Ate bravely pushed the door open and stepped inside. Unlike her, who was afraid of the dark, Rafael did not leave the lights on. Fortunately, the moon was very bright today, so the interior of therge bedroom could be seen.


    Ate looked around and found Rafael’s figure in it. But he was neither on the sofa nor on the bed. This made her wonder if she had heard wrong. If it wasn’t for the strange noiseing from the corner of the wall, Ate might have left the room.


    <i>~Chiinng</i>


    A strange scraping sound, like a stone or metal being dragged, entered her ears. Ate whirled to look at the corner, obscured by the shadow of the bed. The eerie metallic sound wasing from the dark corner. Ate’s hand trembled with fear, but she plucked up her courage and walked towards it, themp illuminating her way.


    <b>“Rafael?”</b>


    Fortunately, the man standing in the corner was a man she knew very well. Rafael was half-naked without a shirt, as was usually the case at night. Seeing the familiar silhouette, Ate felt d but hesitated to approach him. Something was wrong.


    Rafael was currently the most distinguished swordsman in the Deltium Kingdom, and was highly sensitive to his surroundings. But now, he didn’t seem to sense Ate’s presence. There was a longsword in Rafael’s hand, and he was swinging it against the wall. The strange frictional sound that Ate heard was the sound of this de hitting the wall.


    Ate, surprised by Rafael’s unusual behaviour, took a breath and stepped back without knowing it. Even though it was quite loud, he still stared at the wall with unfocused eyes. Whenever Rafael’s sword hit the wall, the de dragged along, producing a creepy noise.


    <b>“What are you doing now, Rafael? Oh my goodness! Are you all right?”</b>


    Ate asked while shaking. However, Rafael didn’t seem to understand her. The deep blue eyes, which could be seen through the half-opened eyelids, were unusually cloudy. His face was expressionless, but somehow he still looked enchanting. The moment she saw his peculiar state, Ate recalled a simr condition.


    <i>‘You’re sleepwalking.’</i>


    Ate felt like someone was suffocating her. She had been married to Rafael for five years in her previous life, but she had no idea he had this condition.


    It was no wonder that Rafael never fell asleep in the same bed as Ate. After spending the night with her, Rafael would go back to his bedroom as if there was nothing more to do. Rafael’s cold attitude of drawing the line was quite hurtful to Ate.


    But now that she thought about it, Rafael might not have wanted to be seen in such a condition by her. He was a man of great pride. When she thought about it, Ate grabbed her chest. Unknowingly, a lone tear slid down her cheek.


    <i>~Chiinng-Grunnng</i>


    In the midst of this, Rafael continued to sob and swing his sword against the wall. At first, she didn’t see it because it was dark, but this didn’t seem to have happened only once or twice. The walls that were exposed in the moonlight, were covered with scratches. Rafael’s forehead was already wet with cold sweat.


    <i>‘What do I do?’</i>


    Ate hesitated, but she couldn’t just leave Rafael in this state. If she turned a blind eye to him, Rafael would repeat this act alone all night long in thisrge dark room, suffering from endless nightmares. When she thought about it, she couldn’t stop her steps.


    <b>“Rafael…”</b>


    Ate cautiously reached out and wrapped her hand around the sword. Then Rafael looked back at her with bleak eyes. The face looked awfully confused, so Ate wasn’t sure if he hade to his senses or not. So, she kept talking to Rafael in the softest voice possible.


    <b>“Stop it ande here, Rafael. Hello? This way. Hold my hand and follow me.”</b>


    Ate first led him to a sofa and, fortunately, Rafael followed her. Ate tried to take away the sword from him before he sat down but Rafael held it firmly and refused to loosen his grip on it. Rafael, who was looking at her with quivering eyes, soon opened his mouth.


    <span> Only


    <b>“Robert, how are you here? You, you must be in the front line defense battle… … No, no. Are you alive? That’s right, that must be it. I knew it.” </b>


    Rafael’s zed eyes did not recognize Ate. Ate felt embarrassed by the gibberish words flowing out of his mouth. Now, Rafael’s mind had returned back to the battlefield he had been on several years ago. To that hell where blood, shouts, and death ran rampant.


    Rafael was originally an illegitimate child of the royal family. The present King Selgratis had quite a few children from outside, and so he was considered nothing special. But Rafael was a born swordsmanship genius. He confidently demonstrated his ability in the war. For this reason, Selgratis recognized Rafael as his own son and gave him a title.


    Among the old aristocratic families, Rafael was unrivalled. Although he was criticized by the aristocrats who valued pedigree, he always raised his chin proudly and had an arrogant aura. However, behind Rafael’s proud and arrogant mask was a distressed soldier who had not yetpletely escaped from the horrors of the battlefield.


    <b>“Where are the enemies? They….. Ah, I hear their shouts. That noise is too loud, Robert, I’m going to kill them all.” </b>


    Rafael’s eyebrows were painfully knitted, and his grip was tightened. Ate nearly cut her arm as he suddenly raised his sword. Fortunately, the sleeves of the fluttering gown saved her. Thankfully there was no blood.


    <i>‘What should I do?’</i>


    Ate bit down on her lips hard.