Only with Your Heart

I slept better that night than the night before, but still in the morning, when I woke up, my body was in pain and Thousand Cranes looked up.

When I managed to get up and lean my back against the stone wall and try to catch a breath...... Chizuru noticed an anomaly. Tight tension fills this narrow hut.

Bal, who put himself on the door perfectly, whispered "Shh no" toward Chizuru, letting his index finger touch his lip.

"Someone seems to be approaching... five or six people wondering if they would give a crap"

In a suppressed low voice, Bal explained quickly.

The blurring sensation of her sleep disappeared gently, and Chizuru squeezed her face tight and snuggled.

─ ─ Someone is approaching.

What Chizuru had hoped for was that Ruklov had found Chizuru and came to help him.

The voices of distant people and the sound of the horse's feet, which did not sound like untrained Chizuru, are getting closer and clearer to be heard by Chizuru as well. Thousands of cranes beat dodgily, but as visitors approached, hope squeezed rapidly.

I don't hear Ruklov.

That's not all. A tall, disgusting voice, like scratching a violin string poorly... I could hear Exia's voice grumpy.

"You useless! You can't even attack one little girl!?

Chizuru froze to the spot. When I look at Bal, he shrugs his shoulders very hard.

To Exia's complaint, the guards give explanations like, "But there's that guy..." or, "I got my teeth broken, look at me".

Chizuru stared more and more at Bal.

Bal shrugs his shoulders again and whispers in a whisper as if he had no choice.

"while you were losing your mind."

Surprise and gratitude overflowed, and Chizuru took his breath.

When I first woke up in this tower, Bal looked a lot tired, and some of the clothes looked like blood stains. In other words, he was protecting her from the guards who had received the life (Mei) that struck Chizuru. Maybe I beat that pretty badly too... because since then the guards have barely tried to get close to the Chizuru's other than throwing in a meal.

"Never mind"

Bal said with a slightly stronger voice. "Originally, it was the muscle that saved you from here and delivered you to the Duke of Luklov... A few more showed up later, and that didn't happen."

Is the time still about 7: 00 in the morning?

Unmistakably gentle, with a gentle scent of morning dew, but the sun is well up already.

Thousand Cranes wanted to thank Bal for his modesty, but now is not the time, he understood it properly. Exhia's voice, up, finally reaches the front of the door.

"Open it now! Oh, you incompetent! What a dirty place..."

Chizuru frowned at Exhia's voice cursing his men.

It is Thousand Cranes who have been kidnapped in a modest ploy and imprisoned in a shady and unclean prison. Exia is one of its main culprits, sprinkled with frustration and surroundings where she would otherwise be proud to win.

I felt something was wrong.

When the attachment door opened with the sound of a tree cracking, a strong light came in that he hadn't seen in the past few days, and Chizuru narrowed his eyes. A black shadow of Exia with the morning sun on her back stands blocking the entrance.

Behind her were several men who looked like men.

"You little girl..."

Exia lifted the hem of the dress and came slightly into the cell, thinking she had become irritated.

Soon I knew what her purpose was, so Chizuru stood up hastily to confront her - but suddenly there was no time to put herself in the flat hands of the flying Exia. There was a bash, dry burst sound, and Chizuru was hitting his back against the stone wall.

The slapped cheek hurts slightly.

"What a damned woman! Not all my plans are ruined! Because of this witch!

Exia, who always wore it, but today she is wearing a relatively plain flax dress.

Her hair was also disturbed, and the grace as seen in Ruklov's castle had disappeared. Instead, there is an unseen hysterical woman disturbed. Of course, Thousand Cranes. Because it's after spending a few days in this prison, I guess it's not the outfit they see.

Chizuru stood back holding on to his cheek, which had been struck with one hand, in order to hold his mind strongly.

"You grabbed us here."

Exia hunched her nose.

"What the hell?"

And then I stretch my neck and cram it all the way to Chizuru. "I should have just killed you. But I didn't ask your father if he could use it as a hostage. That's hilarious."

Though I guess I should have said something back, Chizuru was in words. I mean, I couldn't breathe.

According to Exia's statement, Chizuru is no longer available as a hostage...... Does that mean that Luklov abandoned Chizuru? Is that possible?

Don't cry, Chizuru told himself.

Trust him.

"If Luklov's territory is what it's all about... he's got nothing to do with it. Let him go."

Bal, who stood to stick right next to the door, hardened his expression slightly.

Bal was obvious that if someone tried to work any more rampant on Chizuru, it would be a relentless setup to strike. It is a chivalrous spirit that I looked up to, but it is also dangerous.

Exia's thin lips finally made a creepy smile on.

"It sounds like he didn't want you to throw you alone in such a small pigshack. Really, an ugly woman (lump) with no attraction whatsoever. That's what you are."

I know as much as I know I'm not a flashy beauty like Exia, even if I don't confirm that.

But... I'm sure this is her provocation. Leave it to temporary anger to explode, it becomes the pot the enemy thinks it is. Chizuru swallowed the objections he had gone out for a long time to get Exia.

The reaction of this Thousand Cranes seemed uninteresting to Exia.

"Oh, I don't like it. Why don't you cry and beg for your life? After this, I will return you to the Duke of Lucroff with my congratulations."

…………

Chizuru's spine froze cold.

In this world without a decent law, it should be a daily tea meal so that one woman can be truncated after a power struggle. No wonder Chizuru became one of them. Maybe it's as unnatural as ever to be kept alive.

"Still... Bal shouldn't matter. He is the knight of the loan. You will turn the loan to the enemy as well."

While disciplining his fears as much as possible, Chizuru said, staring at Exia.

Understood theory, I just said it back in the mood to bite a cramped cat. But Exia's reaction was unexpected. He wolves as if the dress had been lit and leaves himself to anger to start treading on the estate.

"It's too late! It's too late now!

Exhia's cry had nothing but a thousand cranes and bales, as well as the men she brought with her, which inexplicably stunned her face. Exia grabbed the hem of the dress even more at the mercy of her strength, pushing her teeth out and approaching the thousand cranes.

"Your... marriage, covenant, person"

Slowly resentful as he seemed to shudder, Exia spoke.

"The Duke of Ruklov knows you're gone. No, he's marching on my father's castle. He said the devil's masses had the same momentum to fear. My father, as soon as he came up with your name to negotiate, was chopped off in an instant."

Exia's lips are bloody purple.

Chizuru lost his words and stared immensely at Exia, who congested his eyes as he touched his mind.

"They cut my neck off! Oh, that madness!

Exia began to whine and nod her face in both hands. Chizuru, staring sharply at Exia's cry, shifted his gaze slightly and slightly to Bal. Bal creeps toward Chizuru with a strange face.

Should I run away?

But there's a small number of Exia escorts out there. Bal has a full waist, and after not eating much in a few days, he even has luggage called Chizuru. Even to escape, Bal is the knight of the Loan's territory, and there should be little land exploration around here. There are sadly few winning opportunities.

"But... then there's no reason... to keep us captive..."

Wanting to buy some time, Chizuru said toward Exia, one at a time. But Exia didn't seem to hear anything. I kept moaning in the same position for a while, but suddenly tingly stiffened my spine and raised my wet face in tears.

Chizuru drank his breath.

Because Exhia's eyes were so brutally cloudy that they did not seem to belong in this world.

My father is dead.

I had a bad feeling. Exhia's voice sounds creepy, like a proclamation (sentimental) from some distant world, already separated from the surrounding reality.

At the same time, Bal was found to stiffen his body.

"It is a miracle that I have come so far to escape... Oh, well, I guess heaven has a little side with me, too. Didn't I?"

There was no answer, so Chizuru was silently lurking his breath. Sweat twitches at the tension. It might have been less fearful if you'd been yelling at me.

Exia smiled. Like a girl.

"The Duke of Ruklov will kill me without a moment of mercy. But there's something I can do."

Chizuru prayed to God that Exia would suddenly change her mind. Even though I knew that was a pointless prayer, I couldn't help but do so.

"Taking you on the road...... Otherwise, take your crazy fiancée. You can choose, which one do you want?