Terminally-Ill Genius Dark Knight

Chapter 164 – Eleanor de Rivalin [2]

“Hah, no matter how much of a disgrace you are to our family, you wouldn’t stoop to hanging out with commoners.”

“Right. If you ever did that, both you and that girl would end up with your heads hung up in the imperial palace!”

“Haha, that sounds great!”

Even as I watched Allen and Hats exchange such words, I remained silent. I felt disillusioned as I saw Nox laugh quietly.

How can someone have the heart of a human and just toy with others like this? It was painful.

My face flushed, and I could feel all eyes on me. One by one, people’s gazes locked onto me, like they were watching an amusing spectacle. The nobles’ eyes seemed to assess me, making me tense. Naturally, this didn’t feel good, and for the first time in my life, I felt humiliated like that. There’s no need to explain what happened later. I had no choice but to leave the party with a rushed expression. I still remember how my father interrogated me, giving me a hard time. it’s a memory deeply etched in my heart.

But… Even then, was the mischievous Nox trying to torment me more?

At the end, as I was leaving in my carriage, Nox called my name.

Eleanor——

But his words were left unfinished. And that’s how the worst social event of my life ended.

Later, I used a persona.

It wasn’t difficult. Just like my father did, I donned a false mask and deceived people with sweet words. It wasn’t hard for me at all.

And so, a few more years passed.

My mother and father passed away not long after that. At a young age, I became the head of the Rivalin merchant group. Peoples said

— No matter how smart she is, she’s just a child. What could she possibly do right?

— Yeah… Clarkson, that guy, even though he was born a commoner, managed to do things properly.

— Well, We should look into other trading companies

Someone had died. People gathered at the funeral in the rain, mocking my family’s death. That as commoners, they lived an undeserving life. And it’s good that they died. They talked about recovering their investments if the company collapsed.

They couldn’t trust me.

Right.

They never trusted my father from the beginning. They were like moths drawn to the glitter of gold. In the end, all I had left was my father’s inheritance and the filthy name of Rivalin. But why… why? Why couldn’t I abandon this name?

After that, I decided to trust nothing. Gold. I believed even trust could be bought with it. And in fact, I became a wealthy person.

But for some reason, the more success I achieved, the more this unknown thirst continued to gnaw at me. I still don’t know what this feeling is.

I just…

Sometimes, when I suffer from insomnia, I think to myself. It seems like I’m no longer myself. I think I’ve forgotten what I truly want.

———————————————————

“Nox! Wake up! Hurry!”

Eleanor shook Nox by the collar. This was something she would never normally do. A calm fox, who never rattled, and always calm in any negotiation. But now was different.

Tears were faintly welling up in her eyes.

“Haa…”

A faint breath escaped. Nox’s heartbeat began to throb slowly. Eleanor, quickly checking his pulse, wiped her tears and took action to save him. She secured his airway and did everything she could to help him breathe easily. She even channeled the small remaining amount of her magical power into him.

But it wasn’t easy.

Saving a person’s life. Especially in such an extreme situation, it was bound to be difficult. No matter how Eleanor used to act composed, in this situation, it just didn’t work properly. Nox’s weakening heartbeat, the trembling at the corners of his pale lips, his hands and feet turning blue, and the fragile white breaths that escaped. All told the story of his condition. At any moment, the life of Nox von Reinhaver could end here. He might cross a river he could never return from.

“Wake up… Wake up! Nox von Reinhaver! …You hurt me. Because of you, I work harder… That’s how I made it this far. Even if just a little, I wanted to make other people regret it…. But if you, the person I hated so much, lie here like this, what am I supposed to do?”

Eleanor’s voice was full of sincerity. As she caught sight of the transparent veil in his hand that Nox had given her in the end, tears unknowingly streamed down her face.

Eleanor blamed herself. If this was how things were going to be, she should have just been honest. Though it probably wouldn’t have solved anything, it might have been better that way. Naturally, the reason they ended up in this worst-case scenario was because of the assassin trying to kill her.

Nox von Reinhaver just got caught up in this situation by chance. If so, can I be free with his death?

Can I really say that the actions he took at that social gathering that day were so nasty that they deserved to be repaid with death?

‘No.’

Maybe. Just maybe. Really, maybe… He didn’t actually want to do that to me. I tried to ignore it, but maybe Nox really didn’t want to do those things. I needed Nox von Reinhaver and my father to become colder, I made them worse in my mind, replaying the events of my childhood over and over. Twisting the shape as I saw fit.

Finally, Eleanor started to understand a little.

What kind of person Nox von Reinhaver was. She realized it when the first time she saw him sacrifice himself for someone else. The Nox she remembered until now was nothing more than a person she had distorted in her own mind.

And then, as if she could hear it clearly. Nox’s words a moment ago

— Why do you think I’d naturally abandon you?

Nox didn’t abandon me. He protected me.

When Eleanor’s thoughts reached there, she finally understood.

‘… The reason he was so harsh to me the first time we met was because of his brother. He said those things to protect me. The most disgusting thing was that I already knew that truth.’

Before Nox von Reinhaver entered Eldain, when I had heard that he had defeated his brothers in a battle. Eleanor first learned that Nox and his brother from the Reinhaver family didn’t get along. I also found out that Nox’s biological mother had passed away long ago, and Priscilla, who had given birth to Allen and Hats, had gained power as the lady of the Reinhaver family.

Therefore, for a very brief moment, I thought. He probably acted so cruelly that day because he was afraid I might get harmed.

But I quickly dismissed the thought.

Nox had to become a bad person to Eleanor. So I judged him solely based on his worth. I kept him close only because he was more skilled than I expected. Because this is work, business.

But…

“I can’t do this anymore. Nox, wake up… You saved me twice, weren’t you? I haven’t even properly thanked you yet. So why are you lying here…?! Just why….”

Eleanor de Rivalin. A fifteen-year-old girl with a soft heart.

Even though she was now considered an adult, she still carried the fragility of her childhood. She hadn’t shown it until now, hiding it because she believed she couldn’t survive if she didn’t.

As she listened to Nox’s fading breaths, Eleanor’s body trembled. Sobbed as she spoke.

“Shane…! I need your help. Please save Nox von Reinhaver… Please.”

But for some reason. The response that came from Shane until a moment ago was cut off. With telepathy, even screamed aloud. It was the same.

Why is that?

Why has he suddenly disappeared?

When she first made the mana vow with him, Shane had promised to help her as long as no harm befell him. So why wasn’t he showing up now?

‘Could it be that Shane is also in a life-threatening situation?… Is that why he can’t respond?’

If so, that would be really dangerous. It would mean there’s almost no chance of surviving this place.

According to Nox, this place is [The Frozen Frostwood Forest]. And it’s near the northern Winter Bridge.

Even if someone tried to get here through a portal, it would take about three days. No matter how fast they came, it was a distance too far to reach quickly.

‘Not good… Am I really going to die like this?’

I haven’t said anything yet. Not to Nox, not to Shane who saved me. I wanted to thank them.

The kindness I received without expecting anything in return flashed like a revolving lantern [Note: 走馬灯 if you know Japanese]. Eleanor thought the day she talked with Nox. When they opened the Rivalin family’s secret library and had a brief conversation. In fact, she could have asked him. Nox, why did you save me? She could have asked him straightly, and a bit more firmly

But now she thought she knew why she didn’t ask.

The fact that someone had saved her without anything in return. She didn’t want to shatter that illusion.

If she found out Nox saved her only because of money?

She felt like she would be completely broken. It would have been dangerous for her.

That’s why she didn’t ask why he saved her or if he wanted something in return. She was afraid she was going to expose her most vulnerable self, the part of her that couldn’t trust herself.

‘I’m such a coward.’

In a situation where it was hard to make a normal decision, Eleanor finally lost her way completely, not knowing what should she do

But…

Something called threats usually, came overlapping dozens of times in a single day. For example, now. The bone-chilling cold surrounding Eleanor was proof of that.

“What… is this? This mana?”

It was a massive amount of mana she had never felt before. Eleanor moved instinctively. She quickly used the mysterious veil Nox had given her to cover both herself and Nox. But it didn’t fit. The artifact was only meant for one person, so it was a useless action. A foolish act Eleanor would never have done.

It was a mistake.

‘I should have just used the artifact on him.’

But she had already done it without even realizing it. A fear that was difficult to bear started to consume her entire body. It soon became a massive whirlwind, wiping out the outside in a blinding white.

What is this?

Before she could even process the thought, a tremor ran through the cave with a faint rumble. As the sound of the earth-shaking grew louder.

Eleanor saw it.

A giant eye. An eye. The slit, reptilian eye stretched vertically, exuding an overwhelming terror.

And unfortunately, that eye didn’t belong to Astrid.

[Are you the one who awakened me with your mana, girl?]

A dragon. A giant ice dragon rose up and spoke to Eleanor.

At that moment, she instinctively knew. That dragon was not going to be friendly to her and Nox.

———————————————————

Whooosh!

Astrid, who had been gliding through the air, suddenly accelerated, picking up tremendous speed. Noah frowned, trying to fix her now messy hair.

She asked.

“What’s going on? Astrid, is it fine to fly like this? aren’t you dislike going fast since it’s troublesome?”

[It stopped.]

“What?”

As Noah asked with surprised eyes, Astrid’s usual lazy expression was gone, replaced by a raw, unfiltered rage. Mana surged between her eyes, brimming with anger.

[Nox von Reinhaver’s heart. It stopped.]