Episode 23

?????? (7)

“I think we’ll be good partners in the future.”

It was difficult for each other’s unique interests to fit so well. It feels as if it has become a well-organized role on a stage of a play.

“By the way. Christa, aren’t you hungry?”

At that sudden remark, Christa blinked her big eyes. She had a face that she did not understand at all. Her white eyelashes gently quiver with each blink of her eyelids.

“What?”

“Let’s eat something and talk for now.”

He grabbed her hand and raised her up. It was very easy to lift her up, who is as light as a sheet of paper.

“Why do you always try to feed me something?”

“Do I do that?”

“Yes.”

The two left the drawing-room and headed alone. Ragnar did not let go of Christa’s hand. Somehow he felt like she would fly away somewhere if he let go of her hand.

‘Her hands are quite cold.’

He knew her temperature was much lower than others. The hand he held on the battlefield that day was cold like this.

Her hand that night, too. He thought she was just nervous at the time. But now he knows. It’s the original temperature of her hand.

He tried to guide her carefully. A warm atmosphere flowed through the place where they held hands. Christa, who was no longer an F-class, noticed that it was a guide. She raised her head.

“Excuse me, Captain?”

“I thought I told you to call me Ragnar.”

Then eventually, it looked like she was dragged to the hall where the dining room was located.

“Now, sit here.”

She bowed her head at his kindness to pull out the chair for her. There were dozens of cutlery on the table.

A servant filled a glass with wine. Even at the banquet of the imperial palace, she had never had a glass, so she stared blankly at the transparent bowl.

And starting with that, a grand dinner began. It was a luxurious course featuring at least 12 plates, including appetizers, cold and warm food.

“Why don’t you try a little more? How about this lobster dish?”

Christa was on the verge of another stomachache. She felt the food come up to her throat.

“This is the limit for me.”

It was a bizarre conversation. It didn’t essentially change from what was shared on the battlefield that day. He struggled to feed her and she was busy trying to avoid him.

However, the only difference now was that she could not go back as she did then.

“Well, really, I…….”

That’s when today’s main dish appeared. In particular, the chef of the Argonod family appeared dragging a trolley.

“Today’s main dish is grilled calf tenderloin with truffles and goose liver.”

An unripe calf tenderloin was placed on a special iron plate. The chef sprinkled a high degree of alcohol with dexterity and lit it.

The veal cooked with flambés (a recipe to blow away alcohol in a short time by adding alcohol at a high heat) was cooked on an iron plate. The blue flames burned out the fat and flesh of the meat.

At that moment, Christa recalled her old nightmare. It was a memory of a past life.

?Crista Palmaril. Those who prove to be witches are burned at the stake.?

It was a burning nightmare where the flames burned her skin. It reminds her of the pain of losing her mind.

‘Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!’

Her body stiffened. The fluttering flames continued to swallow the meat. Even if she try to calm down, she keep getting sick of it.

“…….”

The smell of the meat stimulated her sense of smell. It must have been a very appetizing smell for someone, but it was just a pain for Christa.

‘Please…… Kill… Give……!!’

Her mind turns white. The red flame that burned her lungs came to mind. She had to suffer constantly because her body constantly regenerated.

“Christa?”

“…….”

Christa is now shaking pitifully.

“What’s wrong?”

Gradually, her complexion was pale, and became even paler. Rather than just feeling sick, he felt like she was afraid of something.

“Uh…… Ugh.”

And Christa was nauseated. At that moment, everyone in the hall stopped moving. The chef, who was grilling meat for a moment, dropped the tongs.

“Oh my!”

At that moment, a brief exclamation flowed from Tatiana’s mouth. As if to sense something. And looked at Ragnar. with glistening eyes

Speaking of Ragnar, such a disturbance did not even come into his eyes. Christa is rolling her back and shaking.

“What’s going on?”

“Well, I’m fine…… Ugh….”

And she was nauseated again. Now even the servants and maids have begun to talk.

‘No way, a baby?’

‘It’s the first time he brought a woman home.’

Already, the conversation clearly suspects her pregnancy.

“Crista, should I call a doctor?”

“It’s… it’s not worth worrying……………………………………….”

In the end, Christa ran to the bathroom. And she had to pour out everything she ate. Then, she poured cold water on her face several times, and she felt more and more realistic.

Looking in the mirror, there is a body like a twig that has dried up and twisted.

“Ha…”

Looking at the pale face without blood, disgust suddenly comes. She looked at her skinny skewer-like hands.

‘I killed an innocent man with this hand…….’

She herself was a sinner. She is also a heinous witch who should not be forgiven. Her white hands were covered with blood.

‘That’s why I was punished.’

The sensation of tearing a person’s body was never a dream. Apparently she took hundreds of lives. In the most brutal way. When the fact came into her head, she felt nauseous again.

Now, there is nothing more to come out, but the misjudgment has not gone away. She had no choice but to crouch on the floor and stay still without wiping the things flowing from her mouth.

Knock knock. Then she heard a knock.

“Miss, are you all right?”

It was Mrs. Tatiana. No wonder she was scared. An unknown anxiety spreads in the corner of her chest.

“I’m okay, I’m…okay.”

She answered in a split voice, but she feels awkward.

“Will you excuse me for a moment?”

Christa didn’t answer her, but the woman came in regardless.

“I brought some warm honey water. How are you feeling?”

Tatiana gently caressed Christa’s back. It was such a warm hand. Her body, which is used to being hated, could not control itself when touched by such a warm and soft hand. It’s a different sense of difference from unpleasantness.

Something seemed to boil under the root of her tongue. She wanted to answer something, but now she felt the warmth of the hand, so she had to keep my mouth shut.

“I was like that with my first.”

“What?”

What the hell is…. What does she mean by ‘first’? It was hard for Christa to infer the meaning. But Tatiana caught her up.

“You’ll be cold if you stay in the bathroom for a long time. It’s not good for a woman to be this cold.”

Then she put a warm shawl over her shoulder. The soft cloth felt like Tatiana. As she enjoyed the touch from another human being, she suddenly came to her senses in a flash.

“Ah…… I’m fine.”

But it’s hard to refuse such a kind lady’s favor. It was the first time she had been treated like this by a lady of this age.

Her Aunt Eva used to yell at her and scream at her. She’s especially more conscious of middle aged women. It would have been easier to deal with her if she had given her a cold look. Such was the treatment she had always experienced anyway.

So it was hard to refuse Tatiana, who was smiling at her. It was hard to let go of the soft cloth over her shoulder.

“Now, let’s go somewhere warm. Oh, my God! Your hands are so cold.”

Tatiana covered her thin fingers with her hands to share her warmth.

As she went outside, the maid and servants were looking at her with worried expressions.

“Ah, the lady has come out.”

“How are you feeling, miss?”

Everyone is saying warm words to Christa. Their eyes showed that they were really worried about her.

Christa felt a rush of blood on her face. She flinched and turned away from the worried eyes.

At the end, there was a golden eye that looked more anxiously at her than anyone else. Emotions that were so unfamiliar had been floating on her skin for a while. His eyes are sweet like honey again and seem to stick to her face.

Maybe it’s because she’s weak. She had the urge to leave her body to such lukewarm feelings without realizing it. Her voice is soaked with water.

“C, Captain..….”

“Call me Ragnar.”

Christa hesitated for a moment and replied.

“R, Ragnar….nim?

(t/n: She called him Ragnar-nim, which is a polite way of addressing someone, like Mr. Ragnar)

Then Ragnar’s expression became sour.

“Crista, we’re going to be a couple now.”

“Ah, yes….”

Come to think of it, they discussed the details of such a contract earlier. However, calling each other by names all of a sudden, she couldn’t adapt quickly.

“A wife who calls her husband by their title is strange. Let’s get used to our names now.”

“Is it weird to call one’s husband by their title?”

Christa rolled her eyes up. When she married Count Pasquier in her previous life, she called him Count Pasquier.