Between Your Letter and My Reply

Chapter 19

[Translation By Divinity]

Upon arriving in the capital city of Nichio, Damian first booked a hotel room in a neighborhood with good transportation. He had nowhere suitable to stay until he found a place to live.

Then he called Trillo General Hospital, a moderately sized hospital within a reasonable distance, to make an appointment.

He could have gone to the largest hospital in Nichio, but they had told him that the wait for a first-time visit was a month. Trillo Hospital wasn’t as big, but it had a reputation for good patient care, so his appointment was scheduled for a few days later, slightly later than Damian had hoped.

Due to the severity of his injuries, he couldn’t just go to any hospital; he needed one with specific facilities, leaving him with no other choice.

Damian intended to start his hospital pilgrimage to find Seyra as soon as he unpacked at the hotel. However, as he was changing into his going-out clothes, he collapsed. He had pushed his still-recovering body too hard by rushing around, and now he had a fever.

The military had discharged him, telling him to rest and go to a civilian hospital, but he hadn’t listened. With the fever, the pain from his various wounds flared up all at once.

“Fever medication…”

Damian rummaged through his luggage and finally found his first-aid kit. He took out a fever reducer, hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and took out a painkiller as well.

It wasn’t as strong as morphine, but it also had fewer addictive effects. However, he doubted if it would be enough.

Damian had been on strong painkillers during his time at the military hospital, so he had developed some tolerance to weaker ones. He knew he couldn’t live as a drug addict, but he took a slightly larger dose than prescribed.

Then he went to the bathroom, made a wet towel, crawled back to bed, and placed it on his forehead. His whole body was burning up, so he kicked off the blanket despite the chilly air and groaned alone.

He just wanted to forget the pain and sleep soundly, but the lingering ache kept waking him up. That didn’t mean he was fully conscious, though.

Damian felt like someone kept calling his name. But it wasn’t his real name they were calling.

—Second Lieutenant McCord. Wake up, Second Lieutenant McCord.

There was only one person in the world who called him that. Damian’s lips parted.

“Lady Lin…tray…”

He heard a soft laugh in response.

Damian opened his eyes slightly and looked at her. Her bright blonde hair cascaded down like a waterfall over his face. He was lying with his head on her lap.

“Lint…ray?”

Damian called out uncertainly, and she nodded.

—Yes.

The woman who identified herself as Lintray had a strangely blurry face. All he could make out was her long, dark blonde hair that shimmered like gold dust.

Damian unconsciously reached out his right hand towards Lintray’s face.

He belatedly realized that his severed right arm was reattached. But his fingertips couldn’t reach her face.

As Damian frowned, she spoke.

—Did you miss me?

Her voice echoed softly, and Damian nodded.

He finally admitted it. He had missed her all along. He had been alone for too long and was tired of it. He had vowed not to rely on anyone, but he longed for someone to lean on more than anyone else.

He wanted proof that Lintray was real, not just a figment of his imagination.

That’s why he wanted to meet her, touch her, hear her voice. That’s why… that’s why he had come here…

He stretched his arm further, feeling like he could almost touch Lintray’s face. And the moment Damian’s fingertips touched her chin…

—But why didn’t you reply?

A woman with a partially burned and disfigured face spoke in a sad voice.

More than the shock of her appearance, her pain and suffering filled him with heartache. Damian gasped and bolted upright in bed.

“Gasp… Huff…”

Damian’s clothes were drenched in cold sweat. He ran his hand through his hair, catching his breath for a while.

‘It was a dream. Just a dream.’

Lintray must have recovered well at the capital hospital. She must be fine. She wouldn’t be suffering like she was in the dream.

Damian kept repeating these words to himself like a mantra, unsure if he was saying them for himself or for Lintray.

As his mind gradually cleared, Damian felt his body. The pain from his wounds and the headache remained, but his fever seemed to have subsided.

Dawn was breaking outside the window.

Damian took another painkiller and went to the bathroom. Washing away the sticky sweat made him feel much better.

But a creeping sense of anxiety clung to his heart like tar.

☆

To cut to the chase, Damian’s insane plan to scour every hospital in the capital was scrapped after he regained his senses following a two-day fever-induced blackout.

It seemed he had a slight fever even back in Edenfallen.

‘That explains the crazy thoughts.’

So, he stayed put in the hotel until he recovered somewhat.

Damian’s first outing from the hotel was when his hospital appointment approached. He put on a thin coat in the still chilly weather and walked to the tram stop.

As he walked, he naturally observed the streets and the people passing by, and the scenery felt strangely unfamiliar.

Just a while ago, he was in the midst of a bloody war, but the people here were starting their peaceful day as if they had no idea what war even was.

Merchants setting up their stalls, children in school uniforms heading to school, an elderly gentleman slowly walking while reading a newspaper… It had been so long since he had seen such sights.

Just as he was feeling sentimental, he heard a rushing sound from the side and someone bumped into him.

The impact wasn’t strong, so he just stood there, dumbfounded. The boy who had bumped into him while running fell on his butt.

“Oh…”

Damian instinctively tried to pick the child up but remembered his missing right arm too late. He helped the boy up with his left hand instead.

“Are you okay?”

But the boy just looked up at Damian with teary eyes. Damian thought he must have been hurt from the fall, but then a woman approached them hurriedly from the direction the boy had come from.

“Logan! I told you not to run!”

She bowed her head to Damian.

“I’m so sorry. Are you hurt?”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“You need to apologize too!”

Even though Damian said he was fine, the boy who had bumped into him fumbled for words of apology, knowing he should at least say sorry.

But the boy, who had been glancing at Damian, suddenly let out a short scream and hid behind his mother.

“M-Mom! That brother’s arm…”

He seemed shocked to see Damian’s empty right sleeve flapping helplessly.

The boy’s mother was also startled. Her eyes widened, and her face turned pale. She bowed her head again.

“I’m so sorry! My son was very rude! Logan, apologize quickly! It’s not polite to act like that!”

“But that brother’s arm…”

“Logan!”

Scolded by his mother, the boy’s eyes welled up with tears again, feeling wronged.