#59. Why Are You Undressed!
He instantly expanded his aura, tracing the presence of a single person. Smaller and lighter than him, yet every step steady and unwavering—this was the master of the palace. Unlike when his gaze wandered through the past, now his eyes shone sharp and precise, like a well-honed blade. In that moment, his figure vanished from where he had been.
“Ah… ah, I shouldn’t have come out.”
Olivia instinctively suppressed the curse that tried to slip past her lips. Dragging one foot, she leaned against the wall. Pressed against the cold surface like a cicada clinging to an old tree, she groaned as the pain rising from her heel shot through her, letting out a dry, bitter laugh. Why had she even bothered to come out? Well, until now, she had moved for reasons that seemed reasonable. Her heel was now a spectrum of bruised colors, turning nearly black, but she had treated it and swallowed enough painkillers that the discomfort was minimal.
Normally, she would get up at least once an hour while working, pacing around her desk; otherwise, the pain starting from her shoulders would spread to the back of her head, triggering a relentless headache. But having stayed seated due to her injured foot, her shoulders were beginning to ache, and unexpectedly, so were her hips. After a brief moment of hesitation, Olivia grabbed the armrest of the sofa and carefully rose to her feet.
‘It’s… okay?’
She wasn’t in nearly the same pain as before, when she could barely move. In fact, there was almost no pain at all. With slightly startled eyes, she looked down at her bandaged foot and muttered:
‘So, it really doesn’t lie…’
The painkiller she had taken a few hours ago had been prepared by the palace’s physician, with a little adjustment from Cryer. When Olivia had groaned in pain, her leg cramping from the rising pain in her heel, Cryer rolled the pill in his hand and spoke.
‘After experiencing war four times, you’d think you’d be used to pain.’
‘No way. Pain is still pain. And even after four wars… I was never captured or tortured. Back then, I wondered why I wasn’t taken prisoner, but thinking back, it makes sense. Why waste time torturing just me when they were exterminating everyone on the continent under the guise of purification?’
She added with a subtle expression, hard to describe:
‘Even in death, you’ve always ended it with one stroke.’
It was because of this that Cryer realized Olivia had almost no tolerance for pain and a remarkably low threshold. He finally spoke.
‘About the painkiller…’
He picked up another pill, rolling it in his hand.
‘Shall I make it a bit more effective?’
The suggestion was suspicious to the extreme; under normal circumstances, it would have been impossible to accept. Yet Olivia nodded readily. She trusted that Cryer would never harm her. They had made a slightly embarrassing oath—one that only the two of them would ever remember. Her hand itched, and she quickly parted her lips.
‘Fine. If it works better, I won’t refuse.’
Though she nodded, she didn’t have high expectations. After all, the man who didn’t remember the past probably wasn’t a doctor. If he had been, he must have been strong enough to conquer continents unnecessarily. Sure enough, Cryer carefully examined the pill, mixed a few ingredients without hesitation, and shook them. The previously opaque, multicolored, sticky pills soon turned transparent and clear after passing through his hands. Watching the process, Olivia blinked rapidly.
‘You know what you’re doing, right?’
‘I don’t remember exactly, but I combined them as best I could.’
Though the words sounded nonsensical, Olivia understood their meaning better than anyone. She shrugged; after all, she had decided to trust him completely, so there was no hesitation—only growing confidence.
‘Now, drink it.’
Olivia took the clear, transparent painkiller in the small vial and swallowed it without delay. Cryer, watching her, chuckled faintly.
‘Aren’t you a little suspicious? How can you just drink it so recklessly?’
‘I’m trusting… you.’
She licked the slightly bitter aftertaste with the tip of her tongue, spread her chest proudly, and pointed directly at him. Her small, smooth fingertip wavered near his chest, and his Adam’s apple twitched. Her clear, flawless blue eyes and full, confident red lips… oh, he wanted to bite that little finger immediately, but he restrained his desire. After all, he could probably devour the tiny princess whole. And she was like a highly alert rabbit right now. Remembering the small back walking quickly, ignoring him, Cryer concealed the surge in his dark-red eyes with practiced ease. The change was so swift that even Olivia, the only princess of the empire and future empress, didn’t notice. A slight twitch formed at the corner of Cryer’s lips—being with Olivia sometimes led him to unexpectedly discover traces of his past self, forgotten and unknown.
‘Huh… it doesn’t hurt.’
The throbbing pain that had been gnawing at her just moments ago vanished as if by magic. The painkiller he had mixed haphazardly was clearly more effective than the one left by the palace physician. Narrowing her eyes, Olivia alternated glances between him and the empty vial.
‘Come to think of it, even the way this bandage is wrapped… feels more comfortable than what the palace physician did… no, I’m not asking you to redo it.’
Before she could finish speaking, Cryer approached, knelt without hesitation, and reached for her ankle. Olivia frantically waved him off.
Looking up at him as he obediently released her ankle, Olivia asked:
‘Were you… a doctor, by any chance?’
She wore an expression that suggested she herself thought the question was a bit off. Cryer smirked and shook his head.
‘I think I’m more talented at killing than saving people.’
He grinned, revealing teeth, speaking words that couldn’t be denied. Feeling the cold wall against her back, Olivia sighed and muttered:
“What did you even do in your past?”
No doubt, the erased memories—or perhaps the erased history—of this man had not been smooth or ordinary. That a man with such a confident face and the strength to single-handedly destroy an empire had no recorded history was suspicious. Indeed, it was the most suspicious point. Records of Bolscheike had begun alongside the continent’s history. While Olivia hadn’t read everything, she had never come across anyone similar while studying her family’s history.
Moreover… while Cryer delved into Bolscheike’s records, Olivia didn’t stay idle. She summoned prominent historians to the palace and asked:
‘Was there ever a man capable of waging and ending a war against the entire continent single-handedly?’
The historians mentioned a few legendary figures and some of Bolscheike’s ancestors who could have appeared in legends. Yet none resembled Cryer. Their lives were well-documented, and no one comparable had died young at that age.
‘Not even early death, huh? If he’s that superhuman, aging probably stops at a certain point.’
Maybe the centuries of age difference wasn’t because he was from the past, but literally his actual age. If so, he wasn’t her grandfather, but a more distant ancestor… lost in idle thoughts, Olivia leaned forward to check her heel, waiting for the pain to subside.
“Ugh!”
Predictably, her hand slipped on the wall, and she lost balance. Judging that landing face-first on the smooth, hard floor was preferable to worsening her injured leg, she hugged it with her arms.
“Really… can’t take my eyes off you.”
Heat and a familiar scent rushed across her back as her flat stomach pressed against strong arms. With eyes still squeezed shut, Olivia tried to speak—then—drip, drip. Cold water suddenly fell onto the back of her neck, leaving her unable to form words.
“Ahh!”
Her soft cheek hairs bristled as she pressed against the solid wall—that is, Cryer’s equally solid chest. As her dry palm touched his warm skin, she gasped sharply, but no scream escaped her parted lips.
“Calm down.”
His voice, low and commanding, spilled over her, mingled with a rough edge. Olivia felt the water trickling down her neck, her shoulders shivering. Finally, with a faint sigh, Cryer helped her stand upright. She still couldn’t fully use one leg, so she kept her arms wrapped around her abdomen.
“You seemed to stay quietly in your office. Why come out?”
Olivia flapped her lips, then shouted:
“Why are you undressed!”
“I’m not undressed.”
“You are!”
Cryer pressed one arm to her sharp ear, raising an eyebrow.
