Chapter 25: I Shaved, and Then I Picked Up...
Chapter 25: Chapter 25: I Shaved, and Then I Picked Up...
"Hand over the merchant guild... or your daughter... hehehe..."
"No! Don’t hurt her!"
A whisper, cold as a snake. Her father’s desperate cries. The instruments of torture on her body, a pain that felt all too real...
All of it coalesced into her deepest nightmare, coiling tightly around Reya’s heart and making her scream without a sound.
"No! Don’t—!!"
The girl’s eyes flew open. Cold sweat soaked the messy red hair at her temples. The lingering palpitations from the nightmare made her tremble uncontrollably, and her rapid gasps caused her full chest to heave violently.
Before her was a darkness so complete she couldn’t see her own hand. Only the cold, hard ground beneath her reminded her that this was no dream.
It seemed to be a cell, but not quite. It was more like a cave.
Then, a thought surfaced.
’I... I’m not dead...?’
The girl subconsciously raised a hand to touch her neck.
It was smooth and slightly cool, just as it had always been. Not a single scar.
’But I’m sure I killed myself!’
A wave of immense confusion washed over her. She instinctively wanted to wrap her arms around herself for a bit of warmth, but as her arms moved, they only brushed against a coarse, earth-smelling piece of fabric that barely covered her.
In the dim light, the young woman felt around her body and sat up in horror. She realized her skin was directly exposed to the cold air. Her previously well-tailored dress was gone, and her entire body was wrapped in nothing but this single, filthy rag!
"!!!"
An intense sense of shame, like a cold tide, surged up along with her earlier fear, clutching Reya’s throat so tightly she almost cried out.
But in the end, a thread of reason held her back, telling her she had to stay calm.
’My situation is unclear. I absolutely cannot make any unnecessary noise!’
But the girl couldn’t stop herself from wondering: Where was she? What had happened? Who had done this to her?!
Amidst the suffocating atmosphere, a mixture of shock, shame, and boundless terror, a flickering speck of orange-red light caught her eye.
In a corner of the stone wall a short distance away, a small campfire was burning, weakly but steadfastly driving away the chill seeping in from the cave entrance.
But what made her heart stop was what the firelight revealed—the silhouette of a person. His back was to her, and he was kneeling by the fire. His broad shoulders were covered in heavy leather armor, and he was as silent as a mountain rock.
A man!
A strange man, sharing the darkness with her!
Reya’s mind instantly exploded.
’An enemy? Another kidnapper? Or... some other, worse possibility?’
She didn’t dare to think too deeply about it.
Instinct urged her to move, to take this chance while he didn’t seem to have noticed she was awake—to escape!
Escape from this place!
Her survival instinct overrode the dizziness and weakness. She gritted her teeth and struggled to push her limp, powerless body upright.
But when she finally got to her feet, her treacherous legs felt as heavy as lead, and she saw stars. She took just one step before a powerful wave of dizziness washed over her.
Reya staggered and pitched forward, her slight frame slamming hard onto the cold stone floor. The rag wrapped around her slid from her shoulders, exposing a large patch of bare skin.
The dull pain of bone hitting stone and the biting cold instantly brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan.
"Ugh!"
In the silent cave, the wretched, loud sound was like a clap of thunder.
Through her dizziness, Reya saw the figure with his back to her move suddenly.
’It’s over!’
The girl’s heart nearly stopped. Fear instantly froze the blood in her veins.
The man, as solemn as a mountain, slowly stood up and turned around.
Bathed in the flickering firelight, his leather-armored frame, as solid as a mountain, approached with an invisible and despair-inducing pressure. His shadow completely enveloped her as she lay on the ground.
"It’s... It’s over..."
Reya closed her eyes in despair, curling into a ball. Her last shred of hope vanished.
’This presence, this build... He’s no ordinary Warrior!’
’Could he be... a Knight in service to some great personage?!’
’To be captured by someone like that... forget escaping, even killing myself would be a luxury!’
’Father... the family... It’s all over...’
A colossal despair, like a cold boulder, crashed down on her heart, and the young woman’s taut nerves finally snapped.
"Sob... sob..."
Uncontrollable, helpless, and desolate sobs, mixed with indignant grief from the humiliation and terror for her future Destiny, broke past her clenched teeth.
Large tears rolled down her cheeks, dripping onto the cold stone surface.
Through her blurry, tear-filled vision, Reya saw the terrifying figure slowly crouch down in front of her.
He drew closer, and the side of his face illuminated by the fire finally came into focus. It wasn’t the dignified, cold, or ferocious visage she had imagined.
Instead, it was the face of a young man, with a certain resolute quality to it.
What stunned her even more, however, was that the left side of his cheek was cleanly shaven, revealing a youthful glow, while the right side was still covered in a large, messy patch of beard. And in his hand, he held a small, gleaming dagger.
It was obvious now: the man had been kneeling by the fire, shaving.
The utterly absurd turn of events made Reya’s crying stop abruptly, turning into a short, confused hiccup.
She even forgot that she was barely clothed and exposed to his gaze. Her tear-rimmed eyes held nothing but blankness and astonishment.
’Wh-what is going on?’
’Why is he shaving?’
As the red-haired girl stared at him in a daze, the young man spoke.
"Are you all right?"
Jon asked with an expression of earnest concern.
But in truth, as he looked at Reya, whose face was a mess of tears and snot, making her look a little homely, he found it both amusing and novel.
’So the majestic Flame-haired Princess, who always acts like such a strong woman, can make a face like this too?’
’The contrast is just a bit too much.’
’But it makes sense, I suppose. She hasn’t been tempered by those future events yet. Right now, she’s just an Ordinary noble girl.’
For a girl her age to suddenly encounter such a frightening situation, it was impressive she hadn’t completely broken down.
As for Reya, faced with this unexpectedly gentle question, she was stunned for a long moment before coming to her senses.
The young man before her didn’t seem like some vicious criminal. He spoke politely and hadn’t laid a hand on her. It seemed... he wasn’t the type of person you couldn’t reason with?
But she didn’t let her guard down. She subtly tightened the coarse cloth around herself, trying to cover up more securely, and replied cautiously.
"Thank you for your concern, Sir..."
"Could you please tell me where this is? And who are you?"
She was unfailingly polite, her posture perfectly proper.
Jon chuckled to himself but didn’t reply right away.
"Hmm... That’s a bit of a long story..."
He rubbed his half-shaven chin, the corners of his mouth lifting into a slight smile.
"But, my lady, please allow me to finish shaving first. Then I’ll explain everything."
"It’s been a long journey. It would be quite rude of me to appear before you like this."