* * *
One fundamental question led to another.
My gaze drifted toward the drawer where I kept Kaindel’s notes.
It was already half full, and at this rate, in a few weeks, it would be overflowing.
A relationship where I received his notes but never saw him.
A relationship where I got flowers from him but never gave him any in return.
A relationship where we occasionally crossed paths but never exchanged greetings.
A relationship where we had loved each other once but had parted ways.
A relationship where, despite our separation, we still orbited around each other, unable to let go.
I tried to define what we were in my head, but everything felt vague.
So instead of answering, I simply smiled.
Ruen took my silence as confirmation, crossing her arms with a smug look.
“You can’t even put it into words, huh? Guess that means it’s over for good. Hey, good for you. You should’ve dumped that bastard ages ago.”
“I told you to watch your language. And Kaindel is still our comrade.”
“Comrade, my ass. I never liked the way he treated you. Like a fish he’d already caught.”
“Good thing no one else is around to hear you say that.”
“So what?”
“Haa.”
Owen, who knew the full extent of what had happened between Kaindel and me at the temple, watched me carefully, as if debating whether to intervene.
He was probably the only one here who truly understood.
After glancing at Ruen, he sighed as if he had given up.
But honestly, I didn’t mind.
I looked at Owen, who seemed to be worried about me, and let out a chuckle.
In the past, I would have been deeply affected by every single word Ruen said.
But now, it didn’t bother me at all.
There was something else I was more curious about.
“Hey, Ruen.”
“What?”
“When did you realize that Kaindel and I were… involved?”
Unlike Sehir and Owen, I had never explicitly told Ruen about my relationship with Kaindel.
I had assumed she had just picked up on the fact that we weren’t just friends.
In fact, I had never formally announced our relationship to any of my comrades.
But at some point, everyone just seemed to know.
Still, I found myself suddenly curious—when had they figured it out?
As I carefully picked my next words, Ruen scratched her head, looking irritated.
“Damn it. Now that you’ve brought it up, I actually remember. Ugh.”
“Huh?”
“You have no idea how ridiculous Kaindel was. Seriously, the guy was insane.”
“…Insane?”
I raised an eyebrow.
Kaindel? Ridiculous?
I couldn’t even imagine it.
I was speechless.
Judging by Ruen’s expression, she wasn’t exaggerating—just recalling it seemed to physically disgust her.
For Kaindel to have been that over-the-top…
Now I was really curious.
At my question, Owen, who had been perched on the armrest of a lounge chair, finally spoke.
Even as he did, he kept nodding repeatedly, as if strongly agreeing with Ruen’s words.
“It was excessive. Quite unpleasant, actually.”
“You too, Owen?”
“Yes. When we—meaning, when we first arrived in Luther Village—we only planned to stay for a week. We didn’t have time to waste.”
“Oh, but a week? Didn’t you actually end up staying for a little over a month?”
“Thanks to someone, yes.”
Owen clicked his tongue and brushed a hand over his arm.
It wasn’t hard to guess who he was talking about.
“Even now, just thinking about it gives me chills. I lost count of how many times we had to revise our plans. I’m not exaggerating—we practically stayed up all night, every night.”
“…….”
“Of course, it wasn’t just me. Kaindel stayed up with me too.”
“…….”
Owen tousled his light blond hair, as if sifting through old memories.
Now that he was bringing them up, they seemed blurry, taking longer to organize in his mind.
He let out a low hum, pressing his lips together before finally speaking again.
“And that wasn’t all. The room we stayed in—was it on the third floor? Anyway, from that window, we could see the path Isa always took. We saw him leaving for work, coming home, taking out the trash, even running the occasional errand.”
“…….”
“I don’t think Kaindel ever took his eyes off that window.”
“…….”
“If you call that excessive, then yes—it was very excessive.”
With that, Owen shrugged.
Listening quietly, I clenched and unclenched my fists, an indescribable feeling settling over me.
Despite being surrounded by my comrades, I felt like I was stranded on a deserted island, as if the ground beneath me had suddenly given way.
Back when Kaindel had mentioned this, I had simply thought, ‘So he wasn’t completely indifferent to me at the time.’
But hearing Owen’s side of the story, I realized it wasn’t just that.
If anything, it was much more extreme.
There had been times when I felt inexplicable gazes on me.
While working at Ellis’s restaurant, I often had the uncanny sensation of being watched.
And to think—it had been Kaindel all along.
It was completely unexpected.
As I struggled to find the right words, Ruen, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.
“Hey, remember when the goblins attacked the campsite?”
“Yeah, of course. How could I forget? That was the first time I ever saw a monster.”
I nodded easily.
There was no way I’d ever forget the day I encountered a goblin.
It was a shocking experience—I’d never seen anything like it before.
And that wasn’t all.
That night, Kaindel had gotten injured while protecting me.
I could still vividly recall the sight of blood streaming from his hand.
Even in the darkness of night, that moment stood out with unsettling clarity.
“Right, that night.”
Ruen smirked as if pleased with my response.
“You have no idea how Kaindel was looking at you, do you?”
“Huh?”
“You were asleep, so of course you didn’t see. But don’t you wonder why you were able to sleep so soundly, even while goblins were attacking?”
“…….”
Now that he mentioned it, it was strange.
When I woke up, the goblin attack was already underway, and everyone was positioned in battle.
There was no way an attack like that had been silent, so how had I slept through it?
A new question took root in my mind.
Noticing my confusion, Ruen spoke again, his voice slow and deliberate.
“Kaindel was holding you.”
“…….”
“Normally, he would’ve charged into that fog and taken down every goblin in sight. You know how he gets when he draws his sword—completely insane.”
“Yeah… When I opened my eyes, I was in his arms.”
“Exactly. And do you know how hard he fought to keep you asleep? He didn’t give a damn about the goblins—he was too busy watching you.”
“…….”
“I honestly thought he’d lost his damn mind.”
Ruen scowled as he added, “If you still don’t get it after that, you’re an idiot.”
“…….”
“Still, I thought he was the only one with feelings. But seeing your reaction now… it’s not too bad. Annoying, but not bad. I only found out recently that you two were actually together. I’m sure you can guess why.”
As Ruen shot a mischievous glance at the newspaper on the table and smirked, Sehir, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly raised his hand.
Then, he pointed at the clock on the wall.
The hour hand had already made a full circle—it was getting late.
“Let’s wrap up the old stories here. We don’t have all the time in the world.”
“My apologies.”
“Oh, right. Sorry about that.”
Owen and Ruen immediately nodded, acknowledging Sehir’s natural shift in conversation.
They, too, must have realized they had been talking about Kaindel for too long.
With the atmosphere finally calming down, Sehir turned his gaze to me.
“Isa, while we did come to see you today, there’s actually something else we wanted to tell you. Something you might be interested in.”
“Something I’d be interested in?”
Still lost in thoughts about Kaindel, I repeated his words, feeling dazed.
Sehir, seemingly understanding my state, curved his eyes into a faint smile.
“Yeah.”
Then, he pulled something out of his coat.
A small book.
“It’s about your family.”
* * *
