Chapter 5

He left.I got up and went to the kitchen.

I opened the ice cellar;it was filled with all sorts of game.

I took out two bird eggs and a pouch of milk-tree sap.

As I fried the eggs,memories surfaced uncontrollably.

Back then,we lived in a cave.

Every day,Kyle would wake up before me and go into the forest to find the freshest honey and berries for me.

Once,I casually mentioned wanting to eat the fire frogs from the western marshes.

He ran for half the night through acid rain to catch them for me.

When he returned,the fire frogs were still alive and hopping,but a large patch of his own fur had been corroded away by the rain.

“If Ila wants to eat something,I'll get it for her even if it's raining knives,”Kyle had said then.

And now?

Even accompanying me to see the land he had promised had become an inconvenience he could casually dismiss.

I plated the fried eggs.

As I poured the sap,my hand slipped,and some spilled on the stone table.

I grabbed some moss to wipe it up but accidentally knocked over a bottle next to it.

It was a vial of high-concentration“wolfsbane”extract.

The dark brown liquid oozed out,emitting a pungent smell.

I stared at the puddle,my stomach churning.

I'm severely allergic to high-concentration wolfsbane.

Kyle had brought this vial back two days ago.

Because Layla had said she felt vampires lurking around the territory,and wolfsbane could strengthen their defenses.

Kyle had even forgotten that the strong scent of wolfsbane alone made it hard for me to breathe and left me feeling weak all over.

I threw the moss into the fire,burning it to ash along with the plate of eggs and the vial of extract.

Then,I went back to the bedroom and pulled out three large leather trunks from under the bed.

I started to pack.

There wasn't much that was truly mine.

A few healer's robes,a few ancient medical texts,a stone mortar for grinding herbs.

The rest were things Kyle had brought back for me from his hunts.

Trophies that were powerful but ill-suited for me.

He always armed me according to Layla’s tastes.

“Layla says bear-skin cloaks are imposing.You should try one.”

“Layla says this model of bone-splinter dagger is perfect for a girl's self-defense.I made one for you too.”

I gathered all those things and stacked them neatly in the deepest part of the storage room.