The Amber Sword volume 3 - Chapter 96

Chapter 96 – The girl’s thread of fate (3)
Amandina glanced at the silent people around her before putting back her suspicious gaze back on Brendel. Though she did not have Medissa’s eyes for people or knew what happened in Schafflund’s mines, even a fool would be able to see how fond Scarlett was of Brendel.
The youth patted Scarlett’s head and the latter’s sweet smile moved him.
But her fragile body made her smile look like it was about to break anytime.
“Welcome back…… My lord.” She had not eaten for several days, and the only sustenance she had was water. Her voice was nearly in a whisper.
“I’ve returned,” Brendel said.
“Have you settled the things in Schafflund?”
Brendel did not answer and merely smiled.
“Have you come back to see me, my lord?” There was a little hint of hesitation in her voice, but there was had a trace of expectation in her eyes as well.
She suddenly shut her eyes and held her breath. The pain plaguing her suddenly struck her body again and she could only wait for it to pass. No one dared to speak at that moment.
Soon Scarlett gasped a few times before her breath went back to normal. She turned to the other side and stared at the scenery outside the window and asked softly:
“Can I be saved?”
“…… Yes.” Brendel nodded.
“Is that true?”
“Have I ever lied?”
Scarlett was taken aback for a moment. Had Brendel ever lied?
“But I feel….. that you’re lying to me!” She sounded like she had given up and was even throwing a tantrum to express her frustration. “I…… overheard your conversation.”
She stared at the leaves against the golden rays of the sun: “It’s not a practical solution. Even I feel it’s pointless for me to continue dragging on.”
Her smile was ever so sweet.
“How can you say that!” Amandina interrupted her and took a step forward a little angrily, but she felt sadness above all other emotions.
Brendel merely raised his hand. He nodded, though it was not to acknowledge Scarlett’s decision but to affirm his decision to use his solution to save her.
“Do you have any other wishes?” He asked gently.
But the others thought otherwise and held their breaths when they saw Brendel’s nod. Scarlett’s eyes went back to Brendel, almost in tears again.
Brendel said he would not leave her behind, but in the end, he still did. Even if it was something that could not be helped, this only meant that the promises made to her would always end up as lies.
[Am I too greedy? Have I asked for something that is always impossible to achieve?]
She had tried her best to do everything she could to please others, but what she got in return was pain that seemed to cut her heart into pieces.
The red-haired girl stared at Brendel with wet eyes and in the end asked with a resigned voice.
Why was she unable to save the ones she loved?
Why was there no one who could save her?
Why did she have to turn into a monster at the end of her life?
“My lord…… I…… Back in my hometown……” She paused several times before stating her final request with a sob: “There’s a tradition……”
She tried to steady her emotions so that she could get her last request out to Brendel.
[You horrible, evil liar…… But why can’t I hate you?]
“When someone is about to die, the people closest to them would kiss them on their forehead, and their thoughts would be left behind…… And even if they are to depart to another world, they would not forget the people closest to them……”
She struggled to get up: “My lord, can you become…… the person closest to me? Even just for this moment, then you can……”
[End my life—]
She suddenly collapsed back onto the bed and muttered with confusion as the abyss pulled her back, her gaze looking far away at something else: “Commander, Eke, Yula, all of you, why are you abandoning me……”
Amandina could not help but turn her head away. She rubbed her eyes and sniffed hard, unable to hold back her emotions. But Medissa and Ciel stared straight at Scarlett, determined to see this through.
“Close your eyes, Scarlett.” Brendel’s voice was gentle.
Scarlett was back in Chablis again. She could hear the rustling of leaves as the wind blew across the landscape. It was where she grew up in. She remembered her beginning and ending in this illusion of hers. In that moment, she remembered the laughter of the Grey Wolves Mercenaries around her.
She grew up with them, and their smiles were ever so vivid, especially Eke and the commander. It was a time where she had no worries, but they were so very far away from her. When she tried running after them, they were instead getting further and further away. When she called out to them, it was as if they could not hear her.
But a familiar voice called out to her to close her eyes and the girl looked vacantly in front of her before she obeyed. She wanted to open her eyes and reach out to them, but that familiar voice spoke again:
“Don’t move.”
And she continued to shut her eyes tightly.
Something cool pressed against her lips.
Suddenly her focus came back and she remembered the request she made. A shriek nearly escaped her throat. She felt her ears, no, her entire face burn.
[H-how can he kiss me on the lips….. E-everyone’s watching!]
Her heart beat violently as time continued to pass. Her mind felt like it was filled with rocks, and she was about to die not from the corruption but from the burning shame.
And it seemed like he was getting bolder as the sensation went all over her lips.
She tried to blurt out angry words, but it was as though he had been waiting for that moment; the moment she opened her lips, a wet sweetness invaded her mouth. Scarlett’s squirming actions immediately froze.
[T-t-this pervert!!!]
“Pfff—” Someone tried to stifle a laughter.
It was the last straw. Scarlett’s hand immediately went up and smacked the offending person’s…… hand?
She suddenly realized what she was doing. Why did her mind suddenly become clear?
An indescribable sweetness.
Her pain had completely disappeared. She felt energy returning to her with every breath. A warm current spread from her mouth, first to her throat, then to her entire body, pulling out her blurry thoughts from the abyss she was in.
She opened her eyes. Amandina and Felaern’s bodies were turned away while trying to hold back their laughter. However, Ciel and Medissa appeared to be utterly stunned, and their gazes were on Brendel’s hand.
It was a shining golden apple, with a slice missing from it.
Brendel’s lips were slightly lifted in an incorrigible manner, while his eyes were slightly narrowed to form an impish line. But when he saw Scarlett getting up with a stunned expression, he suddenly turned solemn and brooding.
[The lifeforce provided by the golden apple will extend her life, but it doesn’t stop the corruption. Rather, it will strengthen the Blood of Gods in her. The legend about the Golden Apple states that it can change one’s destiny. I can only hope it changes her fate.]
This was the only solution he had.
[That little female dragon also said there’s something applied to this apple. Even though it’s unlikely to be poison, I doubt it’s anything good either…… Wait— her face is really red. Is the Golden Apple really poisoned?]
Even though he teased her as a joke, he did not expect her reaction to be so strong and thought that the dragon really did something to the apple.
“Do you feel there’s something wrong?!” He asked urgently.
However, it sounded like their lord was making fun of Scarlett, and this caused the two girls to break out into uncontrollable laughter.
Scarlett wanted to find a block of cheese, smash her head into it and die right there to end the shame.