Seen before

The young master's carriage was completely burnt down and destroyed, unusable. As a result, everyone had to board the servants' carriage until they reached the nearby city. The city wasn't too far away and they would've arrived at it if they weren't delayed by the bandits, so they didn't camp outside and agreed to stay somewhere safe for now.

The carriage wasn't as comfortable and well-built as the master's, but it had more space inside, probably because it was made to carry more people, however, it was still a little bit small for carrying so many people.

Squeezed to each other, all the servants had made space for Alaric and Ian to also come in. In addition to them were the swordsman and the doctor, who had lent their horses to the soldiers.

'Umm... Why is he staring at me like that...'

Sitting right in front of the black-haired swordsman, Ian felt the man's continuous burning gaze on him which didn't move away for a second.

At first, Ian was glad that he got a chance to see the man's face up close. He started examining his appearance the moment they sat down. The swordsman was young, probably around the same age as Ian and Alaric. He had slightly curly, messy black hair and black pupils. His face was pretty handsome, yet his demeanor was cold and his expression was stern.

From the moment the swordsman and Ian exchanged glances for the first time, the man hadn't shifted his gaze anywhere else. He had a deep frown on his face and a piercing gaze all the time except for the first second he saw Ian's face, which made his eyes go round from shock. The more time passed, the more uncomfortable Ian became. He wouldn't normally be affected by such things but what made him feel uneasy was that this man felt familiar yet he couldn't remember who he was.

'I'm going crazy! Just who is he? Where have I seen him? If I've seen him when he was a child, then I too must've been a child, then is he someone from my childhood? But that can't be...'

To his side sat Alaric, who had his amber, almost orange eyes, red and puffed up from crying. He was still sniffling while stuck to Ian's arm. He did nothing but glance at Ian's wound from time to time and silently weep.

'Does he have a phobia of blood? But he seemed fine when I vomited blood last night. Nah, wait, I closed my eyes last night so I can't be sure of how he reacted, but I heard him sniffling... Then is he scared of wounds and blood? He was fine until yesterday... As expected, he's not the same as he was before.'

It was as if Alaric was a completely another person, but such a judgment was too bold, so Ian did his best to think of other possibilities.

'Did he get possessed by a ghost?'

Wasn't this also a bold and unprovable assumption?

'Then what? A regression can't change your whole personality like this! Man, I'm losing my mind!'

Was it because he was hungry or because he'd lost too much blood that he couldn't think straight? Considering the question once more, Ian remembered he could never think straight to begin with, so he just gave up.

'I'm so exhausted...'

He was still dizzy and the wound on his side ached more as time passed. He also felt like throwing up, probably blood. Yet, he was doing his best to keep his eyes open. Ian was scared that if he suddenly fell asleep or fainted, his young master would have a heart attack at the sight. He needed to seem alright for a little while longer until they reached the city. 

Leaning his head against the back of his seat, Ian stared at the top of the carriage and consintrated on staying awake, pushing all the other thoughts aside.

The ride was smooth and without any problems this time. Once they reached the city gates, Ranger assigned a messenger to return to the count's mansion and bring the news of the young master getting attacked and the person behind the assassination attempt.

The city wasn't big, but as it was built on the road that led to The Empire, it had pretty good inns and restaurants for travelers. As the count's son, it was obvious that Alaric had to stay at the best inn in the city.

Upon entering to the inn, the carriages finally stopped and were guided to their designed location. After everything was settled, Ranger opened the door from outside to lead the people who were still sitting in the carriage to their rooms.

"Take my hand."

"...Alright."

While leaning on Ranger to get out, Ian glanced at the other carriages settled beside theirs. He could barely make out a specific coat of arms in all of them, but couldn't recognize their picture clearly with his blurry sight. As soon as Ian left the carriage and stood up with Ranger's help, dizziness took over his exhausted body. He stumbled feebly as his knees gave up, weakly falling to the ground after the old man couldn't hold him.

"Ah, Ian!"

"Yeah... I'm fi- cough cough!" The blood he tried so hard to swallow throughout the ride oozed out of his lips at once. "...I'm...Fine..." Once he shook his head to get rid of the dizziness, the face of Alaric's fear-stricken face entered his vision, who had appeared out of nowhere like a ghost.

"Doctor! D-doctor-"

"I'm fine, master, it's alright." 

'Can't I faint for a little while now? Please?' He rubbed his eyes as he forced himself up once again. 'Alright alright, just a little bit more!'

Why did he even have to take this master of his into consideration? Alaric wasn't a child!! If he'd suddenly grown a fear of blood and wounds, then there must be a reason behind it. Couldn't Ian use this as an excuse to have a thorough conversation with his master? He might find some clues regarding this person's changes if they had a proper conversation.

'Yeah, talking is the best and easiest way. On top of that, I should start strengthening my Aether. This round has become such an eventful one that I need my powers back soon...'

Deciding on what he needed to do next, Ian entered a small room in the inn with the help of the others and threw himself on the bed. It didn't even take a minute for him to be dragged into the dreamland.

. . . . .

'Uh... What kind of dream was that...?'

Ian couldn't clearly remember what he saw, but he was sure that it was a silly, goofy dream. 

'My clothes have been changed... How embarrassing.'

Looking out the window, he guessed that it was the middle of the day. It seemed like he was allowed to oversleep due to his injury. Shaking his head, he moved his aching body up. He wasn't dizzy anymore, nor he feel any pain in his chest. His condition was way better than last night. 

"!!!"

The figure sitting beside the bed flinched and turned to him. Alaric was curled up on a small chair while hugging his knees, his face screaming that he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night.

"Ah!" After staring at Ian in a daze for a while, he gasped and moved toward the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty fine."

Stretching his body, Ian left the bed and walked to the window. People were moving and working outside, some cleaning and some training. It was lively, unlike the gloomy atmosphere inside the room.

'Mmm I'm hungry...' Ian glanced at Alaric who was following him. He kept peeking at him and opening his mouth but didn't say anything in the end. 'But I can't just walk away, I guess.'

It wasn't that he was worried about Alaric, but it was just uncomfortable being around someone as timid as him. As a former timid person, Ian could feel how uneasy Alaric was right now and if the things weren't taken care of, they'd turn into bigger problems.

Having reached that conclusion, Ian returned back to his bed and leisurely sat down on it.

"Young master, are you scared of blood?"

"Uh, huh?" The young man flinched at the unexpected question.

"Blood and injury, are you scared of them?"

"...."

After staring at his attendant for a while with his round, amber eyes, which were still red and puffy, Alaric nodded his head slightly.

"You were fine with them before though. How come you've suddenly grown a fear?"

"...."

Alaric clasped his hands soundlessly.

"I won't tell anyone." Ian moved his head closer. "You also know something about me that no one shall know!"

"....!"

The young master's eyes opened wide at the mention of something he had almost forgotten. Ian was referring to last night when he used his power. He wasn't too afraid that others might find out about it, as he could somehow take care of them, but if he offered it to Alaric as something that should be kept a secret, the man might feel comfortable sharing a secret of his with Ian.

"Ah... I won't tell anyone about that! I swear!"

"Yes, I trust that my master will keep it a secret for me," the servant smiled as he nodded his head.

The room went silent for a little while before Alaric broke it with a question.

"I'm slightly scared... but not from blood and wound."

"Then what?"

"Mhm..." Alaric lowered his head even more. "The thing you did last night..."

Even at the mention of that incident, Alaric's whole body began to tremble. 

'What does that mean?' Which action was he referring to? Beating people with his book?

"...I don't care if people I don't know or aren't close to me die... I-I just..." Alaric's eyes swell up, tears appearing gradually.  "Why did you do that last night? You could've d-died!"

The question was somewhat off-topic, but Ian didn't mind.

"Protecting my master is a duty of mine."

"No! It isn't! It's absolutely not! You can't get yourself killed for such a stupid thing! You don't have to sacrifice yourself and die because of me or anyone else!" Two hands grabbed Ian's shoulders, shaking him back and fro, "Don't do such a thing ever again!"

Ian's brows frowned slightly after being shouted at. 'What sacrifice? I was simply protecting my source of entertainment...' But there was no way he could say that out loud.

"That was a choice I made."

"Don't make such choices ever again!" The young man let go of Ian and clenched his fists in frustration. "You should never do such a thing. Did you get that? It's an order from your master."

"...."

Ian barely suppressed a chuckle.

"I'll think about it."

"Hey!"

Knock Knock

The knock on the door cut their conversation in between. Alaric opened the door in confusion, only to see the white-haired servant, Ranger.

"Ah, Ian is awake?" A smile bloomed on the old man's face. "I'll ask that miss to check on your condition." After saying that, he turned to Alaric, "Also, young master, the second son of Duke Blicra, lord Barnett Blicra, also stays here. He wanted to have tea with you as a greeting."

"Huh?"