‘What is he doing?’

The intruder was taking a large bite of bread and chewing noisily.

‘That’s the bread I made yesterday to let it proof……’

Shiloh’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

Around him lay empty wrappers and bowls from bread he had already finished.

‘How much has he eaten?’

The more she thought about it, the more absurd it was, and a helpless laugh escaped her before she could stop it.

At the same moment, the broom slipped from her weakened grip.

Clatter. thud.

It was far louder than expected.

“Who’s there?!”

The man wearing a mask with only holes for his eyes and mouth spun around instantly.

“……!”

Shiloh sucked in a breath and went rigid like a startled deer.

Thud thud thud.

The masked intruder’s footsteps grew louder as he approached.

Shiloh’s face drained of color and she backed away slowly, then turned and ran for the stairs.

But before she could even get up them, her hair was grabbed and she was yanked back painfully.

“Aaagh!”

Creak.

The intruder threw Shiloh roughly aside.

She slid along with the table and fell to the floor.

The pain of her knees hitting the ground was so sharp her vision went white for a moment.

“Aah!”

The man grabbed Shiloh’s hair with one hand and produced a knife with the other.

The tip of the blade touched coldly beneath her chin and then pulled away.

Shiloh struggled to keep her face as far from the blade as possible.

“Make a sound and I won’t go easy on you.”

“……”

“So keep quiet.”

“……”

He pressed his index finger to his lips and lowered it.

She trembled like a bird caught in a trap and breathed in short, shallow gasps.

At that moment,

Knock knock.

At the sound of tapping on the window, the masked intruder turned his head.

Crash.

At the same moment, the sound of the window shattering rang out as another man burst inside.

“Wha, what?”

The man came straight at the masked intruder and struck his wrist hard, knocking the knife loose.

While the intruder was thrown off, the man immediately drove a hard kick into his solar plexus.

“Ugh!”

The robber flew backward and slammed into the wall, collapsing.

He pushed himself up and reached for the knife, but his hand was immediately stomped on hard.

“Aaaargh!”

The robber thrashed in agony, twisting his head and screaming.

The man who had his foot on the robber’s hand crouched down and grabbed his face.

“Want to die?”

At that very moment, the intruder opened his mouth wide and bit down hard on the man’s hand.

“……!”

The man yanked his hand back in surprise, and in that instant the intruder scrambled to his feet and ran.

But he didn’t get far before the man’s hand caught the back of his neck.

Thwack.

“Ugh!”

A large fist connected with his face and he went down.

Thwack.

“Ugh!”

Thwack.

“Ugh!”

“If you want to die, I’ll oblige.”

The robber was hit and knocked down again and again.

When the robber finally lay limp and collapsed, the man lifted the table above his head.

Just as it was about to come down, Shiloh urgently stepped in front of him.

“What are you doing?”

The man glared at her, and Shiloh furrowed her brow.

“What if he actually dies?”

“……”

“Do you want to make me an accomplice too?”

“……”

The man let out a sigh, his profile flickering in the wavering lamplight.

“I’m grateful you helped, but think calmly. This person might have a reason.”

“I’m supposed to consider the feelings of a robber?”

“He might be starving……”

“……”

Shiloh looked down at the unconscious intruder with a worried expression.

“So leave the punishment…… to the courts. All right?”

Shiloh thought of the way he had been stuffing bread into his mouth and figured he might be someone who was hungry.

In the end, the man set the table down, brushed off his hands, and spoke in a calmer voice.

“When it gets light, I’ll report it to the guard.”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Shiloh suddenly found herself curious about who this man was.

‘Who is he……?’

The voice sounded familiar, like someone she knew.

She looked over the man’s sharp profile beneath his tunic.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

At that, the man frowned and turned his head toward her.

Shiloh’s eyes flew open.

“Sir Robert Harris?”

“That’s right.”

“I almost didn’t recognize you without the beard.”

Shiloh’s wide pupils wavered slightly.

“That can happen.”

He touched his now bare jaw and replied stiffly.

He looked far more striking without the beard.

“Thank you so much.”

Shiloh bowed her head repeatedly, breathing out in relief.

Kyle looked at her and let out a quiet sigh of relief inside.

When he had realized a robber had broken into her shop, there had been no time to use the potion to change his appearance.

His features were fully exposed without the beard, but fortunately the room was dark enough that she couldn’t see his black hair and red eyes.

“I’ll need to deal with this……”

He looked at the shattered window with a gaping hole in the middle and touched his jaw.

“More importantly…… is your hand all right?”

“It’s nothing much……”

Just then,

A rustling sound came from somewhere.

Kyle and Shiloh turned their heads toward the source at the same time.

Rustle.

Dash dash dash.

Somehow having come to, the intruder who had seemed unconscious bolted out of the shop like a madman.

“Ha…… I should have tied him up.”

Kyle squeezed his eyes shut and dragged his hand down his face.

“I’m sorry. Because of me……”

“It’s already done, nothing to be done about it. From here it’s the guard’s problem.”

Shiloh steadied her breathing and murmured, rubbing her arm.

“You’re right. It’s already done. Then I…… as soon as it gets bright, I’ll report it to the guard and deal with the broken window. He ate through quite a bit of our bread too…… I’ll need to put up a sign that the shop is closed.”

She took a wooden sign from the cabinet that read ‘Closed today’ and hung it on the shop door.

Kyle stared at the extremely composed Shiloh.

When she finished and came back into the shop, she was tilting to one side and limping.

Kyle’s brow drew together sharply.

He moved quickly to her side and took her arm to support her.

“It looks like you’ve hurt your leg.”

“I’m fine.”

Shiloh gave a small smile.

“Let me carry you.”

Kyle said it bluntly.

“Pardon?”

Shiloh went still as ice.

“I’m saying it because you don’t look like you can climb those stairs on that leg.”

“But……”

Before Shiloh could properly answer, Kyle handed her the lamp he had brought and lifted her up in his arms.

In an instant, her body was lifted into the air.

His broad chest with its defined muscles pressed against Shiloh’s body.

When Kyle’s breath tickled her neck, Shiloh stopped breathing.

Not trusting herself to meet his eyes, she looked down and to the side.

To make matters worse, one shoulder strap of the white muslin dress she was wearing slid down.

Just as she reached across to lift it with her other hand, Kyle warned in a low voice.

“Hold on tight. I might drop you.”

“Ah…… yes……”

Shiloh answered with a flushed face, unable to fix her strap.

The closer she held him, the more his masculine, heavy scent pressed in around her.

Kyle set Shiloh down on the attic bed.

With both arms free, she hurriedly fixed her strap and smoothed her clothes.

“Where are you hurt?”

He knelt on one knee and held the lamp toward her skirt as she sat on the edge of the bed.

“My knees…… “

“May I look?”

“Um……”

“It’s an ointment made by the magic tower’s mages. It should work quickly.”

“……”

Shiloh hesitated, then pulled one side of her muslin dress up to her knees.

A slender, fair calf was revealed.

“The area below your right knee is quite swollen.”

“Yes. My right knee aches and……”

“The left one is a bit red too.”

“The left doesn’t hurt much. I think it’s just a bruise.”

Kyle opened the cylindrical lid.

He applied the ointment to his index and middle fingers and gently rubbed it around her right kneecap.

His large hand moved with care.

“Ah!”

Shiloh squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed the bedsheet.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Yes…… a little……”

“Bear with it. The more it hurts, the faster it’ll work.”

She bit her lower lip and flinched.

Kyle watched her reaction and relaxed his hand as much as he could.

The touch that carefully worked over her knee was gentle.

After applying the ointment to the other knee as well, Kyle blew softly on it.

Her face suddenly burned.

Shiloh felt as though she had become a baby being looked after.

She had almost no memory of being cared for by another person.

She had always tried to live independently, and perhaps because of that, receiving help felt awkward.

But being looked after by this man felt unfamiliar and yet, strangely, not unwelcome.