Chapter 79

Chapter 79. The Old Woman in the Tower (4)

I gave a soft laugh and turned my gaze back to the ceiling.

"What are you curious about?"

"The inscription carved on your back. You said it was blocking some kind of power. But earlier, when I was stopping the bleeding from your back, I saw that the inscription on your back had grown faint.

What happens if it disappears completely? And what connection does it have with that black armor in the armory? Lastly, Han, are you really human?"

The inscription had grown faint?

Damn it! Recalling what he had said earlier, I answered her question.

"I die. You could say we are in a contractual relationship formed for our mutual benefit. And I may not look it, but I am human."

"I do not particularly like bones with little meat on them."

"If you are picky with your food, you will not grow taller."

I brushed off her words like that.

At that, Luna raised her eyebrows as if looking for something to retort with, then let out a small breath and opened her mouth.

"Stop joking around and hurry up if you are going to talk. Your wife is coming up right now."

I turned my head and looked at Luna.

She had a pretty face.

When she grew up, suitors would probably line up for her.

"Give me your hand."

Luna tilted her head at my words, but obediently held out her small, dark hand.

I quietly looked at her cute palm, then gave a small laugh and began writing on it.

A moment later, when my finger stopped dancing across Luna’s palm and lowered, she was startled by the meaning of the words and was just about to say something.

Then Rene opened the door and entered, so Luna firmly shut her mouth.

Rene looked at the atmosphere in the room, then smiled brightly and said,

"What were you talking about?"

"Nothing. We were just joking around. But is that for me?"

I raised my hand, which did not move well, and pointed at the small tray Rene had brought in.

At that, Rene smiled gently and nodded.

When she approached, Luna rose from her seat and sat down on one side of the bed.

Rene smiled gently at her, placed the small tray on the chair, then came over to me and carefully held my shoulders.

With her support, I was able to raise my upper body.

After checking my posture for a moment, Rene placed the small tray on her own thigh, sat on the chair, and picked up the bowl.

Was it soup?

Rene smiled brightly, scooped up a little soup with a spoon, brought it to my lips, and said,

"Say ah~."

I tried to decline, but my hands would not rise, so I had no choice but to give a bitter smile and silently accept the soup Rene offered me.

Mm, it was delicious.

Rene looked at my face for a moment, lowered the spoon, and asked,

"How is it? Is it good?"

At her words, I smiled and nodded.

Rene smiled brightly and once again lifted the spoon to my lips.

With tears in my eyes, I continued eating the soup she offered me.

Then Luna, who had been watching us from the side, opened her mouth with her brow slightly furrowed.

"This is so sickening I can hardly watch."

At that, Rene once again put the spoon into my mouth and smiled with her eyes.

"If you ever find someone you love like I do, you will not be able to say that."

At that, Luna frowned, rose from her seat, and shook her head.

"That will absolutely never happen."

"Will it really not?"

Rene said that as she drew the spoon away.

Luna turned her slightly reddened face away, then quickly walked out the door.

Without saying another word.

I stared intently at the closed door, then bit down on the spoon that was poking at my lips.

A moment later, I glanced at the spoon leaving my mouth and slowly opened my mouth.

"What conclusion can we draw from Luna’s behavior just now?"

At my words, Rene merely smiled with her eyes. I also smiled faintly as I looked at her smile.

If she had been an ordinary girl, she might have forced out a denial, but Luna was an elven child.

A little while later, Rene placed the cleanly emptied bowl and spoon on top of the storage cabinet, then rose from her seat and came to sit beside me.

Then she raised her hand, slipped it behind my back, which was wrapped tightly in bandages, and gently stroked it here and there.

"How is it? Are you feeling a little better now?"

"Ahh! Sorry for worrying you. You must have been very startled."

At my words, Rene gave me a smile with the corners of her eyes slightly lowered.

"I am the one who should be sorry. I should have taught you beforehand. The paper attached to your chest is a barrier with power similar to your inscription. It does not hurt anymore, does it?

After hearing about you from the old woman, I made it just in case. I am sorry, Han. It must have hurt a lot."

After hearing her words, I looked down at my chest once.

I wanted to touch it, but my arms would not move properly, so I could not.

I raised my head again and looked at Rene.

Her face wore an expression that said she would grant anything I asked of her.

So I gave a small laugh and said to her,

"Could you come a little closer?"

Rene turned her upper body slightly and moved closer to me, and I looked softly into her eyes as I naturally guided her into a kiss.

After we kissed and slowly parted our lips, Rene looked at me with a dazed expression, then suddenly opened her eyes wide with an Ah! expression.

I smiled and said,

"That was your punishment."

Rene opened her eyes wide at my words, then puffed out her cheeks and forced herself to look angry.

When I pressed down on her puffed cheeks, she smiled gently and hugged my arm.

She leaned her head against mine and opened her mouth.

"I did not know the seizure would be that severe. Tomorrow is fine, so let us go visit her again."

"What about Luna?"

"We will take her with us."

I smiled and nodded at her words.

Was that not something I had once said before?

At that moment, a thought suddenly came to me, so I pulled out the two red jewel fragments in my pants pocket.

They were fragments I had barely managed to break off that morning after striking them with my fist more than ten times.

Unluckily(?), two of them had broken off.

I gently placed them on Rene’s skirt.

"These? The place where the old woman is staying is in the opposite direction from the capital, is it not?"

Rene picked up the two Dragon Heart fragments on her skirt and looked at them for a moment, then put them into her skirt pocket and opened her mouth with a soft, smiling expression.

"Let us do this. We will give one of these to Exel and ask him to take it to Miss Narsh in the capital if he feels like it. Then we can take the remaining one, go to that person, and stop by the capital on the way back. Even if Exel does not go, we can deliver it ourselves."

So in the end, she was saying she wanted to drag everyone along and visit that woman’s house.

I gave a small laugh at Rene’s words.

At that, Rene looked at me, smiled gently, then grabbed both of my cheeks and stretched them out as she spoke.

"What was the meaning of that smile just now? Hm? Han, hurry up and tell me."

"Th-There wash no shpecial meaning...."

Because my mouth was stretched left and right, I could not pronounce the words properly.

And since Rene took into account the fact that I was a patient, she let go of my cheeks at a certain point.

While rubbing my heated cheeks, I sent Rene a gaze full of protest, but Rene paid no attention to my look. Instead, she turned around and held out the large medicine bowl placed on the small tray.

I quietly looked at the black liquid brought before my face, then lowered the hand I had been pressing against my cheek and looked at Rene, who was holding it.

"What is this?"

"Medicine. Drink it. If you cannot, shall I feed you again like earlier?"

I shook my head repeatedly at her words and accepted the medicine bowl she offered me.

My face was reflected in the black medicine.

I looked down at it for a moment, then turned my head and looked at Rene.

"What kind of medicine is this?"

"It is fatigue recovery medicine made by Luna. Drink it. You cannot go traveling in that condition."

Luna made it?

Thinking of the reaction(?) Jeff had shown after taking Luna’s medicine before, I hesitated for a moment.

Rene looked at me with a worried face, then suddenly narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth.

"If you do not drink it right now, we will sleep in separate rooms."

At Rene’s threat(?), I emptied it in one gulp, and soon felt a bitter taste fill my mouth.

Ugh, bitter.

Rene took the medicine bowl and smiled with her eyes.

"Is it very bitter?"

"Mm."

I nodded slowly with a grimace.

Rene smiled brightly, then pressed close to me, wrapped her arms around my neck, and kissed me on the cheek.

I smiled faintly at her action, but that soon changed to confusion.

For some reason, Rene kept her lips pressed to my cheek and was slowly moving toward the corner of my mouth.

When I shifted my gaze, Rene had her eyes closed, so I had no choice but to simply let her do as she wished.

A moment later, Rene’s lips finally slid to the edge of my mouth, and I embraced her, swept up in a blissful feeling, if only for a short while.

After about ten minutes, Rene finally pulled away from me. With a slightly flushed face, she grinned and said,

"It is not bitter anymore, is it?"