Sharti woke up to the morning bird sounds. Slowly blinking her eyes, Sharti sat up. Her hood came off, and her wavy dark hair flowed down.

“When did I fall asleep?”

Sharti rubbed her eyes and tried to recall her last memories. She remembered lying down on this makeshift bed while waiting for Ren, and then the conversation seemed to have gone on for a while.

“Then, as I had various thoughts, my eyes got heavy, and I must have fallen asleep.”

Taking a moment to close her eyes turned into falling asleep.

Feeling physically and mentally exhausted, her consciousness was cut off as soon as the tension was released.

Yawning, Sharti stretched her body lightly.

“Ren?”

Even after looking around the room, Ren was nowhere to be seen.

Sharti casually relaxed her muscles.

“We finished the conversation well, I suppose.”

As a magic-sensitive magician, Sharti had confirmed that Ren’s constitution, which did not allow magic, was certain.

However, as someone who had met Ren dying in the cave and healed him, Sharti had an unresolved doubt.

At that time, Ren had suffered a severe burn due to a magic explosion targeting him. Although it might not have been a direct attack, there was a high probability that it was an explosion aimed at Ren.

“Even if his constitution doesn’t allow magic, can someone inflict such a significant injury with magic?”

Whether Ren had an awkward constitution or the magician who attacked him was formidable remained unknown.

Sharti had made various speculations throughout the night, but in the end, she couldn’t come up with a definitive hypothesis.

“Is Ren curious about it?”

Regardless, it might not be a constitution that Ren himself was aware of. It was a unique constitution that differed from others, as evidenced by Shukadi’s sparkling eyes.

Ren’s rare constitution was a special ability.

Naturally, Ren would be curious about his life before losing his memory.

“Oh, I wonder if Ren is not curious at all.”

Imagining Ren’s grumpy face, Sharti burst into laughter.

But then, her laughter gradually faded, and a bitter smile emerged.

“Am I the only one hanging on to Ren’s memory with holes?”

Interfering with other people’s memories might seem meddlesome and clingy.

Sharti sighed deeply.

She absentmindedly stared at the ceiling for a moment, then closed her eyes.

“Can you handle it?”

Ren’s question from last night was a sufficient answer for Sharti.

However, Sharti couldn’t provide Ren with an adequate answer.

She couldn’t remember what she felt at that moment. All she had was a lingering phrase.

“If you can handle it?”

Sharti buried her face in her hands.

A deep sigh flowed from the depths of her chest.

“It’s fortunate that I didn’t say anything back then.”

Maybe it would be better to let it pass as if nothing had happened.

Pure goodwill, human warmth, basic courtesy between people—wouldn’t that be enough?

Sharti wanted to continue her relationship with Ren as usual, without it becoming awkward.

Doctor and patient. Or master and assistant. A normal relationship, neither more nor less, was what she desired.
“…Cowardly, but it can’t be helped.”

Knowing yet pretending not to know, acknowledging and brushing it off as if nothing happened is not just cowardice but a selfish act.

However, are there any other choices?

“No certainty for Ren.”

More precisely, Sharti found Ren’s uncertain past and the present he lost to be unsettling factors.

Sharti bit her lip.

“What if he has a family?”

Objectively, Ren was handsome.

It wasn’t a generally handsome appearance. Thick eyebrows, a strong jawline, and a perfect harmony of sharp nose made up his features.

His physique went without saying. Tane described him as a bear, but the broad shoulders and muscular body resembling a statue were firm and sensual.

The dark red-brown hair against the tan skin emphasized Ren’s imposing aura, but his shining turquoise eyes were enchanting whenever he smiled.

“A man like that wouldn’t be overlooked by those around him.”

Sharti couldn’t have a firm conviction and opened her heart to the uncertainty.

Although not widely known, Sharti was, in any case, a bastard of the Krianet royal family.

Having spent her childhood not in the palace but wandering through the alleys, she vaguely guessed the stories related to her birth.

She might be the daughter of a woman the king casually embraced, or a commoner’s daughter whom the king deceived and abandoned after their encounter.

“It’s not either of them; that’s the only certainty.”

She was not much older than Princess Arisvian.

In other words, Sharti was born as a result of the king’s affair.

“I don’t want to be the partner for adultery, who would pierce the heart of someone else.”

Mocking herself and showing a timid attitude stemmed from her defensive nature.

Originally, Sharti was tough. To avoid getting hurt, to avoid showing her wounds, she diligently built a wall around her and became tough. And within that, Sharti cherished herself.

The heart she had protected so far could face an uncertain choice that might be left alone and decay in the log cabin.