“My lord!” a Named man yelled as he abandoned his fight and rushed toward Minos, pushing Lena to the ground.
Minos fell to his knees, blood running down his clothes and seeping out of his mouth. “Ah…” he said, but he composed himself almost immediately. “Don’t worry about me. Go hold them back!” he said, each word making blood stream down his mouth more.
“M-my lord!” The Named man glared at Lena, and he held his sword up. “I shall finish her quickly before I obey your command, my lord!” He lunged toward her and swung his sword—
“Stop!” Minos shouted, then coughed blood.
The Named man halted just before the blade reached her neck. He looked back. “Why, my lord? Why won’t you—“
“You fool!” Minos said. “If you kill her, then all the attention will be on her death! We will have wasted our chance in exposing her wrongdoings! Now listen to me and go hold them back!”
The Named man gritted his teeth and rushed back to the frontline. All the while, Eva stood still, her mouth agape. She touched her cheek, and her hand came back wet. “No… Not again…” she whispered.
The world seemed to slow down, the shouts becoming more distant, the colors dull. Eva searched in her memories, thinking of a way to save him. She thought of their first meeting in her previous life, in a restaurant near her estate. She thought of the time he was captured in her stead and tortured. She thought of the time he locked her in the basement, thinking she would escape by herself.
There’s nothing you can do, a voice in her said. You are going to watch him die again.
Eva gritted her teeth and looked frantically around the dungeon. She saw empty cells, saw Lena who still remained on the ground, smiling, saw the Named men fighting for their lives as the masked men slowly retreated.
Then, she noticed one of Minos’s men.
“Silas!” she called out to the Named man with platinum hair. “You know medicine, correct? Come here!”
Silas was startled. He looked back with wide eyes. “How did you—No, my lady, I have never treated anyone before. I simply read some books—“
“No matter,” she said. “Help him!”
She knew he would succeed. He was the Doctor of Death who wielded both medicine and swords, after all.
The Named man looked to his comrades, each of whom gave him a nod after noticing that the majority of the masked men were fleeing in the other direction. “Then, I’ll leave them to you!” he said before leaving the battle and rushing toward Minos. He appraised the marquis, with each second his expression becoming darker and darker, sweat streaming down his forehead. “Please find me cloths. A lot of them. And also please get me the brazier.”
Sofia, who had just finished tying Lena up, rushed into the dungeon, and Eva followed. Together, they hauled the burning brazier back. Silas pulled out a dagger and placed the blade in the fire. He looked at Eva who was tearing her dress into pieces. “My lady, I am going to cauterize the wound. Please hold the cloth to his wound in the front while I use the dagger to close the wound in the back. Your maid will pull the sword out in one go, and we will start the moment the steel is out.”
Eva nodded and stuffed a piece of cloth in Minos’s mouth. She was stationed in front while Sofia stood beside Silas nervously, grabbing the hilt of the sword.
“My lord,” said Silas, retrieving the burning dagger. “No matter how painful it is, please hold on.”
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Minos nodded.
The Named man looked at Eva, then at Sofia. “3… 2… 1… Do it!”
In one movement, Sofia pulled out the sword, and Eva pushed the piece of cloth forward. Silas held one side of the burning dagger against his wound. The sound of flesh being burned and the sound of Minos’s muffled scream tore Eva’s heart. She wanted to avert her eyes and block her ears, but she couldn’t do that, so she looked into his eyes, hoping that he could see her sincerity through the pain.
It didn’t matter to Eva anymore. She knew she wanted to be with him no matter what, even if that meant she would bear the pain of the past forever. She prayed to God with all her heart to keep him safe, to let him stay with her longer. Eva felt tears streaming down her face. “Please… please, please be safe. Please don’t leave me. Please don’t do this. Please—“
Minos grabbed her hand.
Before this point, he had been clawing at the ground in pain, but somehow, his hand that was holding her was gentle, as if to comfort and reassure her. Eva wanted to cry her heart out and embrace him, but she could do neither, so she nodded while holding in her tears. “I love you,” she sobbed. “I love you. I will say it however many times you want afterward, so please, please live on.” Her voice trembled, and she couldn’t hold in her tears any longer. “I cannot live on without you anymore.”
Minos somehow stroked her hand through the pain. Tears fell out of his eyes, and he seemed to smile and mouthed something. ‘I love you too,’ Eva thought he said.
“This side is finished!” said Silas, circling Minos. Eva let go at his signal, and the Named man slapped the burning dagger on his wound.
Minos screamed through the gag once more, his hand tightening on Eva’s so much that it hurt, but Eva only squeezed him back. She held his hand with both of hers, holding it to her forehead. “Please, please, please, please.”
The sound of fighting behind her stopped. The Named men and other men came over to Minos’s side. “My lord!” they said, kneeling.
“What about the enemies?” asked Silas, slowly applying pressure to the wound.
“They retreated after our reinforcement broke through, but we can’t stay for long. It seems the city guards are already alerted.”
“Wait,” Silas said. “The wound is about to close. If no vital internal organ is injured, then his lordship will be alright.”
“His lordship will be fine!” said one of them.
“This kind of wound isn’t enough to put him down!”
“Indeed! He is a man of perseverance!”
The men voiced out praises for Minos, cheering.
Eva loosened her grip and smiled. “Right,” she said, stroking his hand. “You are not someone who will go down that easily.”
After the men had chanted their songs for a round, Silas removed the dagger and confirmed his condition. He asked Minos how he was feeling and whether there was something he felt was amiss.
“I’m fine,” Minos replied.
The men cheered and whistled. Eva’s tears burst out, and she did not try to hide them.
Minos looked at his men with an annoyed face, though he was obviously smiling. “Just shut up, will you? Who told you it was a good idea for you to shout into a patient’s ears?” He got up and stumbled a step, Eva helping him stand. He looked at her. “My lady, I will hold you to your word later.” Minos held her hand up and kissed it, then he looked at his men. “We will leave right away. Even though we are knights, we are not supposed to be here, let alone fight, so don’t make any more commotion and disperse. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“What about her?” said one Named man, glaring at Lena who was sitting silently. “Some of our men perished during the fight.”
“Leave her be,” replied Minos, turning away. “She still has a role to play, and our brothers will understand.”
Eva helped Minos walk while Silas supported his other side. The men led the way down a path Eva had never used, and they made their way out of the underground arena with this secret passage reserved for gold key holders. They came out through a hatch of an abandoned house, and Minos immediately gave out orders for his men, having some gather information while having others secure their route.
Finally, only Minos, Eva, Sofia, and the four Named People were left.
“I need to talk with my lady,” Minos said, looking at his men and Sofia. “Alone.”
“Yes, my lord,” the Named men said.
Sofia hesitated, and Eva nodded toward her, ensuring her. The maid bowed and followed the men outside.
When they left, Minos walked over to Eva. He reached his hand out and stroked her face with his thumb. “My lady,” he said before hugging her awkwardly, flinching as his chest pressed into her. “I cannot tell you how happy I am right now.”
The warmth enveloping her felt so comforting that she almost drifted off. She eventually got hold of herself and said, “S-Sir Nikitas, this is not appropriate… A-and we have just met not a month ago.”
“Please call me Minos. And isn’t it much longer than that, my lady?”
Eva froze. “What do you mean?”
Minos released her, looking into her eyes and smiling. “I also came from the future, Eva.”