A flood of lethargy washed over Roel Ascart the moment he awakened from his sleep. His heavy eyelids refused to open, so he inspected his physical condition with his mana instead.
He was in a severely injured state when he initiated the fight with Bryan, and he proceeded to unleash all of his means and fully expend his mana. On top of that, he even cast the army buff spell, Howl of Crimson Lightning, to shake Bryan’s determination at the very end.
How could he not face any consequences after putting his body through such torture?
His advancement to Origin Level 3 did little to improve his condition. On the contrary, possibly due to his nerves being not as strung up anymore after seeing Nora safely overcoming her ordeal, he felt even worse than before.
He wondered if someone had secretly swapped out the blood in his body for lead.
With a silent sigh, Roel forced himself to open his eyes, only to be taken aback by the smiling face that popped up in his vision. Warm sunlight shone through the window and scattered all over her, giving her fair complexion a beautiful glow. It was such a beautiful sight that Roel found himself falling into a daze.
The previous wooden hut they were staying in had its roof blown off during Nora’s awakening, so they headed to another nearby sentry post to seek refuge for the night.
“Nora? What are you doing here?”
“Is that your response when you see me upon waking up? Haven’t we been staying in the same room all this while?”
“We were, but I don’t think it’s appropriate to continue that arrangement. Count Hanks and the others are here too.”
Just thinking about the devout chief of the Inquisitor Hall left Roel with a splitting headache.
No matter what, Nora was still the princess of the Theocracy, so there were formalities that they had to uphold. While they did have intimate interactions in public from time to time, Roel had always been careful not to overstep his boundary.
It was one thing when they were by themselves, but if rumors were to spread about how they had shared a room—or even worse, a bed—that could potentially sully Nora’s reputation. It was also for that reason why they had chosen to keep their distance from each other last night.
Thus, he couldn’t understand Nora’s sudden change in attitude.
Surprisingly, the latter disregarded his concerns.
“It’s fine. I have ample reason to stay by your side now.”
“Ample reason?”
“… Look outside. What do you think about the weather?”
Nora tucked her golden hair behind her ears as she looked out of the window, which prompted Roel to do the same. He was confused at first, but it soon struck him.
It was sunny outside, in fact, too much so. He recalled that their previous plan was to set off at daybreak, but it had clearly passed then.
“It’s already afternoon… You’re sick, dumbo!”
“Ah?”
Roel was still confused at what Nora was trying to drive at till she finally lost her patience and lashed out at him. Following that, the latter explained the situation.
It turned out that everyone had gathered together at daybreak, just as they had agreed on, only to realize that Roel was nowhere to be seen. So, Hanks sent one of his inquisitors to check on Roel, only to be horrified to learn that the latter wasn’t waking up despite repeated calls. They immediately examined his condition and soon realized that he was ill.
That explained why Artasia told him to have a good rest when they were parting ways.
“My apologies, I ended up holding everyone up. Let’s set off now. If we hurry, we should be able to reach…”
“Lie down.”
“Hm? I’m fine now. We can…”
“I said lie down. This is an order. Or would you prefer me to resort to forceful measures instead?” Nora ordered authoritatively as she menacingly manifested and shook the white shackles.
“…”
Those words were spoken with a smile, but it was a superficial one that failed to reach her eyes. Seeing that, Roel obediently lowered his upright body down onto the bed. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but make one last protest.
“I’m really fine. You should also know that high transcendents rarely fall ill.”
“You’re right. I can only imagine how debilitated they must be to actually fall ill despite being a high transcendent,” retorted Nora lividly.
As soon as she let her anger seep through, she found herself unable to hold back her emotions anymore. She glared at Roel with rage blazing in her sapphire eyes.
“You lied to me, didn’t you? You said that Bryan only brought a single helper and that the battle ended swiftly. You said that it wasn’t as dangerous as you thought. You…”
“…”
Nora clenched her fists tightly, unable to continue speaking any further.
On the other hand, Roel found himself at a loss for words. His weakened condition probably piqued Nora’s suspicion, prompting her to question Hanks and the others. That exposed his downplayed recount of the event.
Fortunately, Nora let the matter go. It seemed like she wasn’t planning to pursue the matter while he was ill. She left the room for a moment and soon returned with a plate of food. She quietly heated up the food with a silent spell before lifting a fork toward Roel.
“Open your mouth.”
“There’s no need for that. I can…”
“… Are you provoking me right now? First you lie to me, and now you’re trying to turn me down. This is not the first time you have done something like this. Open your mouth!”
“…”
Recalling how he was tied up and forced fed just a day ago, Roel obediently surrendered and allowed Nora to do as she pleased. To his surprise, there wasn’t anything else to Nora’s actions, just tenderness and meticulousness. That left him feeling embarrassed instead.
Nora wasn’t doing this due to her inclinations; she was earnestly trying to take care of him. This was completely unprecedented, especially considering Nora’s position. Roel felt deeply moved by her sentiments.
“S-speaking of which, this place isn’t safe either, right? Is it really fine for us to stay here for another day?”
“If you’re talking about the deviants, I’ve already slaughtered all of them over the last few days. Besides, we aren’t just stopping for your sake. The soldiers are fatigued after their long travel and the difficult fight they had yesterday. They should be allowed to take a breather,” replied Nora as she inconspicuously wiped away the guilt burdening Roel.
After the feeding session, the atmosphere between the two of them slowly returned to normal.
As Nora reached out to feel Roel’s forehead, her thoughts suddenly wandered to the events that had transpired before Roel woke up. A slight blush started to color her cheeks.
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Roel was doing much better now, but his fever had driven him into a delirious state earlier back when he was still asleep. He kept muttering Nora’s name, and it was for that reason that the latter refused to leave this wooden hut. She even forbade everyone else from entering the room so that she could monopolize this space.
The fact that Roel was thinking of her even in a delirious state was proof of his sincere feelings for her, and that moved her. However, she wasn’t planning on telling Roel about it because she had also done something in a moment of passion…
“Hm? Do I have something on my lips?”
Sensing Nora’s intense gaze, Roel touched his own lips as he asked. That further reddened Nora’s face. She quickly covered his mouth and sternly instructed him like a doctor.
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