I Unintentionally Cured the Grand Duke’s Insomnia - Chapter 157

79. — Because I Like You (1)

Not even a sliver of light could reach this place. I collapsed onto the ground, surrounded by total darkness, unable to see even my own hand in front of my face.

〈 Let’s not move. Honestly, my legs are shaking too badly to take another step. 〉

In stories and movies, the main characters always stumbled around in total darkness, but I really wasn’t interested in doing that myself. I had already walked too far, and my legs felt like dead weight.

〈 It’s not that Irene is heavy. I just have zero leg strength. 〉

I massaged my sore calves while glancing around. Seeing nothing but complete darkness around me only confirmed my suspicion.

〈 This has to be a dream. 〉

I put on a brave face, acting like I wasn’t scared, when suddenly the last thing I remembered before passing out flashed into my mind.

Cain.

When he turned the corner and pulled me into his arms, his face looked like he was about to cry.

I thought he’d be relieved to see that I was alive, so why did he have that expression?

The look on his face wasn’t just relief at seeing me alive. How should I put it? It was like his face showed every emotion at once, and just looking at him made me feel like I might cry too.

〈 When I wake up, I’m definitely asking him why he looked at me like that. 〉

I intentionally made my voice sound cheerful, but right then, I noticed a bright light in the distance.

I jumped up and rushed toward the light, almost like I was hypnotized. The light felt gentle and warm, easing the heaviness from my body.

̊ · : * ✧ * : · ̊

One hundred and twenty-seven people in total.

Altogether, one hundred and twenty-seven people were involved in this incident, either directly or by knowing the truth and staying silent.

After helping Lyle lock up the remaining rebels in the castle’s dungeon, Abel rolled his stiff shoulders and let out a quiet sigh.

To be honest, even right up until the moment he returned to the castle, he wouldn’t have been surprised if someone had died. In war, having more people on your side was an even bigger advantage than most people realized. Therefore, the moment he realized the lord wasn’t on their side, the first thing he worried about was precisely that.

So, how many people were truly on our side?

“In that sense, Adelia’s contribution was significant this time.”

Even though he had no idea what Adelia had done to make that happen, if she hadn’t managed to put most of the people in the castle to sleep, things would have definitely taken a turn for the worse. No matter how skilled you were with a sword, protecting others while fighting was another challenge altogether.

“But seriously, how did she even do it?”

Honestly, even if someone had released sleeping gas into the air, it wouldn’t have worked this well. Abel had even started wondering if they were really asleep or if they were dead since not even a kick could wake them up. If it weren’t for a few of them snoring in their sleep…

Abel stretched his stiff body with a groan.

In any case, the situation had settled, and the tattoo beneath the lord’s collarbone revealed that he was a member of the guild ‘Obsidian,’ which he had secretly trained under the Marquess family.

Andre Jackson.

No one knew if that was his real name, but he had first appeared in Retinem five years ago.

Abel frowned as he recalled what the villagers and guards had told him.

Did that mean the marquis had been targeting Retinem this whole time? If so, how long had his brother known about it? He sighed, remembering how Cain had immediately recognized the obsidian emblem, even though he had never seen it before.

“Well, not like he ever tells me anything.”

Abel scratched the back of his head as he walked, when he noticed Irene sitting at the tea table in the courtyard. Seeing her absentmindedly tracing the rim of her teacup, deep in thought, he shrugged and made his way over to her.

“Why does our saintess look so gloomy again?”

He teased as he sat down across from Irene. Normally, she would’ve shot him a glare and told him to cut it out, but this time, she didn’t react at all.

“Irene?”

“…Huh? Oh, no, it’s nothing.”

Irene’s hesitant response made Abel narrow his eyes.

“Nothing at all?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing. So you don’t have to worry about it, Michael.”

Noticing his silence, Irene looked up.

Abel, who had momentarily frozen, quickly masked his expression before speaking to her.

“Alright, sure. If you say so, then I’ll take your word for it.”

“Michael?”

“But Irene, did you know this?”

“….?”

“You always say it’s nothing to me.”

The usual teasing expression on Abel’s face had disappeared.

Startled by the expression she had never seen before, Irene carefully searched his face before speaking.

“I’m sorry, Michael. But this time, it’s really nothing…!”

“So it’s nothing, and I don’t have to worry, but you still won’t tell me what it is?”

“Michael.”

Abel let out a quiet, bitter chuckle at the softness in her voice as she called his name. Looking at Irene, who was gazing at him with a worried expression, he smiled as if to reassure her.