The Attendant in the Horror Game C68

Chapter 68

The damp smell of rain carried the faintest hint of warmth. Yet Ian’s heart was frozen—colder than the dead of winter when blizzards raged endlessly across the North. The very storms that once assaulted the land were now roaring within him.

Ian slowly extended his hand. The raindrops falling onto his palm stung.

‘When spring comes, let’s plant the crops first.’

Jade had always waited for spring with unusual anticipation. Even though the brutal northern climate meant spring brought no dramatic change, he still looked forward to it like a child. At times, Ian had found that foolish.

But at some point—without even realizing when—he too began waiting for spring at Jade’s side.

He already knew from books what spring in the North was like: monsters running rampant, cold winds still sweeping the land, and frequent rain caused by fog. That was northern spring. Ian had never looked forward to it; he had endured winter expecting nothing from the season to come.

Yet listening to Jade talk, sitting beside him while he carefully constructed plan after plan, Ian found himself believing that next year’s spring might actually be warm. He imagined the crops growing well, the days bright and clear—just as Jade described.

Jade was a diligent man, and even his plans reflected it. The list of things he wanted to do in spring grew endlessly. And the more that list grew, the more Ian felt an inexplicable sense of reassurance and stability.

“……”

Under the cover of night, Ian slipped out of the temple, taking the back path. He looked upon the northern landscape—there was no warm spring Jade had spoken of. Ian’s spring had been colder than any winter, and the summer that followed felt no different.

Greor had advised him repeatedly to remain inside for his own safety. Ian ignored him. He had something he needed to do.

‘More than enough.’

Ian glanced down at the money pouch in his hand with emotionless eyes. A hat covered his blond hair—the white one Jade had bought him long ago.

He had washed it over and over to remove the bloodstains. The stains were mostly gone now, though the shape was warped, no longer as it once was. That part pained him.

It had already been a full month since Jade disappeared. For the first week, Ian simply waited. For some reason, he’d been convinced Jade would return. A strange intuition.

But Jade never came back.

Eventually Ian was forced to accept it. Jade was truly gone. His so-called intuition had been nothing more than foolish arrogance masquerading as faith.

So Ian began searching. Whenever he found the chance, he wandered around the temple grounds asking questions—but weeks passed without a single clue.

That was when he thought of information dealers. Every back alley in every town had at least one. Pay them, and they would uncover anything. Tracking down a person was their most common request.

For several days, he secretly scouted the area around the temple, locating one such dealer. The money Jade left him would be more than enough.

He still didn’t understand why he was searching for Jade. Jade had faced many dangers while serving him. Perhaps Jade had simply left to save himself. Perhaps his employment with Ian’s uncle had ended. Jade was neither Ian’s servant by contract nor family—not even someone bound to him by loyalty. They had no ties that obligated Jade to stay.

Yet Ian’s determination to find him was unwavering. He couldn’t fabricate a reasonable explanation for it. The desire itself was his first-ever clearly defined goal—an obsession, pure and sharp.

‘He said he’d read the book to me.’

And not just that. He’d promised to bake him a cake.

Yes—this was simply lingering resentment from a broken promise.

Jade had disappeared after showering him with empty words meant only to lull him. Ian wanted to find him to demand answers. His justifications settled neatly into place as he prepared to take his next step.

“Young master…!”

Greor grabbed his arm from behind. Ian narrowed his eyes and tried to shake him off, but the difference in strength made it impossible.

“Haa…”

Greor held his shoulders, crouching low. His robe dragged across the ground, but he didn’t care. He only let out a deep, weary sigh. At least today he’d managed to catch Ian before he slipped out.

Since the day the servant left, this scene repeated daily. Ian tried to sneak out whenever he could, and Greor struggled to drag him back. No matter how many times he ordered the junior priests to keep watch, Ian always managed to slip past them.

Greor’s anxiety had only grown after a priest returning from the capital’s temple brought troubling news two days earlier.

The Linwood family was searching for a missing heir.

When Jade entrusted Ian to the temple, he had said Ian faced mortal danger. That alone gave Greor enough pieces to understand the situation.

The Linwood successor seat had been empty for years. Now, a direct heir had turned up stranded in the North. Anyone could guess at the implications.

And yet the boy wandered outside as if he held no value at all. Greor felt like he aged a decade every day.

“The Linwood family is searching for you, Ian.”

“I assumed so.”

Ian lowered his gaze and dismissed him curtly. He slapped away Greor’s hand with clear disinterest, turning his back in cold annoyance. His demeanor was so frigid that the air between them seemed to chill.

Moments like this made Greor feel like tearing his hair out. Ian was unreadable—never acting like a child. His dry, emotionless eyes looked as if he saw through the world’s mechanics.

He wasn’t rude, but he ignored the priests entirely. Coaxing didn’t work. Sometimes, Ian even looked at Greor with thinly veiled pity.

But when the servant was mentioned, Ian’s eyes changed. The cold pupils sharpened, glowing with an unnerving intensity. Facing that gaze, Greor often forgot Ian was still just a child.

“They also seem to be searching for a servant named Jade.”

“…Jade?”

As expected, Ian’s eyes shifted. His expression commanded Greor to continue.

Faced with that piercing gaze, Greor swallowed hard. Still—he had succeeded in redirecting the boy’s focus.

“It appears Lord Malderic is looking for him. They say he even hired mercenaries.”

“……”

Ian’s brows tensed, narrowing. He bit his lower lip.

So Jade hadn’t left because his contract ended with the uncle. The truth was far more troubling.

“They say the young master is in danger. If you wander alone and something happens, it will complicate matters for that servant as well. So—”

“Jade said that? He said that because I’m in danger, I should be taken care of?”

Ian cut him off immediately. Greor exhaled heavily.

At times, he felt Ian did not care at all for his own safety. The boy was only concerned with what that servant had said about him.

“Yes.”

“…….”

When Greor finally answered, Ian whipped his head away. The boy who always hid his emotions now failed to do so.

A moment later, he began walking back toward the temple of his own accord.

“I’ll go inside.”

Greor followed in silence, his mind troubled.

The relationship between the missing servant and Ian… it was difficult to categorize. It was more than simple familiarity. Not quite affection. Yet clearly not ordinary.

Ian clung to that servant with a ferocity far beyond a child’s whim—something obsessive, relentless.

“Why won’t you hand me over to my uncle?”

Ian asked softly when they reached his room. Greor had only one answer.

“I merely follow the will of the gods.”

“……”

Ian stared at him quietly, then entered without another word, closing the door. The “will of the gods” meant nothing to him.

Greor must have his own motives. Ian did not believe otherwise.

Most likely, Greor feared the uncle taking control of the household. A man like Malderic would never pour money into the temple. But Ian—raised in a temple—might, one day.

There was no such thing as kindness without cost.

But Greor’s intentions were irrelevant. Ian had something far more pressing weighing on him.

‘He’s looking for Jade…?’

Judging by his uncle’s nature, hiring mercenaries to find a mere servant was strange.

Did he believe Jade was still with Ian? Yet even that didn’t fully explain it. The focus seemed to be on Jade, not Ian.

If they wanted Ian, they could have filed an official missing person report and sent knights. Why secretly search for Jade?

“……”

A situation that must be resolved quietly—because it could not be exposed publicly.

Jade had been by Ian’s side constantly. He had never done anything to offend Malderic. The only thing Jade did was restore the ruined villa and care for Ian with relentless dedication.

‘So that was the problem.’

A cold realization struck.

He remembered Victor cornering Jade at the villa, speaking sharply while Jade looked troubled and pressured.

“Jade.”

Ian murmured his name.

Jade had saved him. And that act must have defied the original mission given to him.

Jade had come to kill him.

The pieces fell neatly into place.

Ian let out a hollow laugh.

So that was why people described shock as being struck in the head. He truly felt the echo of a blow ringing in his skull.

Ian had never trusted anyone.

Human beings acted only by profit—that was his core belief. So why feel betrayed?

Yet his chest tightened painfully. Something hot gathered in his throat. Anger? Sadness? He could not tell.

Ian covered his eyes with his palm. A heavy weight pressed down on his sternum, suffocating.

Had Jade smiled and reached out only to lower Ian’s guard? Which parts of their time together were lies? Which were real?

Why hadn’t he killed Ian when he had the chance? Why had he saved him instead? If Jade had tried to kill him—even failed—at least Ian could have sorted his emotions neatly.

But now?

“……”

Ian clenched his teeth.

This could not continue.

He had to find Jade. No matter what it took. He needed to hear the truth from Jade himself—to know which words had been genuine.

“Malderic Linwood.”

Ian whispered his uncle’s name.

To find Jade, Malderic needed to die.

Only then could Ian move freely.

His eyes turned icy. The blue faded into a bleak, metallic gray.

Ten years later.

Thin clouds stretched across the morning sky, leaving it neither fully bright nor fully dim. Jade looked up at the faintly blurred colors of early winter.

“Looks like it might snow.”

It had been exactly ten years since he left the North.