"The base is under attack."
Dorian's blood ran cold after receiving the message.
The tide of the battle had greatly changed. The Crown Prince's unit could quickly deal with the small group of Bahitan forces sent to keep them busy, so after defeating them, the Crown Prince's unit merged with the Grand Duke's.
The reinforcements had also finally made it, further adding to the Lucivian force.
The Bahitan forces soon began being pushed back, and the end of the battle was in sight.
But that message changed Dorian's plans. He had to go back.
Dorian quickly said to Nikolai, "I'm going to go back to the base with some of the men. The base is in danger."
Nikolai nodded. "We can hold it down here. Go protect the base."
Upon their horses, Dorian and a group of soldiers began riding back to the base. With a smaller group, they could go quicker and use narrow shortcuts that the large team couldn't. Even at the faster speed, there still was a frenzied look in Dorian's eyes.
Nikolai watched Dorian as he rode away.
"I don't think I've seen him look that worried since we were kids."
It was natural to be worried about the base being under attack, but Dorian's panic was uncharacteristic of him.
Nikolai let out a light chuckle. In the bloodied landscape of war, the lighthearted sound bore a strong contrast, but Nikolai couldn't help his amusement.
"Is it possibly because of that person? And he said they were merely acquaintances..." Nikolai said to himself.
---
"I'm here."
Yunho was filled with relief at the message. He didn't even have the energy to reply, but he rubbed the communication stone in his hand, like the warmth in his hands could be channeled as a message. Yunho sat down in the cellar to rest. Everyone else was sitting too. A few were even sleeping. The cellar was lit by dim oil lights which didn't provide a lot of light but provided a calm atmosphere.
The cellar was mostly soundproof, so Yunho had no idea what was happening outside. Initially, he was happy for the peace to rest his legs but soon he grew anxious. Yunho didn't even know how much time had passed. Occasionally, they could feel the ground shake, but that was the most information they could gather.
After a while, Yunho had regained some energy and could channel a message through the device.
"Are you okay?"
For a moment, there was only silence. But soon enough, he received a response through the device.
"Yes. I defeated that bastard," Dorian said.
For some reason, the quality of the message was low. It was like the connection was very weak.
Yunho suddenly remembered that the connection was influenced by the state of its users. Yunho knew that he was weak himself, but the connection was worse than that.
"The Grand Duke must not be in good condition either."
The thought struck fear into Yunho, and he quickly got up. His legs felt like gelatin, but he knew what he had to go see the Grand Duke.
Yunho turned to Mr. Jon.
"Can you unlock the cellar door? I have to go out."
Mr. Jon raised an eyebrow but unlocked the door as asked.
Yunho thanked him and left the cellar. Even before Yunho left the canteen, he could smell the scent of dust and iron. Yunho ran out of the canteen, and his eyes widened as he saw the state of the base. The purple fire was gone, but now blood littered the center of the base.
Two figures were lying in the grass. Yunho approached one of the lying people and saw that it was a body. A body belonging to was someone Yunho knew quite well.
Drelle.
Then, Yunho turned to ,the other who had multiple soldiers already at his side. There was a gash on his shoulder, and he looked pale. Without a word, Yunho walked over to his side and sat down, moving the man's head into his lap. The soldiers present stared at Yunho, but seeing the man's calm reaction, they did nothing to stop it and backed off.
Yunho looked down at the man whose head was now in his lap. His eyes burned.
"You said you were okay."
Dorian smiled.
"I'm more okay than he is," Dorian replied half-jokingly, gesturing towards Drelle.
Yunho scoffed, but then he noticed the mark of Dorian's hand. It looked like a black flower, but it had vine-like tendrils that were slowly growing. The mark was actively getting bigger, and though the Duke was trying to hide it, it was actively getting worse.
"A curse," Yunho choked.
Dorian chuckled but faltered,
"Right when I got the final blow, he put it on me."
The burning in Yunho's eyes had become tears that were dripping down his cheeks.
This curse was the same one as in the novel. In the novel, the curse had been placed on the Crown Prince, and he could only survive due to Irene.
But Irene wasn't here, and the curse kills fast.
"No..... No..... No..... You're supposed to live. You live..." Yunho couldn't hold back his distress anymore.
Because of his actions, someone was going to die. Dorian was going to die because of him.
Dorian, who was supposed to live, was going to die because of him, a stupid side character.
"This is all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Yunho smoothed Dorian's hair.
"This isn't how it's supposed to go. I'm sorry."
Dorian seemed to be getting worse. The vines of the mark were spreading more and more, inching closer to his heart.
The man reached up and wiped the tears of off Yunho's cheek.
"Well, since I'm dying, there's no point in denying myself anymore."
And with those words, Dorian lifted his head and pulled Yunho in for a kiss.
After the initial shock passed, Yunho reciprocated the kiss, letting the other man's fingers entangle with his hair.
A strange feeling seemed to creep into his mind. Not the usual one of romance.
But rather a feeling of defiance.
No, the Grand Duke wasn't going to die.
That's not how he was going to let this story go.
He was going to survive long enough for everyone to come back and for Irene to save him.
"I overwrite this ending."
Suddenly, time froze.
Yunho opened his eyes to see that the world seemed to have been paused. But more surprisingly, in the sky, those words which he had just sincerely hoped for were being written out.
The sentence "The Grand Duke will survive long enough to be saved by Irene" formed and then, like they'd been unraveled, became one line. And like a thread, this line slipped into the fabric of the world.
It was liked something clicked in the universe, and the world rippled as it absorbed Yunho's command.
Yunho couldn't believe his eyes. But he couldn't stay conscious for much longer. A wave of sudden exhaustion hit him, and Yunho collapsed.
---
End of Chapter 46