I’m A Villainess, Can I Die? - Chapter 39

Lucas, holding Aaron, who was holding back tears, raised his voice at Ian.

“Right now, the Princess is in danger. The only person who can help is the priest. I am not asking you to become a direct priest right away. Help one person, as a messenger of God!”

‘As a messenger of God…’ Ian pursed his lips. The fear that he might be called by a name of that degree engulfed his mind.

Ian was standing still in fear, and Aaron and Lucas were watching him.

A small voice rang out in the tense silence.

“Priest… Ian?”

Hearing Lucas calling Ian, Aiden, who was standing still at the entrance, opened his mouth and uttered his name. He had noticed that the priest, whom the Duke wanted to bring in, was this one.

At Aiden’s remark, the three pairs of eyes turned to him.

Aiden looked at solely Ian with blank eyes, despite his gaze on him. His eyes were red, bloodshot from tears.

Aiden slowly approached Ian.

‘This priest… He can save Miss Selena. My Lady… might be able to live.’

It was the only thought in his mind.

Aiden slowly fell to his knees.

It wasn’t a waste of an action. They were knees that had already knelt dozens of times.

Ian jumped up and panicked at the sight of Aiden kneeling in front of him. He had never been treated like this, and he was so embarrassed. For someone to want to kneel to someone like him…

“Please… Please save her.”

Tears flowed from the man’s eyes. In the silence that came for a moment, Aaron and Lucas closed their eyes and turned their heads.

‘What is this, what is this? What the hell is this situation? Why, Selena…… What’s happening?’

Aaron screamed in his heart and covered his eyes. Lucas bit his mouth clenching his teeth.

They were only away for a day, or a few hours… In bitter silence, Ian slowly looked back at the three of them.

How composed she looked as she proudly smashed the cane while her light blue hair fluttered… Ian turned away, thinking he could never be like that.

Ian was just happy when his abilities helped such a person.

In this situation, these people were saying that a person who seemed so strong was now in danger.

They said she needed him as a priest.

They said that only he could save her.

‘Hesitating to be blamed for saving a human life… Ariana, please forgive me for wasting my time on foolish defilements.’

A twinkle crept in Ian’s eyes. His crooked back straightened, and a smile appeared on his face.

“Please take me with you.”

With Ian’s promise, the three of them took a deep breath.

“However… It would take three hours to get to the Duchy from here…”

Aaron’s complexion turned pale again at Lucas’ muttering, and Aiden staggered out of his seat and opened his mouth.

“I will take the priest.”

“Aiden, you? No, come to think of it, how did you get here…”

Aaron’s eyes looking at Aiden were consistently shaking. With the unbelievable news about Selena, a question about Aiden suddenly appeared. Every thought was appearing and becoming jumbled in his head.

“I will explain later. I will take the priest to the Duchy. If it was me, I could go to the Duchy right now.”

Aiden wiped away the flowing tears and said so. His voice was trembling, but his eyes were not.

Yes, that was what was important now. It didn’t matter how Aiden appeared here. Aaron clenched his fists as he saw the two men with glowing eyes, determined to save his sister.

“Yes, please, Aiden. Please, Priest Ian.”

When Aaron’s answer came, Aiden grabbed Ian’s wrist. His wrist was suddenly caught, but without a word of complaint, he moved in the direction Aiden was leading.

The two people standing in front of the door where Aiden suddenly appeared earlier took a deep breath.

“Don’t let go of my hand.”

“Yes.”

Ian answered Aiden’s request.

Aiden bit his lips and closed his eyes.

The Duchy, the Duchy… The Lady’s room. Where he had been spending the longest time lately. He had to go there. There… To the Duke’s princess’s room. Since he was taking someone else with him, he had to focus more. More.

Aiden, who woke up in a suffocating silence, slowly opened the door and took one step at a time. The ground shook, as if they were walking in a strange space, and a familiar scene appeared in front of him.

“Aiden?”

As soon as he heard the priest’s confused voice, Aiden turned around and confirmed Ian’s existence. Fortunately, Ian was standing right behind him. Ian, who was looking left and right in bewilderment, saw the light blue hair on the bed and swallowed a gulp.

“Aiden, the person behind you, could it be…”

The Duchess, who had been guarding Selena’s bedside with tears, rose and opened her mouth. Normally, he should have bowed his head for not being able to greet the Duke and Duchess, but no one in this place cared about such principles now.

Even Aiden, who was a professional in servant work, forgot that fact and merely introduced Ian with a trembling mouth.

“This is the priest Ian the Duke was looking for.”

Ian took a deep breath at such a dignified woman’s pitifulness. He had never seen anyone ill like this before.

‘Could this be healed? … What if everyone is disappointed…’ After confirming that Selena’s condition was more serious than he thought, someone grabbed Ian’s hand as he bowed his head in fear. From the looks of it, it looked like the Duchess family.

The Duchess, whose eyes had reddened from the amount of tears she shed, grabbed his hand tightly and bowed her head. Surrounding employees caught their breath at the silent action, but the Duke looked at it calmly, then slowly got up and lowered his head.

As the Duke and Duchess bowed their heads, all the employees who were looking at each other bowed their heads.

In the midst of that desperation, Ian nodded his head.

‘It was like that before… As expected, people cannot change easily. Well, that’s why we need God.’

Even if he failed, if there was a chance of success, so he should try.

Life was precious enough to not be hesitant in taking action just because he was pressured by people’s gazes.

After a brief speech to himself, Ian, who had his fists curled, chanted the prayer in a small voice and headed towards Selena.

He could feel that the gazes of those who had raised their head were all on his back, but his shoulders did not shrink.

“The urgent place is the head. In other places, there are bruises, but… There is a lot of bleeding in the back of the head just above the neck. No matter how much I stop the bleeding, the wound is so big that it will not be not easy.”

A man with little hair explained Selena’s condition. He must have been the Duchy’s doctor.

After hearing the explanation calmly, Ian again said his prayers to Ariana, which he spoke briefly, and stretched out his hand towards the back of Selena’s head, where the blood was still flowing.

People’s eyes widened at the mysterious light they saw for the first time. The one most surprised was the doctor, who stood next to Ian during his explanation, and the two maids who supported Selena’s torso so that Ian could easily treat her.

“Oh my God…”

An unbearable exclamation broke out from the maid’s mouth.

The large torn wound began to fill with new flesh from the edge. After Ian staggered for a moment, Aiden supported him, and Ian, who had nodded his head at the small kindness, gave his strength back.

From then on, the wound healed faster. The blood naturally stopped when the flesh took its place, and now it was hard to even tell where the wounds were.

“Ugh.”

Ian let out a small groan and withdrew his hand. It was the first time he had used such great power. While staggering, Ian looked down at his trembling hands.

It was possible… If he was like this… How strong were the other priests?… After a small admiration for his own strength, Ian lost his consciousness. The startled Duke and Duchess ordered the employees to put Ian in the best guest room, and sent other employees there to take care of him.

After the collapsed Ian left, the Doctor checked Selena’s condition once more and nodded his head.

“…The blood stopped. Not only that, but the head wounds, altogether, are healed…”

The Duke and Duchess hugged each other and shed tears of relief as the Doctor reported her condition.

Aaron and Lucas arrived a little later than that.

As the sun was setting, the two arrived and ran into Selena’s room.

“Father, Mother. What about Selena?”

Aaron, who had forgotten his greeting, asked, and Lucas bowed his head slightly and lifted his head to wait for an answer.

“Fortunately, her life was saved. It was thanks to the priest named Ian’s treatment.”

Aaron, who closed his eyes at his mother’s words and nodded his head, turned his body and walked over to Selena.

Unlike how she was in the morning, her pale, ill body and her eyes were closed as if she was dead, and his eyes were reddened with tears. His tears were shedding, and, since he didn’t want to show his tears in front of the Duchy’s people, he glanced roughly at the ceiling and took Selena’s hand after blinking his eyes a few times.

It was cold and rough.

In the morning, her hands were so soft… Aaron burst into the tears that he could no longer hold back, and Lucas stood behind him and covered him.

Lucas’s hand was clenched in a fist and trembling.

You can’t die. You must never die.

Lucas looked down at Selena, who was sleeping, repeating the words endlessly inside. The dirt stains on her clothes and the pale face resembled the sad memories of childhood.

*** 

The crowd in Selena’s room spent the night together, because no one wanted to leave Selena’s side.

Even if Selena’s wounds were completely healed, the amount of blood that had been shed before that was significant. According to the doctor, today was a critical moment. So, no one could let go of their hearts.

In the room were the Duke and Duchess, the Young Master and Duchy’s Knights Commander, Selena’s servant, the doctor and Priest Ian, who came back after waking up.

The clear sky was overcast with clouds, and the bright room became dark all at once. Aiden lit a candle in the room. The shadows of flickering candles were dancing here and there. It was a dangerous movement that suited the dark atmosphere well.

The flickering candle aggravated people’s anxiety. A sigh from an unknown person in the room came out. People trembled at the small noise in the silence and lowered their heads to the floor.

Thanks to this, no one saw Selena’s fingers wiggle.