Is this what it feels like to be completely absorbed in a task?

Though it was his first time ever caring for someone’s illness and no one was rushing him, Yulid felt utterly drained.

‘This is no joke…’

He felt completely exhausted despite not having moved particularly vigorously.

Until now, he had never taken care of anyone. In his world, those who couldn’t recover on their own were meant to die.

Even now, he questioned why he was going to such trouble when the weak would die and the strong would survive anyway.

Still, looking at the child who was now clean and sleeping peacefully thanks to his efforts…

‘How strange.’

It gave him an odd feeling.

Just then, Calliphe returned.

“Huh? You actually took care of her?”

“I was contemplating whether to save this little one or kill you instead.”

“I didn’t expect you to do such a good job. You must have experience.”

Calliphe skillfully ignored Yulid’s death threat and approached the child.

She gently woke the sleeping child and gave her the proper fever medicine she had brought.

The exhausted child fell back asleep immediately after taking the medicine.

“Let’s go now, Leader. The children need to rest, and they can’t rest with us here.”

Relieved, Calliphe turned around.

But something was definitely different from before she had briefly left.

The pile of gold coins and snacks that had been stacked in one corner had almost disappeared.

“Huh? Did you children take these?”

The startled children nodded. When some of them started to offer the items back, Calliphe quickly waved her hands.

“No! You don’t have to return them. You did very well.”

“…”

The children took the items back, reassured.

The wariness in their eyes had clearly diminished compared to earlier. This was especially true regarding how they looked at Yulid.

Yulid was not oblivious to this change in atmosphere. His golden eyes widened slightly, looking uncharacteristically round.

“…”

“Leader? Aren’t you leaving?”

“…Ah, yes.”

Calliphe left the storage room first and walked away. Yulid followed silently behind her, lost in thought.

An awkward silence fell between them.

‘…What now? Can I just go back to my room?’

Just when she was contemplating her destination, Yulid spoke up.

“The snacks you brought remained untouched.”

“What?”

“Meanwhile, they took every single gold coin I piled up. Only my gold coins.”

“…Well, good for you.”

Beating cheap bread with gold coins, Calliphe grumbled inwardly.

“Indeed, beggars truly understand the importance of money.”

“No, not beggars but children… anyway, if they understand its importance so well, why didn’t they touch it at first?”

“They were afraid of me.”

“But not anymore?”

Yulid paused at her words.

‘No… the fear is still there.’

These children were beggars who worked on the streets. It meant they fully understood that coveting money from dangerous people could bring greater harm.

Yet the reason the children were eventually able to take the money…

“You must have taken good care of them? The children recognized that.”

“…”

Yulid looked at Calliphe.

“Your tone suggests you knew this would happen.”

“…Not really?”

“Being played according to someone else’s plan leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

“…”

Calliphe avoided his gaze, pretending not to know.

Yulid stared at the back of her head for a moment, then smiled slightly. He strode forward and opened the door to his room.

“Come in.”

“Am I allowed? Have you calmed down?”

“When was I ever angry?”

“Are you asking because you don’t know?”

“…”

‘I can’t tell if this woman is deliberately provoking me or if she’s just naturally fearless.’

But what was even stranger was that he didn’t dislike Calliphe’s retorts.

He found himself overlooking things from her that he wouldn’t tolerate from others.

Though the person before him was clearly an adult, he kept treating her more leniently, like a child.

That too was peculiar.

“Oh, right.”

Calliphe, who had entered the room, pulled something out of her pocket.

“I found this under the blanket when giving the medicine. This ruby ring belongs to you, right?”

“…!”

Yulid checked the pocket of his jacket. He had put the ring there to keep it clean, but it must have fallen out while he was busy moving around.

Yulid snatched the ring and put it back on his ring finger.

“Is it a wedding ring?”

That was a sensitive topic for Yulid. Regarding the ring, he had never willingly answered anyone who asked about it.

But right now, he wasn’t in a particularly bad mood.

“Strictly speaking, it’s an engagement ring. I gave the ring, but neither the engagement nor the marriage ever materialized.”

“You were rejected but you’re still wearing the ring alone? You were rejected?”

“Why are you saying it twice?”

Seeing Calliphe’s expression, which suggested she was looking at someone utterly ridiculous, Yulid felt both angry and somehow wronged.

“She was carrying my child, so of course.”

“Pregnant…?”

“Yes. But she tried to hide the pregnancy. I thought she was doing it because she felt burdened or was worried about my reaction.”

It made sense to think that way. After all, their meeting wasn’t particularly romantic.

Helena and Yulid.

They were merely two people who met for a night of pleasure.

However, after several chance encounters, Yulid began creating more “coincidences” to meet her. It was the first time he had put so much effort into pursuing a woman.

Thankfully, it was she, Helena, who first proposed they date. So Yulid thought their feelings were mutual.

“I needed a definitive way to reassure Helena. That was the proposal.”

“But how did you end up getting rejected…?”

“When I woke up in the morning, Helena was gone.”

What?

“She ran away while pregnant. Leaving only a note saying she was sorry.”

“W-why on earth?”

“Why do you think?”

Yulid sneered with anger.

“Later I found out Helena was an alias. Her identity, her hometown, everything she told me was a lie.”

“…!”

Yulid glared at the ring with distorted eyes. It was a gaze mixed with affection and hatred.

“When she asked me to date her, she said she was someone who had many things more important than love, so we shouldn’t get too serious with each other.”

“No…”

“I thought it was just her trying to sound cool.”

“…”

Helena. What kind of woman are you?

‘Too cool to the point of being cold and cruel…’

There was love, but then there wasn’t.

“Th-then what happened to the child she was pregnant with?”

“She’s alive. It’s a daughter.”

“How do you know that?”

“I asked a fortune teller who uses black magic. His level was low, so that was all he could tell me.”

So that’s why he teamed up with Henrik, a more skilled black magic user.

“…Anyway.”

Yulid straightened his expression and said:

“Now that you know my secret, you should offer something in return.”

“What, no.”

“From now on, you’re a healer disguised as a secretary. Use your ability to exterminate the insects in my body.”

“Wait a minute. After all that talk about watching my back, you’re just taking advantage of me?”

“Would you rather die?”

I really want to beat him up. Calliphe frowned reflexively in disbelief.

“Heh heh. Your expression is quite a sight. I’m joking. You’ll need some benefit too if I want you to use your ability properly without deceiving me.”

“…At least you understand that much.”

“Think about what you want in return. But I need to wash up now. I can still smell the vomit. I’ll come find you later.”

As he pushed Calliphe out into the hallway, he added:

“Oh, and… pack your things.”

“What things?”

The door closed immediately.

Pushed out, Calliphe stood there blankly before returning to her room.

“Later? He must mean tomorrow morning.”

It was already late at night. At this hour, if he showed up after taking a bath, it would definitely cause misunderstandings.

After checking the time, Calliphe tapped her Echo Ore bracelet against the drawer with several firm knocks.

The resonance began, starting to transmit sound.