Sharti carried the heavy basket, happily heading toward the log cabin.
Mushrooms, fish, and luckily, even some expensive medicinal herbs were found.
Sharti’s cheeks were flushed with slight excitement.
‘I wanted to collect more. What a shame.’
Sharti had a habit of losing track of time and collecting herbs whenever she found an unexpected good harvest.
But since Ren was waiting at home, and she had a clear purpose to gather ingredients for his meal, Sharti promised herself next time.
‘Huh?’
As she approached the old log cabin, Sharti sniffed the air.
Sharti frowned.
There was a faint burning smell mixed in the air.
She gripped the basket tighter.
‘……It’s okay. I don’t see any flames anywhere.’
Sharti swallowed hard.
If there had been a fire near the log cabin on the mountainside, the flames would have spread quickly.
The burning smell was gradually fading, disappearing as it scattered in the air, and there was no acrid smoke visible.
‘It must have been carried by the wind from somewhere.’
Sharti tried to calm her trembling body and suppressed the rising anxiety.
Fortunately, as she got closer to the old log cabin, the burning smell became undetectable.
‘I wonder if Ren is awake?’
As soon as Sharti opened the door of the log cabin, she saw Ren.
Ren appeared to have just finished washing, with damp hair visible under the towel covering his head.
Just as her gaze was drawn to Ren’s moistened face, cold air rushed in, and Sharti quickly closed the door.
“Sha.”
Ren quickly shook the moisture from his hair and approached.
Stepping forward briskly, Ren took Sharti’s basket first and placed it on the table.
In that brief moment, Sharti’s hand that brushed against his was cold.
Ren’s lips tightened.
Regardless, Sharti wanted to show off today’s harvest and took out the contents of the basket one by one in front of Ren.
“Why so much……”
With trailing words, Ren’s face wasn’t very bright.
To him, it only looked like Sharti had overexerted herself for these results.
Meanwhile, when Ren didn’t show the reaction she expected, Sharti fidgeted with her fingers.
‘Does he dislike fish?’
Ren had been frowning since the fish unexpectedly appeared from the basket.
It was as if he was having a staring contest with the fish.
Wondering if he had some aversion, Sharti was about to prepare the fish first when—
“……!”
The fish, which had only been opening and closing its mouth, suddenly jerked and jumped up.
Unlike Sharti who was startled and about to step back, Ren instantly caught the fish.
His grip on the fish’s body was rough.
“Don’t tell me you went into the water in your condition?”
At the quietly growled question, Sharti shook her head, half a beat late.
Ren raised an eyebrow. It seemed to ask how she had caught it, then.
Sharti was about to show a stone-throwing gesture but hesitated.
‘His sentences are short again.’
It hadn’t improved much at all.
But Sharti pretended not to notice and let it slide.
If he fixed his way of speaking, surely he would fix how he addressed her too.
“This won’t do. Go to the bedroom and warm yourself up first.”
Ren said firmly, throwing the fish back into the basket.
When Sharti tried to say something, Ren even brought a blanket and draped it over her shoulders.
Watching his actions, Sharti laughed silently.
‘Even Grandmother Vireta wasn’t this overprotective.’
Sharti had thought Ren would show a coercive attitude because of his seemingly rough appearance, but he had never touched her body without her permission.
Instead, he treated Sharti gently and cautiously.
‘If people didn’t judge by appearances, they would see Ren’s good side too.’
Whether she didn’t want to find fault in Ren who would soon leave, or if she just naturally saw his good points, she wasn’t sure.
Perhaps because of this, a corner of her heart felt cold.
Her wariness toward him had disappeared, and instead, she was feeling regretful about their upcoming parting.
Sharti swallowed her bitterness and smiled.
“Let’s eat first.”
She could voice herself more easily than yesterday.
Ren seemed to notice this too, as his eyes widened slightly before returning to normal.
“You probably haven’t fully recovered yet.”
“I took medicine you made. I’m fine now.”
As Sharti clenched her fist firmly, a smile brushed across Ren’s lips.
To Sharti, the moment Ren’s expression softened seemed to unfold in slow motion.
It was like watching God breathe life into a stiff statue, making it move.
“I see. Because you’re a skilled doctor.”
At those trust-filled words, Sharti came to her senses.
‘My fever should have gone down.’
It was puzzling why she suddenly felt hot.
With her cheeks burning, Sharti turned away to avoid his gaze.
“Ren should dry his hair first. You’re leaving soon, so you can’t catch a cold.”
As she moved to wash the ingredients, the blanket fell off.
“Who’s the one who needs to worry about catching a cold. …….ma’am.”
Before she could pick it up, Ren quickly approached and draped the blanket over her shoulders again.
Sharti hesitated, feeling Ren’s presence right behind her.
“Then I’ll help too. …….ma’am.”
“……!”
“-master.”
At Ren’s whispered words near her ear, Sharti felt goosebumps rise on her skin.
Resisting the urge to whip her head around, Sharti bit her lip. If she turned around, she felt he would see her reddened face under the hood.
When Sharti remained stiff without much reaction, Ren stepped back with an awkward expression.
Only then did Sharti exhale comfortably.
‘……I think the cold medicine isn’t very effective.’
The sudden tension in front of Ren was surely because she hadn’t fully recovered yet.
Sharti renewed her determination to make new cold medicine after the meal.
“How should I wash this? …….ma’am?”
Ren stood beside her.
Before Ren could add the honorific, Sharti quickly pushed a basin of water to him for washing vegetables.
Sharti took the now calm fish from the basket and placed it on the cutting board.
“But don’t slaves do things like cooking? …….ma’am? The master sits back and……”
Thud! With too much force in her hand, Sharti finished cutting the fish’s head with a single strike.
Sharti silently gripped the knife and began properly preparing the fish.
“…….”
Seeing Sharti’s powerful display, Ren shut his mouth.
After that, Ren quietly washed only the vegetables.
The completed fish soup was a success.
The fishy taste was well controlled, and both Ren and Sharti emptied their bowls clean.
“I need to make clothes, so Ren should rest.”
“I want to help. …….ma’am.”
When she tried to do needlework alone comfortably in the bedroom, Ren followed her closely.
Sharti pondered for a moment. There was nothing wrong with Ren improving his sewing skills, but she didn’t want to hear the “master” honorific again.
“Then would you wash the herbs? I’m planning to make medicine after I finish making the clothes.”
“Yes! …….ma’am. Anytime.”
Ren’s face brightened at finally being given a task.
It seemed Ren wasn’t suited for just sitting and sewing.
“You need to wear gloves when washing herbs. And, um, I’ll write it down for you. Follow this.”
Sharti wrote notes with precautions.
<Be careful not to damage the roots when washing. For leafy ones, tear only the bottom and wash while leaving the top intact. Don’t shake off water strongly from fragile ones…….>
As her writing time lengthened, Ren’s face, who had been planning to scrub them vigorously like fruits or vegetables, gradually darkened.
Following sewing, washing herbs was also a high-difficulty task for Ren.
Moreover, since all the herbs were laboriously collected by Sharti from the mountains, they couldn’t be handled carelessly.
“…….”
“It’s a lot of work, isn’t it? You don’t have to do it if it’s difficult.”
“……Not really. I can do that much. …….ma’am.”
As Ren had a serious expression, Sharti subtly tried to dissuade him, but he firmly shook his head.
Rather, he had a look of determination to do it properly.
Sharti recalled the massage she had received from Ren.
‘Well. He gave such a careful massage too. He has surprisingly delicate hands.’
Scratching her cheek, Sharti left Ren and took fabrics to the bedroom.
Taking off her stuffy robe and wrapping herself tightly in a blanket, Sharti began sewing.
‘Thanks to Grandmother, I’ve seen mercenaries’ clothes before.’
Sharti, who had planned to make ordinary outdoor clothes worn by villagers, slightly modified the design.
It was her first time making men’s clothes, so there wasn’t much of a design to speak of.
She was just referencing the attire of mercenaries she had seen through Vireta.
‘A mercenary.’
Sharti recalled Ren’s sword that she had buried near the collapsed cave.
She needed to give him that sword when he left.
‘Will his memories return when he holds that sword?’
She remembered the gleam in his eyes inside the cave during their first meeting.
Then Sharti unconsciously trembled.
That man wasn’t ‘Ren’. He was a strange visitor, or a dangerous intruder.
‘I’ll give it to him the day Ren leaves.’
Strangely, she didn’t want to return that sword to Ren right now.
It wasn’t that she wanted to hinder Ren from finding his memories.
She just wanted him to remain ‘Ren’ until at least when he left.
‘……It must be selfish.’
Pushing aside her contradictory feelings, Sharti focused on her sewing.
By around noon, the top was completed.
Sharti massaged her shoulders, loosening stiff muscles.
Then suddenly she felt the house was quiet.
‘Is he resting?’
It had been enough time to wash the herbs.
Sharti put on her robe again and left the room.
There was no sign of Ren in the quiet house.
‘The herbs are well washed.’
Fortunately, the herbs entrusted to Ren were clean and neatly placed on the table.
However, Ren himself was nowhere to be seen.
‘Did he go to pick berries again? He can’t pick them because the axe is broken.’
Just as Sharti was about to open the door to check outside—
“……!”
Sharti, who almost bumped into the door opening right in front of her face, stepped back startled, and equally surprised, Ren anxiously examined her.
“Are you alright?”
The loud thumping of her startled heart echoed in her ears.
As Ren closed the door and came in, she smelled grass from him.
“Wh-where did you go? Wearing such thin clothes.”
It was chilly weather to be wearing just the short robe she had given him earlier.
As Sharti scolded him, Ren, who was unwrapping his bandages, sheepishly scratched his head.
The smell of soil came from his fingertips.
“Have you already finished making the clothes? …….ma’am?”
At the unexpected question, Sharti shook her head.
There were still pants left to sew, but she wondered what that had to do with his outing.
Perhaps feeling as if Sharti’s eyes, hidden under her hood, were interrogating him, Ren turned his head to avoid her gaze.
“Where on earth……”
As she was about to scold him that he shouldn’t be wandering outside yet, Ren extended his right hand that he had been hiding behind his back.
“Yesterday while picking berries……”
In his outstretched hand were flower blossoms.
They were pale yellow flowers easily seen anywhere in the mountains.
But they were also flowers not easily found around this time.
“It’s not like I can give you money, and the help I can offer is so trivial. …….ma’am.”
His matter-of-fact voice was tinged with bashfulness.
Sharti blankly took in the pale yellow flowers.
When there was no response, Ren glanced at Sharti.
“Do you like flowers? …….ma’am?”
The hand offering just three flower blossoms was rough.
However, the sentiment behind picking those flowers reflected such care that Sharti felt her throat tighten, unable to answer.
Instead, she received the flowers with trembling hands.
Ren smiled with relief, grinning widely.
