“Let go.”

As soon as I was halfway up, I brushed off his hand and stood up on my own. Looking back, Zachary was still in the same position he had been in while supporting me. After standing still for a while, he moved close beside me.

Zachary extended his arm. His arm, wrapped tightly in bandages, seemed to offer support in case I struggled to walk alone…

“I can manage by myself.”

I had no intention of clinging to his frail arm for support.

I gave up on the idea of going to the duke. If I continued, I might just collapse in the hallway – it wouldn’t be surprising given my condition.

Cursing under my breath, I eventually pushed myself back onto the bed.

My cough was harsh, tearing at my lungs, and I felt feverish from the intense coughing, my head spinning.

“Stop it, really.”

Once again, a handkerchief was offered in front of me. Irritated, I swatted it away. As I waved my hand, the handkerchief fell, creating a breeze that fluttered the paper on his face.

In that moment, everything seemed to slow down.

Beneath the fluttering paper, I caught a glimpse of his half-exposed face – his pale, youthful face, prominent nose, and where Zachary’s deep blue eyes should have been shining like gems…

They were dark and lifeless.

Unlike my shocked and frozen expression, Zachary showed no reaction. He simply bent down carefully and picked up the handkerchief again.

I was still fixated on his hollow, dark eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

I must’ve been delirious from my illness. What had I just done?

I hated myself for acting like a fool, unable to control my emotions. Even though I was unwell, it was unjustifiable to vent my frustration on Zachary. I was truly foolish. Why was I taking my irritation out on the innocent Zachary?

He had been living a normal life before being taken to serve as my attendant. Even if he had been angry, it would have been justified, yet here I was, the one losing my temper.

‘He might have been fine if it weren’t for me.’

Zachary had a constitution that was resistant to spells. If he hadn’t undergone the additional training to become my attendant, he surely wouldn’t have lost himself so completely.

And if I hadn’t been ill so often, visiting him more frequently, maybe he would have found a chance to break free from his shackles.

“I wasn’t in my right mind. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

It might seem like just a dropped handkerchief, but my apology was not limited to that. I felt immensely guilty for being the reason behind his current state, and the words of apology just flowed out naturally.

However, there was no response to my apology, and Zachary simply took out a new handkerchief and extended it to me again.

He couldn’t even accept my apology.

Feeling utterly despairing about how to navigate this situation, I tilted my head back and covered my distorted face with my hands. What should I do now?

Should I rush to the duke and beg, or ask my mother for help? Ah, how pathetic. My only new strategy is to ask adults for help, which is the worst.

I regretted being in this body. Would things have been better if someone else had taken my place?

Usually, those who know the future work tirelessly to change it, but it seemed like everything I did only made the situation worse.

Even as I wallowed in despair, Zachary remained motionless, holding the handkerchief. It seemed like he wouldn’t lower his arm unless I took it, so I extended my hand.

However, even after I took the handkerchief, Zachary’s posture didn’t change. His half-standing posture, the extended hand, and… the still trembling fingertips.

‘Come to think of it, it’s been like that since he came in.’

I had thought the trembling was a side effect of the spells. Given the extensive torture needed to imprint such deep spells over his entire body, it made sense that tremors would remain as an aftereffect.

But why was it only his left hand trembling?

As I watched his hand shake, I got the feeling that the movement was somehow regular. It might have been my imagination, but something felt off, so I slightly raised my body and slowly approached Zachary. After a brief glance at him, I carefully placed his hand on my palm.

Realizing that Zachary’s still-trembling hand was writing something, I silently observed the movement. It wasn’t immediately clear to me.

After watching closely several times, I finally recognized the first letter.

“…He.”

No matter how I looked at it, the first syllable was ‘He’ (안).

Just as I wondered if my feverish, dizzy state was causing a hallucination, the movement changed.

The shape he was making now was distinctly different from before. Staring at my palm with wide eyes, it suddenly hit me.

…Ah. This is unbelievable.

I couldn’t believe it and lifted my head. Zachary, with the ‘Eye of the Ghost’ paper covering his face, was in front of me. I couldn’t see what expression he might be making, but even if the paper were removed, he probably wouldn’t have any expression…

Yet, I knew what he was trying to say.

“He—llo.”

The trembling of his fingertips finally stopped.

It ceased as soon as I understood his message, as if signaling that I had correctly interpreted what he wanted to communicate, a sort of relief. For a while, I just stared blankly at his hand, unable to speak.

“You…”

There was so much I wanted to say, so many questions I wanted to ask, so many things I wanted to hear, but I didn’t know where to start and felt breathless. I just gazed blankly at Zachary in front of me.

His appearance hadn’t changed. His posture, awkwardly extending his hand towards me, and the large eyes drawn on the paper covering his face, were the same as before.

‘Yet, he still remembers me.’

The realization continued to resonate within me.

We had no real memories together. I had only met him briefly, yet even unable to move freely, he remembered that short encounter and tried to communicate his existence to me.

How should I respond to you, when I was the one who did this?

I felt a lump in my nose but brushed it off with a hollow laugh, rubbing my face. The warmth clinging to my fingers was still hot. Fever had brought on sweat, but I hardly felt the pain in my body anymore.

What exactly had happened?

Struggling to believe what I had just witnessed, I let my gaze slide down to my hand. Zachary’s hand was still there on my palm. I remembered the trajectory his fingers had traced, a memory imprinted on my eyes, on my palm.

Ah, finally, I fully accepted this sensation.

You greeted me.

Even in a state of losing yourself, somehow, you managed to. Perhaps you remembered my words about greeting properly later. Despite the long detour, undoubtedly under the influence of brainwashing, you managed to convey that greeting through your fingertips.

‘This is truly the protagonist.’

It wasn’t just simple text anymore; Zachary was more vivid and real than any character, moving in three dimensions. I witnessed it with my own eyes, and sat there, speechless and trembling, staring at my palm for a long time.

All the while, Zachary stayed quietly by my side, maintaining that awkward posture, just still.

Even as my gaze awakened from the sensation he had given, looking up at him…

“Zachary.”

I desperately wanted to see his eyes. Even if they were empty, lost, like the abyss of a vacant soul, I needed to see them just once more. I quickly got up and moved close to Zachary.

It was the magical paper, stained with the pungent blood of monsters, that I had always been reluctant to touch. Despite many servants passing by me, I had never touched such paper before. Gently, with a rustling sound, I moved the paper back, revealing Zachary’s bare face.

His face, fully exposed, was even more striking than the glimpse I had seen earlier. Unlike the disheveled appearance from that day, his face was well-kept, pale, with balanced features. And those deep blue eyes, like the night sky…

Of course, those eyes were lifelessly dark, not the sparkling eyes I had first seen.

“Zachary?”

I called his name once more, cautiously. As expected, there was no response. Those soulless, dead eyes, his lips sealed shut, unable to respond. I reached out carefully and touched his face, tracing under his eyes with my fingertips, then caressing his cheek.