Senior, I've Come to Visit - Chapter 60

“I came because I heard you were hurt. Are you badly injured?”

“No, it’s not that bad.”

A lie….

Well, it was a foolish question to begin with, considering someone had bandages wrapped across such a large area.

“Did you get healing magic?”

“Yes.”

“If you got treated and you’re still like this, then it’s serious.”

“I’m scheduled to receive healing over several days.”

It was probably to conserve the healing wizard’s mana and stamina. When treating major injuries, healers often harmed themselves if they pushed too hard.

“I’ll use healing magic on you.”

I wanted to help him recover, even a little, even a bit faster.

“It’s fine.”

But Nardi refused my offer.

“….”

I lifted my gaze to his face. It wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t as warm as usual either. Nearly expressionless. His face looked slightly tense as he stared at me.

“…Let me treat you. When I was in pain, you made sure I didn’t hurt.”

“…I’m really fine. You don’t need to do this.”

Even though I expected him to keep his distance, the rejection still rattled me.

“…Why not?”

“You don’t need to go this far for someone who was just a fling.”

“….”

A fling.

“Us meeting. For me, it was just a fling… and I think it’s time to end it.”

Those were my words.

Of course that must’ve hurt him.

Even though I was the one who said it, I didn’t know how to face him now. Flustered, I looked away, my lips trembling faintly. I didn’t want to be that childish, pathetic person who cries after wronging someone, but for some reason, tears threatened to fall. Something hot burned its way up my chest, and I swallowed it desperately.

“You can take it back.”

Suddenly, Nardi leaned toward me and spoke first.

“Take… it back?”

“Yes. Just take back what you said.”

It was a phrase I hadn’t heard in a long time. “I take it back.” Something we used to say as children. But it was exactly what I needed now. I nodded right away, about to retract everything, but paused for a moment.

Barely holding back tears, I whispered softly.

“If I take it back… can I treat you?”

“….”

Nardi stared straight at me. Maybe he found me annoying, maybe he was holding back something he wanted to say, but then he opened his mouth.

“…Yes.”

“I want to take back everything I said that night. I take it back.”

“All of it?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded quietly and made a small request.

“Let me treat you.”

From my perspective, if I could retract that thoughtless remark, I didn’t need any conditions. But because I wanted to treat his injury, I added a condition anyway. I thought he would only let me heal him if I did.

“…Come here.”

As expected, Nardi kept his word. I quickly climbed onto the bed and sat close to him. I was eager to treat him right away. Whenever I saw someone injured, using healing magic felt like instinct, and even if I wasn’t a Healing Department wizard, I was confident in my healing magic.

Without taking his eyes off me, Nardi slowly unraveled the bandages. It looked like the injury cut diagonally across his chest, because the bandages were wrapped from his upper torso and right ribs to his left shoulder and trapezius. Seeing him struggle to remove them with only one hand, I reached out.

“I’ll do it.”

“Okay.”

He surrendered his body without resistance. Gripping the bandages, I carefully unraveled them, shifting on my knees little by little. Because Nardi’s body was so large, I had to move around and stretch my arms far to unwrap everything.

Finding a somewhat comfortable position, I ended up sitting between his legs, facing him. While unwrapping the bandages in a posture like I was hugging a large tree, I could feel his breath brushing against my shoulder.

As I removed the bandages, the smell of disinfectant, ointment, and blood grew stronger. When I reached the bandages closest to the wound, they were soaked with blood, and soon a long, deep gash running across his pectoral muscle was revealed.

“…!”

It was a severe injury.

A large, dark red wound that looked like blood could gush out at any moment. If this was the state after receiving one round of healing magic, then considering the location, it was the kind of injury that could’ve been life threatening. And the shape and placement were shockingly similar to the fatal wound Iella once suffered. Of course, demonic beasts tended to attack in similar patterns, but still… seeing it like this was overwhelming.

What’s wrong with me today? My nose stung and my eyes began to burn again, so I forced myself to hold it back. Crying wouldn’t help anyone. I quickly steadied myself and looked at the wound with an objective mind. I lifted my hand and brought it close, beginning to use healing magic.

A silver white light shimmered as the magic spread. I felt my mana and strength flowing out through my hand, and Nardi’s torn flesh began to mend.

Because the task required intense focus, my emotions calmed. Fortunately, Nardi didn’t flinch even once, whether because it didn’t hurt or because he was enduring it. I could feel his quiet gaze on me, but I had no time to pay attention to it.

“….”

Because the wound was severe, it took quite a while and a lot of energy. But seeing it gradually heal gave me strength and relief. When it looked like touching it wouldn’t cause pain anymore, I placed my hand directly over the wound and continued healing. The skin under my fingertips was warm and firm, familiar.

I was gaining momentum and focusing hard on the healing when suddenly Nardi grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand down.

“Why, why?”

“That’s enough. Thank you.”

It had improved a lot, but it wasn’t fully healed yet. Seeing the wound reduced to thin reddish lines, I shook my head.

“I need to do more. I want to keep going.”

“It’s fine. Don’t exhaust yourself.”

“I didn’t use that much strength.”

Even when I tried to lift my held wrist to continue, Nardi wouldn’t let go. My concentration broke, and the silver white light I’d been channeling flickered out.

“I’m really fine.”

A small struggle began between me, who wanted to continue healing, and Nardi, who wanted to stop me. His grip on my wrist was precise, not necessarily strong, but impossible to break. Frustrated, I lifted my other hand too, but he pulled me into his arms, guiding me against his chest.

“….”

I rested one cheek against his broad chest, marked through the center with a fading red line.

It had been so long since I’d been held like this. My heart pounded, and yet I felt relieved. I needed to keep healing him, but contrary to my thoughts, my body didn’t move and I simply breathed quietly. I wanted to stay like this for a long time.

After a long silence, Nardi finally spoke, “What did the queen say to you?”

“….”

I paused without meaning to, then answered softly, “The queen… told me to make poison so she could kill the king’s mistress and illegitimate child. I refused, but she must’ve investigated me, because she threatened me using my sister and my family.”

It might sound like an excuse, but I needed to explain what happened that night. From Nardi’s perspective, my behavior must’ve felt too sudden, too incomprehensible.

“When she threatened my sister, I lost my mind. I was terrified and all I could think about was checking if she was safe… so I went to my sister.”

“Were you very scared?”

At the unexpected question, I thought for a moment, then nodded.

“I was scared something would happen to my sister…. Do you remember when I told you that when I was little, my sister and I were gathering herbs in the forest and ran into a demonic beast?”

“Yes, you said that was when your magic first awakened.”

“Right. At that time, the demonic beast wasn’t after my sister, it was after me. My sister shouted to draw it away to save me, but I did the opposite and ran away like a coward. My sister was attacked by the demonic beast, and only after that did my magic awaken and I killed it… but ever since then, the thought that I have to protect my sister has only grown stronger. So when the queen used my sister to threaten me, I wasn’t in my right mind.”

“You weren’t a coward at all. You were just a baby, Eloise.”