By the time they arrived at the old log cabin, Ren clicked his tongue in disappointment.
The excitement that had stirred in his heart from the scenery Sharti had shown him had calmed long ago, and what he was now conscious of was her hand holding his.
‘We’re already here.’
Once they entered the house, he would naturally have to let go of her hand.
More accurately, Sharti would be the first to let go of his hand.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Even though Ren knew he should let go of her hand to prove he wasn’t a weak patient, he had no intention of doing so.
Rather, he was obediently following wherever she led while still holding her hand.
Like a child being indulged.
Ren felt self-loathing at his deranged inner thoughts.
‘Why does it always end like this?’
What use was scoring points with a good atmosphere?
The conclusion was always pathetically inadequate.
His mood kept sinking lower.
And as expected, Sharti let go of his hand as soon as they entered the house.
Feeling the emptiness already, Ren repeatedly clenched and unclenched his hand.
“Let’s rest for a moment and go out again when it gets dark.”
“What?”
Ren jerked his head up. Instead of answering, Sharti pointed to the sofa.
As Ren sat on the sofa, Sharti immediately covered him with a blanket.
The blanket was warm with Sharti’s lingering heat.
“You look upset because we had to come back without properly seeing the outside.”
“……”
Me?
Ren swallowed the question that nearly burst out reflexively.
Seeing his expression, Sharti nodded her head.
“We’ll go out again when Ren calms down. If we don’t go out again, the next outing might be emotionally burdensome.”
Ah. Ren suppressed a short exclamation.
From the beginning, Sharti had only returned to the log cabin to give him time to calm down.
Moreover, she had misunderstood the reason for his sullen mood.
“…Alright.”
Ren nodded as nonchalantly as possible while controlling the corners of his mouth.
Then, struck by a sudden thought, Ren gazed thoughtfully at Sharti.
Sharti could show such kind consideration but at other times maintain distance to the point of seeming callous.
Perhaps that’s why he became so childish and impatient around her.
‘Because I don’t feel like we’re getting closer.’
Whether it was because his brain was simply broken in a crude way, Ren was quite good at grasping reality and knowing his place.
Even though his mind might be complicated due to lost memories, his eyes were always directed toward Sharti.
Ren was particularly perceptive when it came to Sharti, and he could sense the line drawn between them.
‘Even if we became close enough to share our hearts, I don’t think I could cross the line Sha has drawn.’
More precisely, it seemed that Sharti wouldn’t allow it.
“……?”
Ren touched his forehead.
Sharing hearts? That was an odd example.
As he tried to organize his strangely twisted thought process, Ren looked around.
“Sha?”
Sharti was nowhere to be seen.
As he was about to get up from the sofa, Sharti emerged from the bedroom.
She had changed from her herb-scented robe into a dark green one.
She was even carrying a bag.
“Where are you going?”
Didn’t she say they would go out when it got dark?
“I need to go down to the village. I can’t keep leaving the injured patients to Tein alone.”
It seemed there was talk among the injured patients since Sharti hadn’t been showing up.
Although they were warmly welcoming the clever Tein, what the injured patients needed was a doctor’s examination.
With Tristan and most of the soldiers having left the village, they surely wanted to receive a clean bill of health as soon as possible.
“…Then-“
Naturally, Ren wanted to say he wanted to go with her.
He even calculated inwardly whether it might be possible if he covered his face with bandages and pretended to be her assistant.
But Sharti shook her head firmly, as if seeing through his thoughts.
“People in mountain villages are generally wary of outsiders. There are residents who are quite vigilant, so it’s better to be careful.”
“…I know.”
Even knowing this, his desire had grown so much that he almost stubbornly insisted.
Consoling himself with their plans for the evening, Ren saw Sharti off.
“……”
As soon as the door closed, Ren roughly tousled his hair.
He hoped the injured patients would leave the village as soon as possible, but for that to happen, Sharti needed to diligently go down to the village and examine them.
Ren clicked his tongue.
“Now what should I do?”
He thought about going outside to look for mushrooms like the ones Sharti had gathered last time.
While moving to find a basket, Ren’s gaze stopped at the fireplace.
‘Sha’s not here, I chopped too much firewood, and it’ll be cold by the time she returns.’
Ren finished his long deliberation.
If Sharti was afraid of fire, he just needed to avoid lighting fires in front of her.
‘This time, I’ll do it without mistakes.’
Ren clenched his fist with determination.
And so, Ren was gradually learning how to help out without being noticed, doing what he could.
****
By the time the old log cabin was getting ready to be heated up, Sharti, who had arrived at the village, headed to Patricia’s inn.
“Oh my, Sha! You finally came!”
Patricia greeted Sharti with a playful glare.
It was a look that showed she was displeased that Sharti had abruptly stopped visiting after Tristan and most of the soldiers had left.
“I was worried something had happened to you since you hadn’t come since that day.”
She was referring to the day when Sharti had come down to the village to take Tristan away because of Dodindt.
Sharti awkwardly shook her head.
<I had a cold. I was worried I might pass the illness to others.>
“I’m not criticizing you. It’s just that the soldiers have been asking for you.”
Patricia chuckled.
And before long, Sharti told the same excuse she had given to Patricia to the injured patients as well.
“It seems you were severely ill despite the effectiveness of your medicine, Doctor.”
“We were worried that you might have overexerted yourself because of us.”
While exchanging pleasantries, Sharti checked the conditions of the injured patients.
‘Tein really did a good job.’
Occasionally, Sharti thoroughly examined and prescribed for treatments the child had missed.
Though not as good as Ren’s, the injured patients’ recovery rate wasn’t bad either.
Among them were patients who were fortunate just to have survived, but their complexion looked good.
“I heard from our comrades before they left.”
An injured patient with an immobilized arm stared at the ceiling as he spoke to Sharti.
“That you helped us.”
“……”
What he was referring to was the help of capturing and handing over Dodindt.
The injured patient turned only his eyeballs to look at Sharti.
He grinned.
“Even if others don’t, I will surely repay that kindness.”
“……”
It was an indefinite, purely personal pledge.
Sharti slowly nodded her head, following the tears visible in the patient’s smile.
<For now, just focus on recovery.>
Sharti secretly let out a sigh of relief, as it seemed Tristan hadn’t mentioned Ren’s existence.
After examining the injured patients until late afternoon, Sharti left the inn, saying she would come again tomorrow.
‘Phew… I should come earlier tomorrow.’
Sharti quietly reproached herself as she walked.
The soldiers had confided their weakness and anxiety only to Sharti, the doctor, which they hadn’t shown to the young Tein.
She reflected on how she had failed to fulfill her responsibilities to patients who needed her as a doctor while she was dealing with Ren.
“Sha!”
Sharti shyly waved to Virena who welcomed her.
Virena took Sharti inside the house.
“Grandmother went out, and Tein is taking a nap.”
Virena made sure Tein took a nap once a week.
It was to let the brain rest, as the child was unusually intelligent and accumulated vast knowledge.
“By the way, Sha, how is it?”
“……?”
Sharti, who was about to ask Virena for advice on nutrition supplements needed for beauty care, tilted her head at the unexpected question.
Virena, sitting across from her, giggled.
“That guy you’re keeping, the slave.”
Virena lowered her voice as if sharing a secret.
Momentarily confused, Sharti took out a note.
<Not a slave. And he has a name. ‘Ren’.>
“That’s a name you gave him, right?”
Virena rested her chin on her hand, suppressing a smile.
Sharti carefully studied Virena’s expression.
Virena looked extremely interested.
“Anyway, how is that person, Ren?”
<What do you mean, how is he?>
“Well, like any good qualities….or things you’ve newly discovered about him? Or perhaps unexpected aspects?”
Virena chattered in an excited voice.
Sharti rolled her eyes.
Although not comparable to Virena, Sharti prided herself on being quite perceptive in this area.
<Virena, are you interested in Ren?>
“…What?”
Virena asked back after a beat.
Thinking she might have been too rude, Sharti was choosing her words when Virena let out a sigh.
Seeing the incredulous look in her eyes, Sharti tactfully closed her mouth.
“Sha! I told you before. My ideal type is tall but slim men! And definitely glasses! He must wear glasses. Freckles would be a bonus. And I prefer someone who looks innocent when they smile.”
Virena thumped her chest.
“Does that Ren person match any of my ideal type criteria?”
“……”
“Except for height.”
Instantly recalling Ren, Sharti quickly shook her head.
Virena snorted as if to say ‘I told you so.’
“Anyway, Sha, you’re not very intuitive when it comes to these things, so don’t make strange assumptions.”
Sharti nodded dejectedly.
“Actually, what I’m curious about is you, Sha.”
When Sharti pointed at herself with her finger, Virena lightly struck the table.
She leaned forward with a grin.
“I’m curious about how you think of this person, Ren.”
“……”
Faced with the unexpected question, Sharti was at a loss for words.
When Sharti didn’t immediately answer, Virena wrinkled her nose.
“Is he a good person?”
A good person…
After mulling over her words, Sharti slowly nodded in affirmation.
“In what specific way?”
Sharti scratched her cheek.
Then, fidgeting with her pen, she wrote a note.
<He cares about my feelings.>
After staring at the note that ended with a period, Sharti hesitantly added another sentence.
<He cares about me.>
She emphasized this simple and straightforward reason.
It highlighted what Sharti considered most important.
Sharti smiled without realizing it.
<And he gave me flowers.>
“Flowers? He gave you flowers? What kind?”
Finally hearing a romantic development, Virena’s eyes lit up.
Not having the courage to meet Virena’s intense gaze, Sharti silently wrote a short note.
“Oh my, oh my, he picked flowers twice? For you, Sha?”
Looking as if she was boasting, Sharti nodded shyly.
Virena clasped her hands together and trembled.
To the self-proclaimed expert in relationships, this was undoubtedly a rosy development.
“I’m surprised. When I briefly saw him that time, he didn’t seem like the type to do such things.”
But imagining the large man picking flowers to give to Sharti, Virena clutched her stomach, suppressing her laughter.
After laughing for a while, Virena looked up and stared at Sharti.
“At first, when I heard that you, Sha, were living with someone, I was shocked. You’re sharing a house with another person. Naturally, discomforts would accumulate, and complaints would pour out.”
“……”
Sharti blinked.
It was true.
Even with the excuse of him being a patient, it was unlike Sharti, who lived hiding and conscious of others’ gazes, to make such a choice.
<How could I not help someone who had lost their memory?>
Hmm. Virena curved the corners of her eyes like crescent moons.
“What I mean is, that person is a man.”
