WiseTL

Is It Wrong to Want Luxury in a Dungeon? [9]

Added 2025-03-08 06:59:59 +0000 UTC

Restless Recovery

A dull, throbbing ache pulsed through Calista’s body, seeping into every muscle, every bone, every inch of her being. It wasn’t the sharp sting of a fresh wound, nor the sudden jolt of impact—it was the deep, lingering soreness of something that had pushed too far, burned too bright, and was now paying the price.

A groan slipped past her lips.

Regret. Not something she was particularly familiar with, but this… this came close.

Her eyelids felt like lead as she cracked them open, and for a moment, all she could see was the hazy glow of candlelight flickering against the ceiling. A warm, muted glow, too gentle to belong to the harsh Dungeon walls. No damp air, no stone beneath her back. Something softer. Cotton sheets. A mattress. The thick scent of herbal salves and disinfectant clung to the air.

She wasn’t in the Dungeon.

She wasn’t dead.

She was… alive?

A shuffle of movement nearby. A chair creaked, followed by a sharp inhale.

“Calista?”

Lefiya’s voice.

That was unexpected.

Calista turned her head slightly—slow, careful, as if even the air moving against her skin might send another wave of pain through her limbs. Through her half-lidded vision, she caught sight of a familiar figure hovering beside the bed.

Blonde hair, soft curls framing a face twisted in open concern, lips pressed into a tight, anxious line.

Adorable.

“Darling…” Her voice came out like sandpaper, hoarse and weak. “…You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Lefiya let out a breath—part relief, part exasperation, her shoulders sagging. “You—!” The scolding died on her tongue, lips parting before pressing shut again, hands gripping at the edges of her robe like she didn’t even know where to begin.

Another sigh. Another presence.

“Oh, thank the gods.” Raul slumped back into his chair with an exhausted groan. “You scared the hell out of us.”

Calista shifted slightly, wincing as a sharp twinge shot through her ribs. “Tch. It’s almost like I fought two War Shadows alone or something.”

Raul groaned louder. “Don’t remind me.”

Lefiya was still looking at her like she might suddenly keel over and die on the spot. She hovered closer, wringing her hands. “Do you have any idea how reckless that was?! You could have—” She stopped herself, inhaling sharply through her nose. “No. You should have died!”

“But I didn’t.” Calista offered her best smile, or at least as much of one as her battered body allowed. “So clearly, I did something right.”

Lefiya looked about two seconds away from hitting her with a staff.

Raul ran a hand down his face. “Finn’s gonna make me responsible for this, isn’t he?”

Calista turned her head to the side, her half-lidded gaze settling on him properly for the first time. He looked… terrible. Dark circles under his eyes, his posture slumped in a way that screamed exhausted beyond reason, his usual easy-going expression replaced with something tighter, heavier.

Oh. That was interesting.

“I didn’t realize I worried you so much, Raul.” Her lips curled slightly. “I must be special.”

Raul scoffed. “You’re a walking heart attack, that’s what you are.”

Lefiya huffed. “More like a walking disaster.”

“Oh, now you’re flirting with me?” Calista mused, tilting her head toward her. “Careful, darling. I might start thinking you care.”

Lefiya’s face went scarlet. “T-that’s not—! I—! UGH!”

Raul groaned again, rubbing his temple. “I should’ve let Riveria handle this.”

Calista froze.

Oh. Right.

Riveria.

Her entire body tensed in place.

Not because of the pain, though she was definitely feeling it, but because she was coming. The one woman in the Familia who could kill her without even lifting a finger. The one woman who could take her very soul and crush it beneath the weight of a lecture so profound, so utterly merciless, that she might actually prefer to be torn apart by War Shadows instead.

Riveria was coming.

And she was going to make her regret everything.

A slow, shuddering breath escaped her lips as her eyes slipped shut again.

Maybe if she looked half-dead enough, Riveria would go easy on her.

…Yeah. No.

She was doomed.

...

Calista Aldebrand lay sprawled across the infirmary bed, her body battered and broken, but her grin remained ever-present. Bandages wrapped around her torso, and every muscle in her body ached from the reckless stunt she had pulled. The air in the room was heavy—not from the weight of her injuries, but from the sheer presence of the person standing at her bedside.

Riveria Ljos Alf, arms crossed, radiated authority with every breath she took. Her emerald eyes bore into Calista with the weight of an executioner’s judgment. Lefiya sat stiff as a board beside her, clearly caught between worry and terror, while Raul hunched over in his chair, looking one step away from a nervous breakdown.

“Calista,” Riveria’s voice was cold and controlled. “Explain.”

Calista let out an exaggerated sigh, shifting just enough to make a show of her discomfort. “I would love to, dear Riveria, but as you can see, I am dying.”

Raul muttered something under his breath, while Lefiya clenched her fists in clear frustration. Riveria, however, did not so much as blink.

Calista let out another dramatic breath. “Alright, fine. You insist on a detailed retelling of my harrowing battle against the creatures of the abyss—”

“You triggered Mind Zero.” Riveria’s voice cut through her theatrics like a knife.

At that, Calista’s smirk only grew. “Oh, that? That was just a small side effect of my glorious victory.”

Raul groaned, already rubbing his temples, while Lefiya sucked in a sharp breath.

Riveria’s stare hardened. “Victory.”

“Mmhmm.” Calista stretched as much as her wounds would allow before wincing slightly. “You should have seen it. Two War Shadows, coming at me from both sides, thinking they had me cornered.” She tilted her head slightly, smirk still firmly in place. “I let them think that, of course.”

The door creaked open just as she finished, and in walked Loki, hands tucked into her pockets, her usual smirk widening at the sight before her. “Ohhh boy, here we go.”

Calista, undeterred, continued. “They were fast. Too fast for a normal adventurer.” She let the words hang in the air before adding, “But I am not a normal adventurer.”

Loki flopped into a chair. “Oh, this is gonna be good.”

Riveria, ever the composed one, exhaled sharply through her nose. “Get to the point.”

“The point,” Calista said smoothly, “is that I won.”

Riveria’s eyes narrowed. “Despite Mind Zero.”

“Because of Mind Zero,” Calista corrected with a flourish of her fingers. “Desperate situations call for desperate measures, and I may have… oh, I don’t know… unleashed a magnificent display of power that eradicated them both.”

Silence.

Riveria did not look impressed.

She did, however, look very interested.

“Describe this power,” Riveria ordered.

Calista tapped her chin, pretending to think. “How to explain? It was radiant. Warm. Like lightning—but not quite. Like fire—but purer. It was like my entire body ignited, but instead of burning, I became the fire.” She grinned. “And my spear? Oh, it sang.”

Riveria’s gaze flickered with something sharp—calculation, analysis, maybe even a hint of concern. “Your spear,” she repeated. “Where is it?”

Calista blinked, as if only now remembering. “Oh. That.”

Loki chuckled. “Oh, that.”

A wave of her hand, as if dismissing the very idea. “It shattered.”

Raul looked ill.

Lefiya gasped.

Riveria stared.

Loki’s grin stretched wider.

Calista leaned back against the pillow, looking entirely too pleased with herself. “Turns out, unleashing all my energy into a weapon not designed to handle it might have consequences.”

Riveria inhaled deeply, as if drawing patience from the air itself. “Calista. You are telling me that you fought two War Shadows, activated an unknown Skill, completely destroyed your weapon, and then proceeded to walk all the way back to Twilight Manor in this state.”

Calista’s grin didn’t waver. “See? Now you’re getting it.”

Raul buried his face in his hands. “Gods help me.”

Loki barked out a laugh. “Ohhhh, Callie, ya really went and made things interesting, huh?”

Riveria, ignoring Loki entirely, folded her arms. “You are not to use this Skill again until we understand it.”

Calista gasped. “Riveria, darling, why must you stifle my greatness?”

Her glare was the equivalent of a smite.

Calista sighed, raising her hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. No unsupervised explosions of power.”

Loki leaned forward, resting her chin on her hands. “Well, we gotta figure out what it does, don’t we?” She grinned. “That means ya need a babysitter.”

Raul, who had been blissfully watching from the sidelines, visibly flinched.

“Wait—”

Loki clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Yer up, kid.”

Raul’s expression crumbled into pure despair.

Calista beamed. “Oh, Raul, darling, we’re going to have so much fun together.”

His groan was music to her ears.

...

The infirmary was rarely a place of high traffic, but today, it may as well have been a parade.

It started with Tiona and Tione, bursting into the room like a pair of whirlwinds, their personalities as loud as their entrance.

“Calista! You absolute maniac!” Tiona shouted, dropping onto the edge of the bed, her grin wide and beaming. “I knew you were crazy, but War Shadows on your own?!”

Tione, arms crossed, let out a long sigh, her expression stuck somewhere between exasperation and reluctant approval. “Unbelievable. Not even a month in the Familia and you’re already causing this much trouble.”

Calista smirked, raising a hand weakly. “Trouble? Me? I prefer the term ‘awe-inspiring.’”

Tione flicked her forehead.

Tiona, laughing, gave her a hearty slap on the shoulder.

Pain exploded down her side.

Calista wheezed.

“Oh, crap! Sorry, sorry!” Tiona gasped, waving her hands in a panic as Calista twitched from her very non-gentle encouragement. “I forgot you were still messed up!”

Tione pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tiona, for once, think before you act.”

Calista, still recovering, managed to force out, “It’s… it’s fine… I just… temporarily left my body…”

The sisters stayed a bit longer, Tiona gushing about how badass the whole thing sounded while Tione made her drink some disgusting, herbal recovery tea that she claimed “helped with bruising.” It tasted like dirt and regret.

Then came Gareth, strolling in with his usual sturdy presence, his arms crossed as he took one long look at her.

“Well,” he grunted, nodding, “ya didn’t die.”

Calista tilted her head. “Surprised?”

“Nah.” He stroked his beard, considering. “Just waitin’ to see if ya’d come crawlin’ back or marchin’ in like ya owned the place.”

Calista smirked. “I prefer a dramatic entrance.”

He huffed out something close to a chuckle. “That you did.”

They didn’t talk much after that—Gareth wasn’t much for long conversations—but he did leave a small pouch of high-grade recovery potions on the nightstand before walking out.

He didn’t say anything about it.

She didn’t either.

Bete arrived next.

Rather, he stomped into the room, arms crossed, his usual scowl present as ever.

“Tch. Yer still alive?”

Calista blinked at him, eyes half-lidded, voice smooth. “Aww, Bete. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you cared.”

His ears twitched.

“I don’t,” he shot back immediately, looking away, his tail flicking behind him.

“You totally do.”

“Shut up.”

Calista grinned. “I’m touched.”

“Shut up.”

“Tiona, darling, did you hear that? Bete was worried.”

“I WASN’T.”

Tiona, who had somehow slipped back into the room to witness the spectacle, absolutely howled with laughter.

Bete stormed out.

It was glorious.

Calista thought she might finally get some peace.

And then Finn walked in.

If Riveria had been the storm cloud of authority, then Finn Deimne was the calm before it—the calculating quiet, the sharp blue gaze that never missed a single detail.

He didn’t ask if she was okay. He didn’t lecture her, either.

He simply pulled up a chair and studied her.

“…You analyzed the War Shadows before fighting them.”

It wasn’t a question.

Calista tilted her head slightly, gauging him. “What makes you say that?”

“You’re still alive.”

Silence stretched between them for a moment before she let out a soft hum of amusement. “I don’t like dying.”

“No one does.” Finn leaned forward slightly, fingers steepled together. “But not everyone learns fast enough to prevent it.”

Calista didn’t answer immediately. For all her dramatics, her wit, her effortless confidence—Finn was the kind of man who saw through people. He was watching, waiting, testing.

She tapped her fingers against the sheets. “You think I’m reckless.”

“I think you calculated a risk, but you didn’t account for all the variables.” He didn’t say it like an insult—just fact. “The Skill activation saved you. You weren’t expecting it.”

That earned a smirk. “Well, you got me there.”

He didn’t smile back. “I expect you’ll be training to control it.”

Calista’s smirk faltered for just a moment.

Control.

A Skill like that… could it be controlled?

Finn stood, his expression unreadable. “I look forward to seeing what you do with it.”

And then he was gone.

Calista let out a slow breath.

Huh.

The visits slowed down after that.

Lefiya had remained by her bedside most of the day, fussing over her condition, but had eventually been called away by Riveria for something.

Raul, the ever-dutiful babysitter, had been making sure she didn’t try to immediately get out of bed and go running off to do something stupid (as if she would—her? Please.)

For the first time since waking up, the infirmary was finally quiet.

Calista sighed, adjusting her position slightly, letting her eyes drift shut.

Finally. Some peace.

The door creaked open.

Soft, measured footsteps.

Calista opened one eye.

And there, standing by the entrance, was Ais Wallenstein.

The Sword Princess didn’t speak.

She simply stood there, watching.

Golden eyes, steady. Cool. Expression unreadable.

Calista blinked once. Then twice.

Then, with a slow, amused drawl, she muttered, “…Hey there, princess. Here to admire my sleeping face?”