It was the potion I used to treat the man’s wound.

“That… why?”

“Potions are high-grade healing agents. They can only be made by the Magic Tower, and they are quite expensive. No matter how low-grade it is, it’s hard for an ordinary person to afford. And you used such a potion on a stranger you saw for the first time?”

Suspicion lingered in the man’s eyes.

I understood him.

He was someone who had been stabbed and collapsed on a rainy day due to some incident, so it was natural for him to be suspicious of a stranger’s kindness.

But it wasn’t pleasant to be doubted even though I had shown goodwill.

“I wanted to try using the potion at least once, and this seemed like a good opportunity. That’s all there is to it. But why do I have to listen to this after using my own potion to treat you?”

Why should I be doubted after using an expensive potion?

It’s not like I saved a drowning person and then demanded their belongings.

“And isn’t your suspicion a bit late? You should have done it before eating. If I had bad intentions, you would already be dead.”

He had fallen asleep several times in front of me.

If I really intended to kill him, he wouldn’t have survived.

The man finally let out a low laugh.

I looked at him with a displeased face, wondering why he was suddenly laughing.

Even so, his face was truly handsome.

“It was a joke.”

“A joke?”

“Yes.”

“……”

I couldn’t believe his words and narrowed my eyes.

The man shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and continued speaking.

“I am also grateful to you. When the time comes, I will repay this favor many times over the value of the potion.”

“Repay?”

That was something I hadn’t considered at all.

But isn’t it bad if this man shows up in our territory again?

I relaxed my sulky face and grumbled.

“No need for repayment.”

“Hmm?”

“Just recuperate well and leave, and that will be enough.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. You don’t need to repay me. Absolutely don’t. I didn’t treat you expecting anything in return.”

All I wanted was the safety of our territory.

So, it was enough if he just got well and left.

Of course, it was tempting when he mentioned repayment, but it wasn’t more valuable than my life.

When I spoke firmly, the man clicked his tongue as if he found it ridiculous.

But I felt that if I continued talking to him, I might end up revealing everything, so I stood up.

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

I brushed off the straw stuck to my skirt and put on my raincoat again.

The man’s gaze naturally followed my actions.

“Hey.”

When I was about to open the warehouse door, the man suddenly called out to me.

“What did you say your name was?”

“Claire. Claire Evernizer.”

I briefly told him my name again and left the warehouse before he could say anything more.

***

I looked out at the pouring rain, lost in thought for a moment.

I wasn’t in a good mood because of the joke the man made the previous night, but I decided to finish what I had started.

Yes, just in case something unexpected happened.

I was a bit tired and exhausted since I was meeting the man after finishing my evening duties, but I decided to invest a few days.

If I endured a few days of hardship, Miss Veronica wouldn’t be unhappy, and neither I nor the people around me would be killed by that man.

Ugh, I mustn’t get involved with Miss Veronica. Absolutely not.

I shivered as I recalled the plot of ‘Fallen Flower’ in my mind.

What a wicked person.

Killing everyone related to the person he loves to win them over.

As an ordinary person, it was hard to understand.

Well, from what I had seen so far, he didn’t seem like such a bad person.

He made an unpleasant joke yesterday, but he didn’t seem particularly unusual to me.

Maybe it was because I wasn’t Miss Veronica.

There was no way he would fall in love with an extra like me.

That was a relief.

Today, like yesterday, I packed some food on a tray, and additionally, I carefully prepared clean cloth and bandages to keep them dry.

Then I took a deep breath and ran into the rain.

After walking in the rain for a while, I finally reached the warehouse.

“I’m coming in.”

It was unlikely he could hear me over the sound of the rain, but I said it out of courtesy and opened the door.

As soon as I confirmed the quiet interior of the warehouse, I quickly slipped inside.

“You’re here again.”

Hearing the expected voice, I set down the tray I was carrying nearby.

“Do you wish I hadn’t come?”

“No. It’s just that you seemed a bit upset yesterday.”

“Yes, because of someone.”

I couldn’t help but grumble.

I knew I shouldn’t respond like this, but for some reason, I kept reacting this way in front of this man.

It felt like my words were coming out without passing through my brain.

I worriedly watched the man’s reaction.

Even though I knew he could kill someone without blinking an eye, I kept doing this.

Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to mind my words.

“I sincerely apologize for yesterday. I’m sorry.”

Contrary to my expectation that he might be displeased, the man apologized to me.

I took off my raincoat with a still uneasy feeling.

Taking off the heavy raincoat made my body feel lighter.

Then I turned my head and noticed the empty tray. It was the tray I had brought yesterday.

“You ate it all?”

“Wasn’t that why you brought it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Anyway, I brought new food, so eat when you’re hungry.”

I took the empty tray the man had organized and placed the new tray in front of him.

A metal lid covered the tray to protect it from the rain.

The man barely glanced at it and showed no particular interest.

He just stared at me like yesterday.

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, I rolled my eyes.

“By the way, I brought new bandages.”

I told the man and took out the cloth and bandages I had prepared.

“Perfect timing. I thought it was time to change them.”

I approached the man with the bandages and cloth.

First, I removed the old bandages.

The cloth I had used to stop the bleeding was stained with dried blood.

Frowning, I removed the old bandages and cloth from his body. Then I secured the new cloth to his wound and wrapped it with the bandages.

It seemed to be wrapped better than the first time. I didn’t know what the man thought, though.

Thanks to the potion, the man’s wound had significantly improved.

At this rate, he might fully recover before the rainy season ended.

Every time I wrapped the bandages around his body, my hand brushed against his skin.

His body was warmer than mine, and I felt the warmth every time I touched him.

His firm muscles were evident as I wrapped the bandages. His skin was unnecessarily smooth.

Feeling a bit hot, I quickly finished tying the bandages and stepped away from him.

Then there was silence.

The sound of rain hitting the roof weighed heavily on the warehouse.

Both the man and I remained silent for a long time.

I couldn’t speak because I felt embarrassed, and the man was busy checking his condition.

After moving his body for a while, the man suddenly spoke.

“Aren’t you curious?”

“About what?”

I asked, surprised by his sudden question.

The man had a faint smile.

“Why I was injured and collapsed in such a place, who I am, things like that.”

I understood his curiosity.

If I didn’t know that this world was the world of a novel and that the man was the villain of this world, I would have definitely asked those questions.

Those were common curiosities.

How many people wouldn’t be curious about a man they found injured and collapsed in their territory?

But I was different.

I knew, at least roughly, about the man.

From the fact that he was Duke Alexander Berzel, to the fact that he was injured and collapsed in this territory due to some betrayal.

I didn’t feel the need to ask to confirm what I already knew.

Also, I didn’t want to give away that I knew about the man with awkward questions.

“Not at all.”

When I answered, the man raised one eyebrow in surprise.

“Not at all?”

“Yes. Is there a need to know? Here, it’s just you, the patient, and me, helping you. I don’t want to give it any more meaning than that.”

Knowing his circumstances would make it harder to remain an outsider.

There was nothing to gain from getting entangled with this man.

It would be a lie to say I wasn’t involved at all since I had saved him, but helping him without knowing his identity and circumstances was vastly different from helping him while knowing everything.

I didn’t know if he understood my words. Fortunately, he didn’t seem inclined to talk about himself.

“But until when are you going to call me ‘you’?”

The man, who had been silent for a while, asked instead, as though he was picking a fight.

“Then what should I call you?”

From an outsider’s perspective, I didn’t know his identity.

Thinking about what else I could call him, nothing came to mind.

The man shrugged his shoulders and answered.

“Call me Alex.”