Chapter 42: The One-Armed Leader (2)

“What did the doctor say?” Vienna asked with caution.

“The demonic mana has left some scars.”

Starchis came out of his thoughts and replied Vienna.

Hearing his words, everyone suddenly had many questions and bombarded him with inquiries.

“I don’t understand what it is, but can you move your hand or not?”

Stion asked.

“Uh... what should I do?”

Lily became flustered.

“Ch-Chis, our party is disbanding, right?”

Luss expressed her own concern.

In Particular, Vienna and Lily reacted strongly to Luss’ final words.

They had been unable to see beyond the immediate situation hearing his words; They were only worried about his left hand, not considering the fate of the party. But as Luss mentioned the topic, their worries grew.

If the party dissolves, their regular encounters would disappear.

His kindness, smiles, and the time they spent together would no longer be a given but something they had to schedule.

They were just friends after all.

Being able to be together with him without the need for scheduled appointments, feeling comfortable and natural… was his girlfriend’s privilege.

It was like climbing one mountain after another.

They almost lost him, and now they found out that the left hand wouldn’t move, eventually putting the party at risk of disbanding.

In the past few weeks, he kept trying to leave their side.

But they couldn’t say anything.

Entering a dungeon without his left hand would be suicide. So, in just a few moments, they finally accepted their fates and began to plan how they could meet him with the excuse of helping him. He must also be despairing because of such a sudden situation, they had to be present for him emotionally too.

However, Starchis’ expression wasn’t that dark.

“No, maybe I can rehabilitate.”

He said with a less certain expression.

A glimmer of hope entered the hearts of the three women—The hope that the party could continue, and the hope that Starchis could return to being healthy again.

They felt a weight lifted from their shoulders.

The party was just a party, but they felt sorry for Starchis’ arm.

He was a man with strong arms, who protected them.

They had already received a mountain of things, and if he gave up on his dreams and his arm, it would be too heavy a burden to repay.

Even if they devoted themselves to him like slaves, they wondered if it would truly be enough to repay him.

But if rehabilitation was possible, that brought them a little relief.

“Really? Is it true?”

Stion laughed brightly and patted Starchis’ shoulder.

Starchis also smiled a little and spoke.

“I can’t be sure, but I have to make an effort. There’s no other way.”

“St-Starchis!! I’ll help too. What can I do?”

“Yeah, Chis. Just tell me. I’ll help.”

“Starchis, I’ll help too.”

The three women spoke.

Lily thought she could assist if there was a need for magic.

Vienna wondered if her holy powers would be necessary.

Luss had the intention to do everything that would relieve his muscles.

But Starchis shook his head.

“No, Vienna, Luss. You two are fine. I’ll just accept your support and encouragement. But...”

He pointed to one person.

At the tip of his finger stood Lily.

“Yes?”

Lily looked surprised when his finger pointed at her.

Although she had the willingness to help, she didn’t expect to be singled out, excluding Luss and Vienna.

“I have a small favor to ask of you, Noona. Can I count on you? Can you help me?”

“Yes! Yes, Starchis! Of course!”

She quickly nodded her head as if urging him not to change his words.

Luss and Vienna’s expressions hardened, and Lily bounced around happily.

Lily felt a faint sense of superiority.

This feeling… Was like sweet honey to her, who had only tasted defeat recently.

Her heart was pounding rapidly, and it felt like her head was about to explode.

In the past, when she felt this emotion, she would mock or boast to Luss and Vienna, but now, besides savoring it, she couldn’t do anything else.

Lily thought it must be like the feeling of a drug addict who had quit drugs for a long time and finally touched them again.

“Whatever it is! I’ll do anything for you. Just tell me!”

She stared into Starchis’s eyes, trying to make eye contact.

On the other hand, Luss and Vienna experienced a deeper sense of defeat.

“We... no, I can help too, Chis...”

“No, it’s okay. As long as Lily Noona is here, it’s enough.”

It was understandable that she was pushed back by Elza. But now, being overshadowed by even Lily…

Luss thought she had already hit rock bottom, but there seemed no end to it.

And honestly... it was becoming increasingly difficult to admit that she was being overshadowed by Elza.

She had tried to wait until he broke up with her, but with these incidents erupting, she couldn’t wait anymore.

Moreover, Elza was gradually becoming less human, not just in her eyes but in Vienna’s and Lily’s eyes as well.

It might be an excuse for them to give legitimacy to their own trash behavior of stealing someone who already had a lover. But in their eyes, Elza was not serious either.

Yes, they indeed hated Elza for taking Starchis away, but they hated her as a person as well; Now, Elza as a person itself was detestable.

‘Where the hell is she right now?’

It was a question that everyone kept asking.

While Starchis stood helplessly, wandering through life and death, they couldn’t even see a trace of her.

They would never be able to do that.

They even thought that they would willingly die in his place if he could just wake up.

But Elza, his girlfriend, didn’t even show up.

Did she not care about Starchis?

Wasn’t he anything special to her, even though he was everything to them?

To them, he was an irreplaceable gem, but to Elza, was he just a rolling stone?

It angered them even more that their precious person was treated as if he were nothing.

They were also angry that he was taken away by someone with such a mindset.

Of course, it might be that there was some other reason, and he ‘probably’ was also special to her, but since they couldn’t see her, all sorts of imaginations came to mind.

Unless she was far away, unconscious, or dead, such behavior couldn’t be justified.

Except for those three possibilities, Elza was not qualified to stand next to Starchis.

The three of them, including the delighted Lily, thought that way.

“I’ll let you know how you can help later. Shall we go eat for now? I’m hungry...” Starchis said.

And Luss asked as if it was a natural question.

“Yeah. Oh, by the way... Chis, it just crossed my mind. Where is your girlfriend?”

“Huh?”

Starchis and Stion both turned their heads at the same time.

Vienna couldn’t bear it any longer and agreed.

“She’s really not good. Why isn’t she coming?”

Even Lily, who was hopping happily in her mind, intervened.

“If Starchis were my boyfriend, I would never do such a thing.”

Luss and Vienna gave Lily a meaningful look at the well-intentioned words, but Lily decided not to care about such things anymore.

Starchis couldn’t find the right words to say. It would be unnatural for him to know anything considering he was unconscious.

It’s up to Hyung now.

Thinking so, as he glanced at his brother, Stion cleared his throat and spoke without any change in expression, as if he was used to lying.

“Starchis, something happened with Elza. An acquaintance came and informed me.”

“Stion, do you know Starchis’s girlfriend?” Luss asked.

“Of course, Hyung knows.”

“Right, I have met her. She must have been far away, as I was informed that she hasn’t even heard the news yet.”

“Is that so?”

After a long silence, Luss finally let the topic go.

She’d thought she would understand if she was far away, but she was still offended even after hearing a reasonable reason.

Before anyone else could ask anything, Stion cut in with perfect timing.

“Well, let Starchis and Elza handle that themselves later. Let’s go eat. I’m hungry.”

Although they couldn’t scratch the itchy feeling, the three of them couldn’t bring up the subject any further.

***

A few days after Stion visited asking for blood, a letter was delivered to the Nisty household.

“Master Nisty, it’s from Stion, the leader of the Aid Party.”

Hian Nisty received the letter from the butler and slowly read it.

“...Hian Nisty. Thanks to you, my brother’s life was saved... Whatever you want, even if it’s something dirty, I’ll do it. Thank you.”

Hian Nisty looked at the butler, and immediately, the butler spoke to him.

“How should we reply?”

“Well...”

Bang!!

The door burst open.

“Miss!”

Rose’s maid, Elza, and Rose entered together.

“Dad! I saw it. It’s from Stion, right?”

Hian pressed his temple. Although he had already made up his mind, after a few more days, he didn’t feel inclined to do so.

“Is Starchis okay?”

“...He’s recovering thanks to you.”

“Oh! That’s a relief.”

Rose chuckled softly.

Hian couldn’t help but dislike Starchis, who had stolen his daughter’s attention for no reason.

“Dad, you should always keep your promises, right? Butler, please convey our wish to treat Starchis to a meal.”

“Rose, is that really necessary?”

“What do you mean?”

Rose’s cunning smile appeared again. Hian’s heart ached at that mischievous expression.

“Oh, no... There are many better wishes... Maybe because you don’t know the abilities of an A-class party well yet...”

“Is that so? Many better wishes... Then, instead of a meal, how about a date with Starchis outside?”

“Oh! No!! I misspoke. Well, did you hear? Gwyn? Tell him that inviting him to a meal is our request, okay?”

Hian immediately changed his stance.

“Understood, Master.”

The butler called Gwyn bowed his head and left the room.

As if Rose was done with her business, she coldly followed Gwyn out of Hian’s room without any greetings.

Elza, who was restless, greeted him hurriedly and followed Rose out the door.

Left alone in the room, Hian sighed, swallowing his tears with a heavy heart.

“Rose is growing...”

It was his soliloquy to his departed wife.

****

Rose ran back to her room, bouncing around.

“Hahaha! Did you see Dad’s expression? I’ll finally have a male friend!” she exclaimed.

“Miss, please calm down... Aren’t you pressuring the master too much lately?”

“Elza, I’m an adult too. It’s not like I asked for something weird. Why are you reacting like this just because I want to meet someone?”

“...It’s not my place to say, but these little incidents become a topic of conversation among the nobles. What if unfavorable rumors start circulating? It would affect your chances of marriage!” Elza said anxiously. “You can’t afford not to get married...”

Rose scrunched up her face at Elza’s words.

“Tch, I heard that the daily lives of nobles are messy, to begin with. No matter how bad the rumors about me get, will they outweigh the reality of them?”

“The stories that spread openly are scarier than the reality.”

Rose flopped onto her bed.

“Ah, whatever. I just want to find out how men are different from women in terms of personality.”

Saying that she grabbed a book from the bedside. It was her favorite novel, which Hian was unfamiliar with.

“Hehehehe,” Rose giggled.

Elza frowned.

“...Even if he resembles the main character of that novel in appearance, it’s better not to hope for a similarity in personality, right?”

“Why not?”

“Miss!”

Elza shouted, but Rose turned her body, holding the book between her arms and the bed. Her hands covered her ears. She didn’t want to hear Elza’s nagging.

“You know there’s no way they’re alike! It’s just a novel!”

“...”

Rose didn’t respond, pretending not to hear.

“Miss, you should stop reading that novel! There are plenty of other good ones. Why do you keep reading that particular novel?!”

Rose removed her hands from her ears and turned her head to respond.

“It’s the novel you gave me, Elza.”

“And I regret it to this day! Ha... I didn’t know it would grip you like this when I gave it to you as simple entertainment.”

“You shouldn’t regret it. Among numerous books, this is the first one that made my heart race like this.”

With the novel nestled in her arms, she looked at the cover, which was as pink as her hair.

“I’ve seen many men, but Miss, in reality, there was no one like the protagonist in that novel.”

“Well, you haven’t met Starchis yet, have you? Maybe he’ll be like the protagonist of that novel,” Rose suggested.

Elza pressed her temples, just like Hian did.

“Sigh... Miss...”

After a long silence, she clicked her tongue.

“But aren’t you already hoping for a deep relationship? You said you just wanted to be friends.”

“If I don’t say that, Dad won’t allow it.”

“So, you’re indeed considering a deep relationship?” Elza asked.

“I don’t know. I’ll have to meet him to find out, right?”

Elza slumped into a nearby chair.

“Do as you please. But don’t try to measure him up based on a fictional character. Just wait and see if he shows any resemblance to the protagonist. Got it?”

“Yeah, got it.”

“Sigh... I don’t know why I’m even saying this.”

However, Rose wasn’t really paying attention to Elza’s advice.

She simply laughed excitedly, imagining a future meeting with Starchis.

She held the novel closer to her chest.

Her heart was pounding.

Whether it was because she suddenly remembered a scene from the novel or because of the anticipation of the meeting, she could not tell.

︵‿︵‿୨ * ୧‿︵‿︵

[TN: Hey there, culture fans! It’s Sinner, and guess what? I’m picking up the translation reins from Chapter 42 on. Also, a big shoutout to ReadingPia for kickstarting our journey with three pre-translated chapters! ]