The candle continued to burn.
The scent of medicinal herbs and dried blood mingled with the warm air of the cabin. Lianne sat beside the bed, still gently holding Yuto's hand. Her golden eyes gazed at him with an absurd gentleness—almost innocent.
Incomprehensible.
Yuto watched her silently. His body still didn't obey, but his mind was working with surgical clarity now. The silence that filled the space was too comfortable... too strange. As if a part of him rejected that peace.
*Why... is she being so... gentle?*
She wiped the sweat from his forehead, changed his bandages with maternal care, and even murmured words of encouragement as if he were some fallen hero.
But he wasn't.
He knew that.
*She doesn't know who I am... doesn't know what I'm capable of. If she'd known, she wouldn't be here, smiling like that.*
His jaw tightened.
*Does she want something? Is she trying to manipulate me? Use my gratitude to protect herself in this shitty world?*
Suspiciousness was instinctive.
In this new world, everything and everyone seemed dangerous—and those who didn't seemed so were surely even worse.
**[Alert: Status "Paralysis" expired.]**
The message appeared in his vision like a release.
And immediately, the pain came.
Like a barrage of invisible knives piercing his flesh.
Yuto gasped. The first deep breath in hours. But his lungs protested. His throat felt like sand. The muscles... as if they were tearing apart one by one. Every small movement was followed by searing spasms.
Screaming would be a sign of weakness. He just gritted his teeth.
Slowly. One inch at a time.
First the hand. Then his fingers. Then his arm. The pain came in waves, and he rode them with his eyes half-closed, sweat dripping down his temples. The bandages stretched as he dragged himself out of bed.
Finally, he landed on the floor.
The cold of the stone floor cut into his skin like ice, but he didn't fall.
He was standing.
Shaking. Broken. But standing.
And in that moment...
The door flew open with a bang.
"You're standing?!" Lianne screamed, completely surprised.
Her golden eyes widened, and in a flash, her hand slid to the sheath of a dagger hanging on the side of her apron. The blade glinted, thin, silver. Magically enchanted.
She assumed a fighting stance. The air around her changed. That gentle expression vanished, replaced by something fierce. Ready to kill.
Yuto raised his hands with difficulty.
"Calm down..."
Her voice was hoarse, more like the growl of a wounded animal than human speech.
"I... I won't hurt you..."
"How can I know that?!" she screamed, her eyes wide. "You were writhing in pain yesterday, and today you're standing as if nothing happened?! What kind of creature are you?!"
He hesitated. *Good question...*
But she didn't answer.
"I'm just... trying to breathe," she said with effort.
She kept the dagger raised, but didn't move. The tension was palpable. The system, of course, didn't miss the opportunity.
**[Oh... what a tense moment. Will the wolf devour the lamb now? Huh, Yuto?]**
Yuto kept his eyes fixed on Lianne's. She trembled slightly. She was strong, but still human. Still fragile.
"Listen to me... if I wanted to do something to you... I would have done it while you were sleeping. But I didn't, okay?"
She hesitated.
The dagger lowered... just a little.
**[Look at that. So rational. How sweet. But what if I ordered you to kill her now? Hm? What if I activated a command inside you?]**
Yuto felt a shiver run down his spine.
**[Could you resist? Can you really control what *you* are now? Or have you already gone beyond that point?]**
His hands trembled.
He squeezed his eyes shut. He ignored the pain, ignored the blood seeping from the reopened seams of the bandages.
"Shut up..."
"What?" Lianne's eyes widened.
Yuto took a deep breath.
"Not you..." he replied, exhausted. "*Him.*"
**[Ah... you love me. I know.]**
He staggered, almost falling to his knees, but held on to the wall. His breath came like stabs.
Lianne ran to him, hesitant. The dagger was still in her left hand, but her right gripped his arm firmly.
"You're bleeding again! Idiot!" she exclaimed, pulling him back onto the bed.
Yuto, unresisting, let himself be guided.
She laid him down, cursing under her breath, and resumed changing his bandages with quick but gentle movements.
"You should be dead... or at least lying down, not standing up acting tough!"
He let out a wry smile.
"I'm tough... by obligation."
Lianne sighed, relieved and irritated at the same time.
"You're a complete lunatic."
"Yeah..." he muttered, staring at the ceiling. "That's... I really am."
**[That's why we get along so well.]**
He closed his eyes.
The pain, the heaviness in his chest, the tension... all of it was still there. But now, there was more.
Distrust.
A sadistic system toying with him.
A girl who might have been being kind... or might have just been waiting for the right moment to stab him.
But above all... he was alive.
And if he was alive... he could keep fighting.
He could keep being the executioner.
Even if it cost him everything.