Chapter 18
Between the two standing side by side, the sound of medicine bottles and utensils clashing replaced the conversation.
It was an unusually moonless night. The small lamp’s flickering light cast shadows of Beth’s hand, trembling as if it were almost about to touch the man but never quite making contact.
Because of the bandages still wrapped around her hand, the smooth medicine bottle kept slipping from Beth’s grasp. Without a word, Debert took the bottle from her.
“I want to stop taking the medicine.”
Beth’s hand froze.
What was it about those words?
How many times today alone had her resolve to never again get involved in this man’s affairs crumbled? Her chest felt tight from the emotional swings she experienced several times a day.
Beth’s gaze, which had been wavering between the bottle and the air as if contemplating something, finally gathered the courage to slowly rise towards the man beside her.
His eyes, nestled beneath prominent brow bones, looked fierce, almost brooding.
A straight nose, reflecting his blunt personality.
Lips firmly pressed together, and a jawline as sharp as the Empire’s commander himself.
“Aren’t you going to do it?”
Without lifting his gaze from the bottle, he asked, knowing she was staring at him. The dry question made Beth’s ears flush red as she quickly averted her eyes. She looked as if she had been caught peeping.
It was fortunate that the lamp light was red. It would help hide her face, which was likely as flushed as the light itself.
Debert kept his eyes fixed on the white bottle he was diligently sorting.
It was an absurd lie, a ridiculous one at that.
Even he found it laughable, so much so that he almost chuckled.
To think he would go as far as this. Even he had to admit that he was fed up with the war. Unaware of his thoughts, the nurse in front of him remained focused on her work.
A note with instructions was handed to him under the round light.
[Take only twice a day. No more than five tablets.]
The handwriting was neat, not like the ornamental script popular among Nexus women, but rather exactly what you’d expect from Beth.
Debert gave a noncommittal nod.
He had never heard her voice, nor did he expect to, but if he ever did, he was sure it would sound just like this handwriting.
Beth could no longer endure the awkward silence. It was uncomfortable. This stranger was becoming all too familiar to her.
When she looked into his eyes in the dim light of the pharmacy, she realised with a start that she had felt relieved. The fact that she could let her guard down around a man she couldn’t afford to trust frightened her.
So Beth turned her back on him.
As she moved away naturally, Debert tilted his head to one side, watching her. Just like the first time he had seen Beth Janes trembling in front of him with a gun, that strange urge welled up inside him again.
He acted even faster than he thought.
Taking advantage of the darkness, Debert’s hand reached for the shelf without hesitation. The sound of bottles and trays spilling like hail startled Beth, causing her to spin around in surprise.
“It’s dark. It was a mistake.”
For someone who had just knocked over an entire shelf, his apology was remarkably nonchalant. Watching Beth, who remained standing there blankly, Debert decided to accept the inconvenience. He deliberately started putting the items back in the wrong places.
“Is this where it goes?”
He knew it wasn’t. He had been in and out of this place enough to know better than even Beth.
But he couldn’t admit that her hasty retreat had annoyed him.
Nor could he say that the fact she didn’t come closer, even after all this commotion, had made him even more frustrated.
Beth sighed softly and returned to her spot.
The resigned look in her eyes and the sound of her footsteps as she returned were not unpleasant.
For the first time in a long while, or perhaps ever, Beth was moving according to his will.
Debert stared down at Beth’s small head as she crouched at his feet, picking up the scattered bottles. She really was a small woman.
Debert’s hand moved boldly once again. This time, it was the tranquillizer bottle he had received earlier. Hidden deep within the shelf, it easily disappeared into his large hand.
Debert’s lips curled up slightly. His mouth tickled. He admitted to himself that he was finding this situation quite amusing. It felt like he was toying with a little puppy.
“I’ll put this one away.”
Beth’s lips pouted as she watched him take the neatly organised tray only after she had painstakingly put all the medicine back in order.
Even that expression was amusing to him.
He followed Beth as she spun around. His lips still held a slight curve, his usually sharp eyes softening for a moment.
But the moment he caught sight of the shelf illuminated by the faint lamp light, it all disappeared.
He was not the type of man to forget something once he had seen it. He distinctly remembered the day he gave the woman the portable ointment. The tray had an empty spot.
Debert, who had to have every detail of the military under his control, wouldn’t have forgotten the date of the next supply of medical supplies. The next batch wouldn’t arrive until next week, so it couldn’t have been refilled.
In the end, that stubborn woman had put back the ointment he had handed her.
“Why haven’t you used the ointment?”
His abrupt question made Beth turn her head. Her large, blinking eyes showed she had no idea what he was talking about.
Debert, who had moved right in front of her, held out the lamp.
“Hold this.”
He took Beth’s bandaged hand in his. Startled, Beth tried to pull away, but Debert held her wrist firmly, not letting go.
The more she struggled to free her hand, the more the lamp wobbled dangerously, and the more her palm stung.
“Stay still.”
Though his voice was indifferent, his hands were gentle as they unwound the bandage.
“How foolish.”
The loosely wrapped bandage, which she had clearly dressed herself, quickly revealed the wound. The healing cut was in its final stages, leaving only a faint scar.
Debert’s thumb gently traced the pink line in the middle of her palm.
“Does it hurt?”
Beth shook her head.
Debert deftly opened the ointment container with one hand. His fingers, smeared with the ointment, gently massaged the wound. The sticky ointment and the warmth of his touch created an oddly tingling sensation, making Beth’s fingers twitch.
“Doesn’t it feel like we’re doing something wrong?”
His tone was casual, making it unclear whether he was joking or serious. Either way, Beth found it hard to understand.
Without any intention of explaining, Debert continued applying the ointment with focus.
The cold air in the storage room grew awkwardly warm. The tingling in her fingers was soon accompanied by the pounding of her heart. Just as her delicate fingers began to curl in embarrassment,
“Doesn’t it?”
Debert insisted on asking the mischievous question again.
Beth pressed her lips together, refusing to answer. He was teasing her. The clear hook of his smile proved it.
Annoyed, Beth tried to pull her hand away, but as if anticipating this, Debert tightened his grip on her wrist slightly.
He even managed to pull out a fresh bandage, knowing exactly where to find one. She hadn’t noticed him grabbing it, but there it was. Debert used his sharp canine teeth to cut the bandage, evidently unable to find a pair of scissors.
A wolf pup.
That was what someone had once called him. With his dark ash-coloured hair, matching eyes, and sharp teeth, the nickname suited him well.
“Done.”
Finishing his task, Debert was the first to leave the storage room.
“Aren’t you coming?”
Beth, who had been staring at her newly bandaged hand in a daze, was jolted into action by his urging and hurried to follow.
What a strange day. Perhaps, as the lady had said, the shock had been so great that everything felt different from usual. It was enough to excuse her somewhat foolish and stubborn behaviour.
Debert watched her approach with a lazy gaze. Beth Jane, wearing his coat and bandaged by his hand.
She removed her necklace to lock the door.
Oh, right. Even wearing a necklace.
Beth found even her usual actions felt awkward. She usually did it well, but the thought of Devert being behind her made her hands twitch as she put on her necklace.
It’s a pathetic sight to the end.
She bit her lip, trying to get the clasp right. Her slightly bent white neck was visible even in the dark.
“Huh.”
Beth froze as she felt breath on the nape of her neck that wasn’t hers. She couldn’t exhale the breath she had hastily drawn in, and her whole body focused on the foreign sensation at the nape of her neck.
The necklace was fastened with comical ease on the man’s hand, which was slightly overlapped on his small hand.
“Let’s go.”
The sound of their footsteps echoing in the silence seemed unusually loud.
For the first time, their footsteps, now in sync, left marks on the rough dirt ground.
At the fork in the road where the barracks and the nurses’ quarters separated, Beth noticed Debert following her as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and her expression turned quizzical.
She pointed towards the path leading to the barracks. When his cold gaze returned after following her hand gesture, her shoulders involuntarily tensed.
“You need to go to your quarters to get your clothes.”
Did she really think this man was escorting me?
Wearing his coat on this cold night, Beth’s ears turned bright red from her bold assumption. She had no idea how many times she had blushed already.
For some unknown reason, Beth suddenly sped up, almost jogging away from him, prompting Debert to sigh dryly. He lengthened his stride to keep up, but the woman’s steps were almost like running as she headed towards the dorm.
It was exhausting trying to cater to her.
Debert shoved his hands into his trousers pockets in frustration. He wasn’t going to devour her or anything, so why did she run off like that?
The synchronised steps they had managed to maintain once again fell out of sync.
Beth had already arrived, holding the broken doorknob of her lodging, her head lowered to the floor. As soon as she saw military boots (T/L: He came near her room), she hurriedly handed over his jacket and shut the door. It was a nervous reaction, born out of fear that he might make some teasing remark about “doing something bad” again. Unaware of her anxiety, Debert stood there, staring blankly at the door that had just closed in front of him.
Her abrupt retreat left him stunned, but it didn’t make him feel unpleasant. Perhaps it was because of the scent lingering on the jacket she handed him.
The subtle fragrance that always surrounded her still lingered with him, even after she had disappeared.
On the day he first saw Beth—more precisely, the day he mistook her for an unidentified spy and gripped her delicate neck—Debert had noticed that scent before he noticed her face.
A light flickered on in one of the darkened windows. Debert looked up at that single light in the pitch-black night.
A small shadow moved back and forth.
It was probably Beth.
Soon, the light went out.
Leaning against the outer wall of the lodging, he pulled out a cigar. The sharp scent of the cigar mixed with Beth’s sweet fragrance, swirling around him.
Beth didn’t know.
She had no idea that he was still there, beneath the window by her bedside.
(T/L: Woah! This novel is really a roller coaster. Well, at least we had this sweet chapter in between lol.)
