Chapter 147: Held Close
"It must have broken because of my magic release, right? I’m sorry," Dominic said.
Shiao Yi shook his head.
"No, I think the ear cuff became my substitute. It protected me. It was because of your strong wish to protect me, Dominic, that I was kept safe."
Shiao Yi was always gentle.
His words wrapped Dominic’s heart in calm warmth.
"Hey, it’s a gift from Aaron, after all. The design is beautiful. Let’s wear them," Shiao Yi said.
"I don’t like that it’s from Aaron," Dominic admitted, "but for now, it’s the only choice. Once we return to the capital, the two of us will look for something better together. That will be my present to you, Shiao Yi."
"Yes. I’ll look forward to it," Shiao Yi answered softly.
Before that, Dominic pulled out a handkerchief and carefully wiped Shiao Yi’s face.
Marengo had licked him all over and his cheeks were still wet with drool.
Then they each put the new ear cuffs on one another’s ears.
They let a trace of magic flow through them so they would not fall off.
The design was delicate—a motif of long, narrow leaves, with every vein of the leaf woven in fine golden threads.
It was perhaps too fragile a design for Dominic and Shiao Yi.
Something more suited for a nobleman’s daughter.
Still, Shiao Yi was clearly happy to have the pair cuff resting on his right ear again.
He touched it with his fingers again and again, smiling as he looked at Dominic’s left ear.
"Captain—are we leaving soon? The sun’s going down—"
It was Louis’s voice.
Dominic lifted his head.
It seemed all preparations were already finished.
Aaron was seated inside the carriage and Amal had taken his place at the driver’s seat.
All of the men of the Second Division of Knight Corps were mounted their mounth and waiting for Dominic’s command.
The soldiers’ faint knowing smiles made Shiao Yi blush and panic.
Dominic lifted Shiao Yi up, settling him securely in the crook of his left arm.
Shiao Yi who is feeling embarrassed, looped his arms around Dominic’s neck and clung tightly to him.
Feeling that solid weight and warmth against him, Dominic could not help but smile.
A stir rose from behind them.
When Dominic turned around, he saw Tenby and the others from Dalmasca had come to see them off.
Even if only for a short time, they had worked together as comrades.
Holding Shiao Yi in his arms, Dominic raised his right hand toward them.
"Thank you for everything," he said.
"Lord Dominic! We are deeply grateful!"
They gave him the formal salute of knights.
Dominic returned a simplified salute before stepping into the carriage.
As the carriage and the knights’ formation began to move away, those men kept waving both hands until they were far in the distance.
Dominic thought he saw one of them press an arm to his eyes as if crying, but perhaps it was only his imagination.
At last, they were on the road back to Rosaria.
The next day, they would enter Rosaria.
The carriage was pulled into the same inn where they had stayed on their way out.
The more than two hundred knights had already gone ahead during the first part of the journey, leaving the slower-moving carriage behind.
After resting their horses at the southwestern fortress, they would return to the capital, Rosalith.
So, in the end, the return trip was with the same group as before.
The innkeeper seemed to remember them, but even with their clothes and appearances changed, he said nothing.
Only Aaron still dressed in the same flashy style of a merchant.
Dominic and Shiao Yi went up to their room early.
There was a reason for this.
Every night, Dominic ended up wanting Shiao Yi.
Through Shiao Yi’s healing, Dominic’s heart had miraculously recovered, but even now it was not completely healed.
"This will take time," Shiao Yi told him. "Don’t rush it. Let’s take it slowly. It’s okay. I’m here, and we have plenty of time. I’ll help you with anything, whenever you need it, until you’re fully yourself again."
How reassuring those words were.
When Dominic had been trapped in the darkness of despair, to suddenly know that Shiao Yi was alive and right there—it was a joy so powerful that it nearly killed him.
The shock was so strong he thought he really might die.
All the times before, when he writhed in anguish, it had felt as if his heart were being crushed and torn apart. But in that moment, it felt like his heart had exploded into fragments.
He realized then that even joy too powerful could kill a person.
When he had screamed that he wanted to die, death had never come. But the moment he grasped the hope of life, death almost claimed him.
No—he could not die then.
He fought with all his strength not to.
After all, Shiao Yi had returned to his arms, alive!
Later, Shiao Yi told him that his heart had really stopped at that time.
It had been that dangerous.
Since then, Dominic could not let Shiao Yi go, not even for a moment.
If Shiao Yi’s warmth left his arms, even slightly, anxiety consumed him.
Even now, he feared that knowing Shiao Yi was alive was nothing more than a dream.
Perhaps he was still lost in despair, writhing in grief after losing him.
Perhaps that was the real world, and the warmth, the body, the voice he held now were nothing but illusions.
When Dominic thought that way, his body turned cold, frozen with fear, and he began to tremble.
He wished he would never wake up, clinging to the fragile dream as if it were all he had.
Each time, Shiao Yi would whisper to him, kiss him, and hold him tight, teaching him through that warmth that this was real.
Dominic pressed his face into Shiao Yi’s chest and neck, surrounded by his scent, listening to the steady beat of his heart, and felt relief.