Only with Your Heart

Alde-- now.

As Estabel heralded, as the night deepened, Chizuru began to produce heat, which was dangerously high when the sun lit up the sky lightly.

Nadal went right back to his room after that.

Though Lone was on Ruklov's side for a while, when the morning arrived, he followed Thousand Cranes' room.

Ruklov had been sitting in a chair on the side of Chizuru's bedside, bending his bent back and watching her every move quietly. If I sweated, I wiped him with a cool cloth, and if I had a nightmare coming from a high fever, I would gently cheek him and calm him down.

In the meantime, Luklov did not speak much in silence, but when he saw Alde striving to burn care on his side with this, he told him to return to his family as soon as possible at dawn.

"No... Dear Mr. Ruklov. Master Chizuru needs help right now. Let me stay here."

When Alde pleaded, Ruklov gazed at her blurry for a while before turning his gaze back to Chizuru without saying anything. Maybe I don't have the strength to argue anymore.

He didn't say anything more.

On the wooden shelf was the hot and cold medicine left by Estabel, but the effect has not yet appeared.

The hour proceeded more slowly, and even as the castle began to flourish in the morning, Chizuru's room was as quiet as it had been detached from its surroundings.

Arde, who had gone around the castle and collected some more clean cloths, came back to Chizuru's room and told Luklov.

"Right now, I'm letting you prepare a soup that I took stock of with beef. My doctor said this would be a good way to recover the blood I lost."

Ruklov lifted his eyes only for a moment, but quickly turned away to Chizuru, snapping something short with a whisper that he could not hear. Maybe they thanked me. Alde had stopped thinking critically about Luklov's current standing behavior.

For fourteen years...... for so long the beloved, who chopped up his own soul but kept asking to see him, is in front of him at Setouchi of life.

Seeking courtesy and concern from Lucroff in this situation is foolishness.

In fact, Ruklov didn't seem to see any surroundings.

When Alde speaks up or hands out to change the sheets of a thousand cranes, he looks like he noticed the presence of the woman for the first time then. The interest also usually vanished in an instant, and soon returned to the world of Chizuru and just the two of us.

Chizuru, floating in heat, said wow with a faint voice at times.

There were many words that did not make sense, but Ruklov treated each and every one of them as important as a revelation from heaven.

One time, Chizuru...

"No..."

And I snapped uncut in tears.

Ruklov took Chizuru's hand and gave him many gentle mouthpieces at his fingertips, answering his lover with a low voice so masculine that his spine crept.

"What's up, Chizul? What's wrong with you?

Of course there couldn't be enough power to reply to Chizuru, and Ruklov's voice seemed barely heard, and when he leaked his short, groaning voice he went back to sleep.

Ruklov sighed like a freaking sigh.

"You are a really hard woman...... chizl. Besides being incredibly handy. It's whimsical, ignorant, I don't know anything..."

And he smiled faintly as he held his hand to wrap the cheeks of a thousand cranes.

"I love you, Chizul. I love you."

There is one thing that Alde noticed then.

Right next to Ruklov, there was a single sword placed to lean against the wall. At first, I wondered if they were just simply left without time to clean up, but unnaturally well prepared for it.

It's a long sword with no sheath and a polished body.

Beautifully sharp......

No way, the skepticism and the certainty, after all, echoed Alde's instincts at the same time.

Sure enough, Lecroff's private room is stocked with fewer weapons. But he never brought it into the Thousand Cranes room. Even when revealing the night here, Ruklov sometimes had some degree to keep his protective daggers sneaking around somewhere, never putting them where they were visible.

I'm sure for Luklov, a place with a thousand cranes is a sanctuary, not something to tarnish with weapons and such.

That's it.

Sometimes, when Chizuru's breath became bitter and obnoxious, Luklov's gaze shifted with his sword.

When Alde closed his tight eyes and breathed deeply, he tried to calm his heart, which swayed in sorrow. Because it's not if you're crying.

If Chizuru wasn't ready to help, Luklov already is.

Alde didn't pinch anything in it, and he didn't even know what to say.

When the beef juice poured into the soup dish was delivered to the room, Alde approached the thousand cranes with a spoonful of silver.

"I need you to drink this... shall I do it?

Basically, Luklov wanted to take care of himself that touched Chizuru directly, so if it's true, you don't have to ask. But Alde asked just in case.

Ruklov shook his head to the side.

"Give it to me."

Upon receiving a soup dish and a teaspoon, Ruklov placed it at the desk next to his bedroom, and when he carefully lifted the upper body of Chizuru, he raised some soft pillows behind his back to make him angle.

He then held and supported Chizuru's shoulder firmly with one arm, slowly bringing the teaspoon closer to his lips with the other hand.

Phew breathed and cooled the soup to the right temperature. Ruklov whispered gently to Chizuru, as he would teach.

"Just drink this, Chizuru."

Thousands of cranes' consciousness seemed cloudy and could barely move, except they managed to open their eyes properly. Ruklov hit the tip of the teaspoon against the lower lip of the thousand cranes.

"For me."

Chizuru opened his mouth.

Carefully there, flushing a small amount of soup to drool, Chizuru managed to swallow a small amount of its amber liquid. But soon he coughed up and looked agonized.

Ruklov dumped a teaspoon aside and wrapped a thousand cranes' faces with a loving trick.

"Good boy... You don't have to. Let's drink slowly. If it's for you, I'll have as much time as I can."

When Lucrov comforted him so, Chizuru exhaled with an uncut sigh and leaned against his shoulder to sweeten him.

That way, over time, Chizuru managed to drink about half the amount of the plate. Soon after that I was exhausted and sank into a heavy sleep, and for quite some time, I did not wake up.

Thus the day passed.

Day two, day three and as time progressed, I could see hope, albeit slightly.

The fever remained as high as ever, still showing no sign of falling back, but a little bit more time of Thousand Cranes consciousness.

Estabel shows up in Chizuru's room twice a day to check the condition of the wound, disinfect and replace the cloth when she thanks for the new herb. It was hard to read the look on the old woman's face covered in deep wrinkles, but I still feel that it has become somewhat mild...... is it Alde's hopeful observation?

I don't think so.

At least the purulence I feared did not occur, the bleeding stopped, and the wound seemed to be slowly on its way to recovery.

On the evening of the third day, Chizuru woke up just a little.

"Luk...... lof......?

Still dreaming of a decent eye, I look around. Ruklov had already gone back to his room to shave his mustache for three days only once, so he barely left the side of Chizuru... and of course he was right next door then.

"Chizuru"

Ruklov took Chizuru's hand and bent his back and peered into his lover's face.

They stared at each other quietly, from neither side, smiling softly at each other. Even an experienced woman (Alde) trained to refrain secretly from shadowing spreads such intimate air all over the room that it softens.

There was even more strength in Ruklov's hands.

"I'm sorry... Luklov..."

With such a weak voice that it was difficult to hear, Chizuru whispered as he looked up at Luklov. "Yakuza... I did"

Ruklov, who stiffened his bickering back, with a rough, low voice

"Why apologize?

and returned it to Chizuru.

Tears gradually accumulate in Chizuru's eyes.

"Damn it... you would have...? I won't be leaving... Always by your side..."

He's getting breathless, and Chizuru stopped speaking here for a while. Ruklov is patiently awaiting the continuation. Slightly later, Chizuru spoke out again slowly.

"Yet... gone"

"It's not your fault, Chizul. It's not your fault."

"But"

"But it's not. You don't have to apologize. You're here now. Here, right next to me. Right?

Chizuru nodded small as he chewed his lips slowly.

"Good boy. And... you're not leaving me. Wouldn't you?

Chizuru shrugged his face and collapsed, spilling a tear that was accumulating in his eyes, he nodded small again.

"Yeah......"

"Then that's fine. That's all you need. Don't cry."

But Ruklov's voice was also trembling. He repeated. "Don't cry. Because it sounds like a scratch."

The two seemed to hug each other on the bedside and quietly confirm each other's existence. After a while, Chizuru groaned again because of the heat and whispered to Ruklov with a faint voice before closing his eyes.

"I... lied, I lied"

"Shh?"

Ruklov was messing with Chizuru's hair with a muscle and fingertips. "What lies?

"I said I'm tired of you... marrying someone else..."

Alde was surprised and raised his face from the sewing he had done then. I don't see Luklov's face, but Chizuru is anxiously tilting his neck.

"Liar. It was a lie...... I'm sorry. I can't believe I'm tired."

"Chizuru"

"Marry one of the others... no"

"Chizuru"

As Chizuru's consciousness grew more and more cloudy, Ruklov tapped her cheek lightly as she called her name again and again.

"I knew that from the beginning, Chizuru. You are a lousy liar. And there's no way I'm marrying another woman. I'm just thinking about holding you as a bride right now and as soon as possible."

Still, Chizuru was whispering something back in a whisper that Alde couldn't hear, but Ruklov shook his head in clear denial.

"Whatever happens, you're the only one I love. Whether you live or die, you're the only one I swear to forever."

I wonder how many people live dreaming of such affection and looking for it. Only a handful of people can find it, true love.

Whatever the future might be, they found someone who could give such a rare love. Beyond time and space, beyond time.

And now I'm fighting for that love.

If death were to divide the two flesh, I'm sure their hearts and souls would always remain one and never leave...

Chizuru sank again into a heavy and long sleep.

Luklov never let go of the thousand cranes until morning came.

And the hour shall pass, and the morning of the fifth day shall come.