obsession chapter 16

“What are you doing?” His melodious voice came from above. Huh? Shariette cautiously peeked out. Their eyes met. Noxian, holding her securely with one arm supporting her back and the other beneath her knees, looked at her quizzically. …Wait, he wasn’t about to throw her down for talking back?

“You might accidentally drop me.” She smoothly feigned innocence, as if the thought had never crossed her mind. Noxian scoffed at the claim, the woman in his arms weighing next to nothing.

“You’re afraid of falling, but not fire? You had time to grab a jewelry box, but not to save yourself.”

Hmph. She’d had her reasons. Shariette confidently presented the objective basis for her rational decision. “I can withstand smoke inhalation for 49 minutes and 14 seconds. I would have escaped if the stairs hadn’t collapsed.”

“….” 

Noxian frowned. The incredibly specific figure aside, the sheer absurdity of it… She almost died! Was she insane?

“Why would you even test that?”

“It’s useful to know in situations like this.” Noxian noticed the absence of ‘why’ in her answer. ‘Such a strange woman.’ He couldn’t fathom what went on in that small head of hers; she was utterly unpredictable.

“Right, you’re so clever. Yet you seem to have missed this.” Shariette’s white ankle peeked out from beneath the robe. The dangling, bare foot, apparently having stepped on something, was covered in blood. That was why Noxian had picked her up. Shariette playfully wiggled her foot.

“It’s not severed, so what?” She offered her professional assessment as an apothecary. “Minor abrasions, lacerations, superficial cuts. Wash it, apply some medicine, and it’ll heal.”

…Well, that was certainly straightforward. Noxian found another commonality between her and ‘Sasha.’ For all her meddling in other people’s affairs, she was remarkably indifferent to her own well-being. Almost as if she couldn’t feel pain, or had no sensation at all. 

Fortunately, there are no embedded fragments. Still, that cut is rather deep. His gaze, tracing the wounds on her foot, lingered on her left ankle. An old, faded scar marked the skin. 

‘Sasha’ didn’t have that. The rough, uneven shape encircling her ankle suggested a trap or snare, and a deep one at that.

“Injured in the forest?” Shariette gave a cursory nod, then asked something far more important.

“So, why did you come?”

“Wouldn’t do for my newly acquired physician to perish in a fire.”

“You already loaded the sleeping draught samples onto the carriage.” Noxian’s eyebrow twitched. 

So that’s what she prioritized. The nonchalant implication that as long as the medicine was safe, her own disappearance wouldn’t matter. Just like that woman, who had been preparing to vanish after feeding him lies. 

Sasha, what is this?

[The remaining antidote.] 

I can see that. Why are you giving it to me early today?

[It’s a bother to bring it every time. This is more convenient for you, too.]

Noxian gave a chilling smile. He unconsciously tightened his grip.

“My apologies if you wanted to die. I may be a scoundrel, but I don’t subscribe to the notion that people are expendable once the goods are delivered.”

Ah, he’s angry. His voice and tone were the same, but Shariette detected anger in the subtly harsher words. She knew what would follow. She made a detached assessment. Well, as repayment for saving her, she could endure a few blows to appease him. It wasn’t a difficult task. 

I’ll even offer no resistance. Consider it compensation for the missing dumpling.

It was like drinking cold soup. Shariette relaxed her body, letting it go limp. She expertly shut down her senses, detaching her consciousness. Her body, now merely a shell, could be reimagined in any form. 

A doll…no, this man uses a sword, so perhaps a training dummy.

Filled with straw. The impact would be satisfying. However, Noxian interpreted her sudden limpness differently.

“Stay awake, even if you’re tired. You need to see the arsonist’s face.”

“…?” While Shariette was still bewildered, Noxian located a viable exit through the collapsed debris.