’N-no way... D-did she just kill him?’

I couldn’t believe Viora had just killed someone like it was an old habit of hers. His body hung limply in her grasp and his feet were no longer struggling against the air.

For a moment, I could feel a slight tremor in my body. Other than that, I couldn’t move nor could I speak. Whatever had happened in front of me was something I was unable to even process.

The morning breeze continued blowing through the villa grounds as if nothing had happened. As if a man hadn’t just died a few meters away from me. And it wasn’t the cute girl I liked who had killed him.

My eyes remained fixed on her form as she also didn’t move from her place.

It wasn’t like I was afraid of her. More like, I was shocked... Shocked that she could kill so casually. It wasn’t even a monster but a human being.

But that didn’t mean I was sympathizing with the assassin. After all, he came to kill me, by the looks of it. So, whatever happened to him was something he brought upon himself.

I was just worried about Viora. How could she just flip like this? Just a few days ago she couldn’t even stand up properly, but now she had overpowered a somewhat professional assassin.

I know she was a former A-Rank Hunter, but still, this kind of power can’t just be recovered in a few days.

However, it wasn’t only her power but her will. When she got stabbed by the knives and daggers, she didn’t even let her expression change.

Even now, the knife remained lodged inside her thigh and another blade was buried in her forearm as blood continued to drip from both wounds.

And yet... She didn’t seem to notice any of it. Her attention was completely focused on the corpse. Almost as if she was making absolutely certain that it would never get back up again.

"Viora."

I called her in a low voice and the moment she heard me, I saw her body shake for a bit. Then the pressure filling the balcony immediately weakened.

Slowly, she turned her head toward me. Those glowing eyes that had terrified a trained assassin only moments ago softened slightly as she blinked twice.

"Woo Jin?"

The dangerous aura surrounding her vanished so suddenly that it felt unreal. Like everything that had happened moments ago was only an illusion.

Without another word, she released the corpse.

THUD.

The assassin’s body hit the floor with a dull sound. His legs were bent slightly just the way he had fallen and his open eyes were looking up at the blue sky.

However, I wasn’t looking at him. My whole focus was on Viora. Without a word, I rushed toward her.

"What were you thinking?!"

As I reached her, those words escaped my mouth subconsciously. I moved my hands and grabbed her shoulders. Right at this moment, my heart was pounding faster than it had ever been in all my life.

"There are knives sticking out of you! Why did you do that?!"

I know she was trying to protect me. I know she was just trying to keep the assassin’s blades away from me, but still, how could she just throw herself into danger like that?

Though I was yelling at her, Viora didn’t react and only tilted her head slightly, acting confused and innocent again.

"He was trying to hurt you."

Her answer was immediate, simple, and direct. Like that alone explained everything. And somehow it did.

For a moment, all my frustration disappeared. Because she wasn’t trying to be reckless or trying to act brave. She had noticed someone trying to kill me and her first thought had been to protect me. Even if it meant getting hurt herself.

The realization made my chest tighten. It was me who was supposed to protect her, not the other way around.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that she was bleeding and I had to stop it before she lost any more blood.

I grabbed her hand and led her to one of the chairs near us.

"Sit down."

I told her to sit but she didn’t do as I said and only kept her head toward the floor.

"Sit."

This time she obeyed and slowly lowered herself onto the chair. I immediately knelt beside her and carefully grabbed the handle of the knife embedded in her thigh.

The sight of the blood and the wound alone made my stomach twist.

It should be hurting like hell. It should be agonizing. Yet Viora remained completely calm.

"On three," I said and she furrowed her brows and acted like she didn’t understand my words.

"What is three?"

"Never mind."

Saying that, I pulled out the blade in one go.

SCHLK.

The blade slid free and blood immediately followed behind it like a fountain of crimson. Viora’s fingers tightened around the armrest. And a faint tremble ran through her body. Yet she remained silent.

"How are you not reacting?!" I got irritated by her keeping herself forcefully calm.

"It hurts." Even her voice had not changed.

"Then react!"

"It hurts." She paused. "But you were going to get hurt more."

I stared at her and she just kept her head down without making any movements.

"Whatever."

I ignored Viora and grabbed the teapot placed on the table and poured the tea onto Viora’s wound.

This tea was made from magical healing herbs that were in the kitchen. Since I was injured, I used them in the tea to make myself recover faster.

And as the dark liquid hit her thigh, the wound began to close up gradually. It didn’t heal her completely, but at the very least it stopped her bleeding and it must have stopped the pain if Viora was feeling any.

I did the same for the wound in her forearm.

And it also stopped bleeding.

After doing that, I wiped off the blood from the wound on her cheek with my sleeve.

Doing so, I opened my mouth to scold her again. To tell her how reckless she had been. To tell her never to do something like that again.

But when I looked at her face... I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

"Woo Jin," she called me.

"What?" I asked.

"I protected you."

Hearing those words, I didn’t reply immediately. Instead, I looked at her with wide eyes and then, after a few seconds, I pulled her into an embrace and began caressing her hair.

"Yeah. You did."