge of the cliff, he kicked off with all his strength and launched into the air.

In his shaking vision, he saw Brody’s pale face.

She was staring at him directly, not looking away.

But in the next moment, her image began to rise.

‘Damn it! Not enough!’

His vision dropped below the edge of the opposite side.

As the cliff wall rushed toward him, Aidan drove his dagger into the rock with all his might.

CRACK!

A violent clash of metal and stone echoed through the chasm.

“Your Highness!”

Brody ran to the edge and dropped to her knees, peering down.

She saw Aidan barely hanging onto the wall with his dagger.

“What are you doing?!”

The moment their eyes met—

Crack.

The section of wall where his dagger was lodged crumbled. The soil had been damp and loose.

Aidan tried to react, but his body began tipping backward—his head now farther from the wall.

Nothing was within reach.

“Your Highness!!”

Brody’s wide, panicked eyes saw Aidan falling downward.

She reached out in desperation.

Then—

Whish! Thorny vines shot out from the cliff wall.

Aidan, watching the vines chase after him like they were alive, stretched his arm out with all his strength.

But it wasn’t enough.

The vines couldn’t catch up to the speed at which he was falling.

And so, Aidan’s body vanished into the dark void.

“No!”

Brody’s scream tore through the chasm.

“No!”

And then—another scream erupted. The same words, but in a low, thunderous voice.

“Brody!”

He saw her leap off the cliff and plunge after him.