TCCIO 15

Chapter 15. Shouldn’t Have Tried That

Delia, who had been caught by Aaron, tensed her arm to escape.

“Are you not going to let go right now?”

Aaron sighed as he looked at Delia, who struggled to free herself. Despite gently holding her wrist, she was using full force in her arm. What if the stitched wound reopened? It seemed like it was time to end this game.

“Miss Prisoner. That’s enough for today. Drop the gun!!”

“You think this is a game?”

“I want to keep playing too, but you’re a patient. We’ll stop here for today.”

“This isn’t play.”

Even though her assassination attempt had failed, Delia showed no sign of being exhausted. She kept coming at him, not backing down at all. If he left her like this, she might stay up all night muttering about trying again. She needed sleep and rest to recover. Aaron gently stroked her wrist and tried to calm her.

“Okay, okay. Let’s say it’s not a game.”

“I seriously attacked you.”

“I know. Don’t get angry. That’s bad for your healing.”

“I tried to kill you.”

“Yes. I was so scared. You really meant it. Are we good now?”

Delia exhaled in disbelief.

“Ha… unbelievable.”

There was no trace of fear in Aaron’s relaxed breath — nothing like a man who had just barely escaped assassination. Delia looked up at him, her expression incredulous. The mischievous glint in his softly curved eyes sapped all the murderous intent out of her. It only made her own serious effort feel foolish.

“This is the first time being taken seriously has felt this annoying.”

“Anyway, it’s dangerous. Hand over the gun.”

Aaron carefully removed her weapons one by one. He took the gun and pushed it aside, then pulled out a hidden dagger clutched tightly in her hand and dropped it under the table. It was like taking dangerous toys away from a child — strong, but gentle. Then, he lifted her wrist and inspected it thoroughly. The rope marks hadn’t even healed properly, and he gently rubbed it to see if a bruise had formed.

“Don’t push yourself. You’re still not fully recovered. You’ll just hurt yourself.”

Aaron gathered both of Delia’s hands and held them in one of his. With his other hand, he swept back her hair, which was giving off a faint glow even in the dark. He softly straightened her messy hair, disheveled from her struggles. It was like handling a delicate sugar sculpture — too precious to eat, too tempting to leave, and likely to melt upon touch. Delia’s stiffened body slowly relaxed under his sweet touch.

“Worried about me? If I succeed, you’ll be the one hurt.”

Delia tried to speak firmly to preserve her dignity, but there was no strength in her voice. Aaron noticed the change in her tone and continued calmly.

“Impossible.”

At some point, Aaron’s large hand moved down her slender neck, gently touching her wound. He checked whether the bandages had come loose or if the wound had reopened from all the motion.

“What if I do succeed?”

“There’s no way you will.”

Delia furrowed her brow as she surrendered her hands to him. It irritated her how he checked her wounds more thoroughly than his own. It seemed like the injuries she inflicted hadn’t been a threat to him at all. Feeling unjustly wronged, she pouted.

“Maybe I failed today, but tomorrow could be different.”

Aaron, who was inspecting her arm, looked at her curiously.

“You’re going to try again tomorrow?”

“Of course. I’ll keep trying until I escape.”

Aaron chuckled as he looked at his prisoner. She talked back without missing a beat, but her arms were limp in his grasp. Feeling her energy subside, he finally let her go.

“Sure. Try all you want. Sounds fun.”

“It’s not for fun.”

“Right. You’re serious. Still, let’s stop for today.”

Aaron gently stroked her hair again, suppressing his regret. The more he got to know her, the more curious he became. But she was still a patient, and needed rest.

“You need sleep. Rest up so you can try assassinating me again tomorrow.”

“Just wait. I’ll succeed and make you regret it so much you won’t be able to breathe.”

“Will I really have anything to regret? Go ahead and try. If you make me regret it, I’ll do whatever you want.”

At his playful words, Delia turned her head away harshly to avoid his hand. This strange commander clearly saw her attacks as nothing more than the stings of a Lilliputian arrow — small and harmless. No matter how hard she resisted or attacked with all her might, it had no effect on him. Realizing the overwhelming difference in strength, Delia closed her eyes, exhausted.

“What do I do with you?”

Aaron stared at her, thinking for a moment, then gently scooped her up. Delia, startled by the sudden lift, began to flail.

“Ah! What are you doing? Put me down. I’ll walk on my own.”

“I’m afraid you’ll try to run.”

“I won’t run until I kill you. I said put me down!”

“I’d actually prefer that. Running is scarier than you attacking me. After all the trouble I went through to catch you, I’d rather you attack like this.”

With a teasing tone, Aaron laid Delia down on the bed. Her assassination attempt had come to a pathetic end, returning them to square one. As if nothing had happened, everything went back to its place.

“Commander.”

Except for him. In the dreamy stillness of the dark, Delia’s cold voice drifted through.

“Why are you lying next to me?”

“I tried sleeping in the chair. Too uncomfortable.”

Aaron grumbled and lay down next to her. The shift of weight on the bed reached Delia, making her jolt up in horror.

“Then I’ll go sleep in the chair.”

But in an instant, he held her shoulder and pulled her back down.

“You’re still a patient. You need to rest properly to heal.”

“This is less comfortable. Sleeping together isn’t something a prisoner and a commander should do.”

“Then stop sneaking around. I let you go, and you just wander around trying to kill me.”

“Then tie me up with rope. Anything’s better than this — we’re enemies!”

Aaron held her wrist tightly again.

“This is how I’ll tie you.”

If he tied her up, the bruises on her wrist would worsen… If he left her alone, she’d sneak around all night trying to kill him. For Aaron, this was the best solution.

“Don’t think of me as a person. Just a rope. A rope keeping a prisoner in place.”

Even as Delia struggled to free herself, Aaron simply closed his eyes as if nothing was happening. Delia stared blankly at his peaceful face.

God. This crazy commander. She was being held by a man who believed he was the rope.

Warm sunlight poured over the mountains of Tarence, where slow hoofbeats echoed. Aaron gently surveyed the area, savoring the faint scent of Delia carried on the forest wind. What should he feed his prisoner?

His sharp eyes scanned for game as he rode slowly. According to the army medic, Delia was severely weakened. Eating well would speed up her healing and help her regain strength to resist infection. Following that advice, Aaron brought her on a hunt.

Sway. While Aaron looked around briefly, Delia’s body swayed like a leaf. His arms instinctively tightened to hold her in place. Who knew how many times she had nearly fallen, and he’d had to catch her?

Despite riding on enemy horseback, Delia had dozed off in his arms, peacefully bobbing her head.

“Tsk tsk. You should’ve just slept at night instead of trying to fight me.”

Aaron clicked his tongue as he looked at the prisoner asleep in his arms. He’d released her, and she immediately ran around with a gun, trying to assassinate him. As a result, she was now held by the wrist, sleeping.

Since then, she’d grumbled endlessly about being caught, how crazy it was, and how the “insane rope” was hurting her wrist… but now, here she was, sleeping soundly in his arms.

Her soft, steady breathing mixed with the forest scent and brushed against Aaron’s chest. As he smiled quietly and rode on, Dyke approached.

“Commander. There’s a deer ahead.”

“Shh. Let it go for now.”

Lucky deer. It owed its life to the sleeping prisoner.

Just what was this prisoner?

Aaron thought back to last night as he looked at the scratch Delia left. She clearly trained hard — no excess fat, sharp reflexes. Skilled with a gun, too — if he hadn’t removed the gunpowder in advance, it could’ve been dangerous.

She didn’t cower in front of armed soldiers, and even bossed the commander around. And then there were those fiercely loyal subordinates still lingering near her.

He thought capturing her would give him answers, but being this close only deepened the mystery. That she could trouble him this much — she was a remarkable prisoner.

His breath stirred her golden hair.

The rhythmic hoofbeats echoed quietly through the forest trail. A gentle wind rustled past them. Sunlight filtering through the trees shimmered like golden coins. As Aaron rode at a relaxed pace, his brow furrowed slightly.

“Miss Prisoner. Stop groping.”

At his sudden voice, Delia’s hand — which had been wandering near his waist — froze. Slowly, she opened her tightly shut eyes and looked around.

“Didn’t anyone teach you that provoking a man like this is dangerous?”

His low voice reverberated from his body to her heart.

“Tch.”

Only then did Delia open her eyes and pull her hand away. She pouted and rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.

“I was just half-asleep. It was an unconscious act.”

After barely sleeping all night, she’d started nodding off once morning came. She had followed him reluctantly on the hunt, but sleep quickly overtook her. She only closed her eyes for a moment, but somehow ended up falling asleep leaning against him.

His steady heartbeat had felt so peaceful she unconsciously hugged his waist. Since he didn’t react, Delia had grown bolder and kept pretending to sleep, subtly moving her hand — searching for any hidden weapons.

“You think I can’t tell the difference between a sleepy hug and deliberate groping?”

At her obvious lie, Aaron let out a chuckle.