Ā Chapter 8
“Mmph…!”
Startled, she frowned and tried to push him away, but he held her face steady and pushed the medicine in without letting any spill.
The bitter taste was off-putting, but once she calmed down, she noticed it was mixed with sweetness. Whenever his tongue touched hers, the terribly bitter liquid truly became sweet.
Come to think of it, perhaps because he was a different race, this man strangely didn’t smell of unpleasant sweat. Rather, riding the heat of her fever, a strong floral scent emanated from him. Ji-woo realized that the sweetness mixing with the bitter medicine was the taste of his saliva.
Her weakened body, having not eaten, instinctively chased the sweet taste. To soothe her bitterness-coated tongue, Ji-woo continued to mingle her tongue with his even after swallowing all the medicine.
There was no hint of pleasure; it was an act for survival. Would she ever receive such unconditional care again? As if she would die soon if she didn’t cling to him now, Ji-woo focused intently on the kiss. Whenever their tongues intertwined, she felt his thick, sweet saliva. It felt like drinking a life elixir.
In the end, he was the one who first grabbed her shoulders and parted their lips.
“Ha…”
Wiping his lips with the back of his hand, his face was even redder than Ji-woo’s, flushed with fever and sickness.
Ji-woo finally regained her reason.
“…I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. You’re delirious with fever right now anyway.”
Turning his body away for a moment, he used a cloth wet with cold water to thoroughly wipe Ji-woo’s face. He wiped her sweat-soaked forehead and the medicine that had dripped down her chin, then finally placed a hand on her forehead to check her temperature. He let out a small sigh.
“…Seems like you’re getting better.”
“I’m cold.”
“That’s because your fever is high.”
“I’m too cold.”
“Lean on me.”
Embracing Ji-woo as she clung to him seeking warmth, he checked her temperature again. Astonishingly, despite his persistent efforts to lower her fever, Ji-woo ended up feeling reassured.
For the first time, letting her guard down in front of him, Ji-woo felt her trembling body find stability in his embrace and closed her eyes. Her consciousness fell into a darkness far more comfortable than before.
* * *
For several days, he fed and put the exhausted Ji-woo to sleep, nursing her with devoted care. He personally removed her rain-soaked clothes and dressed her. Ji-woo was too sick to be bothered by showing her naked body to someone else. After being ill for several more days, Ji-woo finally came to her senses.
He had washed the thin sacred robe she wore as Akarna, but since it wasn’t comfortable clothing, it went into a bag.
Even dressed in much lighter and more comfortable clothes than before, Ji-woo was still carried in his arms as they moved.
“…Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll stay briefly where my companions are.”
When Ji-woo stared blankly at him, he explained before she could ask.
“I can’t keep watching your condition outside forever. Don’t you also need a place to recover in peace?”
Even an Akarna needs to recover. Needs to rest. Needs time off. The Crown Prince had been the first to tell her that. That was why her heart had gone to him from the beginning.
But thinking about it now, those were things even a stranger could say.
Moreover, this man already knew she wasn’t an ordinary person. He had already been saved from mana by her. Even having witnessed such transcendent power, being treated this way felt unfamiliar.
“I, I can walk on my own now.”
“No.”
He shook his head. As his head moved, his long ears became more noticeable.
“Your body… heals from external wounds with strange speed. Because of that, your broken ankle bone has set incorrectly. Your recovery power has become a poison instead. Walking will be difficult.”
“I’ve never heard anything like that before…”
Recovery power being a poison? Everyone said it was a limitless, useful power, a blessing from the gods. That was why she had to willingly serve humanity.
When Ji-woo looked unfamiliar with the concept, he sighed as if pitying her.
“Every power naturally has a backlash.”
“But… it’ll heal quickly anyway, so…”
“Just because it’ll heal eventually, is it normal to cut your arm to the point of death? Say something that makes sense. Then how do you explain being sick with a fever for days on end? It seems only fools surrounded you.”
“…”
It was a harsh assessment, but she had nothing to say. It was true she had cut her arm to the point of death, but she had intended to die, not to use her power. She had no intention of correcting him, nor did she want to make excuses for the temple. So Ji-woo kept her mouth shut.
In other words, her body was in bad shape. Though, it was a miracle she had survived a fall from that height at all.
‘I’ve never been away from the temple this long before…’
However, this was the first time she had been away from the temple for so long and looked upon the temple priests from another’s perspective.
Even when living in the temple, she hadn’t wanted to be there, but the courage to run away hadn’t come easily. Even if the temple induced her to think that way, the one experiencing it doesn’t fully realize it. There are things you can only see clearly once you step back and clear your head.
No, even if she knew, what would change? Even on dispatch missions like this, she was accompanied by multiple ‘guards’ who were essentially watchers. If it hadn’t been a natural disaster, she probably wouldn’t have been able to fall at all.
When Ji-woo sighed and remained docile, perhaps misunderstanding her reaction, he hesitated for a moment and then spoke.
“I told you, I’m not forcing you to come. If you want to go back, I’ll send you back anytime.”
Since falling into this world, Ji-woo had grown accustomed to being dragged around.
It seemed her fear of being taken somewhere had shown. Although his tone was quite gruff, he was clearly considering her situation.
“Um…”
He gazed at her intently. His blue eyes reminded her not just that he was a different race, but that he was a different person from the Crown Prince.
“Call me Lansil.”
“Lansil…”
She didn’t think he would force her to come with him now, but she still wanted to double-check.
“Will you really send me back if I say I want to go?”
“I swear on El’Landos, I will not lie to you.”
She didn’t know what it was, but it sounded quite important.
With her mind at ease, various things came into focus. When they first met, he had looked like he could die any moment, yet kept his blade sharp. Now, there were no wounds and no hostility.
‘It seems using my power last time worked well.’
His body, which had been eroded by mana, was now clean, and his complexion had improved greatly. Above all, he was carrying her, who was often told she was quite tall for a woman, without any sign of strain.
And he was unrealistically handsome.
The Crown Prince had also been a handsome man, but in a human way. If she had seen him in her original world, she might have thought he was a movie star, with his looks, tall stature, and sturdy build.
But for this man, it was more accurate to say he looked unrealistic. Above all, his light-colored hair made him seem that way. He seemed as tall as the Crown Prince, and while his build looked lean at first glance, now that she was being carried by him, she could feel he was quite muscular.
How did he get that hair color? It didn’t seem dyed, but as a natural color, it was too… flower-like. It was strange to use such a description for a large man, but it suited him so well it was almost weird.
And his long ears, a major feature. Ji-woo was being held in a rather awkward position, her arms draped around his shoulders because she didn’t know where else to put them. So she could see them even better.
The ear that was half cut off would probably regenerate quickly if she just let a little blood drip on it. Without the need for a grand cut, just a slight bite of a fingertip.
Living as Akarna, Ji-woo had grown accustomed to self-harm, to the point where she had no hesitation about seeing her own blood.
Biting her thumb hard to draw blood was instantaneous.
Ji-woo reached her hand, with a bead of blood, toward his ear.
“What…!”
“Ah!”
But as soon as her hand touched his ear, she nearly fell from his arms. Because Lansil flinched so strongly that his arms loosened.
After a moment, his expression as he looked at Ji-woo was filled with shock.
“A, a, a grown woman… Have you no shame!”
He seemed more flustered than when she had mindlessly sought sweetness and tangled her tongue with his while taking medicine. He even raised his voice suddenly, surprising Ji-woo more than him.
“I, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you’d dislike it.”
Lansil’s face flushed red as he cleared his throat.
“…No, it’s not, that I dislike it, to that extent, it’s just that…”
Stammering, he looked around, then set Ji-woo down on a suitably flat spot.
