Even the moon was hidden behind the clouds on this late night. Sharti, having risen from her bed, was massaging her heavy arms and legs. However, no matter how much she kneaded them, the knotted muscles wouldn’t loosen.

Sharti shook her head with frustration.

“I knew it would be like this.”

After crushing herbs all day long, her wrists were bound to ache. Moreover, hastily escaping due to the unexpected appearance of Matapju had left her legs sore.

“My body and eyes are tired, but sleep won’t come.”

Sharti sighed and hugged her knees.

Ashu’s village was now safe. Matapju had personally come and promised the village’s protection, and the mercenary corps had taken responsibility for the safety of the residents. The result of her worried efforts had fortunately been successful.

Now Sharti only needed to focus on the recovery of weakened patients as a healer.

“Oh, I don’t know…”

Sharti collapsed onto the side without further movement.

Despite things going well, Sharti felt stifled and her mind was complicated all day long.

“Whom should I blame for my foolishness?”

Groaning, Sharti tossed and turned in bed. In the process, she unconsciously tousled her hair that had been neatly arranged on the pillow.

In the darkness, her pitch-black hair looked like the black hair that briefly transformed through magic during the day.

Naturally, reflexively, Ren’s confession came to mind again.

“I wanted to remember only the face I like.”

Sharti pulled the pillow to her face.

Her ear tinged red again.

“Just to clarify, in case you misunderstand again, the face I find beautiful is the one hidden under the hood.”

Sharti lifted the pillow and waved it towards the empty air. Not only her nose pressed against the pillow but her whole face was flushed.

In the darkness, along with her spirited breathing, the rapid beating of her heart echoed vividly in her ears.

Eventually, Sharti dropped the pillow onto her face.

“I told Ren not to misunderstand.”

But why did she keep giving undue significance, causing this commotion in the middle of the night without being able to sleep?

Ren simply confessed his personal preference in faces. It was just a straightforward, innocent clarification of Sharti’s misunderstanding.

Sharti lowered her head deeply.

“But it was the first time.”

She had never heard someone say her face was pretty. Above all, it was the first time someone expressed romantic affection towards her.

“The words about wanting to remember the face I like…”

At first, Sharti thought Ren was being kind, offering comforting words for her low self-esteem. She thought he was awkwardly comforting her with sweet lies.

However, in that moment when the wind blew, Ren’s sincerity was transmitted without any means of escape. Sharti couldn’t respond to his genuine feelings.

The turquoise eyes of Ren, seen at that moment, remained vivid in her mind.

“It won’t work. Maybe I should go out and get some fresh air; then I might be able to sleep.”
Coming in from the cold to the warmth of a blanket is truly comforting. In that case, sleep was undoubtedly about to come pouring in. However, when Sharti lifted her body, the tingling pain in her legs immediately changed her thoughts.

“Well, even if I open just one window, I can still breathe in the night air.”

With a quick decision, Sharti crawled to the wall, holding onto it.

Lifting the short curtain and unlocking the window latch, Sharti opened the window.

“…!”

A pair of large eyes were staring at Sharti right in front of her nose.

With a heart-dropping sense of fear, Sharti staggered back, and at the same time, she felt drowsy. Gripping the arms and hands of the unknown intruder, whose limbs extended unpredictably, Sharti struggled.

“I can’t breathe…!”

Gasping for breath, Sharti squinted her eyes. The intruder, who entered the room through the window in the darkness, was covering their entire face except for the eyes.

Swoosh, the masked figure silently exerted force on the grip, pulling a dagger from the hip. Sharti’s face was illuminated by the blade’s reddish glow.

Tears of physiological pain welled up in Sharti’s eyes.

” Another window!”

In a critical moment, Sharti inwardly cried out for justice while clutching small pouches from her pocket.

Then, without hesitation, she burst the powder from the pouch towards the masked figure. Bang! As the green powder scattered in front of their eyes, the masked intruder reflexively swayed Sharti aside.

…!

Sharti, released from the grip of the intruder, pressed against the wall with her hands around her throat.

“How did they enter the village?”

The eerie eyes, one pair, gradually filled with redness. Even though the pain from the burning eyes should be felt, the masked figure only swayed their body, not letting out a single whimper.

Despite knowing she needed to escape, her legs wouldn’t cooperate. The moment the masked figure extended their creepy eyes right in front of her when she opened the window, her legs gave way.

“I should call the mercenaries, or no, maybe the grandmother.”