Attachment Knight - Chapter 14

“…Excuse me.”

“….”

“It looks like you need help.”

It was Radem.

He looked relaxed, his face still damp as if he’d just finished training at the training grounds and washed up. He carried his helmet and breastplate on one arm, and a towel draped over the other. The veins raised on his forearm were clear.

The skin exposed to the sunlight was a little more tanned than when I first saw him, and he looked healthy. It was better than my pale skin, like a sick person who’d never seen the sun.

He tilted his head to the side.

Only then did I realize he’d averted his gaze after seeing my unsightly swollen eyes and my hair tangled and stuck to my cheek. I considered fixing myself, then quit because it was annoying. It’s not like this is a place exposed to the public.

“If I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”

The worried look in his eyes wasn’t bad.

“I don’t need any help.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m just looking for someone.”

Radem glanced around briefly, noticed, and said, “I didn’t see Don Pisano nearby.”

“I know. He doesn’t come here. He says places where they train stud horses make him nauseous because the smell of sweat, dust, and blood mix together.”

But that was a complete lie.

Because Radem smells like fragrant soap.

“It doesn’t smell that bad. The inside was well managed.”

Radem loosened the towel draped over his arm and held it in his hand as he spoke. Somehow, it looked like an action meant to put the used towel away in front of my eyes.

“I took a wrong turn.”

“I’ll escort you back to the castle.”

The man who was about to carefully help me up flinched. The cause of the agitation that could make his pupils shake was my ugly outfit. I’d tied my waist tight with a robe, but maybe it got messed up while I ran, because my collar was open and my cleavage was severely exposed. Before I could pull my collar closed, he covered me with his cloak.

“Wrap yourself and follow me.”

After saying that, he strode ahead, then stopped again. This time, his displeased gaze went to my bare feet. I wasn’t badly hurt. It was just a scrape that stung a little, and the bleeding had stopped.

Radem let out a short sigh and offered his back.

“We need to hurry. If Don Pisano finds you, he might kill you.”

A little excited, I climbed onto his back and whispered, “This time, it really feels like I’m going to die.”

The man quickened his pace. He was so big that I looked like a bundle a porter carried on his shoulder. A wind carrying the scent of the garden struck my forehead. The body heat against me was warm. The air here no longer felt unfamiliar. If anything, I felt a little thrilled, like we were playing some secret game.

He moved us straight to the main castle at a speed I couldn’t manage.

“Should I call a maid for you?”

“No.”

“Your foot. You need to treat it.”

“It’s fine. I can handle this much myself. It doesn’t even hurt that much. More importantly, I have something to say.”

“If you leave a wound unattended, it’ll be a problem. You can talk while we treat it.”

Radem took a glass bottle of medicinal herbs from the shelf where puzzles and liquor bottles were scattered in a mess. He seemed skilled at treating wounds on his own too, because he immediately found a hemostatic herb among the tangled herbs.

“Change your clothes first while I refine it.”

I obediently complied. I took off the robe and changed into an outdoor dress. It was a cream-colored boat-neck dress with rounded, puffed shoulders and rose and vine patterns embroidered over the chest.

“See. It was just a small scrape, so there was no need to treat it.”

“Put your foot up.”

“….”

He carefully held my foot, pressed the hemostatic herb to it, and began wrapping it with a bandage. Every time his fingertips touched, it tickled and my toes curled. I clicked my tongue as if I couldn’t understand.

“Everyone treats me like I’m sickly. I’m a dancer. I’m the lead acrobat of the Lachilea Circus Troupe who performs on an aerial stage ten meters high, so why does everyone forget that? They just treat me like Don Pisano’s pretty doll, like an overpriced whore who doesn’t know her place. Because of them, sometimes I even forget what kind of person I am. What’s funny is none of those people actually knows me properly.”

I chattered nonstop while eating chocolate, and Radem focused on the treatment. As the sunlight slanted, my body grew even more languid. But if I fell asleep again like this, today would pass meaninglessly.

That couldn’t happen.

Because today is my birthday.

So I grabbed Radem as he was about to leave.

“That thing I wanted to say.”

“Please speak.”

“A birthday is a special day that comes only once a year, right? It has to be special. I’m the main character today.”

When I recalled Don Pisano’s warning that I couldn’t go anywhere outside the castle walls, a stubborn rebelliousness surged.

“So make today fun for me, Radem.”

“How would you like me to do that?”

“You’ll know when we go out.”

Radem looked down at me, who had stuffed my mouth full of chocolate like a childish kid. His doubt was brief. Without asking, he placed one hand at his chest and bowed his head gently.

“As you command, anywhere.”

***

Even though it wasn’t a holiday, the amusement park was crowded with visitors who’d gathered from everywhere. Being caught in the swarming crowd made me uncomfortable, but it also excited me.

“Why are you like this?”

“It feels like we’re out on a secret incognito outing.”

Right now, we were wearing masks and secretly strolling through the amusement park’s streets. What would happen if Don Pisano found out? Luckily, this year’s Spring of Omelas concept was a masquerade ball, so we didn’t stand out. Even though the weather was starting to get hot, people walked around with their faces hidden behind thick head masks, cloaks, hoods, and the like.

When we reached the shopping street where lively noise drifted, my heart pounded. Radem silently followed my steps, which clearly had a destination.

“Have you ever come this far? This is my first time since I was a kid.”

Radem, as if lost in thought, let his gaze rest on the surrounding scenery.

“I don’t remember well, but it feels strangely familiar, like I’ve been here.”

Unlike the north of the island, where you can see Omelas’s gloomy true nature, the warm south was filled with flashy sights for visitors.

At a straight-line distance from the dock, luxurious hotels for visitors stood, and clockwise from there were Circus Town and high-end townhouses where nobles lived.

Right near there, Time Street was a long shopping street connecting the amusement park and the townhouses.

Against the clear sky, huge cruise ships swayed gently, constantly spewing out visitors.

The faces of those who didn’t know the island’s true nature were full of happiness.

“The purpose of those who come to Omelas isn’t only pleasure. Mercenaries from outside and back-alley wizards who revere Don Pisano gather to be taught powerful strength and magic.”

On Time Street, artifacts enchanted with special magic and sorcery, top-grade potions, and swords of lord rank or higher implanted with the cores of high-grade monsters occasionally appeared for sale.

All the rare items that were traded outside for unimaginable sums were Don Pisano’s work. Even if it looks like all he wants is my body, a great wizard is still a great wizard, I guess.

I slowed my steps to match Radem’s pace as he looked around the clock ornaments and the fountain in the plaza.

The shopping street lined with clock models bent like surrealism looked like a huge art museum.

“It’s fascinating. It feels futuristic, yet at the same time, the street scenery with brick buildings and street lamps made of white rock looks like an old-fashioned city from the distant past.”

“That’s why it’s called Time Street. Don Pisano, who decorated the space himself, once told an interesting story.”

“What was it?”

“He said that when he was a child, he looked at this street outside the window every day. He said it was a street that wasn’t even twenty steps away, but he’d never once been there.”

“….”

“He said he watched the children playing on the street instead.”

“Why did he only watch?”

“He said there was a terrifying monster living in Don’s house, so he couldn’t go outside.”

“….”

Leaving behind Radem’s strange expression, I walked ahead. At last, we arrived at a cafe famous for desserts made with apricots and oranges.

I ordered a slice of cake from the display case and offered Radem a seat.

In fact, there was another real purpose to why I lured Radem outside using my birthday as an excuse.

A server brought the cake and drinks. Pretending to take a bite with my fork, I opened my mouth.

“Listen carefully, Radem. From now on, an important plan—”

He wasn’t looking at me.

“Radem?”