Chapter 151

I’ll translate the provided text into English using first-person point of view while maintaining the romantic and descriptive elements of the original text.

—

Originally, I just wanted to close my eyes for a moment.

Despite successfully resolving the biggest issue of abolishing the defiled divinity, even though I lost consciousness and became battered, Dominus was still breathing.

The assassin league’s Elder on the Mountain, who had cooperated with that battered Dominus.

And my older brother, whose appearance was revealed due to the distortion of reality caused by Dominus calling back the defiled divinity.

With so many unresolved issues, simply passing time by falling asleep like fainting wouldn’t solve anything.

Naturally, after briefly responding to Asulin’s kind gesture of lying me down, I intended to continue with what I was doing, but…

Before I could react, Asulin’s tender touch caressing my head and her knee and thigh providing comfort made me lose myself unconsciously.

When I opened my eyes again, thinking I was just resting, I found myself in a different place—the hospital room of Frostmoor Fortress.

In such a short period, I had already been indebted to this place twice.

Realizing that whatever I intended to do and the things only I could confirm were flowing away aimlessly during my sleep, I sighed.

“…Ah.”

My sigh, expressing bewilderment, escaped from my lips.

Truly… truly, I only wanted to close my eyes for a moment, but what’s happening now?

—

As soon as I woke up and saw the familiar ceiling, I tried to think through everything.

Although I felt so exhausted that I didn’t wake up during the move, the priority was to secure the suspects behind this situation.

“Stop sighing and get up to assess the situation…”

Just as I said this, attempting to get out of bed, someone suddenly appeared and hugged my head and shoulders with their arms and upper body.

Unable to see who it was, I was momentarily startled, thinking it was a surprise attack, but the strong scent told me who it was, easing my guard.

“Asulin.”

I called out in a gentle yet affectionate voice, the one holding me tightly.

Usually, when Asulin held me in this trance-like state, she would stop whatever she was doing and give me an appropriate response if I called her name.

Even when we slept together and she wrapped her arms around me in the morning, she usually woke up when I called her name like this.

Though the situation was different, I expected her to stop hugging me and look at me when I called her name, but…

“I didn’t want you to wake up… I didn’t want you to wake up… bad thoughts kept coming to mind…”

Instead of calming down, Asulin squeezed me tighter with her arms and continued to support her trembling body.

…It felt like I had gently closed my eyes and then opened them again. How long has it been since I last slept? Why is she reacting this way?

I wanted to ask Asulin how long I had slept, but considering the importance of reassuring her protective gestures, I extended my arm to pat her back lightly.

“Looks like you’re fine with extra energy? That’s good.”

I said this with a playful tone filled with affection.

Seeing Asulin’s trembling ease with each pat on her back, I thought she might finally calm down…

“…Andy… Andy… Andy…”

But instead of stopping, Asulin squeezed me tighter and repeatedly called my name, not letting go.

While it was better than when she first held me with uncertainty, her grip felt overly possessive and irrational, making me feel like it was more effective to reassure her verbally.

“Stay here. I’m not going anywhere, so it’s okay.”

By saying this in a way that matched her call, I aimed to soothe her, accepting her childishness for a while.

It took about ten minutes for Asulin to fully calm down.

Although I felt that precious time had been wasted, seeing her relieved expression after she finally stopped sobbing, those ten minutes didn’t seem wasted at all.

…Since I realized I liked Asulin, there hadn’t been a time when I didn’t feel this way. Her excessive display of affection wasn’t burdensome but rather a sign that I was deeply affected by her.

—

Only after Asulin calmed down did I hear various stories from her.

Clearly, when I fell asleep on her lap, Dominus, who had been unconscious on the floor, disappeared quickly after I turned away momentarily.

Regarding the Elder on the Mountain, who had helped Dominus in this situation, despite searching and pursuing immediately after the situation ended, they couldn’t find any trace.

For my older brother, since Asulin couldn’t meet him directly and there were no reports from others, he might have taken a different path to disappear, or…

…Thinking about his words earlier, when he said he didn’t know what would happen when the distortion of reality returned to normal, I wondered if he had gone back to where he belonged, which made me feel heavy-hearted.

“Andy?”

Noticing my worried expression, Asulin called out to me.

“Probably just waking up. Maybe I looked tired, and my face showed it. It’s okay, keep telling me what happened.”

I suppressed the internal turmoil and asked Asulin to tell me the remaining details of what had happened while I was asleep.

Aware that I had appeared somewhat tired when I woke up, Asulin recounted the events that occurred during my sleep with a faint hint of apology on her face.

…Though the news was somewhat predictable, hearing that I had been asleep for three days was the most shocking part.

When Asulin said I was so deeply asleep that I didn’t wake up even when carried on a stretcher, I felt embarrassed.

Ah, how could I be so lazy?

—

While Asulin was telling me these stories, she left after telling me to rest properly.

Despite her insistence that I needed absolute rest and shouldn’t leave the bed under any circumstances, I knew I still had unfinished business to handle.

Once she moved far enough from the hospital room, I planned to rush to the scene of the battle.

…Though my intention was clear, I couldn’t actually follow through.

“Why are you here?”

Facing the bulky-eyed monitor who blocked my way out of the hospital room, I complained.

“Since I received strict instructions from the Junior Duke, I was ordered to watch over the Young Master. Isn’t it my duty to do so? Since I couldn’t earn any credit by fleeing before the barbarians attacked, I had to do something.”

Elshimer answered my complaint with a slight sigh, blocking the exit of the hospital room firmly.

Due to the outcome of the battle ending with the barbarians fleeing, I couldn’t claim any significant credit, and my voice reflected some dissatisfaction.

Even though Asulin assured me she wouldn’t worry, she sent Elshimer to prevent me from taking any rash actions.

While I appreciated her concern, I couldn’t help feeling frustrated by her meticulous planning, which made me doubt if she believed I wouldn’t listen.

—

Despite my complex feelings, Elshimer seemed oblivious.

“Happy, aren’t you?”

“…What for?”

“You not only saved the Junior Duke but also received a pillow from his knee.”

“…I don’t remember receiving it.”

“Well, maybe your head remembers, but your body doesn’t.”

Elshimer teased me, half-jokingly, seeing me lying motionless on the bed.

Since my plan to gain credit by fighting the barbarians failed, his teasing lacked its usual humor.

Ever since I entered the large tent where Dominus regained consciousness, a massive anomaly occurred around the tent area.

Sensitive to superstitions, the barbarians, who were already demoralized by the knights charging fiercely, lost all hope and fled without a fight.

I couldn’t figure out how they were defeated or how to claim any credit.

From what I could see, the defiled divinity’s presence on Dominus’ body must have caused significant changes in the surrounding environment, leading to various anomalies.

Afterward, I was too weak and disoriented to properly examine the situation.

—

Wanting to immediately get up and check the scene of the anomaly, I was stopped by Elshimer.

“Moving now would get you in trouble with the Junior Duke.”

Even though I hadn’t moved, Elshimer seemed to understand my intentions just by looking at my expression and tried to stop me with words.

Though I went to rescue Asulin, who had been kidnapped by Dominus, now that the situation was resolved, I felt strange receiving such delicate care from Asulin.

It wasn’t that I disliked the care, but the thought that I still had important work to do elsewhere made me impatient.

However, Elshimer interrupted my impatience.

“There’s another reason I came.”

Facing my increasingly serious expression, Elshimer pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

“The Elder sent this to the Young Master.”

He called it the item my older brother had passed on before disappearing.

—

This concludes the translation of the provided text.