3
“I’m going to take your temperature.”
I pressed the back of my hand against the man’s forehead, then pulled away and asked.
“You don’t really have a fever. How’s your stomach? Think you can eat something?”
It was time for me to get off work, but I was willing to make him some simple soup. The man, who had been staring at me intently, finally managed to speak after a long while.
“I thought it was a dream.”
“What was? The fact that you’re still alive?”
I added that his injuries had been quite severe, bringing the medicine box I had left on the shelf and sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Can you move?”
The man groaned and wriggled his body. I told him he didn’t need to force himself if it was too hard, but he sat up without a word. , I thought, opening the medicine bottle. It was better for me if he sat up anyway; it made changing the bandages easier.
“You said not to call a doctor, right? So I treated you myself, though I’m not a professional.”
I tried to strike up a conversation as I applied more ointment and rewrapped his bandages, but the man didn’t reply this time either. He just stared intently at me. He didn’t seem to have a very friendly personality.
“What do you want to do about food?”
Only after I asked about the meal a second time did the man reply that he would eat. But when I actually brought the food, he couldn’t easily lift the utensils. Figuring it would take him an eternity to finish, I took the spoon from his hand and fed him the soup myself.
The man was visibly awkward about it, but he didn’t refuse my kindness. Later, as I was leaving the room with the empty bowl, he asked a question.
“What’s your name?”
“Call me Yiel.”
“Yiel…”
The man softly murmured the name I had given him, then asked another question.
“Aren’t you curious about my name?”
I wasn’t particularly curious. He wasn’t from this village, and he was just a drifter who would leave eventually anyway. There was no real reason for me to know, but I had enough sense not to blurt out my honest thoughts. Furthermore, I knew that feigning interest when you had none was just a basic part of social awareness.
“What is it?”
The man lowered his gaze for a moment before looking me dead in the eye.
“Felix. Call me Fel.”
*
Ten days had already passed since the man named Felix began staying at the inn. Now looking much better, he stepped outside and greeted me.
“Hey, Yiel.”
“Hello, Fel.”
Unlike my first impression of him, the man often initiated conversation with me. He gestured toward the basket of firewood with his chin and asked.
“Want me to carry that?”
“It’s fine.”
The inn’s chores were my job to begin with, and more importantly, he was still a patient. It was too early to let my guard down just because he looked fine on the outside. When I refused, reasoning that he should focus on his recovery for now, he didn’t press the issue—but he did follow right behind me.
Any other time, I would have brushed it off without much thought. People resting here for a while often did meaningless things out of boredom. Taking a temporary lover, or deliberately showing interest in things they usually didn’t care about, for instance.
This time, however, I was a little worried because I had used my Divine Power to heal him. My first suspicion was that he wasn’t just trying to alleviate his boredom, but was rather closing the distance to test the waters, having noticed something.
I could almost hear the Master mocking me, telling me I shouldn’t have used my power in the first place if I was going to be this anxious. But I forced myself to justify it, thinking I had nothing to be ashamed of since I had only done what any decent person should.
Even as I tossed firewood into the fireplace in the first-floor hall, Felix stood quietly behind me. Because of my suspicion and anxiety, his gaze felt particularly uncomfortable, as if it were piercing into my back, making my shoulders tense up for no reason.
Should I just ask him what he wanted and shake him off? But experience told me that playing innocent usually just gave men an opening. And the moment you realized you didn’t hate the attention, you were already wrapped around their finger.
Lost in thought while throwing the logs into the fire one by one, I soon found the basket empty. Feeling the warm heat gradually spreading through the air, I picked up the basket and stood up. When I turned around, my eyes immediately met his; he must have been watching me the whole time.
“You do seem to heal faster than a normal person, but wouldn’t it still be better to rest in bed a little longer?”
I asked, masking my discomfort with concern. Felix briefly rolled his eyes before letting out a soft chuckle and meeting my gaze again.
“Like you said, I heal fast. I’m past the point where lying in bed does any good. Speaking from experience, it’s better for my recovery to move around a bit now.”
“I see,” I replied dryly, and started walking. Once again, Felix tagged along behind me, and I decided to just let him be. I figured he’d give up if I didn’t react.
When I did chores, Felix stood a few steps back; when I cooked or served, he sat at the bar and watched. Amazingly, he managed to stay right on the line of not interfering with my work. Having dealt with my fair share of people who couldn’t manage even that, he was exceptionally well-behaved. Anyway, I left him alone until it was time to clock out, and in the end, Felix was the one to break first.
“You seem used to this.”
As I wrapped a scarf around my neck and glanced at him, Felix stood with his arms crossed, his voice tinged with a hint of dissatisfaction.
“Having a guy follow you around all day.”
“Yes, a little.”
It was something I had gotten used to. This meant I was an easy target for drifters to casually hit on, but Felix seemed to interpret it as a sort of confidence, and he pouted slightly.
“Guess you aren’t completely innocent. And yet, the fact that you’re giving me absolutely no reaction… does that mean I’m not your type?”
That wasn’t it. Just like the drifters, I was also bored with this life, so if it hadn’t been for the issue with my Divine Power, I might have snapped him up right away. A temporary lover was perfect for killing time.
It had already been several years since I got married, but I still hadn’t slept with my Husband, the Count. It seemed he wanted to keep me pure, fearing that losing my virginity might cause the summoning to fail. That remained true even after the summoning was partially successful. Not only was the success incomplete, but he also wanted me to remain chaste simply because I was now considered the property of a god.
But the moment I was sent out of the castle, I began throwing away that purity, sleeping with an unspecified number of men in free, one-night stands as if to show off. Even I didn’t know the exact reason why—whether it was an act of self-harm or sheer rebellion. At the time, I just wanted to do it, and now I was enjoying it for a slightly different reason.
Currently, the Master was planting his energy all over this world through my body. When the time came, the Master’s subordinates would be born using those roots as a medium. They would emerge as entities fully adapted to this world. Through them, he would begin to shake the influence of the Main God, who held absolute authority over this realm. By doing so, he could significantly drain the Main God’s power before the war even began.
Only my constitution was needed for that; there was nothing special I had to do. As long as I didn’t leave the designated area, the Master didn’t care what I did. Because of that, this life out of the Count’s reach was far more livable than my life at the castle. Especially the fact that I wasn’t forced to remain pure and could meet men to my heart’s content.
But this time, I felt I needed to think it over. It was better to avoid dangerous bridges whenever possible.
“You’re still a patient.”
When I replied with a smile, Felix dropped his jaw in disbelief.
“Do I really look that weak to you?”
“It’s more a matter of my conscience.”
I shrugged, teasing that no matter what, there was a line—how could I possibly think of mounting a patient who had suffered such severe injuries? At my cheeky remark, Felix’s expression turned even more dumbfounded. I had joked to hide my true intentions, and partly because I had anticipated this exact reaction, but seeing him respond perfectly to my teasing put me in a rather good mood. I didn’t hide it, letting out a small laugh. His expression softened slightly at the sound.
“Have a good night, Fel.”
Leaving him speechless, I turned and walked out of the inn. Snow was falling lightly outside. It looked like tonight would be quite cold, too.
How long do I have to stay here, anyway? I hated the cold. The snowy scenery, in particular, reminded me of the northern castle, which was even more boring than this place. , I thought, looking up at the sky for a moment, when suddenly the door burst open.
“Yiel.”
It was Felix. His voice was urgent as he immediately closed the distance between us with long strides. The heat of another person washing over me without warning made my stomach lurch slightly. Whether from surprise, or from a vague sense of anticipation.
A large hand cupped my face, pulling me in. Our gazes drew close, and after a brief moment of exploration, he lowered his eyelids and pressed his lips against mine. His tongue thrust past my lips without hesitation, hot and heavy as it tangled intimately with mine.
