As expected, his right hand was wrapped in bandages.

What was strange was that they were mainly wrapped around his palm, not the back of his hand.

Sharti looked up at Ren with a suspicious gaze.

‘Let me see your hand.’

Sharti pointed to his hand, but Ren only held out the bowl.

“It’s good to eat something since you slept without dinner.”

Ren recommended with deep eyes and an impassive face.

Sharti picked up a fruit, unable to refuse after he had gone through the trouble to bring it.

It looked so appetizing, as if he had scrubbed it until the pale green fruit gleamed.

‘This is the first time I’m eating one this intact.’

For Sharti, these were fruits she could only luckily pick up when birds dropped them on the ground.

And even then, it was her first time seeing one so well-ripened and perfectly round.

Sharti glanced at him before popping it into her mouth.

‘Sweet!’

Sharti’s eyes sparkled as she tasted the fruit’s sweetness spreading in her mouth.

There was no sour taste at all, rather it had a pleasant chewiness and was sweet.

“Is it good?”

Ren asked casually, sensing the sweet scent from under the hood.

Sharti nodded vigorously.

“Get up and eat more. I picked a lot.”

Ren set the bowl down on the bed, trying not to show his satisfaction.

Sharti sat up completely and swallowed the fruit.

“Before that, let me see your hand first.”

“…”

“You don’t want to?”

Noticing Sharti’s terrible voice had turned sarcastic, Ren immediately held out both hands.

Sharti focused on examining the bandaged hand, and Ren cleared his throat.

“It’s nothing. The handle broke and just scratched me a bit.”

“What handle?”

“…The axe handle I received when I borrowed the wooden boards.”

Ren added that he had also borrowed an axe from Bireta to make a temporary bedroom door.

Sharti’s expression turned sour as she understood Ren’s meaning.

Did he swing that axe just to pick some fruit?

‘That axe handle must have been as thick as my forearm…?’

She decided not to ask whether it broke naturally or if he broke it himself.

Either way, she couldn’t imagine it.

Instead, she sighed at the reason why Ren’s bandaging skills were improving day by day.

‘Wrapping his abdomen and thighs, then his forearm, even his face, and now his palm…’

Sharti forcefully suppressed the rising feeling of distress.

Then she unwrapped the bandage to check his wound.

“It’s nothing.”

As Ren tried to pull his hand away with an embarrassed face, Sharti firmly grasped his wrist.

The corner of Ren’s mouth twitched.

Though Sharti’s grip was weak to the point of being ticklish for him, he obediently let himself be held.

“I’ll put some ointment on it.”

The thick skin of his palm was torn, as if it had been deeply pierced by a wooden splinter.

As Sharti tried to get off the bed to fetch the ointment, Ren stopped her.

“If you tell me what it looks like, I’ll find it.”

After hearing about the ointment’s size, smell, and color, Ren left the bedroom.

It took about five trips back and forth before Ren was finally able to apply the ointment.

“…They all look similar.”

Ren muttered with furrowed brows, but Sharti pretended not to hear and carefully applied the ointment.

It was common not to be able to distinguish weeds from medicinal herbs. But Ren seemed particularly lacking in discernment.

That made him seem more human-like.

Sharti chuckled, thinking unexpectedly that the gods were fair after all.

“…”

As Sharti blew gently on the wound, Ren’s ears turned red.

Without letting go of Ren’s twitching hand, Sharti carefully wrapped it in bandages.

“Ahem. Thank you.”

“Thank you for the fruit too. But don’t overdo it next time.”

What doctor would like to see more injuries?

Besides, Ren was about to leave now, so she wanted to send him off in the best health possible.

On the other hand, Ren just nodded vaguely.

“Alright, now eat.”

Ren’s gaze was insistent as he urged her to eat the fruit.

When Sharti put another fruit in her mouth as he wished, Ren’s eyes curved slightly.

‘He shows more expressions on his face than expected.’

Ren usually maintained an impassive face, either stern or frowning.

But looking closely, one could see that Ren was actually hiding various expressions.

Even he himself didn’t seem to realize the diverse changes in his expressions.

‘I think I’ll want to eat more later.’

Sharti picked up another fruit as if addicted to the sweetness.

Not often having the chance to eat candy, let alone fruit, her hand moved on its own.

Ren watched the decreasing number of fruits with a satisfied expression, arms folded.

‘…Wait, this isn’t the time.’

Sharti, belatedly regaining her senses, swallowed the fruit juice in her mouth.

She had been too deeply immersed in the sweetness enjoyed after bathing.

“What’s wrong?”

Ren reacted when Sharti, who had been eating the fruits as if to empty the bowl, suddenly suppressed her appetite.

Sharti looked at Ren with narrowed eyes.

“Sha?”

“Say it again.”

“Say what?”

Sharti shook her head.

She had become so accustomed to Ren’s way of speaking that she hadn’t realized what was strange throughout their conversation until now.

“We agreed to practice, didn’t we?”

At Sharti’s point, Ren shut his mouth.

He too seemed to have just remembered the purpose of their conversation.

Ren cleared his throat, covering his mouth.

“That’s right… sir.”

His expression was stiff, as if the words didn’t sit well in his mouth.

But he glanced at Sharti and unfolded his arms.

“I’m not sure if one day will be enough… sir.”

“…?”

“It seems I’ll need to correct not just my speech but my attitude as well… sir.”

Certainly, Ren’s attitude was just right for picking a fight.

Going forward, attitude correction would be especially necessary if he were to continue living as an escaped slave.

Above all, Bireta valued manners.

“Sha, you’re making an effort to converse with me, so I should make an equal effort for this to be practice… sir. So, for a while, I’ll think of you, Sha, as my real master. No, I will do so, sir.”

“…What?”

Unable to follow the flow of conversation, Sharti reflexively asked back.

Regardless, Ren’s face showed he had made up his mind.

He even seemed to be enjoying it.

“Rather, from now on, Sha, you should speak casually… sir. No master would use honorifics with a slave.”

Before Sharti could say anything, Ren bent down and knelt on one knee.

Then, as if realizing something was off, he knelt on both knees.

The eye level with Ren changed.

“Sha, my master-”

“…!”

Sharti caught her breath as her eyes met the teal-colored ones.

Flustered by the serious gaze, Sharti grabbed the blanket and turned her head away.

“I’m, I’m sleepy so I’ll go to bed now. Good night.”

Sharti quickly lay down, turning her back on Ren.

She covered herself with the blanket, hoping he wouldn’t notice her strangely racing heartbeat.

“…Alright… sir.”

Ren, momentarily taken aback by Sharti’s sudden avoidance and hiding, soon realized it was dawn and quickly left the bedroom.

As soon as she heard the door close, Sharti took a deep breath.

‘…Will my fever rise again?’

She felt her temperature rising due to her irregularly beating heart.

The embarrassment, awkwardness, and pressure she hadn’t felt in front of the soldiers now hit her.

‘Ah!’

Belatedly coming to her senses, Sharti realized she hadn’t refused the title of ‘master.’ Overcome with self-loathing, Sharti kicked the blanket repeatedly.

After thoroughly shaking the dust out of the blanket, Sharti took a calm breath.

‘Wouldn’t it be better if I became the employer instead? It sounds better too. If I help Grandmother Bireta with her work, I’ll encounter mercenaries, so it would be good to get used to the title of employer.’

She didn’t want to hear Ren call her ‘master’ as soon as she woke up. Apart from being embarrassing, it was an excessive, undeserving title for her.

After pondering about titles for a while, Sharti unconsciously rubbed her neck.

“…”

Due to being completely focused on Ren, her worries about her terrible voice had been pushed aside.

The time she had suffered from anxiety and worry before speaking seemed futile now.

Sharti’s eyes reddened slightly.

‘Not once did he grimace because of my voice.’

Though he didn’t show it, Ren was clearly mindful of Sharti’s voice. Sharti, who had been sensitive to others’ reactions until now, couldn’t have missed it.

But it wasn’t a reaction of enduring unconscious discomfort.

‘Rather, he only watched my reactions. As if afraid I might stop the conversation.’

Sharti sniffled and rubbed her stinging eyes.

Ren truly wanted to ‘converse.’ He simply wanted to hear her voice sincerely.

He wasn’t a liar.

‘Why?’

Was it curiosity rather than sympathy?

Could it be an intention to uncover her weaknesses one by one?

‘I thought I knew more, but I still don’t understand Ren.’

Sharti became afraid to be certain whether ‘Ren’s’ shown behavior was sincere or false.

More precisely, she was scared of her growing desire to rely on the gentleness hidden in his calmness, the dependability of his large frame, and the clumsy concern engraved in his teal eyes.

Sharti wasn’t a person accustomed to loneliness.

She was a person consumed by loneliness. She was just waiting for someone to someday save her from being devoured by loneliness.

‘Ren…’

As thoughts and emotions settled, her heart beat regularly.

Pulling the blanket close, Sharti tried to sleep.

Two days left now.

Until Ren’s departure.

Early in the morning, Sharti yawned while rubbing her puffy face with her fist.

It was around the time she usually woke up.

Her temperature was normal, there was no dizziness, and she felt refreshed.

‘I should try to improve the cold medicine while I’m at it.’

Recalling the unsatisfactory effectiveness of the medicine, Sharti felt motivated.

After changing clothes and roughly combing her messy hair with her hands, Sharti put on a robe and left the bedroom.

Slightly opening the door to the utility room, she saw Ren was still asleep.

Sharti headed straight to the vegetable garden and harvested some vegetables.

‘I should have saved some meat.’

Feeling concerned about having to feed him only vegetables again, Sharti picked up a basket.

She needed to find something that could at least provide the texture of meat.

‘Let’s go pick some mushrooms.’

Sharti left the house enthusiastically, but tilted her head at the scenery that looked different today.

The dense trees that used to create an eerie atmosphere now looked sparse, and the ground around the old log cabin was messy.

‘…Surely all that isn’t weeds?’

Sharti made a disgusted face at the pile of grass stacked next to the storage shed. For now, she ignored the weed pile and climbed the mountain.

After being sick for a day, the cold mountain air felt refreshingly chilly to the bone.

However, despite her enthusiasm, the mushroom harvest was disappointing even though she purposely went higher up to avoid overlapping with the villagers. After a brief consideration, Sharti moved towards the sound of water.

‘I wonder if I can catch any fish.’

Sharti wasn’t particularly skilled at fishing.

But if she could catch just one here, it seemed like it would solve today’s meal quantity.

‘I should feed him well before he leaves.’

Clenching her fist, Sharti headed towards the stream with hope.

Finding the stream without getting lost, Sharti rolled up her sleeves.

‘Ugh, it’s cold.’

As it was approaching winter, the stream water was like ice.

At times like this, there was a fishing method Bireta had taught her. Sharti looked around.

Grunting, she lifted a large stone and threw it hard into the stream.

Splash-! It successfully hit the rocks wedged between the stream, and fish floated up from between the rocks.

‘Got it!’

She quickly scooped up the fish with the basket she had temporarily emptied of mushrooms.

Though it was only as big as her palm, the fish was quite plump.

‘I should also gather some herbs to mask the fishy smell.’

Sharti’s steps lightened, her mood lifted by the weight of the basket.

Ren woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside.

With his hair still messy, he left the room and was enveloped by the familiar silence as he had been every morning.

“…Sha?”

Ren, about to look for Sharti first, noticed a note on the table.