After Putting the Slayer of the Night to Sleep, I Ran Away - Chapter 77

“I can’t possibly face them like this.”

Ayla quickly scanned her surroundings.

Then she picked up a sturdy-looking branch and, in her other hand, a large stone.

“Even if I die here, I won’t die for nothing.”

Ayla, having firmly resolved, took a deep breath and stared straight ahead.

It was at that moment she decided that if the bear reappeared, she would at least die avenging the hawk and the wolf.

“Ayla!”

An familiar face appeared with a hurried call.

Leo, running with ragged breaths, was reflected in Ayla’s eyes.

“Leo…?”

“Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

Leo, who approached urgently, knelt on one knee.

He appeared with a pale complexion, looking exhausted, and the sleeve of the arm he extended towards her was stained with blood that had not yet dried.

“I’m sorry I’m late.”

Tears welled up again at the warm touch that enveloped her cheek.

He sighed and gently chided her upon belatedly noticing the branch and stone clutched in her hand.

“It’s alright, relax your grip.”

Only then did the branch and stone transfer to his hands.

Ayla then grabbed his arm and began to babble incoherently.

“The hawk is hurt. It got hurt trying to save me. And the wolf is somewhere around here.”

“It’s alright. I dealt with the bear, and Wolf is safe too.”

Leo embraced Ayla, who was flustered, and slowly patted her back.

“Really? But this one…”

“Thanks to you carrying it, Wiltus is also fine. I just need to send it back. Then it will recover…”

As if to show her, he released one arm and picked up Wiltus from the ground.

Then, after looking at the hawk with a complicated gaze for a moment, he placed it over his shadow and commanded,

“You’ve worked hard. Go back now.”

In an instant, the hawk’s form seemed to be sucked into the shadow and disappear.

As Ayla’s tear-filled eyes widened, Leo opened his lips to explain.

“See? They are my familiars. They are not ordinary beasts, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

She didn’t know what they were, but she understood that the hawk and the wolf were fine.

Ayla murmured with great relief.

“Ah! Thank goodness, thank goodness.”

Her heart was put at ease.

Then, a sudden wave of fatigue washed over her.

Leaning her head into his comforting embrace, Ayla lost consciousness.

Tadak tadak. The sound of dry firewood burning filled the quiet space.

As the warm air rising from the fireplace gradually pushed away the cold air, a cozy warmth soon spread.

“Mmm…”

Ayla groaned, furrowing her brow, and slowly opened her eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling came into view. As she stared blankly, a low voice drifted into her ears.

“Are you awake?”

Following the voice, she turned her head and saw him.

Leo, standing by the window where the soft moonlight streamed in, looking at her.

“Your Highness!”

Her voice was terribly hoarse.

Her eyes, swollen from crying so much, seemed to narrow her vision by half.

He let out a light sigh and slowly approached, bathed in the flickering light of the fireplace.

Ayla, trying to sit up, winced at the large and small pains that overwhelmed her.

Her whole body ached as if she had been beaten.

As she endured the pain, taking deep breaths, Leo, who had approached unnoticed, gently supported her shoulder.

“Don’t push yourself. Lean here. That’s it.”

He placed a cushion behind her back and Ayla, feeling much more comfortable, finally looked around.

“Where is this?”

“It’s a cabin used by the hunting grounds keepers. I’m glad I remembered I’d been here before.”

“I see…”

“It was too far to get to the townhouse, so we came here. I thought it would be best for you to rest for now.”

So it ended up like this.

Ayla let out a small sigh, thinking she had caused trouble again.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ve caused trouble again.”

“You’re talking nonsense again.”

Ayla, trailing off at his gruff reply, hesitated and then spoke.

“Then thank you. For coming when I needed you most, again.”

Leo said with a displeased look.

“If you have the energy to thank me, check your condition. Where does it hurt?”

“I’m fine. I’m not seriously injured. Ah.”

As Ayla moved her body around, she groaned and clutched her left ankle.

Leo, observing her reaction, immediately clicked his tongue and sat down on the bed.

“Let me see.”

Leo carefully lifted her ankle and examined it.

Ayla, flustered, tried to pull her foot away, but she couldn’t remove her ankle, which was already held.

“It’s swollen.”

“I must have injured it when I twisted my ankle a couple of times while running away.”

Leo gently pressed her ankle. Ayla flinched in pain and wiggled her toes, and Leo let go of her ankle with relief.

“It’s not broken.”

“Really? That’s a relief…”

“Yes, it is. If your bone had been broken, you would have fainted again the moment you received treatment.”

Ayla flinched at his words, teasing her by remembering her embarrassing past.

She recalled the memory of fainting when her arm, injured by a lycan’s claw, was treated.

“Don’t tease me.”

“Why is that teasing? It’s natural to faint if it hurts too much.”

Ayla, pouting at his clearly teasing demeanor, slowly pouted her lips.

“I really thought I was going to die.”

“……”

“What would be the problem even if I was injured enough to faint? If it weren’t for Your Highness’s friends, I would have become bear food by now.”

Recalling the bear’s rough breathing, her shoulders trembled.

“Your Highness’s friends, the hawk and the wolf. What happened to them?”

To Ayla’s question, still unable to let go of her worry, Leo rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

“You won’t be at ease unless you see it for yourself.”

“What?”

“Watch closely. Don’t be surprised.”

He stood up and stood in front of her.

Then, pointing to his shadow as if to show her, he murmured softly.

“Wolf.”

In an instant, the shadow rippled, and a foreleg with gray fur shot out.

A wolf, emerging from his shadow, was etched into Ayla’s widening eyes.

“This… that…”

“My familiar.”

“Familiar…?”

“Yes. Its name is Wolf.”

“Wolf…”

Ayla uttered the name as if in a trance and reached out her hand to Wolf.

Wolf, approaching slowly, licked the back of her hand.

“Wolf. Thank you so much for earlier.”

Ayla, with a trembling voice, expressed her gratitude and looked up at Leo.

“May I hold it?”

“…Yes.”

As Ayla’s face lit up and she cautiously extended her arms, Wolf meekly offered its neck.

Leo, watching the scene, clicked his tongue. Huh.

Wolf’s tail was wagging from side to side.

Had he ever seen that thing wag its tail since it became his familiar…?

Leo, tilting his head for a moment, sighed and summoned the next familiar.

“Wiltus.”

“Hawk!”

Ayla’s eyes widened at Wiltus’s appearance, and she embraced the hawk without regard for the pain in her ankle.

Stroking the hawk, which was nestled calmly in her arms, Ayla said, on the verge of tears.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I will never forget your kindness.”

Leo, watching her, pointed out with displeasure.

“I was the one who sent them.”

“Thank you to you too, Your Highness!”

“And I was the one who dealt with the bear cub instead of Wolf, who was struggling.”

“Was it? That’s a relief.”

What’s a relief about that? Leo grumbled inwardly and sent Wolf and Wiltus back.

Would Ayla ever imagine that the moment Wiltus was injured, he himself would suffer internal injuries?

In any case, thanks to her, Wiltus’s death was prevented, so it was a relief, if anything.

“Now, an explanation is needed.”

“What?”

“What happened?”

Leo, not intending to let it slide, pressed for details, and Ayla slumped her shoulders in embarrassment.

“…I just. I got lost.”

“How? Vivian said you weren’t in the stands.”

“I went out to follow the falconry.”It’s Shuelle Everett again. Your sister’s doing.”

At his certainty, Ayla gave an awkward laugh.

Indeed. This time it was really too much.

If she hadn’t just cut the thread, she would have thought of it as mere spite and let it go…

“Please pretend you don’t know, Your Highness. I will repay this debt.”

At her request, Leo shrugged his shoulders and asked back.

“Why ‘Your Highness’ again?”

“What?”

“Your title. I think you called me Leo in the forest earlier.”

“……”

Ayla’s lips closed.

Well, she had been too desperate then.

But still, it was a bit to call him, the prince, by his name.

As she pondered, Leo’s question was added.

“Can’t you call me that from now on too?”

Ayla blinked her large eyes at his earnest request.

If her memory served her right, this was already the second time he had asked her to call him by his name.

If he wanted it, was there any reason not to?

Of course, it would be difficult in front of other people.

Having made up her mind, Ayla nodded awkwardly.

“Only when it’s just the two of us.”

At her conditional permission, Leo’s eyes curved with satisfaction.

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