/
With a smile, Radis nodded.
“Robert.”
Her smile banished any hint of drowsiness from Robert right then.
Robert rubbed his eyes with his hands, then he returned to his original self.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve slept so deeply.”
Feeling baffled, Radis pointed at the bare dirt floor where a cold breeze had just passed.
“Here? How could that be?”
“
I’ve had a hard time because of the dreams that come.”
Realizing that Robert’s brows were slightly furrowed, Radis decided not to delve into the matter.
At the slightly awkward atmosphere, Robert turned behind him and rummaged to get some trail mix and a water bottle.
Seeing this, Radis’s expression brightened up and she also opened her bag.
“Oh, Captain! I brought us something to eat, too.”
To be more precise, she had pilfered these from the kitchen before leaving.
Radis handed Robert an apple. After that, she stuck a chunk of cheese and a sausage on a stick then roasted them slightly over the bonfire.
As soon as the cheese and sausage were moderately melted and roasted respectively, she took out some walnut bread as well and made a sandwich with them. She split it in half so she and Robert had a portion each.
While the cheese and sausages were being roasted earlier, Robert had finished the apple. Throwing the apple core into the bonfire, he asked Radis.
“What’s that?”
“I brought us a little food. I figured that you’ll bring only dry food, Captain.”
“
It’s the best I could get out in the open. I guess that’s why your bag looked a bit bulky.”
“It’s not heavy since it’s only for two people.”
As Radis finished making the two portions of sandwiches, she ate together with Robert.
It was a simple meal, but when the warm and greasy food entered her stomach, it felt as if her cold, stiff body could relax.
He didn’t show any signs of it, but it seemed like Robert felt the same way.
He took off his cloak and said,
“We’re not pressed for time, so you should get some shut eye as well.”
“I’m alright.”
“Still, take a break even if you feel like you’re fine. If what lies at the end of this passageway really is the forbidden region, then you won’t be able to rest there.”
Radis really was fine, but Robert was firm in his stance. So, she had no choice but to lie down next to the wall.
Robert handed her the cloak that he had taken off earlier.
“Here, use this.”
“What about you, Captain?”
“
I’m feeling warm enough.”
Really?
Radis was about to ask back, but when she saw that Robert’s ears were bright red, she closed her lips.
The sandwich must have been too hot.
“Tell me as soon as you get cold. I’m not going to sleep.”
That’s what she said, but because she was full now, she felt drowsy as soon as she wrapped herself with Robert’s cloak.
Before the wave of slumber could completely pull her under, Radis spoke.
“Captain, are you really alright?”
Robert was stoking the fire so that it could grow, but after hearing her question, he looked at her.
“About what?”
“That we’ve returned.”
Robert’s hand paused.
“
Are you asking me if I’m alright? Or are you asking me if I’m fine with living like this?”
“Well, it’s certainly a strange situation
”
Robert stared at her for a moment, but he soon turned back to the bonfire again.
“It’s not strange. Neither you nor I have been lucky in our lives. We can just think that a miracle happened to us because all our luck came to us at the very end.”
At Robert’s willful words, Radis smiled and snuggled deeper into the cloak.
Robert’s cloak wasn’t sprayed with perfume or anything, yet it wafted with the scent of the heated wilderness, perhaps like the nape of a horse.
It may not be a flowery, fragrant scent, but strangely enough, she felt comfortable.
“A miracle, huh
 That’s nice.”
Scooting over close to the wall, Radis slowly drifted off to sleep.
As he was looking at her beyond the sweltering bonfire, Robert let out a quiet sigh.
He murmured under his breath.
“
Am I alright?”
He looked down at his hands, which looked strong enough to crush steel.
However, he had to watch all his most precious things slip through his fingers as though they were grains of sand.
With a sigh, Robert interlocked the fingers of his hands, clasping them together.
For him, this miracle had not made everything ‘alright’.
He had never been the kind of man who exuded optimism, especially considering his own life.
He was born as an illegitimate child, and his father was a vile man who could never admit his wrongdoings.
There was not a single moment that he was at ease at the Roderick household.
However, he was able to forgive everything with just this one miracle.
“So
 I shouldn’t let myself be more greedy.”