RHH | Chapter 2.8

After entering a small village, they borrowed an empty barn to spend the night. After sweeping the floor, they prepared a decent sleeping area.

It was already late autumn. The wind seeping through the cracks in the door and windows was chilly. Leehwan and Absalom lay down with a borrowed brazier placed between them. However, the barn was quite large since it was communal, and the small brazier wasn’t enough to warm the air.

Leehwan wrapped himself tightly in a blanket. Still, he couldn’t block all the wind creeping in through his neck and feet.

“Hey, Leehwan.”

Leehwan turned his head as he was carefully adjusting the blanket around his neck. Absalom was staring at him.

“About that bandit earlier. Why didn’t you kill him?”

It was a bloody question, out of place with his usual tone. Leehwan asked back.

“Why are you asking that?”

“I just want to know. If there’s a reason you didn’t kill him, what is it…….”

Leehwan recalled the night he obtained the first holy relic and the night after. Back then, Absalom had casually mentioned the massacre of monsters.

Whatever Absalom’s thoughts were on killing his own kind, it had nothing to do with Leehwan. But now they were traveling together. Absalom’s peculiar behavior could have a negative impact on Leehwan.

“Do you think there needs to be a special reason not to kill someone? If there isn’t one, should you just kill them?”

“He saw you. What if he spreads rumors about you?”

“A bandit is a criminal. Who would he spread rumors to?”

“Well…….”

Absalom trailed off. Leehwan continued.

“As you can see, I don’t like killing people. I’ve been taught that way all my life. Most people are like that.”

Still, Absalom looked unconvinced. Growing tired, Leehwan snapped.

“What, do you think I should’ve killed him? And it doesn’t matter if I feel guilty afterward?”

It was a question Absalom, who liked—or pretended to like—Leehwan, couldn’t avoid. And he reacted exactly as Leehwan expected.

“That’s not it!”

“Then what’s the problem?”

Leehwan turned his back and lay down. Silence filled the barn. The quiet lasted so long that Leehwan thought Absalom had fallen asleep.

“Leehwan, are you awake?”

A low, deep voice, fitting for the night, broke the silence. Leehwan pretended not to hear. A moment later, the sound of fabric rustling came from Absalom’s side, and a faint presence slowly approached.

Thud.

Something touched his arm. Leehwan slightly opened his eyes. A few strands of silver hair fell onto the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry. For saying that back then…….”

It was a cryptic apology. But given the earlier conversation, Leehwan had an idea of what Absalom was apologizing for.

That one night at the cathedral, what felt like ages ago, Absalom had told Leehwan he did well after killing an innocent boy. Back then, Absalom hadn’t understood Leehwan’s anger at all.

Apologizing for those words only now was ridiculous. But even more ridiculous was how that past pain slowly melted away with just that one sentence.

Leehwan closed his eyes. The warmth coming through the blanket was simply pleasant.

When Leehwan opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was a dazzling light. He reflexively frowned. As he let out a small groan filled with discomfort, a warm hand slowly patted his shoulder.

“Mmm……. It’s okay, Leehwan. It’s okay…….”

Leehwan’s eyes shot open. Only then did he see the true form of the light. It was none other than Absalom’s hair. Sunlight streaming through the window fell on the silver hair cascading over Leehwan’s shoulder.

When he slightly turned his head, Absalom’s face was right in front of him. He was asleep, his cheek resting on Leehwan’s shoulder.

It seemed like the first time Leehwan had seen Absalom’s sleeping face this close. He scrutinized his face.

Perhaps because it felt unrealistically beautiful. With his eyes closed, Absalom looked like an exquisite doll. Maybe it was his marble-like skin or his lips, red as if painted on.

His eyelashes were silver, and so were his eyelids. Though they weren’t moving now, Leehwan knew how they trembled. And he also knew that beneath them lay slightly cold-colored eyes.

Whenever they turned toward him, the coldness would disappear, glowing warmly or even hotly—

Leehwan took a deep breath. Then Absalom patted his shoulder again. The movement, which he hadn’t noticed earlier due to the confusion, was simply gentle.

“It’s okay, Leehwan. Everything will be fine…….”

The murmuring voice offered comfort. Both his words and actions seemed familiar. Above all, Leehwan himself was accustomed to Absalom’s behavior.

Leehwan recalled the hand that had wiped away his tears in his sleep. Had it always been like this?

‘Is this acting?’

A feeling whispered that he wanted to trust Absalom. Leehwan tightly shut his eyes. A rough breath escaped.

The sound seemed to wake Absalom. The moment he quickly sat up, Leehwan pretended to be asleep. It was a reflexive action.

Absalom, who had been letting out panicked murmurs, soon sighed.

“That’s a relief.”

After muttering that, Absalom sat still for a while. Leehwan felt an intense gaze. His whole body tingled uncomfortably. But there was nothing else to do, so he had to keep pretending to be asleep.

After a while, Absalom moved away from Leehwan. Soon, the sound of the door opening and closing was heard. Leehwan only got up after carefully confirming the absence of any presence in the barn.

“What the hell.”

Despite the words, his voice was filled with confusion. Leehwan roughly ran his hand through his disheveled hair.

After finishing their preparations, Leehwan and Absalom went to the village chief. They wanted to express their gratitude and buy some food. But the chief frowned at their request.

“We’re short on food ourselves…….”

“We’ll pay any amount.”

Absalom showed a silver coin as he spoke. The shiny silver was tempting, but the chief shook his head.

“That might work in cities or large castles, but it’s not much use to people like us.”

In the end, they had to leave the village empty-handed. Still, thanks to the jerky and dried fruit they had bought earlier in the city, they didn’t go hungry. Fortunately, they managed to get food at a farmhouse they reached after two more days of travel.

Since the timing was awkward, Leehwan and Absalom left the farmhouse and rode a bit further. In the afternoon, they entered a forest. It was quite a long forest, so they ended up spending the night there.

After settling Leehwan down, Absalom moved around on his own. Leehwan watched him while basking in the warmth of the campfire.

The milk in the pot over the campfire bubbled.

“Here, Leehwan. You must be hungry? Drink this first.”

Absalom poured milk into a wooden cup and handed it to Leehwan. Leehwan slowly drank it. The warm temperature heated him up to his core. Absalom added various ingredients to the remaining milk, and soon a soup was ready.

They had soup, jerky, and bread for dinner. Despite buying it from a relatively well-off farmhouse, the bread was far inferior to what they had eaten at the cathedral’s guesthouse. Leehwan looked down at the dry, crumbly bread.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Absalom’s voice snapped Leehwan out of his thoughts. Leehwan looked at Absalom. He had heard a similar question before. Unlike the sharp tone back then, it was quite gentle now.

“I was thinking Flzensia seems too poor.”

“I knew you were kind, but to this extent…….”

Absalom muttered something incomprehensible and sighed.

“Sancoña City and its surroundings have developed commerce thanks to the cathedral, but originally, Flzensia wasn’t a wealthy country. Especially the farther you get from the empire, the more impoverished people become. Do you know why?”

“Hmm. Because it’s hard to trade with the empire?”

Despite spending so much time in the empire, Leehwan didn’t know much about its political situation. Partly because he was busy fighting monsters, but mostly because those around him had thoroughly shielded him from it.

Knowing nothing, he couldn’t give a proper answer. Absalom, shaking his head, replied with something Leehwan hadn’t even considered.

“Leehwan, it’s you.”

“Me?”

“The closer you are to the empire, the less monster invasions occur. That’s because you’ve killed all the monsters heading elsewhere. In other words, places that don’t receive that benefit don’t even know who Leehwan is. Even if they do, they’d just complain, ‘Why aren’t you helping us?’”

Absalom spoke cynically. His attitude was starkly different from how he usually treated Leehwan. Leehwan quietly stared at him.

What he said now sounded like—

“For us, it’s a blessing. You were frustrated with the cloak, weren’t you?”

“……Yeah.”

“If you’re done eating, hand me the dishes. I’ll wash them and come back.”

Leehwan swallowed the words, “I’ll do it,” that had risen to the tip of his tongue. As he handed over the dishes, Absalom reached out.

“Ah.”

Absalom let out a short sound. Their fingers had briefly touched. Despite it happening several times before, he always reacted similarly.

His ears, peeking through his silver hair, turned red. Absalom lowered his head as if to hide them.

“I’ll be back.”

Leehwan watched Absalom walk away. Just from his back, it was clear how he was feeling.

‘A dragon who looks excited while doing dishes.’

Leehwan’s plan to nitpick and assert dominance was hitting a rough patch.

Absalom’s hands were freezing when he returned with the dishes. It was understandable since he had dipped them in icy water. Yet, Leehwan frowned as he watched Absalom, who still seemed cheerful.

“Put that down and come here.”

“Huh?”

Leehwan reached into his pocket. The item he had been contemplating when to return touched his fingertips. He pulled it out, held it in one hand, and grabbed Absalom’s hand with the other.

“L-Leehwan!”

Absalom let out a sound akin to a scream. Leehwan ignored him and did what he needed to do. Absalom, who had been flustered for a moment, lowered his gaze.

“This is…….”

What Leehwan had pulled out was the handkerchief Absalom had given him once. Leehwan used it to wipe the water off Absalom’s hands.

“You kept it. I thought you’d thrown it away.”

“Why would I throw away someone else’s stuff?”

Even Leehwan could hear the sulkiness in his own voice. Absalom laughed. The soft sound echoed through the night.

Leehwan squeezed Absalom’s hand tightly. But the warmth he felt through the handkerchief didn’t rise. He brought Absalom’s hand to his mouth and blew on it. It was an absent-minded action. But then a flustered voice came from above.

“Wait……. L-Leehwan…….”

Leehwan looked up. Absalom was staring down at him. The moment their eyes met, the deep blue eyes flickered hotly. It was a vivid desire.

Absalom’s fingers slipped out of Leehwan’s grasp. They moved slowly and gently brushed Leehwan’s cheek. Though still cold, Leehwan couldn’t react. It felt like if he moved even a little, he’d be swallowed whole.

A delicate silver veil, like a spider’s web, drew closer and caught on Leehwan’s finger, still suspended in mid-air. The sensation was as smooth as the silk bedding in his quarters at the imperial palace.

Leehwan. The trembling red lips called his name. Overwhelmed by intense dizziness, he unconsciously lowered his eyes.

Hot breaths touched each other’s lips.

Flap!

The sound of heavy wingbeats echoed. Leehwan snapped back to his senses and pushed Absalom away. Absalom, who had been pushed back with a dazed expression, turned bright red.

“S-s-sorry! Leehwan, I just, uh, lost my mind for a moment……. D-dishes! I still haven’t finished washing them!”

Absalom grabbed the already washed dishes and ran toward the water. He even dropped a few in the process. But Leehwan wasn’t in the state to point that out.

‘Are you crazy? Have you finally lost it? You know exactly what that was!’

Leehwan rubbed his lips furiously. Even if blood stained the back of his hand, he kept going. But the soft sensation that had brushed past him for just a moment wouldn’t fade.