Aurora struggled to open her eyes, wanting to see, to confirm.
“Water… so thirsty…”
The figure leaning over her seemed to speak, but the words were distant, muffled, as if through a thick wad of cotton.
Then, a cool liquid touched her chapped lips. Carefully. Gently.
Water!
Aurora drank instinctively. The sweet, spring-like liquid slid down her throat, instantly quenching the fire and bringing an indescribable comfort. Her consciousness cleared, just a little.
Her blurry vision slowly focused.
The face leaning over her… wasn’t the one she dreamed of. Not the gentle smile of Lady Pandora.
It was a round, baby-fat-cheeked little face, at this moment filled with worry and anticipation.
So… it was Betty.
Sigh…
A pang of disappointment hit her, sharp and stupid.
But immediately, she felt ashamed.
“Betty… thank you.” She spoke weakly, her voice hoarse, but filled with sincere gratitude.
“Sister Aurora, you’re awake? That’s great!” Betty’s eyes lit up. “You had a high fever, you kept saying you were thirsty, I… I was afraid you’d choke, so I…”
“I’m fine… you did well.”
Aurora forced herself to sit up, leaning against the cold stone wall. Her gaze swept the room. A crude hunter’s cabin, piled high with abandoned junk and dry hay. The air was thick with the smell of dust and a faint musty odor.
Fragments of memory returned. Lady Pandora supporting her, her gentle voice still in her ear: “Don’t speak, Aurora, you’re badly hurt…” “Stop the bleeding first. We can talk later…”
And then… endless darkness.
“Betty, what’s… the situation?” Aurora asked, her voice urgent. The knight’s instinct wouldn’t let her rest. “Where is Lady Pandora? What about the others?”
“Lady Pandora said she was going to deal with Arthur!” Betty whispered, her voice tinged with a prideful excitement and a little worry. “She took Lady Elsa, and Thumbs, and Gabby with her. She said they’d be back soon. She told us to wait for her here.”
“Deal with Arthur?!”
Aurora’s heart sank. Her body tensed, the pain from her wound forgotten. “That’s… too dangerous! Her ladyship is of a noble station, how can she risk herself like this…”
Before she could finish—
Bang!
The cabin’s rickety wooden door was thrown open!
The blood-red moonlight and the night woods flooded in!
Aurora’s pupils contracted! It was pure instinct. She shot up from the pile of hay, her movements twisted by pain, but her body still spun, pulling the still-dazed Betty securely behind her!
Her right hand moved instinctively to her waist.
Aurora’s heart clenched.
Where a sword should have been, there was only empty air.
She held her breath, her muscles taut, like an injured but still-vigilant leopardess, staring at the blurry, familiar figure silhouetted in the doorway.
The next moment, upon seeing who it was, her taut nerves went slack. The strength she’d forced into her body vanished instantly.
Her legs went weak, and she fell backward uncontrollably—
“Aurora!”
A familiar, anxious cry.
A reassuring, warm fragrance brushed past her. Pandora’s figure rushed to her in an instant, firmly gripping her arm and shoulder, steadying her before she could fall.
The warmth of her body, the breath close at hand, the scent that clung to her, the unique mix of faint blood and old books that belonged only to Pandora…
Aurora’s cheeks instantly burned hot.
“I-I’m fine! My Lady! I… I can stand on my own!” she stammered, trying to pull away, her voice trembling with shame and weakness.
But Pandora just gently shook her head, helping her slowly sit back down on the pile of hay.
“Don’t push yourself.”
Pandora’s voice carried a hint of authority, yet remained gentle. As she spoke, she had already skillfully unwrapped the old, blood-soaked bandage from Aurora’s shoulder. “Let me see the wound.”
………………
After a quick examination and a brief exchange, the tense atmosphere in the small cabin finally eased.
Pandora confirmed that Aurora’s low-grade fever hadn’t broken. Due to her sudden movements, the wound had split open again, seeping fresh blood.
She skillfully used a new, clean strip of cloth to re-bandage it.
Aurora remained silent the entire time, but her gaze followed Pandora’s every move. She watched Pandora’s lowered eyes, her focused profile, the fresh traces of blood on her fingertips…
The person from her memory and the young woman before her overlapped.
Perfectly.
The world may have collapsed, become hideous and unfamiliar, but Lady Pandora was still the same. That calm, powerful core that was worth following with her life, had never changed.
When Pandora explained that the manor had suffered the same fate as the town, a shadow passed over Aurora’s eyes. A wave of immense sorrow and loss nearly overwhelmed her.
But soon, she looked up, and the gaze she fixed on Pandora was even firmer than before.
As long as Lady Pandora was alive, she had not lost her “purpose.”
At the same time, she noticed the change in Elsa. Her handmaiden’s uniform seemed subtly more magnificent, the fabric shimmering with a faint luster in the firelight, accentuating her features with an inhuman, almost demonic cold beauty.
But Aurora didn't ask. Elsa’s strength and loyalty were beyond question.
“Alright, get some rest.” Pandora clapped her hands, ending the brief conversation. “We can talk about other things tomorrow. Tonight, Elsa will take the watch.”
“Yes, My Lady.” Elsa’s voice was placid. “Please, rest easy.”
Then came the problem.
The abandoned hunter’s cabin was small and dilapidated, with only one room. The floor was covered with several thick layers of dry hay—the only “bed.”
Ham and Lucien, the two men, could sleep outside on the straw mats. No problem.
But Aurora was seriously injured. She needed a relatively stable environment and shouldn’t catch a chill.
Betty was young and also needed to get up occasionally to look after Aurora.
As for Pandora… her status made it unreasonable, both emotionally and logically, for her to sleep outside.