“Klaus…?”
“!”
The moment I called out, I saw his body slightly tremble.
Was he not happy with the fact that his cover was blown? His eyes were swimming left and right. When I took a step towards him, his agitation became clearly visible.
Looking at him now, you couldn’t be sure if this was the same Klaus we’re talking about. I decided to find out for myself and took another step closer.
It’s a general rule of thumb to not rush wild animals, after all. However, in the last ten metres, he dashed away at full speed.
“Ah-”
“I’m really sorry!”
“Stop right there, Klaus!”
“!!”
I threw a word of restraint at his retreating back.
It was just out of reflex, and I didn’t think it would have any effect whatsoever. There’s no way he was going to hear me when he’s running that fast in the first place.
But Klaus stopped his feet. It was as if a car’s handbrake had been pulled.
To be honest, I was actually surprised he stopped at all. It wasn’t only me; it seemed Klaus as well, was surprised by his own actions. Shouting on reflex is scary.
I didn’t know what to say to Klaus whose back was turned.
“Klaus.”
“I-I’m truly sorry…”
When I called his name once more, he kept repeating his apology. It was like that was the only word he ever knew.
“…Sorry? Sorry for what?”
I figured he wasn’t apologising for running away.
But I couldn’t think of anything else he would be apologising for.
Apparently, my utterly confused voice had reached him. His hands that were dangling aimlessly soon turned into a clenched fist.
“…I’ve already put you in danger countless times. I was both injured and even a bother. To top it all off, you were right there beside me, and yet, I didn’t realise when you were kidnapped before it was too late. I’ve failed… as your escort.”
Failed as my escort. To think there was a day I could hear those words come out of his mouth.
‘That’s not true!’ I would have denied him outright, but I was too stunned to do anything and missed my opportunity.
“I have no right to face you anymore.”
His painful voice squeezed out the bitterness for all to hear. Somehow, it didn’t sit right with me.
Obedient, stubborn, and never listens. No matter how many times he was scolded or was given the cold shoulder, he would always laugh it off and never get down. That was who the person named Klaus was. This was not like him. No, this was not Klaus at all. But the person to blame for this was none other than me.
If I hadn’t selfishly wanted to travel, Klaus would not have wound up with serious injuries.
If I had only resisted and made my escape when Wolf kidnapped me, Klaus wouldn’t have to blame himself.
My ego and arrogance had driven him into a corner.
I was the one who was supposed to apologise.
“Klaus…”
Calling out to him, I once again saw his shoulder shake. He seemed to be frightened by anything I said, so I swallowed back the rest of my words.
‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so selfish. You did nothing wrong at all.’
What would happen if I had said that? A stale apology like that wouldn’t clear Klaus’ conscious. In truth, it might even have the opposite effect on him.
I only have my guilt to apologise for.
“…Klaus.”
“…Yes.”
I called out to him again, and this time, he replied with a smaller voice.
He looked nothing like the usual Klaus, it’s insane.
“I… have finally met the pharmacists I was looking for.”
“Ah…? Yes, you have.”
Klaus whispered as if confused.
“As a result of tireless negotiations, they not only offered us the medicine but also the treatment as well.”
“I’m glad you’ll finally be able to bring those results back home.”
‘That’s great.’ Klaus quietly added. He sounded just as happy as I was, so I finally laughed, ‘Yes!’
“And therefore we’ll split the credit evenly between the two of us!”
“…Eh?”
Klaus now looked completely lost. I continued walking up to him without answering his question. I noticed his tension growing as I got closer, and once I walked past his stiffened body, I stopped my feet. Turning back around, our eyes briefly met before he lowered his gaze back down again.
But because of my small figure, he couldn’t avoid my face. Klaus, who was staring down his feet, had a terrible complexion.
I hushed my voice and whispered to him as if telling him a secret, ‘You know,’
“Wolf is part of the Kua Clan too. Because you got injured back then, Wolf came out as a doctor. He took an interest when I was trying to save my subordinate.”
“…”
“If you had rescued me from Wolf, I wouldn’t have had the chance to save all of the Kua tribe. We might not even have the medicine we needed today.”
“…That’s-”
‘That’s not my achievement,’ was probably what he was trying to say.
You wanted to say that there was nothing you could do to make a difference, didn’t you?
As to stop him from saying that, I called out to him again.
Your biggest achievement was something else entirely.
“Above all, I can stand here now because you had saved my life.”
“!!”
Klaus raised his face.
His emerald eyes were the widest I’ve seen them yet.
“Since you’ve protected me, we got our hands on the medicine. And like I said, even the treatment as well. I can finally save them all from the plague. I couldn’t possibly have done all of this without your help.”
I lined up the achievements that he didn’t want to accept, one by one.
His surprised eyes were now wavering, and his half-open lips struggled to hold back his voice. Klaus clumsily got down on his knees with his gaze still low.
“Klaus, are you alright?”
I was worried whether he had pushed himself too far, but the voice that came back told me he was fine.
“…I-”
Klaus stuttered on his first words and ruffled his hair.
“Have I been of help to you…?”
Klaus whimpered out in a tiny voice as if it was being drowned out by the surroundings.
At his unexpected question, I was brought back to the past.
All of my memories with Klaus had always been lively. The trouble he had caused me can’t be counted on two hands.
But even more than that…
“Yes, plenty.”
I crouched down to meet him eye to eye.
“Thank you, Klaus.”
“…”
I heard a soft breath.
Klaus’ arms shook and he tightly hugged himself.
For a while, we continued facing each other.
No conversation took place. Sometimes I could hear sniffing noises, but I pretended not to notice.
I did the same with his reddening eyes when he raised his face back up.
“Klaus. Right now, I’m on my way to Wind.”
“…And you can’t take me with you.”
I nodded.
“I can’t possibly take you when you’re not in the best shape. Please, concentrate on getting better for now.”
Klaus, with a bitter but thoughtful face, defeatedly turned down his gaze. He wrinkled his brows and exhaled a long sigh.
“…Please don’t overdo it.”
Klaus stood up and offered me his hand.
Once I got up, he immediately knelt down on one leg.
“I shall be awaiting your return.”
I met his eyes and answered back, ‘Certainly.’
“Klaus…?”
“!”
The moment I called out, I saw his body slightly tremble.
Was he not happy with the fact that his cover was blown? His eyes were swimming left and right. When I took a step towards him, his agitation became clearly visible.
Looking at him now, you couldn’t be sure if this was the same Klaus we’re talking about. I decided to find out for myself and took another step closer.
It’s a general rule of thumb to not rush wild animals, after all. However, in the last ten metres, he dashed away at full speed.
“Ah-”
“I’m really sorry!”
“Stop right there, Klaus!”
“!!”
I threw a word of restraint at his retreating back.
It was just out of reflex, and I didn’t think it would have any effect whatsoever. There’s no way he was going to hear me when he’s running that fast in the first place.
But Klaus stopped his feet. It was as if a car’s handbrake had been pulled.
To be honest, I was actually surprised he stopped at all. It wasn’t only me; it seemed Klaus as well, was surprised by his own actions. Shouting on reflex is scary.
I didn’t know what to say to Klaus whose back was turned.
“Klaus.”
“I-I’m truly sorry…”
When I called his name once more, he kept repeating his apology. It was like that was the only word he ever knew.
“…Sorry? Sorry for what?”
I figured he wasn’t apologising for running away.
But I couldn’t think of anything else he would be apologising for.
Apparently, my utterly confused voice had reached him. His hands that were dangling aimlessly soon turned into a clenched fist.
“…I’ve already put you in danger countless times. I was both injured and even a bother. To top it all off, you were right there beside me, and yet, I didn’t realise when you were kidnapped before it was too late. I’ve failed… as your escort.”
Failed as my escort. To think there was a day I could hear those words come out of his mouth.
‘That’s not true!’ I would have denied him outright, but I was too stunned to do anything and missed my opportunity.
“I have no right to face you anymore.”
His painful voice squeezed out the bitterness for all to hear. Somehow, it didn’t sit right with me.
Obedient, stubborn, and never listens. No matter how many times he was scolded or was given the cold shoulder, he would always laugh it off and never get down. That was who the person named Klaus was. This was not like him. No, this was not Klaus at all. But the person to blame for this was none other than me.
If I hadn’t selfishly wanted to travel, Klaus would not have wound up with serious injuries.
If I had only resisted and made my escape when Wolf kidnapped me, Klaus wouldn’t have to blame himself.
My ego and arrogance had driven him into a corner.
I was the one who was supposed to apologise.
“Klaus…”
Calling out to him, I once again saw his shoulder shake. He seemed to be frightened by anything I said, so I swallowed back the rest of my words.
‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so selfish. You did nothing wrong at all.’
What would happen if I had said that? A stale apology like that wouldn’t clear Klaus’ conscious. In truth, it might even have the opposite effect on him.
I only have my guilt to apologise for.
“…Klaus.”
“…Yes.”
I called out to him again, and this time, he replied with a smaller voice.
He looked nothing like the usual Klaus, it’s insane.
“I… have finally met the pharmacists I was looking for.”
“Ah…? Yes, you have.”
Klaus whispered as if confused.
“As a result of tireless negotiations, they not only offered us the medicine but also the treatment as well.”
“I’m glad you’ll finally be able to bring those results back home.”
‘That’s great.’ Klaus quietly added. He sounded just as happy as I was, so I finally laughed, ‘Yes!’
“And therefore we’ll split the credit evenly between the two of us!”
“…Eh?”
Klaus now looked completely lost. I continued walking up to him without answering his question. I noticed his tension growing as I got closer, and once I walked past his stiffened body, I stopped my feet. Turning back around, our eyes briefly met before he lowered his gaze back down again.
But because of my small figure, he couldn’t avoid my face. Klaus, who was staring down his feet, had a terrible complexion.
I hushed my voice and whispered to him as if telling him a secret, ‘You know,’
“Wolf is part of the Kua Clan too. Because you got injured back then, Wolf came out as a doctor. He took an interest when I was trying to save my subordinate.”
“…”
“If you had rescued me from Wolf, I wouldn’t have had the chance to save all of the Kua tribe. We might not even have the medicine we needed today.”
“…That’s-”
‘That’s not my achievement,’ was probably what he was trying to say.
You wanted to say that there was nothing you could do to make a difference, didn’t you?
As to stop him from saying that, I called out to him again.
Your biggest achievement was something else entirely.
“Above all, I can stand here now because you had saved my life.”
“!!”
Klaus raised his face.
His emerald eyes were the widest I’ve seen them yet.
“Since you’ve protected me, we got our hands on the medicine. And like I said, even the treatment as well. I can finally save them all from the plague. I couldn’t possibly have done all of this without your help.”
I lined up the achievements that he didn’t want to accept, one by one.
His surprised eyes were now wavering, and his half-open lips struggled to hold back his voice. Klaus clumsily got down on his knees with his gaze still low.
“Klaus, are you alright?”
I was worried whether he had pushed himself too far, but the voice that came back told me he was fine.
“…I-”
Klaus stuttered on his first words and ruffled his hair.
“Have I been of help to you…?”
Klaus whimpered out in a tiny voice as if it was being drowned out by the surroundings.
At his unexpected question, I was brought back to the past.
All of my memories with Klaus had always been lively. The trouble he had caused me can’t be counted on two hands.
But even more than that…
“Yes, plenty.”
I crouched down to meet him eye to eye.
“Thank you, Klaus.”
“…”
I heard a soft breath.
Klaus’ arms shook and he tightly hugged himself.
For a while, we continued facing each other.
No conversation took place. Sometimes I could hear sniffing noises, but I pretended not to notice.
I did the same with his reddening eyes when he raised his face back up.
“Klaus. Right now, I’m on my way to Wind.”
“…And you can’t take me with you.”
I nodded.
“I can’t possibly take you when you’re not in the best shape. Please, concentrate on getting better for now.”
Klaus, with a bitter but thoughtful face, defeatedly turned down his gaze. He wrinkled his brows and exhaled a long sigh.
“…Please don’t overdo it.”
Klaus stood up and offered me his hand.
Once I got up, he immediately knelt down on one leg.
“I shall be awaiting your return.”
I met his eyes and answered back, ‘Certainly.’
