#36. Why Are You Here 

‘Why are you here?’

Unable to believe the reality before her, Partanie blinked vacantly, but the image before her eyes didn’t change.

It really was Prince Lukaris.

However, red blood was dripping from him, and his posture, clutching his stomach, made him look like a mortally wounded beast.

Add to that his rough, heavy breathing. Anyone could see he was severely injured.

Yet his body still emanated a sharp aura like a blade freshly drawn from its sheath, not diminishing in the slightest.

The air felt as if one wrong move would lead to being attacked by an injured, agitated beast.

Though still in shock, Partanie instinctively tensed up.

“Answer me!”

At that moment, a harsh voice rang in her ears.

Simultaneously, Partanie forgot the situation and became puzzled.

It was natural to be wary of someone who appeared suddenly, but there was no need to be so aggressive toward someone as unremarkable and visibly weak as herself.

Why?

Lukaris’s features, formed by clear and beautiful lines, stood out vividly despite being partially buried in snow.

But one of his golden eyes was blurred and distorted, while the other seemed forcibly wide open, as if struggling to maintain focus.

Ah, Partanie finally realized.

‘He can’t see well.’

That’s why he was being so defensively alert.

To be injured to the point of impaired vision… Partanie’s mind, confused with all sorts of questions and bewilderment, suddenly cleared.

How and why Prince Lukaris appeared here didn’t matter.

What was truly urgent was…….

“Bind him!”

Saving his life.

At Partanie’s command, a golden snake shot from her finger and coiled tightly around Prince Lukaris, immobilizing him.

“How dare you……!”

“Bite!”

And before he could resist, Partanie shouted her second command.

The snake slithered up to Prince Lukaris’s neck, opened its jaws, and bit him sharply with its fangs.

“Ugh!”

His blood-covered silver-gray eyes flickered, and the strength drained from his hands where veins had been prominently bulging.

‘Of course, it’s a sleep-paralyzing venom.’

The function of her item, the ‘Snake of Binding,’ wasn’t limited to just physical restraint. It could be used in more sophisticated and aggressive ways.

‘Though that’s strictly confidential.’

The most powerful weapons function best when kept hidden. That’s why she only used limited abilities of the ‘Snake of Binding’ in front of others.

‘Now there are no watching eyes… well, there is one, but he’ll collapse soon, so it’s fine.’

In truth, it wasn’t fine.

Because Prince Lukaris wasn’t the only one present.

‘Master!’

Jerman silently exclaimed in shock.

Everything that had happened since arriving in Dragonia defied his expectations.

After news about the Divine Beast’s egg, his master kept seeing strange visions, and in Sheren Grad, they nearly got caught and killed.

They barely escaped, and then Prince Lukaris suddenly started saying incomprehensible things and somehow knew about this hidden secret place in Dragonia’s snowfield that they’d never seen before.

‘How?’

But Jerman couldn’t dwell on this question for long.

A group of assassins suddenly appeared from somewhere.

Jerman and Prince Lukaris fought desperately without time to think, and barely survived.

But as a result, Jerman, having used magic beyond his limits…….

‘Damn it!’

Had reverted to his beast form. And a small, unremarkable rodent at that.

Yes, Jerman was a half-beast, known as a beastkin.

Though the Hakan Empire was once home to various races, it was now an era dominated by humans. Among beastkin, only werewolves, a type of demonic beast, were commonly known.

So beastkin hid their true identities and lived disguised as humans, but they had a problem: when pushed to their limits, they could no longer maintain human form.

His master, Prince Lukaris, was already in terrible shape from fighting the assassins, and now his body was completely wrecked.

They had barely found the hideout, but they couldn’t relax yet.

Regardless of being in an unknown place, it was extremely cold, likely because they were still in Dragonian territory.

‘A blood-covered injured person in such low temperatures—perfect conditions for death!’

Jerman tried desperately to save his master, but as a small rodent himself, he was powerless.

It was at this moment that Partanie appeared.

Jerman was shocked to see the unfamiliar girl who subdued Prince Lukaris in the blink of an eye.

‘W-what’s going on? And who is this girl!’

Naturally, Partanie didn’t notice Jerman. Only after confirming that Prince Lukaris could no longer move did she approach him.

“……My goodness.”

She stiffened with a sigh. Up close, Prince Lukaris’s condition was worse than she had expected.

‘Let go of my master!’

Jerman, now a small rodent, desperately shouted, but all that came out was a pathetic “squeak!”

Even that didn’t reach Partanie’s ears. She was too busy.

“Water, clean water…… or alcohol if there’s none. And scissors, bandages, medicine……”

Just calculating how to handle the situation was overwhelming.

It felt like decades since she had entered this hideout. In other words, she couldn’t remember exactly where everything was.

Partanie, who had originally planned to search leisurely, jumped up and frantically searched the surroundings.

“Haah, ha. Ugh……”

Bleeding, lacerations, pain, and the paralyzing venom with its sleep effect—Prince Lukaris was understandably not in his right mind.

They say hearing is the last sense to go. His ears caught the sound of fabric being cut.

It was Partanie.

His clothes, torn from attacks and stuck to his skin with blood, couldn’t be removed, so they had to be cut off with scissors.

‘W-what is she doing……!’

Jerman was shocked.

Why is this girl suddenly undressing our master!

‘Could she be trying to defile the prince’s chastity by taking advantage of his injured state!’

Jerman wasn’t overreacting. Many vile individuals targeting Prince Lukaris had used even more despicable methods.

From Partanie’s perspective, this was a terribly unfair misunderstanding, but fortunately, she was unaware of such unsavory suspicions.

She was too busy just examining the exposed wounds.

‘This is more serious than I estimated.’

The bleeding wouldn’t stop.

She needed a tourniquet. And she happened to have a similar item on hand.

“Bind.”

At Partanie’s command, the golden snake that had been restraining Prince Lukaris’s entire body shrank and focused on his abdominal wound.

“Ugh!”

Prince Lukaris groaned in pain from the pressure, but Partanie didn’t release him. The bleeding was quickly decreasing.

‘That’s a relief.’

Partanie sighed with relief as she wiped with alcohol-soaked cloth.

“Argh, ack……!”

“Shh— it’s okay.”

When Prince Lukaris gasped at the pain from the alcohol smell and pressure, Partanie spoke without taking her eyes off the wound.

“I need to disinfect the wound. Otherwise, it will get infected.”

Her clear, beautiful voice was remarkably calm. This composure, showing not a trace of fear, had a soothing effect on others.

Perhaps because of this, Prince Lukaris’s body gradually relaxed.

‘Finally, the paralyzing venom is working.’

Why was he still conscious? Does he have some immunity?

Partanie, who had been suspicious, felt relieved as she gripped a needle, and after finishing the sutures, applied medicine and wrapped bandages.

“Haah……”

The most critical injury was addressed.

Partanie, sighing in relief, closed her eyes briefly before continuing the treatment.

Wiping away blood, disinfecting wounds. If bleeding didn’t stop, she applied hemostatic agents, spread ointment, and wrapped with bandages to prevent external infection.

All these movements flowed naturally without any unnecessary actions.

This was to be expected. She had extensive experience as a recovery mage, and treating minor wounds was so ingrained in her that she could do it with her eyes closed.

‘No, not in this body.’

Wiping away cold sweat with the back of her hand, Partanie closed her tired eyes.

She was seriously depleted after treating just one patient. Her fragile body was already exhausted and struggling.

‘At this rate, even escaping will be difficult. And I finally got the opportunity to leave……’

As she clicked her tongue, Partanie suddenly froze. Wait, escape?

Only then did she remember the two Amyeong she had left behind, Aegir and Yusuf, and her face turned pale.

She had unintentionally become a liar and deceiver.

Flustered, she unconsciously looked toward the boundary leading outside the hideout.

* * *

And at that very moment…..

“Partanie?”

Siyeref, who had approached where the two Amyeong were hiding, called his youngest sister’s name again.

Thump, Yusuf and Aegir’s hearts hit the floor. Why? How were they discovered!

Siyeref’s large hand came closer as if to check something on the ground.

‘Footprints!’

Yusuf realized their mistake and gritted his teeth. In their rush to hide, they had forgotten to erase their footprints!

‘Damn it……!’

Aegir screamed internally. Could he really identify someone just by the size of their footprints?

‘How is that possible!’

But by the time they realized this, it was already too late.

Among the various footprints in the deep snow, Siyeref found a few particularly small ones, and his expression gradually hardened.

“Why are these here?”