Chapter 11

“Are you okay?”

When Ellie asked with a worried tone, the man with a bruise under his eye answered.

“I’m fine.”

“Oh no, don’t speak. You’re bleeding from your mouth.”

Noah brushed the blood from the corner of his mouth with his finger and stared blankly at it. Karina frowned at the sight.

On one side of the bookstore, Kaya was baring her teeth at Jack and the bookstore clerk, Patterson.

“Oh, I told you! I don’t need it.”

“But there’s a wound on your face…”

Seeing Ellie’s shocked expression, Karina lowered her head in embarrassment. She felt guilty toward the people she had tried to help, only to cause them trouble.

“How did your acquaintances end up getting hurt like this?”

Fortunately, Ellie changed the subject to move past the situation. Karina forced a casual smile.

“…It seems like they got into a quarrel on the street.”

“Oh my, really?”

“Yes. I don’t know the details.”

Of course, it was a lie. She vividly remembered the words spoken by the merchants who tried to stop the fight.

‘Calm down, Ethan! Didn’t you already get full compensation for the fruit?’

‘Yeah. What’s the point of getting angry at lowlifes like that? It’s not like Jeffrey would appreciate it.’

Hearing the name from one of the merchants, Karina instantly understood what had happened. Jeffrey was the name of the fruit vendor she had compensated for the boy’s actions a few days ago. It seemed her hasty resolution back then had caused this mess. A few coins wouldn’t have been enough to soothe his resentment.

“Still, I don’t understand. No matter how much of a quarrel it was, how could they beat someone up like that?”

Ellie muttered, sounding slightly angry. For some reason, Karina couldn’t agree with her.

‘It feels like… I can understand.’

Watching Kaya kicking at someone who was trying to help her made Karina’s uneasy feelings gradually turn into certainty.

“This isn’t going to work. We can’t handle this on our own.”

Patterson, who was sweating nervously, shook his head as he approached. Jack already looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Kaya, who was baring her claws like a wild lynx, was too much for the two men to handle. In the end, Karina extended her hand.

“Give it to me. I’ll try talking to her.”

When Karina took the ointment and approached, Kaya, who had been picking at her ear, crossed her arms and shook her head.

“What if it leaves a scar on your face?”

“I said I’m fine. What’s the point of treating such a minor wound? It’s embarrassing.”

No matter how much they tried to persuade her, Kaya firmly held up her hand in refusal. Karina looked back at the others with a troubled expression.

At that moment, the bookstore door opened, and someone they had temporarily forgotten about entered.

“Is the treatment already finished? I brought medicine and bandages.”

Phyllis asked as he opened the door. Karina froze in place when she saw who followed him inside.

“Come in, Cornell.”

“Okay.”

Cornell stepped into the bookstore with a slightly awkward expression. Unconsciously, Karina tightened her grip on the ointment in her hand.

Patterson, who approached the two, tilted his head as he looked at the jar Cornell had brought.

“What is this? It doesn’t look like medicine.”

“Oh, it’s honey. I thought it might help, so I got it.”

“Honey?”

“Yes. It helps when applied to scraped wounds or burns.”

Ellie, who had set down the medicine Phyllis brought, turned her attention to her.

“Do people apply honey to wounds?”

“It’s better when mixed with other herbs, but I couldn’t get those right now…”

Cornell trailed off, seemingly flustered by the sudden attention.

At that moment, Kaya, who had been watching from a distance, suddenly stood up and approached. She sniffed the jar and then dipped her finger into the honey, bringing it to her mouth. Her eyes widened as she exclaimed.

“It’s delicious. Give it to me.”

Her now-brighter expression was directed at Cornell, who had brought the jar. Cornell replied in a flustered tone.

“Uh. I brought this to use as medicine…”

“Medicine? Either way, it’s going to be used on me, right?”

“Then we can apply it to the wound as well, right?”

Ellie quickly added. After a moment of hesitation, Kaya took another dip of honey and nodded.

As Noah approached Kaya, who had sat back down, he glanced enviously at her. Karina let out a sigh of relief.

‘So it could’ve been solved by just giving her something to eat.’

Soon enough, Noah and Kaya began fighting over the jar of honey. For some reason, it felt like a familiar scene.

“Miss, are you very tired? You don’t look well.”

Jack asked with a face just as haggard as Karina’s. After some hesitation, Karina approached Ellie and whispered.

“I’m really sorry, but would it be okay if I left first? I have a bit of a headache.”

“Are you alright? I thought you didn’t look well earlier.”

Despite her rudeness, Ellie and Patterson first showed concern for Karina’s condition. Unable to lift her head out of guilt, Karina glanced at Noah and Kaya, who were still arguing.

“Let go! You’ve already eaten almost all of it!”

“Just one more bite.”

“How many bites have you already taken…?!”

“P-Please don’t fight.”

Even as Kaya squished Noah’s face with her hand, he refused to let go of the jar. Patterson timidly tried to intervene, but it was no use.

Giving up on the two, Karina turned around and saw Phyllis and Cornell talking. She couldn’t tell what they were talking about, but they seemed quite close.

“Are you leaving already, Miss Karina?”

A voice she hadn’t expected suddenly came from behind her. Noah, now back to his usual self, was looking her in the eyes.

“My honey!”

“…Yes. I think I’ll head out now.”

Kaya’s desperate cry, holding the now-empty jar, caught her attention, but she didn’t have the energy to respond anymore. Just as she was about to turn away after lightly bowing her head, Noah offered her something.

“You should take this with you.”

It was a gift she had brought for the two of them. Looking into his endlessly gentle eyes, Karina let out a hollow laugh.

‘When did he even manage to grab this amidst all that chaos?’

Feeling both absurd and even more drained, she pushed the envelope back toward him. Noah tilted his head in confusion.

“I brought it for you two. Please take it.”

“For us?”

Before Karina could reply, Noah reached into the envelope and pulled something out. It was a pair of leather shoes.

She had sent new ones before, but seeing how they hadn’t been used, she had chosen this gift. She didn’t know the full story, but at the very least, she hoped he’d forget about stepping on his foot during their first meeting.

Blinking, Noah looked up. To the puzzled Karina, he said just one thing.

“Let’s meet again before winter comes.”

It was a statement whose meaning she couldn’t grasp. His faintly smiling face felt strangely unfamiliar. As she turned back with a strange sense of unease, her eyes met Phyllis’s gaze.

“Karina, are you leaving now?”

“I’m not feeling well. Sorry, but I think I’ll head out first.”

“There’s nothing for you to apologize for.”

Phyllis’s eyes were filled with deep concern. Unlike before, it wasn’t entirely pleasant.

“If you’re feeling really unwell, I can take you home.”

His unchanged demeanor was no different. Karina instinctively glanced at Cornell. Surprisingly, Cornell’s expression didn’t seem to change much. Rather, she even chimed in.

“Go ahead and take her, Phyllis. I’ll wait here.”

It was certainly nothing. Just a comment to show consideration for someone who wasn’t feeling well. Or perhaps it was a childish attempt to assert that Phyllis would return to her in the end.

Karina barely managed to smile. If she didn’t, she felt like she’d crumble entirely.

***

“You should’ve taken a carriage.”

“It’s close. Once I leave the city, it’s just a short distance.”

Karina and Phyllis were walking side by side, a little ahead of Jack, who was trailing behind.

At least, unlike that day, she wasn’t receiving clothes. Karina fiddled with the thicker clothes she was wearing than usual.

“Still, I’m saying this because it could be dangerous.”

Phyllis spoke in a dissatisfied tone as he scanned the empty streets.

It was a road she often traveled, so she wondered why he seemed so suspicious. When she smiled faintly at the absurdity of it, Phyllis brought up something she couldn’t help but agree with.

“I’m not joking. Just look at what happened today.”

Indeed, today’s events would have been shocking to anyone, not just Phyllis. When Noah was punched in the stomach and jaw, she had been so nervous that she thought one of them might actually die.

‘What on earth did Kaya say to make him so angry?’

She hadn’t asked out of concern, but it was something she couldn’t help but be curious about.

“Hey, Karina. That person… I mean, that man… are you very close to him?”

“Hm? You mean Noah?”

Phyllis, who had cautiously asked, froze at the name that came out of Karina’s mouth.

“…Can I ask what kind of person he is?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just borrowed a handkerchief from him once.”

“Where?”

When they had run into each other during an outing, she had evaded the question, but today, it seemed like she wouldn’t be able to avoid answering.

“That time. At Duke Russell’s party.”

It wasn’t a memory she wanted to talk about at length. It was because she remembered what had happened before borrowing the handkerchief.

After curtly answering, she closed her mouth. Phyllis looked at Karina with a subtle expression. Soon, Phyllis stopped walking. When Karina turned back, she felt an odd tension in the atmosphere.

“Karina. There’s something I want to tell you.”

Noticing the two had stopped, Jack, who was already at a distance, took a few steps back.

It was fortunate. He wouldn’t have seen Karina’s expression after hearing what Phyllis said next.

“I think it’d be better if you didn’t meet that man anymore.”