I Became a Guide For My Childhood Friend - Chapter 81-2

The aftermath of the forest of hallucinations was too great. Also, Yernia and Cassian found Captain Felix in the forest and brought him out. Even he had suffered from hallucinations that drove him out of his mind that Cassian had to punch him from behind so that he wouldn’t make a fuss. The instant he fainted, Yernia and Cassian dragged him out of there. When Cassian came to his senses, he went to find the scout whom the demon had taken but it was already late. The scout had already stopped breathing. In the end, only three people were able to return from the forest of hallucinations. Four days had passed since then but her heart was still heavy and she could hardly sleep. She had witnessed countless people, injured, on the battlefield, but it was the first time she saw a dead person on her path. The fact that they could have saved the person if they were earlier made her feel depressed.

“Please rest in peace.”

She closed her eyes as she expressed her condolences several times already. No matter how hard she tried to sleep, she just couldn’t and it felt like torture.

“Yernia.”

Suddenly, she felt Cassian lying next to her getting up as his hand approached her ear. As she lay there beside him, his hand cautiously brushed the hair covering her cheeks. It tickled so much that she wanted to get up too but she decided not to show it.

“I’m sorry.”

When Yernia didn’t respond, a low-pitched word came out a little later as if he thought she was already asleep.

“I shouldn’t have hurt you.”

Again. It had already been four days. When Yernia couldn’t sleep, she would hear Cassian spit out these words whenever he assumed she was sleeping. Cassian often blamed himself that he would even apologize to her during the waking hours. She told him to stop, jokingly, and now he still blamed himself in the ear of a sleeping person. Even without looking at his face, she knew what kind of expression Cassian would have. Cassian seemed uneasy these days. He looked haggard and he kept blaming himself for hurting Yernia. Then, he would suddenly bring one ear close to Yernia’s heart just like now.

“Yernia.” Cassian’s tone of voice suddenly changed.

At the same time, he heard a low voice that made her feel stiff, he turned Yena’s shoulders back.

Yernia had to keep her eyelids shut. Fortunately, the barracks were dark enough since only one candle was lit while she was pretending to sleep.

“Ah.”

When Cassian laid his ear on Yernia’s chest, her heartbeats seemed a little too fast.

“You’re not gonna notice, are you?” Fortunately, Cassian hadn’t realized she was pretending. “That’s a relief.”

Cassian sat down on the bed like a nervous and heartbroken individual. The cheap bedsprings creaked every time he moved.

“That’s a relief, really.”

“…….”

“Yernia, you can’t die. Even your life is mine.”

She had already escaped from her hallucination, but Cassian must have not. He was unable to escape the visions he often saw in the forest of hallucinations. His words and actions earlier were living proof. Why would he constantly check her heartbeat if he didn’t imagine she was dead? Did that make any sense? An Esper’s weakness, which was starting to break his brain, was his mentality.

“…….”

Yernia got upset. Until now, she only pretended to sleep because she didn’t know how to react, but she just couldn’t wait and see him like this anymore. However, she felt frustrated because she couldn’t open her eyes and tell him it was alright. If she opened her eyes, she might not be able to hear Cassian’s inner feelings in the future.

“Cassian?”

Instead, she pretended that she had just woken up. Fortunately, she sounded drowsy enough.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?”

She felt a little guilty when she sat down and looked at him. Soon, Cassian gently rubbed her eyes and she frowned.

“Didn’t you sleep?”

“I just woke up. It’s cold and I’m thirsty.”

“Do you want water?”

“Yes.”

Not knowing what to say to console him, Yernia decided to put Cassian to sleep first. Tomorrow, she would think about how to bring him out of the illusion and into this reality. Sleeping well must be their first priority.

“Thank you.”

Yernia accepted a bottle of water that Cassian handed her. After drinking it and setting it down on the table, she slowly moved toward Cassian.

“Cassian, aren’t you cold?”