No, to be precise, I arrived at a place similar to where the boy had collapsed.
“Did I come to the wrong place?”
I murmured, glancing around at the unfamiliar landscape I was seeing for the first time.
This place, surrounded by zelkova trees, was subtly different from where I had found the boy before.
Moreover, if this were the place he had been, there would have been traces of blood on the ground, but here, it was impeccably clean.
“I must have come to the wrong place.”
It didn’t take long to come to that conclusion.
Just as I was about to close my eyes and decide to just return to the mansion since I was here by mistake, a voice, not yet deepened but not uncomfortable to hear, came from behind.
“Who’s there?”
As if bewitched by the sound, I turned around to see a platinum-blond boy looking at me with a skewed posture.
“……”
I silently observed the boy, whose atmosphere had changed markedly from when I had seen him before.
The hair that fell down to his eyes covered his pretty features, and his red lips drew a cold, straight line.
(TL/N: For a sec I forgot who’s the guy and who’s the girl)
But more than that, it was the boy’s upper body that caught my attention even more.
Wondering if they had used their torn shirt as a bandage, their moderately well-balanced physique was fully exposed for all to see.
With the bare skin so vividly in front of them, they felt their face grow hot, quickly covering it with both hands.
Yet, unable to curb their curiosity, they peeked through slightly parted fingers, watching him.
The boy asked, “What are you looking at?” His voice had dropped considerably, signaling his displeasure with the situation.
“Ah….” They finally came to their senses, lowering the hands that covered their face.
Embarrassed, they muttered, “I was just looking at the… wound…”
“I’ve never seen anyone look at a wound with such eyes before,” the boy scoffed, stepping closer, one slow step at a time.
“Do you not realize how you were looking at me?”
As the boy came nearer, an indescribable sense of intimidation grew stronger.
“You had eyes that looked as if they would pounce on me the moment I let my guard down.”
(TL/N: Trust me she will but later I suppose)
It was said in jest, yet it wasn’t a joke at all. Of this, they were certain.
I swallowed dryly and bit my unfortunate lower lip in vexation. Despite trying to feign composure, I found myself involuntarily tensing up from the toes in the face of a situation I was confronting for the first time.
This person, who had been a mere wounded prey when I had seen them before, now undeniably resembled a predator lying in wait.
“Are you afraid of me?” Suddenly present right before me, the boy tilted his head. Then, using his finger, he gently tapped my forehead.
“Why? As you see, I’m the injured weaker one, and you’re the healthy, stronger one, right?”
“What nonsense are you talking about…!” In terms of physique, we were entirely different! I couldn’t bring myself to voice the rest and trailed off instead. There was no point in saying something that might provoke him.
“…You don’t have a weapon.”
“Huh?” After murmuring to himself, the boy quickly changed the subject as soon as he noticed my puzzled look.
“Never mind that. I’d rather know your name,” he said, lightly brushing back his hair, revealing violet eyes that I only fully noticed after he moved his hair away, and I indicated with a nod.
“You first.”
“Huh?”
“If you tell me first, I’ll tell you too.”
The boy seemed surprised by my sudden use of informal language, his eyebrows twitching.
But I was confident.
The House of Obelton was a leading family among the emperor’s faction, not obliged to use honorifics with any family other than the imperial family. While it was proper to use polite language in human interactions, when it came down to status, that was the case.
Moreover, the boy might not even be a noble. Therefore, I had even less reason to use honorifics with him.
“Interesting.”
His eyes, filled with curiosity, curved beautifully.
“So, you want me to reveal my name first, is that it?”
I nodded at the boy’s accurate summation of my intention.
“My name is Ruth… Ruth.”
“Ruth….”
I rolled the two letters of the name that suited the boy well in my mouth.
The easy-to-pronounce name rolled off my tongue smoothly, like a marble.
“Don’t you have a family name?”
“Do you want to know my last name?”
“No, I’m not particularly interested.”
If they had intended to tell me their last name, they would have done so when revealing their first name.
And if they didn’t plan to tell me, then I wasn’t too eager to know either.
“Then, as promised, tell me your name.”
I hesitated for a moment, glancing at Ruth who was reminding me of our promise and asking for my name.
My father had said not to reveal my name. But a promise is a promise, right?
I began to lean towards the idea that it might be okay to tell.
Finally, when the scales had completely tipped, I uttered a name.
“…Serbia.”
My real name was Selena, but the name I just uttered was my sister’s name, “Serbia.”
Due to having only met Ruth twice, I had hidden my real name, but in order to protect my secrets, I had to start by hiding my name. Thus, giving Ruth a fake name was an unavoidable choice.
I felt a slight guilt for using my sister’s name without her permission, but it was fine.
After all, everyone just passed by me. Ruth would likely do the same.
So, I thought it would be okay to borrow my sister’s name for just a moment.
“Serbia. Serbia, then what’s the last name?”
He repeated my name a few times before asking.
Since it was the same question I had asked earlier, I gave the same response.
“Do you want to know?”
“No. I don’t particularly want to know either. But what are you holding now? I’ve been curious since earlier.”
Ruth’s gaze turned to the bundle I was holding.
“Are you talking about this?”
When I gestured towards the bundle with my eyes, he nodded.
“Yes, that.”
“It’s medicine.”
“Medicine?”
His eyes, filled with suspicion, scanned me thoroughly.
“Are you hurt somewhere?”
“Not exactly…”
I couldn’t bring myself to reveal the truth and choked on my words.
It felt like my mind was becoming a blank slate.
There was a slight flaw in my ability to revive something that had not been dead for long.
“It seems like Ruth doesn’t remember you,” which meant the creature I revived had completely lost its memory of me.
(TL/N: She called him a cre… creature. Lol)
Therefore, Ruth wouldn’t remember meeting me a week ago.
But if I mentioned I brought the medicine to treat him amidst all this, he would surely find me strange.
What should I say? After pondering for a while, I replied in a shaky voice, “I…I brought it to play doctor.”
Playing doctor was not at all to my taste, but there was no better excuse than saying I brought the medicine for that.
Ruth looked around and asked, “If you brought it to play doctor, where’s the patient?”
“There isn’t one.”
“Isn’t it strange to play doctor without a patient?”
“What’s strange about it? If there’s no one to be the patient, you can use an injured animal, and if there’s no injured animal, you can use a broken branch. The patient doesn’t always have to be a person.”
“Now that you mention it, that makes sense.”
Ruth, with an odd expression, pointed at himself with his index finger.
“Then what about me?”
“Are you saying you want to play the role of a patient?”
“I just thought, since there’s a real patient right here, why bother looking for another elsewhere.”
He added jokingly and slowly trailed his finger down from his chest, following a wound.
My eyes lethargically followed the movement of his slender fingers.
“…Now that I think about it, Ruth.”
I grimaced awkwardly after seeing his shirt piece, which wasn’t clean to begin with but now was completely soaked in red. As if I had only just realized that Ruth was hurt.
“You’re injured.”
***
Because we couldn’t treat him in the middle of the forest, I took Ruth to my secret place, a cabin.
“Just bear with the pain a bit.”
I whispered to Ruth as I applied the hemostatic agent to his wound.
“Just finish the treatment already.”
Ruth grumbled with a bit of a muffled pronunciation as he was biting on a handkerchief.
Still, it seemed like he was good at listening to others, as he tried hard to suppress his groans.
It took a long time to apply the hemostatic agent and wrap the wound with a bandage because he flinched even with a slight touch. I had never used a bandage before, so it turned out a bit clumsy, but I was satisfied with it.
“That’s it.”
“Your skills are terrible. With those hands, you can’t even properly handle a dagger.”
Ruth quietly grumbled, looking down at his upper body at my words.
Despite his unsatisfied expression, his voice and face were intriguing.
“I know my skills are terrible, but this is when you’re supposed to say thank you, Ruth.
Regardless of whether you like the outcome or not.”
“…I’ve never said such a thing before.”
As if scolded by me, Ruth spoke with his ears turning slightly red.
“Then you can try it for the first time now. Repeat after me. Go, Ma, Wo.”
I couldn’t help but think his awkward attempt was quite cute, which made me playful and prompted him to say thank you. He blushed like a rose as he followed along.
“…Go, thank you.”
Although it was in a voice as tiny as an ant’s, it was enough.
“Right. Well done.”
As I smiled with my eyes and praised him, his face grew even warmer.
“Do you like this?”
Ruth, who had been watching me with a grin, suddenly asked an unexpected question.
“Yes. And it’s not just me; everyone would like it. There’s nobody in this world who finds sincerity unwelcome.”
“Little lady, always treat others with sincerity. Even if there are those starved for sincerity to the point of their hearts festering, there are hardly any who would not welcome another’s genuine feelings.”
I recalled the advice given by the nanny who had passed away two years ago and responded.
Ruth slightly furrowed his brows, seemingly unable to fully comprehend the meaning of the vague statement.
But since I still hadn’t fully grasped the meaning of those words myself, I couldn’t say much to him. Instead, I shifted the topic of our conversation in a different direction.
“I saw you walking well earlier, do you want to go for a walk?”
I checked the position of the sun and suggested a walk to Ruth.
The sky was still blue, so there seemed to be enough time for a walk.
“It was my intention to look around here anyway, so going for a walk wouldn’t be bad.”
Pleased with my suggestion, Ruth murmured lowly and took the lead towards the door. Then, after opening the door, she looked back at me as if he just remembered something.
“What are you doing there? Aren’t you coming?”
“No, I’m coming.”
I belatedly took my eyes off Ruth’s back and hurried to catch up with him, thinking to myself that he seems to enjoy this kind of thing.
He appeared indifferent, as if he wouldn’t be interested in anything, but this behavior was unexpected.
