Ronée was shocked by his words. She could sense that the moment she knew wanted to avoid approaching.
“Being alone is temporary.”
Wait a minute. What Ronée had said one day, Nabel slightly changed it and returned it. Just as he was reassured by that calm voice telling him his humiliation was only temporary, he hoped Ronée would be reassured too.
He had matured a lot from when he first came.
“Please don’t forget me.”
‘I’ll definitely come back here and save you.’
On his wrists, traces of scarring were visible. It was where the handcuffs had been. He didn’t care if wounds appeared there again. He was determined to achieve his goal.
“… Are you leaving?”
Even with knowing he would leave one day, Ronée wanted to hold on to him.
‘I don’t want to be alone again.’
Unaware of their touching hands, her suppressed thoughts were revealed to him
“Alone, for only a short time.” Nabel held her hand tightly.
He whispered firmly, “I will definitely come back.”
‘So don’t forget me.’ His eyes shuttered close.
“… Nabel.” Ronée muttered his name as she bowed her head
“…I will name this fox, Bell.”
‘Named after you.’
It meant he would never to be forgotten. These were the most special months of her life.
“Thank you.”
Nabel brushed off the dirt from her robe. Her hair, slightly messy from laying on the floor, was the color of dried rose petals. He held the pale pink tendrils of hair between his fingertips for a long time.
“I’ll be back, for sure.”
Where would Nabel go? Though she was curious, Ronée didn’t ask. She didn’t even know how much time she had left, but as soon she received a reply from the temple, she would be erased from this world.
Then we will never meet again. She closed her eyes.
Her eyes flew open at the the soft touch on her forehead. She wouldn’t allow a kiss on the lips, so Nabel’s lips touched Ronée’s forehead briefly and fell.
With Ronée in his eyes as his last greeting, jumped out the window just like that.
Ronée closed her eyes.
‘Yes, just leave,’ Ronne thought as she watched him leave. Because this is not a happy place.
Thus, the special moment in her life came to an end.
*****
“The slave ran away?”
The countess laughed at Ronée.
“Even a slave wouldn’t want to serve someone cursed by the gods!”
“He didn’t want to be punished…”
Ronée did not respond to their words. Leaving would be a happy path for Nabel.
“… .”
After Nabel left, Ronée sat by the window every night wondering what he had done. Why did the knights treat him like an eyesore?
Knights and servants now gathered and chattered under the window free of Nabel presence.
It was a mansion that held something cursed. Some people even prayed before coming here. She heard their cruel words because of her habit of sitting by the window waiting for Nabel who was out there somewhere.
Bang!
Ryne slammed the window shut.
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
She sounded a little emotional. Ronée smiled at her.
“It’s okay.”
Fortunately, Ryne returned safely to Ronée’s side. To be precise, no one wanted to serve Ronée, so there were no other options.
In the end, they only needed to keep her alive until she was sent to the temple.
“….”
Bell, her fox, was wary of the outside so Ronée constantly held her.
“Take that demon-like thing to the temple immediately!” The Countess screamed when she saw Bell. But Bell was stronger than she thought.
Even when she used her magic until she fell down exhausted with a cracked voice, Bell never abandoned Ronée’s side.
‘Kyaang!’
It was as Nabel said, magic didn’t work on Bell. And since every sword passed through the fox as if cutting through the air, there was no way for the knights to use their skills.
‘….!’
And Bell had a special ability. Bell knew exactly what she wanted, as if reading her mind. Just like the time she fell over the railing; her fox knew exactly what she wanted and saved her.
When you don’t want to fall off the railing, make a wish not to fall. When asked to protect Ryne, it protected Ryne, who almost got scalded with hot water.
But Ronée didn’t know what the limits of its abilities were.
“I must kill that evil creature somehow!’
However, what was certain was that no matter how hard the Count’s knights tried, they could not harm Bell. Thanks to that, Ronée became a little more comfortable.
As comfortable as she could until heretic inquisitor came to visit her from the temple, or until her tormenters disappeared.
People in the mansion were cautious around her when they saw Bell. If they tried to attack Ronée, it would bite them, and like the demonic things, divine magic didn’t work.
When the outside presence of the others disappeared, Bell stretched its body in response to Ronée’s pats. It was like a friend Nabel gave to her.
Smiled openly, she thought, ‘No one will come from the temple anytime soon.’
Ryne combed her hair. She must have suffered Ronée, but Ryne remained the same. Ronée was both grateful and apologetic for that.
She didn’t know what would happen to Ryne when she was taken to the temple.
“They say there’s trouble at the temple.”
“Trouble?” Ronée eyes widen.
“The heretics have attacked the temple.”
Ronée didn’t know if she should be happy or sad. The temple, which had already heard of her fox and classified it as a demon, were waiting to see if it would be classified as dangerous. So, her disposal was postponed indefinitely.
“Keep the demon imprisoned and monitor it.”
That was the only message from the temple. She became a person who seemed to be there but wasn’t.
A being that everyone hated and wanted to disappear.
*****
And that’s how the next 10 years passed.
Meanwhile, a disturbance occurred on the continent.
And the center of the upheaval was the Western Continent.
CHAPTER 6
Start from the beginning
