SAFBIAN Ch 154

Chapter 154

‘Oh no!’

By the time he realized, it was too late. An arrow was flying toward him, visible in Dori’s eyes.

‘No. If I dodge, Haban will…!’

Haban was turned away, inspecting the man. Besides instinctive fear and shock, his body was rigid and unable to move.

Shreeek! With a sharp sound, Dori squeezed his eyes shut.

Thud!

The sound of the arrow embedding echoed vividly in his ears. Bracing for the pain to come, Dori gritted his lips.

‘…Huh?’

But it was unlike what he expected.

Though hit by an arrow, it didn’t hurt at all. How could this be? Was he dead instantly? Dori opened one eye and was startled to see his eyes wide open.

“Are… you okay?”

Haban, who had been behind him, now stood before him.

“Ha… ban?”

Startled, Dori called out to Haban, his voice trembling precariously.

This wasn’t right.

Why was Haban here, and why now…?

Goosebumps crept from his toes, spreading as his whole body trembled as if convulsing.

“Your Majesty!”

Jipyeong’s scream, like a shout, felt distant.

Dori hesitated before gradually moving closer to Haban. Just as he was a step away, Haban hastily pulled him into an embrace. Dori looked up at Haban in the broad arms holding him.

…Haban was smiling.

‘Thank goodness. So it seems he wasn’t hit by the arrow.’

Only then did Dori hastily hug Haban’s back. At once, his strength drained. Warm liquid soaked his palm. It was blood. Dori’s lips trembled.

It was like the original story: the ending could not be changed. The one meant to be hit by the arrow was supposed to be him—so why was it Haban instead…?

“You seem very startled.”

Haban waved off the guards who drew close, wanting to be alone with Dori.

Presumably, the spot where the arrow struck was a vital point. Even pulling it out and treating the wound might not ensure survival, especially since the physician from the imperial palace had just been sent away by carriage. There was no hope.

Only then did Haban realize why he had traveled back in time.

It was to save Dori.

To correct the event in which he was supposed to die.

Yet he worried about how Dori would fare left alone afterward. With tear-filled eyes, he weakly smiled.

“Don’t cry.”

His throat tightened. Hearing those words, Dori’s eyelids twitched.

He tried to hold back tears, but they spilled over, streaming down as Haban gently wiped them away, his own eyes filled with pity.

“…”

Dori was speechless, but emotions welled up inside with each breath.

Why did it happen?

He wasn’t meant to belong here anyway.

Yet the moment he voiced it, resentment faded for a moment, and he unconsciously hugged Haban tighter.

Clatter.

At that instant, a black orb slipped out from Haban’s arms.

The orb rolled down his sleeve, hit the floor, and tumbled away. It seemed to have collided with something hard as a large crack ran across its round surface.

As the orb stopped, the cracked part split with sharp cracking sounds, shattering completely. Faint smoke seeped from inside.

Like it possessed a will, the curling smoke suddenly enveloped Dori.

“…!”

Reflexively, Dori stepped back from Haban, fearing the smoke might endanger him too.

“Your Majesty!”

That was the right choice. The smoke, alive with movement, surrounded Dori’s entire body.

‘What is this?’

Despite flailing hands, the smoke wouldn’t disperse, instead clinging thickly. Others dared not approach as it raised threatening winds, then eventually was absorbed into Dori’s body and vanished.

Suddenly, a flash blinded him. Everything turned white.

Dori slowly opened his furrowed eyes.

‘You are….’

The faint glow from his dream floated before him.

The pale light caught the colors, sparkling iridescently as it spread and receded around Dori.

At once, the glow coalesced into the shape of a small creature.

It hopped, its long fox-like ears twitching and its plump tail wagging as it leapt into Dori’s chest.

Reaching out as if to catch it, it vanished in an instant. Colors gradually returned.

“Hahk!”

Dori gasped.

‘…It hurts.’

His chest ached sharply as if pierced by something sharp.

…No, it wasn’t a feeling.

An arrow had actually pierced his chest.

How could this be?

Wasn’t it supposed to be Haban who got hit?

The bitterness rose in Dori’s mouth like blood. The reddish liquid forced down his throat and dripped from his lips onto the floor.

‘If… I got hit, then that’s a relief.’

Dori closed his eyes once, then reopened them in surprise.

There was nothing on his chest. The blood on the floor was gone as well.

…An illusion?

“Dori!”

A desperate cry called him. Haban pressed a palm against the arrow wound and moved closer. His fingers were soaked with blood.

‘It’s Haban who is hurt. So why that face?’

Dori swayed unsteadily. Haban, half-kneeling, reached out, but Dori retreated, clutching at empty air.

His vision blurred; everything except Haban distorted like clumps of mud. The whole world seemed to spin around Dori.

A high-pitched ringing sounded in his ears.

“Ah….”

It was me.

‘…What?’

Before he could think, something pierced his mind. The voice of ‘Dori’ spoke to him.

Dori gasped heavily and stepped back.

His head throbbed painfully.

Haban had finally found him. He had thought Haban would forget the pitiful beastman and find a new fascination… but was that not the case?

He feared to hold Haban’s outstretched hand, yet his heart pounded wildly.

I’m still afraid of Haban, yet I like him.

“Ah, ahh….”

The arrow flew, but Haban seemed unaware. That was why Dori had jumped in to take it himself.

Memories flooded back.

Dori unconsciously pressed his chest. Something swollen threatened to burst, trembling precariously.

‘Do you remember now?’

Again, ‘Dori’ whispered to him.

The arrow was aimed at Haban.

Haban’s back was unprotected as he cut down enemies ahead. Danger! Body moved instinctively. When the sharp arrowhead lodged in his chest, Dori sensed death.

“…Ah, aah!”

Dori crouched, protecting his chest as if to dodge. Pain, like the sting of a hot metal skewer, burned.

But when he searched with his hand, no arrow pierced him. It was all hallucination and illusion.

Dori shook his head. The memories he had grasped changed him back to ‘Dori.’

Drip, drip.

At last, the accumulated memories leaked from his chest drop by drop.

The ground wavered disorientingly as he straightened up. The frozen moment of forgotten memory resumed its flow.

Dori parted his lips.

It was me.

It truly was me.

I was… Dori.

How had I forgotten that memory?

And how had I failed to recall it until now?

The mist that permeated Dori was his lost memories and forgotten time.

‘I wasn’t simply possessed by the book.’

I had ‘returned’ here.

‘Then, what about Haban…?’

Dori’s eyes swelled with countless emotions.

A fleeting small expression, but Haban who saw it at once realized.

Finally, my fox had found his memories.

How lucky to have one last glimpse of Dori. I won’t see him again.

The knees that had barely held out buckled completely.

Even as his body slowly collapsed, Haban smiled.

Yes, he’s back.

…My white fox.