WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
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◈ The Regressor and the Blind Saintess ◈
Chapter 73: Fear - 2
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The next day, Rene's bedroom.
Aisha hid behind the door and watched Rene tend to Vera, her face full of concern.
Rene looked utterly worn out. Dark circles hung beneath her sleepless eyes, and her head kept drooping.
Worried that Lady Rene might collapse at this rate, Aisha could no longer simply watch and knocked softly on the door.
“Lady Rene...?”
“Aisha?”
Ssshhh...
The white divine power flowing from Rene faded away. She turned her head toward Aisha.
Aisha carefully approached Rene and spoke in a voice full of concern.
“Lady Rene, are you okay? You look really tired...”
It was a suggestion that Rene should rest.
At those words, Rene smiled faintly and replied.
“I’m fine. See? I’m still perfectly all right.”
She lightly waved an arm as she spoke.
It was an act meant to ease Aisha’s worries. Rene could not bring herself to sleep peacefully while Vera lay unconscious like this.
After answering, Rene reached uncertainly through the air, placed her hand on Aisha’s head, and gently stroked it as she continued.
“I’m fine, so why don’t you go see Dovan? They must be having a difficult time too.”
Rene believed Dovan was suffering inside, thinking Vera’s condition was their fault.
At a time like this, having Aisha nearby would surely be a comfort.
Aisha answered Rene in a dejected voice.
“Okay...”
“Go on. I’m fine.”
Aisha watched Rene smile weakly, then turned and left the room.
Thud.
As the door shut, the smile that had lingered on Rene’s face vanished.
Her hand once again began searching the bed for Vera.
Tap.
Her fingertips found his. Their hands entwined, and white divine power covered them.
Rene lowered her head and rested her forehead against their joined hands.
“Haa...”
There was a trace of relief and deep sorrow tangled in her long exhale.
Then Rene’s fingertips began to tremble.
She had recalled the past.
There had been no relief in knowing Vera had returned.
How shocked had she been when Norn carried Vera back near sundown?
How her heart had dropped at the cold sensation of him growing colder as he struggled to breathe, as though his breath might stop at any moment.
Since then, Rene had not been able to leave Vera’s side, unable to calm her heart even a little.
She feared his condition would worsen while she was away. She feared that Vera might die forever in that brief moment.
If she did not hold Vera’s hand like this, anxiety surged up and kept her from thinking clearly. Only by feeling the warmth of his hand and the beat of his pulse could she barely suppress it.
“Vera...”
She called his name.
She called for him to wake up, wishing that he would rise and at least say that damned “I’m sorry.”
Yet, as expected, there was no answer.
He needed to wake up and reassure her. They needed to hold hands and walk together again.
“Vera...”
No answer came.
As Rene felt the coldness of Vera’s hand, she ground her teeth and began to murmur.
“...You said you would stay by my side.”
He had said he would always stay beside her. That he would protect her.
“You said we would be together.”
He had said he would stay with her until she found an answer, so that she could overcome despair.
“Why...?”
Why would he not wake up?
Rene’s eyes reddened. Heat welled up in them.
Drip.
A tear fell from Rene’s eye onto Vera’s cold hand and scattered.
* * *
Two more days passed, and Vera was still asleep.
Rene still sat beside the bed, healing him.
The white divine power she had kept pouring out was slowly running dry. As she felt it nearing its end, unease suddenly rose within her.
She feared Vera might die if she used up all her divine power.
In truth, his body had already recovered, and all he needed to do was regain consciousness. However, Rene had pushed herself without sleep for days and could no longer realize that.
Despite Norn and the others trying to stop her, Rene stubbornly refused to give in. Now, half out of her mind, she began to tremble.
The anxiety within Rene began to grow even larger.
She began to picture herself left alone in a pitch-dark world.
Her lips quivering, Rene reached uncertainly out and placed her hand on Vera’s chest.
No.
With that thought, she drew out every bit of divine power within her. She called upon her divine authority. She desperately wished for Vera to wake.
But.
Ssshhh...
Nothing changed.
“Ah, ah...”
Only then did Rene recall a fact that flashed through her mind.
The Lord’s divine authority could never be used for herself. It could not be used for wishes born from her own desire.
In truth, there was simply nothing left to heal. But with her judgment clouded, Rene despaired, believing that the gods had abandoned her again.
“No...”
Tears gathered at the corners of Rene’s eyes.
Rene rose from where she sat, buried her face against Vera’s chest, and began to cry.
“No!”
Vera could not disappear. She had to wake Vera.
Rene squeezed out her divine power once more.
She created a faint mist, too weak to even be called light, and forced it into Vera.
Thump. Thump.
A faint heartbeat reached her ears as she pressed her head to his chest.
Praying that heartbeat would not fade, Rene wrung every last thing from herself until her strength gave out and she collapsed.
* * *
A suffocating weight.
It was the first thing Vera felt when he regained consciousness.
Vera slowly opened his eyes and checked the source of the weight on his chest.
‘Saintess...’
It was Rene.
She had collapsed against his body, her face gaunt.
As Vera examined Rene, his body suddenly shuddered at the marks left on her cheeks.
Tearstains.
They were there. Looking closer, he saw that the area around her eyes was completely red.
Slowly, he reached out and brushed his hand over Rene’s cheek.
As he did so, Vera continued his thoughts.
‘...How much time has passed?’
He had clearly been at the Third Kingdom’s military camp just before collapsing.
Yet now he was in Rene’s bedroom.
And Rene, who clearly seemed to have wept, lay before him.
Vera narrowed his brow slightly as he continued thinking. Then he carefully lifted Rene’s head and sat up.
He rose without waking Rene, gently laid her flat on the bed, and covered her with a blanket. Then he examined his own condition.
‘Nothing is wrong.’
No, he was not merely all right. He was in the best condition he had been in for quite some time.
Vera looked toward Rene.
Considering the circumstances, Rene had probably healed him.
Thinking that he had ended up causing her trouble like this, Vera’s expression darkened. Soon after, he left the room.
He intended to find Norn and learn what had happened.
Vera found Norn not long afterward, at the entrance to the main house.
Seeing Vera emerge through the front door, Norn called out with a bright expression.
“Sir Vera!”
“Shh. The Saintess is sleeping.”
“Ah...!”
At Vera’s quiet words, made with a finger to his lips, Norn flinched and nodded.
Watching Norn lower his voice, Vera asked in a hushed tone.
“What happened?”
He was asking about the events after he had collapsed.
Norn let out a low groan before explaining.
Norn told him everything, from pulling Vera out of the dirt and bringing him here, to Rene’s treatment afterward, and how the Third Kingdom had suddenly fallen silent, changing the state of the alliance.
Having heard it all, Vera let out a brief sigh and lowered his head.
‘Three days...’
Had three days already passed since he collapsed?
Realizing that the backlash from the divine authority had been far worse than he had thought, Vera nodded with a regretful sigh.
“You have worked hard.”
“Not at all. It is a great relief that you have awakened.”
Vera noticed the dark circles beneath Norn’s eyes and gave a slight bow.
“I caused you worry.”
“What are you saying? The Saintess worried far more than I did.”
Norn gave a faint smile.
Finally beginning to feel at ease, Norn added in a mildly complaining tone.
“The Saintess suffered terribly. She has not slept these past few days while caring for you, so she must be exhausted. Even when I told her she should rest a little, she would hardly listen...”
“...Was that so?”
Vera looked toward the main house he had just left. His heart felt heavy. He should have eased her worries, not given her new cause for concern.
It was an emotion best called guilt.
As that feeling rose and Vera’s expression darkened...
“Vera!”
Rene’s cry burst from within the main house.
It was a loud cry, as though it would tear apart.
Vera flinched and spoke to Norn before heading back inside.
“I will go see.”
Every step he took was filled with urgency.
* * *
Rene had been lying on the bed when she realized that the warmth she had been holding onto was gone. She abruptly sat up and searched around her.
All her fingertips found was the rough texture of the blanket.
Suddenly, Rene felt as though her heart had dropped.
Vera was gone.
He had disappeared while she was unconscious for that brief moment.
“Vera?”
She swept her hands across the bed and along the wall as she called out. Her head turned this way and that through the empty air.
“Vera?”
He was not there. Vera was not there.
He had disappeared while she was unconscious for that brief moment.
“Vera...”
Moving wildly in her panic, Rene placed her hand beyond the edge of the bed and fell to the floor.
Thud.
A loud noise rang out.
Even as the impact ran through her whole body, Rene felt along the floor and spoke again.
“Vera? Where are you?”
Her voice began to tremble with tears. Even as she crawled forward, her hands could not find Vera.
The anxiety that had been building inside her all along.
Rene felt it overturn her heart once more.
She felt as though Vera had disappeared from her world.
Her mind went blank.
Fear tore through her entire body.
Without realizing it, Rene cried out.
“Vera!”
She had been left alone in a world without Vera. She was trapped in a pitch-dark world, unable to even take a proper step.
Rene’s eyes reddened.
No. No.
She could not live without Vera. She could not move forward.
Her entire body trembled with anxiety and fear.
Bang!
The door flew open.
“Saintess!”
Vera’s voice rang out.
Rene’s head snapped up.
Her breath caught in surprise, and she instinctively rose, staggering toward the direction of Vera’s voice.
Then, tap.
Rene felt her body bump into something.
Something settled on her shoulder. A large hand.
Rene knew at once.
“Vera...”
It was Vera’s hand.
“Yes, Saintess. Vera is here.”
It was Vera’s voice.
At the sensations reaching her, Rene felt the emotions that had consumed her until moments ago disappear in an instant, and all strength left her body.
Her body began to fall.
Vera supported her.
“What happened? Are you hurt?”
Hearing the voice filled with concern, Rene felt the tears that had clung to the corners of her eyes stream down her cheeks.
Her arms wrapped around Vera’s waist.
She buried her face in his chest.
Relief filled her. Vera was speaking to her like this. Only then did her tears finally burst forth.
Other emotions began to rise as well.
How fickle the human heart was. The moment she came to her senses upon realizing Vera was alive, all the hardship she had endured came rushing back to her.
She began to resent him for making her suffer like this.
Rene clenched her teeth and spoke in a heavily restrained voice.
“Why... why did you do that?”
Her words were full of resentment.
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