Despite the heat, his black hair was neatly combed and his clothes were tidy. He was so tall that when she looked straight ahead, all she could see was his chest. Tilting her head slightly upwards, she saw him smile faintly and brush her hair aside.

As he gently moved her sweat-damp fringe to the side, revealing a pair of round, kind eyes. Just brushing her fringe away changed her impression completely. She had a softly curved forehead, fluttery eyebrows and slightly drooping eyes that made you want to stroke them. At their centre were clear, golden irises. He quietly admired her beauty before letting her fringe fall back into place, hiding her eyes and forehead once again.

As their skin touched, Hailla lowered her head in embarrassment. Turning her downcast face slightly to the side, she mumbled.

“You said you were busy today.”

“I finished early, so I came to meet you.”

“Thanks… Lian.”

Lian lived under the same roof as Hailla and her sister. Hailla had saved Lian a few years ago when he was on the verge of death, and they had been inseparable ever since. Despite her terrible relationship with her sister, Rethe, Lian was the only person Hailla relied on.

He naturally reached for the bundle in her arms. Though she pouted a little, she didn’t dislike it and handed it over reluctantly. Walking side by side, they stepped onto the familiar dirt path and began to climb the low mountain. Her house was located halfway up the slope.

“Nothing happened today?”

Hailla asked out of habit, as though checking in on a child. The man glanced at her and responded in a flat tone.

“Nothing.”

He seemed relaxed. He shrugged and casually began to wrap and unwrap a strand of her long hair around his finger.

It was then that she noticed the long scar and dried blood on Lian’s palm.

“Hey, you—your hand…”

“Oh.”

“Is that your reaction? Doesn’t it hurt?”

“It does.”

“Liar!”

It was just another ploy to get her attention. Hailla frowned, growing annoyed. Regardless of whether it was a lie, she didn’t like seeing him in pain. In truth, she disliked seeing any of her loved ones in pain. It was the result of having a chronically ill family member.

“You need to be more careful. Ah, I have something for that. Hold on.”

She fumbled in her pocket and pulled out a scruffy-looking handkerchief. Although it was old, she always kept it freshly washed, so she didn’t hesitate to wrap it around Lian’s hand.

After carefully finishing the makeshift treatment, she started walking again, watching him closely. On a whim, she decided to ask a question she hadn’t asked in a while, half-expecting the answer.

“Have you got closer to the people you work with?”

“Not really.”

Just as she thought. But that wasn’t the important part. Heila took a slightly deeper breath and asked the real question:

“They’re not throwing things at your face anymore, are they?”

“No.”

‘Really?’

She thought of the time he had thrown an apple at Rethe, and her lip twitched again. However, considering herself an experienced tamer, she resisted the urge to pursue the matter and continued.

“Even if you don’t like something, try to use your words.”

“I don’t use violence. You don’t like it.”

“Then why are you hurt?”

Eventually, the question she’d been holding back slipped out. Hailla bit her lower lip with her slightly protruding front teeth. The truth was, she had no idea what kind of work Lian did — he never told her, so there was no way she could know.

And when he came home with injuries like this, her worry doubled. A reasonable suspicion crept in: had he got into a fight because he couldn’t adjust to his workplace? It wasn’t entirely far-fetched, especially when she recalled how violent he had been towards her sister.

He needed to learn how to get along with people. He needed to learn how to fit in.

The anxious line of thought was written all over her face. Even Lian, who usually ignored her nagging, laughed sheepishly when he saw her studying him with wide, searching eyes.

“I memorised all their names, and I shared the biscuits you gave me last time. Everyone thanked me. There’s no problem.”

Everything he listed came straight from Hailla’s ‘How to Get Along with People’ guide. In an effort to reassure her, Lian began detailing just how well he had followed her advice. He was so sincere that Hailla couldn’t help but nod in response.

“I just hurt my hand while moving stuff. That’s all.…It hurts, though.”

“Got it. Thanks for telling me.”

Although she didn’t fully believe him, it put her at ease nonetheless. As she quietly muttered that it was worth all the effort to teach him, Lian let out a small chuckle.

“There are more important things in this world than money. I hope you learn that while you work.”

To a stranger, her constant nagging might have seemed excessive, but Hailla’s actions were actually quite natural. Lian had once been the kind of man who would threaten to kill someone he’d just met without hesitation, completely unbothered by the prospect of violence.

It was largely thanks to Hailla that he had broken that habit and learned to behave more like a normal person. Hailla continued her lecture with a quiet sense of pride, and at the end, she added her usual closing remark:

“Someday, you’ll have to get along with others, too, you know.”

After saying this, she looked at his face cautiously. Lian just blinked a few times. Not a great sign. Nevertheless, Hailla believed that if she mentioned it often enough, it would help him prepare mentally. She really believed that.

It was almost time to send Lian out into the world. She couldn’t keep him in her house forever, so he needed to learn how to live with other people.

She often steered their conversations in that direction. This was one of those moments. But Lian wasn’t naive enough to be shaken by it. His large hand reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Right. You seem to like sociable men.”

Her shoulders shrugged involuntarily and her cheeks turned red.

“T-that’s not what I meant!”

“When Rethe gets better, let’s go to some social events.”

Upon hearing this, Hailla — who had just jolted up like a fish tossed in salt — instantly calmed down. He might not be naïve anymore, but he was still awful. Her face scrunched up in frustration.

‘When Rethe gets better.’

Hailla knew just as well as Lian how unlikely that was. Which meant he brought up Rethe on purpose—his intentions were obvious.

“Oh? How is Rethe doing these days?”

It was a childish retaliation for provoking her. Lian already knew that Rethe’s fevers and seizures had gotten worse lately.

Hailla, now slightly sharper in tone, shot him a side glance and replied in the most irritating way she could muster:

“She’s getting better. Her fever’s gone down, and she finished her whole bowl of porridge this morning.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“She’ll probably get even better.”

“Yeah, it’s only uphill from here.”

He was irritating to the end. But that was the end of the conversation about Rethe. He didn’t press further or continue to provoke her in subtle ways. Hailla glanced at Lian in silence, then suddenly remembered something he had said to her three years ago.

“Wouldn’t it be cleaner to just kill your sister?”

The boy who said that had an expressionless face. Given how little affection they had for each other at the time, his attitude was disturbingly cold. Even when Hailla cried and shouted in response, tears brimming in her eyes, he didn’t realise what he had said was wrong.

Of course, even after more than three years of living together, his attitude towards Rethe hadn’t changed much. In truth, Lian still wished for Rethe’s death. Sometimes he would make subtle remarks about a world without her, and it was easy to see through him.

“But are you interested in the temple?”

This sudden question caused Hailla to look at him with a puzzled expression, as if silently asking what he meant. Through the strands of hair that had fallen across her eyes, her round, gentle gaze became visible. Lian’s mouth opened slightly, then closed again. Like a boy pretending innocence after stealing one of the gods’ apples, he played it off and continued.

“You were staring at the temple earlier.”

“It’s just that… if you become a priest, they say you can get any treatment you need.”

“Ah.”

His voice flattened, as if he understood everything. He seemed to be growing weary of the fact that everything Hailla did was connected to her sister.

“If a prophecy were going to come true, it would have already come true.”

“I know.”

In order to be chosen as a priest, one had to receive a divine prophecy in the form of visions of the future. These usually occurred before the age of fifteen. After that, it was extremely rare for any power to manifest. This was why Hailla had stopped praying in front of the temple after Rethe turned fifteen.

Lian reached out towards her small hand. He grasped her soft, gentle fingers with a firm but careful grip. Unable to resist, Hailla relaxed her hand and let him hold it. His touch had a way of grounding her, especially whenever her thoughts turned dark.

“Let’s eat and then go to the lake.”

She nodded slowly, her long golden hair fluttering as she moved. The simple pleasures she had grown to enjoy every day since living with Lian lifted her spirits. Dipping her feet in the lake in the evening breeze was always refreshing.

In the past, she would have crouched down and cried before going inside. Then she would have walked home gloomily, bracing herself for Rethe’s harsh words.

But with Lian, it felt as if the water had slowly receded from her throat to her chest. Hailla found herself wishing that Lian would stay by her side just a little longer.

After all, he was someone who would eventually leave.