For You In The Cage

till worried about Yulif.

How long had Yulif been submerged in the lake? If he stayed on the floor like this, his body temperature would drop.
He had to change wet clothes.
If not, she must warm him up.

「I really…… I must be crazy.」

Canaren, who spoke with a sigh, spread her wings.
After shifting to sit with her legs stretched out, she placed Yulif’s head on her thighs.
One of her wings covered his body like a blanket, and the other wrapped around her own body.

If he died without being able to open his eyes like this, then her efforts in jumping into the lake and using her ability would be in vain.
She didn’t like that thought, that was why she was doing something like this.

Canaren kept giving reasons to her own actions.

She knew it herself.
That she didn’t have to do this.
No, she knew she wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Yulif always did his best for Canaren.
He gave her everything she wanted.
Except for one thing.

It was the one thing that Canaren desperately wanted the most, but that didn’t mean his efforts were lost in an instant.
What Yulif had done piled up inside Canaren one by one.

Could she call these fragmentary, flimsy, yet shiny things memories? Maybe she could.
Because Canaren was happy with him, and he was happy too.

Her stomach turned as she looked at Yulif, who was barely able to come to his senses.

Should she inflict more wounds on herself and use her powers a little more? But when she exceeds the standard, her ability becomes a curse rather than a blessing.
And she would reveal her powers to Yulif.

While hesitating, Canaren could not abandon the idea.
It was better for her ability to be discovered by Yulif than to watch him die like this.

Canaren hummed a little song.
It was a song played by Yulif.
She couldn’t remember the lyrics, but she didn’t intend to sing it out loud, so it was okay.

A small humming to help Yulif recover quietly embraced the two of them.

‘If you don’t open your eyes until the end of this song, I’ll have to use my powers more.’

After a while, Yulif’s brow furrowed slightly.
His fingers twitched, and he slowly opened his eyes.

*******

Why does my brother hate me so much?
(PR/N: Yulif is thinking/dreaming of the past while he’s unconscious.)

Yulif looked at the increasingly distant surface of the water and thought vacantly.

The brothers did not get along well.
To be precise, Deltinus unilaterally hated Yulif, while Yulif had no particular feelings for his brother.

Yulif, who was young, but smart and quick-witted, was vaguely aware of it.
The demon called inferiority and the monster called jealousy were swallowing up his brother.

Knowing it didn’t change anything, but Yulif treated his older brother cautiously in his own way.
He didn’t say anything to offend his brother.
He didn’t show his skills in front of his brother.
He didn’t get ahead of his brother.
He even pretended to do what his brother tells him to do.

‘Is that why you hate me?’

Yulif stopped thinking.

The mouth longing for air opened spontaneously.
His last breath became a bubble and went up.

The 11-year-old felt helpless for the first time in the lake.
He had done everything skillfully, but the fact that he had to die for nothing was hurting his self-esteem.

The child was a genius wizard who will go down in history.

He suppressed himself in front of the Deltinus, but he had pride and confidence in his own abilities.

‘Am I going to die?’

Yulif desperately opened his eyes before he lost consciousness.
He should break the iron ball first.
He came to that conclusion as he struggled to roll his stiff brain.
Yulif grabbed the shackles on his ankles and unleashed his magical powers.
He felt a burning pain running up his ankle.

Fortunately, the shackles came off.
His legs moved properly.

The sense of liberation was short-lived.

It was too late.

Yulif bit his lips.
His head went hazy as if he was sleepy, and his body started to feel heavy again.
He didn’t feel like all he had was a metal ball.
He couldn’t move, like his whole body had been crushed by something.

The 11-year-old used to imagine many futures.

The future of leaving the Imperial Palace behind and becoming an adventurer wandering the continent.
The future who got along well with his older brother who became emperor and who became a wizard who worked for the empire.
A future of researching magic in a tower that no one knew about.

Countless futures awaited him, but he never imagined he would drown in a lake.

No matter how talented a wizard was, the future was unknown.

He remembered the words of a teacher who once taught him magic.

The young Yulif prayed one last time in his dying consciousness.

He would give the person anything they wanted if they saved him.

He would become the strongest wizard in this world, and he would grant any wishes.

‘Please save me.’

Credits goes to Anon for raw providing + translating, and Ame for proofreading.