IATAOTHKG | CHAPTER 60

[CHAPTER 60]

Bonsel Knight Hospital.

At the end of the ninth floor hallway, there were only two beds inside the largest patient room.

It was a room built for S-rank or higher Holy Knights and their exclusive healer to use together.

The hospital’s operating rule that had never once been broken since its establishment met its first exception today.

“Lady Winslet. As I told you, you must take absolute rest for the time being.”

“I understand. But… Doctor.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

Meyna, pale and drained, fiddled with the soft cotton patient gown.

She hesitated for a while before opening her mouth.

“Do I really have to be hospitalized?”

“…”

“I mean, do I have to be hospitalized here at Bonsel Knight Hospital?”

Director Goul pushed up his frameless glasses and sighed.

“My Lady.”

“Yes…”

“It has been exactly three hours since you arrived at this hospital.”

“I know.”

“Not three days. Three hours.”

“Yes.”

Meyna nodded like a student being scolded.

Biterion, sitting on the bed beside her, quietly held back a laugh at the sight.

“Asking if you must be hospitalized…”

Goul clicked his tongue.

“My Lady. Shall I explain again?”

“…”

“You have a fracture in your left ankle and the ligament in your right wrist is overstretched. The torn areas are visible even to your eyes, so I don’t need to list them one by one.”

“…”

“You must be hospitalized for a week. And you must refrain from any strenuous movement for at least three months.”

With the air of a kind grandfather dealing with a stubborn granddaughter, Goul sighed as he spoke.

Meyna opened her mouth with a frustrated look.

“I heard you, Doctor. I also heard that I have to take five doses of medicine a day. And that I must sleep a lot and eat a whole lot too. I heard everything. But what I mean is…”

“In other words.”

Goul snapped the chart shut.

“You want to know why you, who are not an ability-user, must be hospitalized at a Knight Hospital. That’s what you mean, isn’t it?”

Meyna nodded vigorously.

Goul looked at Biterion as if he was out of answers.

“You may go, Doctor.”

Biterion gave him a gentle smile.

“Then I’ll leave her in your care, Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

“You must also rest, Your Highness. You used a massive amount of mana. Your body won’t handle it easily.”

After giving his final reminder, Goul left the room.

Only Biterion and Meyna remained.

Meyna turned toward him with teary eyes.

“Your Highness. I’m sorry, but I just can’t believe it.”

Her eyes trembled like waves.

Awakening syndrome, they said.

They told her she might soon become a Holy Knight or a mage in a few months.

She had heard it three times—once from Biterion, once from Adonis on the train, and once from Doctor Goul.

Yet she couldn’t accept it.

“I understand.”

“Some people want to become ability-users, but most of them are fooled by the glamour.”

“…”

“But you’ve watched the life of a Holy Knight up close for years, haven’t you?”

“…”

“So it’s natural that you don’t want to accept this.”

The deep night edged toward dawn.

Moonlight poured brightly through the window.

Looking into Biterion’s violet eyes, glowing softly, she felt a quiet and warm comfort settle in her heart.

That was why unnameable emotions surged up in her chest.

He was simply too kind.

“I understand. For now… for now I understand.”

Trying to calm herself, Meyna steadied her stirring emotions.

Her tangled thoughts and the tears that threatened to fall—she didn’t want him to see any of it.

In truth, the thing weighing on her chest even more than awakening or hospitalization was Sir Lennox.

She didn’t know whether he was alive.

She tried not to show it around Biterion, but the thought that something might have happened to Sir Lennox made her heart drop again and again.

A long silence passed.

Thanks to Biterion’s quiet patience, Meyna finally gathered herself enough to ask what she wanted to ask.

“I understand everything, Your Highness.”

“What do you mean?”

“That it was you who burned the monster to ash and saved me. That you came because you saw me in danger.”

Biterion nodded, waiting calmly for her next words.

Choosing her words carefully, Meyna let out a small sigh.

“Let me be direct.”

“Go ahead.”

Biterion smiled faintly, as if he already knew the question.

“You told me, Your Highness, that you never want to use your ability.”

“That’s right.”

“And it’s only been a day since you said that.”

Though that day had felt like a month with the giant centipede, collapsing roads, and unexpected battle, it had still only been a single afternoon.

“You also said you had expectations of me. That maybe I could be the one person who could help you control your power.”

“Yes. I did.”

“But you also said I’m not strong enough.”

“Yes.”

“So you said you couldn’t trust me and couldn’t work with me.”

He had turned her down firmly and said he wouldn’t work as a Holy Knight for a while.

Yet not even a day later, he appeared again in front of her, wielding overwhelming power to save her life.

“Everything you said is true, My Lady. I had no intention of using my ability, and I didn’t plan to meet you again until you became strong enough.”

“…”

“But.”

The smile faded from Biterion’s face.

In a voice heavy with old exhaustion, he said,

“I keep seeing you.”

“…”

“I told you, didn’t I?”

He forced a weak smile.

Meyna nodded slowly.

Yes. He had told her.

He saw her as if she were a vision appearing in real time.

“I saw the moment you jumped off the train.”

“…”

“Knowing you might die, I couldn’t ignore it.”

Biterion’s brow creased slightly, unable to hide the pain behind it.

“I see…”

A deep guilt washed over Meyna.

I was only thinking of Sir Lennox…

When she grabbed Adonis’s gun and leapt off the train, she didn’t think of Biterion for a single moment.

He said he didn’t want to kill anyone ever again…

She wondered how she could express her apology in a way that carried its proper weight.

A heavy silence filled the room.

Then the door opened.

Meyna looked toward it without much thought, then froze.

“Sir Lennox.”

Sir Lennox stood in the doorway, still in his combat gear.

He looked like he had come straight from a brutal fight, battered beyond recognition.

“…Sir Lennox…”

But his gaze wasn’t on Meyna.

It was locked on Biterion.

His ocean-blue eyes had turned cold.