I Became a Barbarian's Bride - Chapter 84
“I see…”
Nisha blinked a few times, then gazed at the tall, desolate mountain visible from anywhere in Xieman.
It was quiet now, but why had it seemed like smoke was billowing from it then?
As if it were about to erupt at any moment.
“Why? Did something happen?”
Kagan grabbed her shoulders, asking urgently.
Nisha’s eyes widened slightly, then she smiled softly and shook her head.
“I just thought I saw something before I passed out.”
“…Saw something?”
“Yes…”
There was something stiff in his voice when he asked, making Nisha’s expression turn a bit uncertain.
He didn’t just seem concerned; there was a sense of anxiety in his demeanor.
“Are you feeling any different?”
“Pardon?”
“Any pain, difficulty moving, numbness, or has your coughing gotten worse?”
Kagan, with a slightly frantic look, began to question her.
At the same time, he lifted her as if she were a doll, inspecting her from all angles.
Nisha barely had time to answer as her whole body was being jostled this way and that.
And what was with those hands examining her all over?
There was nothing sinister or unpleasant about it—it was just a genuine check for anything wrong—but still, his fingertips brushed against some rather sensitive spots.
His hands brushed against her thighs, traced along her back, and even grazed the nape of her neck before he checked her pulse and pressed his forehead against hers.
At first, Nisha had taken it all in stride, but soon her face began to flush, turning bright red down to her neck.
“Um, Kagan…”
“Why? Are you feeling unwell? You must tell me immediately if anything’s wrong since your body is so delicate.”
The large man asked with such a serious expression that the corners of Nisha’s mouth twitched.
Her chest felt strangely ticklish.
“That is the bride destined to be the great sacrifice, as foretold by the oracle.”
But just as she was beginning to smile, his voice echoed in her mind, dragging her abruptly back to reality.
The slight smile that had started to form at the corners of her mouth quickly faded.
“Why do you ask?”
“Adin always takes something from the Tun and gives something in return.”
“Ah…”
It was something she had once heard from the former Kagan.
Nisha slowly nodded.
“My mother lost her sight but gained the power of prophecy, a gift not meant for humans.”
Kagan’s voice was somber, and Nisha nodded again, slowly.
“You are now officially my wife, so…”
Kagan trailed off, realizing that even for someone who had lived as an outlaw, what he was about to say felt incredibly out of place.
Forcibly bringing someone to their knees as if pillaging them and explaining that they might lose something didn’t make me seem particularly conscientious.
“It’s just that I lost my healing power all at once, but there’s nothing wrong with my body.”
Nisha shook her head as she spoke.
Kagan, who had been examining her body, slowly nodded.
“Then that’s a relief.”
“Yes.”
Nisha nodded.
As she turned her head to gaze beyond the lush, green mountains at the volcano, she slowly opened her mouth.
“What kind of mountain is that?”
“It’s where Adin is said to have fallen asleep.”
“Asleep?”
“Ah, you probably don’t know the mythology passed down in Xieman.”
Kagan climbed onto the bed, sat against the bed’s headboard, and pulled her onto his lap, hugging her from behind as he spoke.
The act was so fluid and natural, like handling a child, that Nisha blinked in surprise.
“In Xieman, there’s no tomb to honor the king. Did you know that?”
“No.”
“In your country, as well as in many others, they build tombs for kings, e***t monuments, and pay tribute, right?”
“Well, usually…”
Nisha nodded calmly.
Despite being held in the arms of a man she still found unfamiliar, she oddly felt comforted by his warmth, so much so that the idea of pulling away didn’t even cross her mind, leaving her feeling unsettled.
“The volcano is also where sacrifices are made and where the funerals for the Kagan and the Katun are held.”
“The bodies…”
“Anything that goes in there is said to be completely burned away. It’s said that even the remnants of their abilities are burned to become nutrients for Xieman…”
At Kagan’s words, Nisha’s eyes widened slightly.
“That’s how the story goes. Though, I’m not sure about the truth of it, but no abilities work near that mountain.”
As his calm voice added more detail, Nisha slowly nodded in response.
“…Everything.”
Suddenly realizing something, she slowly blinked her eyes open and shut.
A land where even abilities don’t function.
“Some abilities remain even after death, you see.”
