The topic that had been skillfully avoided was mentioned again.

‘I thought I had dodged it well, but I was mistaken.’

Sharti, who had overlooked Ren’s memory, touched her forehead.

Then suddenly Sharti tilted her head.

‘Would it be better to just be honest?’

It would be better to be momentarily embarrassed together than to drag out something trivial by being overly conscious of it.

Sharti glanced at Ren.

Seeing Ren’s unexpectedly enthusiastic appearance, Sharti’s deliberation was brief.

‘Alright. Let’s just address it properly now and move on.’

Sharti opened her mouth as calmly as possible.

“I can’t make the medicine the general store uncle requested. It’s not for therapeutic purposes.”

“What do you mean?”

Ren, who had been full of enthusiasm, paused.

After being lost in thought for a moment, Ren’s face hardened.

“Don’t tell me he requested a poison to be used for killing? From you, a doctor?”

“No. How could I sell something without knowing where and how it would be used?”

Sharti waved her hands in surprise at Ren’s completely mistaken guess.

“That’s right.”

Ren nodded in relief.

Sharti carefully observed his expression. It seemed Ren abhorred the idea of a doctor who should save lives making poison to kill people.

Just as Sharti was feeling a pang of conscience while glancing at the herb room, Ren spoke.

“Use lethal poison only for yourself, Sha.”

Sharti opened her eyes wide at the unexpected words.

She thought Ren would surely tell her not to even consider such things as poison.

Sharti blankly looked up at Ren.

“If someone who used your poison gets caught, you’ll surely be in danger too, Sha. It’s better not to let dangerous things out of your hands.”

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

Sharti nodded in agreement, caught off guard.

Ren’s eyes looked solemn as he gave advice.

‘How should I put it… It seems to have a somewhat dual meaning.’

Sure enough, the corners of Ren’s mouth rose and then returned to their original position.

Sharti, who hadn’t missed that fleeting moment, let out a small laugh.

“Anyway, the medicine the general store uncle requested isn’t my area of expertise. That’s why I refused, but…”

As Sharti’s voice trailed off with embarrassment, Ren’s expression also became serious.

Belatedly realizing he had fallen for the general store owner’s snake-like speech, Ren gritted his teeth.

“So that man deceived me and entrusted you with an impossible request. If he comes again, I’ll talk to him directly.”

Watching Ren quietly clench his fist, Sharti awkwardly rolled her eyes.

It seemed the general store owner would be having a conversation with Ren’s fist.

For the safety of the general store owner, Sharti sighed deeply and corrected the facts.

“Rather than deceiving, he was a bit underhanded.”

“Underhanded?”

“Well, the general store uncle misunderstood the relationship between Ren and me. He thought he was really being helpful, so he just sweet-talked Ren a bit.”

“…”

Ren’s expression worsened, as if his pride had been hurt. Of all things, the general store owner had made a statement that seemed to doubt Sharti’s skills, and he had taken the bait immediately.

It was all his own fault, so Ren had nothing to say.

With a gloomy face, Ren clenched his innocent fist even tighter.

“To think I fell for such a trick…”

Ren muttered ominously.

As he repeatedly mulled over Sharti’s words, Ren suddenly raised his gaze.

“…Then is it true that I could be of help?”

Sharti fidgeted with her fingers, slightly avoiding Ren’s piercing gaze.

“There was a misunderstanding, you know.”

“Misunderstanding?”

Ren slightly furrowed his brows, recalling the general store owner’s misunderstanding.

Newlyweds, husband, and support.

“…”

Ren also subtly avoided Sharti’s gaze.

Unlike Sharti, it wasn’t because he was embarrassed or awkward. It was because his conscience was pricked by his attitude of neither affirming nor denying to the general store owner.

A moment of silence passed like that.

“…I’m sorry, Sha. I put you in an awkward position.”

It was an apology uttered in a low voice, as if feeling ashamed.

Sharti waved her hand. Just as she was about to end the conversation, thinking it was fortunate that things were cleared up now,

“But Sha, if we had that kind of relationship, exactly how would I be of help?”

He had been deceived, but wasn’t it already an accepted request?

Ren’s mindset remained unchanged.

“I’ll do my best to help with all I can.”

Sharti touched her forehead.

‘This isn’t it!’

Contrary to her wishes, she ended up receiving Ren’s active assistance.

In the end, Sharti spoke in a half-resigned state.

“He wants medicine for married couples to use.”

“…What?”

“To be precise, a drug to enhance stamina in bed.”

“…!”

Ren’s face, shocked, instantly turned bright red.

“I-I didn’t know he’d ask you to make s-such a thing. I-I’m sorry, sorry.”

Greatly flustered, Ren stuttered and bowed his head.

He wasn’t a naive boy. Even with lost memories, he knew what he needed to know.

This time, a longer silence than before passed between the two.

Sharti, whose face had also reddened, plopped down on the sofa, hugging her knees and burying her face in them.

‘I guess there are times when this log cabin feels hot.’

In fact, stamina-enhancing drugs were commonly used in daily life. There were many professions that required stamina, such as knights or students.

Regardless of marital status, with just knowledge of herb combinations, the manufacturing method for the bedroom use that the general store owner wanted wasn’t much different.

“It’s beyond me. I have no intention of making it.”

However, Sharti was born in the conservative Kingdom of Crianet and had never even recognized a man as the opposite sex, let alone dated. Naturally, despite whatever knowledge she had picked up here and there, she was bound to be ignorant about the use of such medicine.

So of course, it was natural for her to feel not just embarrassment but even aversion.

“When that man comes again, I’ll explain it well. Sha, regardless of your intentions, it’s as if that man and I arbitrarily entrusted it to you, so if I explain well, he’ll understand.”

“…Do you think so?”

“…”

Ren paced restlessly in front of Sharti.

Unlike her weak voice, Sharti was quite composed.

At that time she had felt at a loss and shocked, but after taking time to think calmly, she realized there was no need to faithfully carry out a request arbitrarily assigned by the general store owner, as Ren said.

‘There’s no request fee received either.’

The request fee paid by the general store owner along with the medicine price was for a nutritional supplement good for skin beauty.

Sharti snorted softly.

How could she have vaguely accepted a request that should have been entrusted with trust?

‘We don’t even know if Ren will be here when the general store uncle comes back, and anyway, it was the general store uncle who misunderstood on his own, so it seems like it can be resolved through conversation.’

The general store owner had already recognized and highly praised her skills, proposing regular transactions.

It didn’t seem likely that her relationship with the profit-driven general store owner would be ruined.

Sharti glanced at Ren out of the corner of her eye.

‘Now Ren won’t easily fall for superficial words either.’

Sharti hoped Ren would gain awareness from this opportunity.

‘Even Ren’s casual words can be taken differently by others.’

Sharti fiddled with her warm earlobe.

The reason she had been agonizing over the rejected request until now was partly because she kept thinking of Ren’s remarks about dedicating his body along with the title of master, and the general store owner’s misunderstanding.

It was hard to tell who was overly immersed in the false status of slave and master.

“Um, Ren, that’s enough now. The request—”

“…I was hasty then.”

“…?”

Just as Sharti was about to speak to calm Ren down, he sat down at her feet with a thud and started to reflect.

Surprised, Sharti drew in a sharp breath.

“I was angry at that man’s attitude of speaking carelessly about you, and wanted to shut the mouth that spewed such words to you, and also, perhaps…”

His gaze showed concern for her, and his monotone voice was filled with anger at the general store owner’s rudeness.

“I was afraid another man might say he was needed, so I was hasty.”

“No, what— *cough* *cough*…”

Another man, really.

Surprised, Sharti choked as if something went down the wrong pipe.

“Wait—”

Startled by her intense reaction, Ren hurriedly brought water.

While doing so, he carefully patted her back.

Sharti, who had managed to drink water while thumping her chest, calmed down and caught her breath.

[‘Do you need two men? Am I not enough?’]

Recalling what he had said in front of the general store owner, Sharti looked at Ren with incredulous eyes.

“Why would I need another man, no, why would I need anyone else!”

“You might need a man with a sound mind.”

“I don’t need one! When I have Ren, why would I…”

Sharti, who had been sputtering in agitation, covered her mouth with a ‘hup’. Then she heard Ren let out a small laugh.

At the ticklish sound of laughter, Sharti unconsciously raised her head, then quickly lowered it again.

Seeing Ren’s face smiling as if relieved, her insides clenched and churned.

“…Anyway, it was all a misunderstanding between us.”

Sharti pulled her hood down, hiding her face even deeper.

It was unclear whether she was trying to hide her expression or her emotions.

“And that request is a misunderstanding too.”

For now, she wanted to finish their conversation and leave.

Before her heart could react to the emotion it was feeling now.

Sharti calmly explained to Ren about another request she had received and that there would be no trouble because of it.

“—I’m sorry for not saying earlier. But Ren, please be careful from now on too. Um, then rest well.”

“Sha—”

As Sharti quickly got up to go to her room, Ren stopped her.

Always leaving room for her to shake him off, Ren grabbed her sleeve and hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I’ve put on the clothes you made, and the weather is nice. We’ve had a meal, and the misunderstanding is cleared up… How about going outside?”

Speaking in no particular order as thoughts came to him, Ren let go of her unresponsive sleeve and headed to the kitchen.

Then he unexpectedly came out of the kitchen holding a wooden water bucket.

‘When did he find that?’

It was the wooden water bucket Sharti used every time she fetched water from the stream.

‘Right. I promised.’

She had promised Ren to go out after meeting Bireta.

Moreover, although there was drinking water left, the water for washing tomorrow was running out and she needed to fetch water from the stream.

Sharti nodded.

“Let’s go then. For exercise.”

As Ren’s face brightened at the successful invitation to go out, Sharti also smiled slightly.

It would have been fine to just tell her to keep the promise, but Ren deliberately added reasons to go out like an excuse.

Ren sometimes approached awkwardly and carefully, and each time, Sharti felt a tickle in her chest.

Stuffy and slow, but Sharti and Ren’s pace was gradually matching.

As Ren said, the weather was good and the mountain air was clear and cool.

Winter was approaching, but today the sunlight was strong so the cold wasn’t felt much.

“Aren’t you cold?”

“It’s warm.”

It was worth buying thick fabric.

Since the measurements had been adjusted several times to fit his frame, it fit Ren’s body perfectly. Throughout the walk in the mountains, there were no signs of discomfort.

Unlike Sharti, who felt proud, Ren was entirely focused on their surroundings.

“Be careful.”

Ren walked behind her, concerned that Sharti might get hurt in the dense undergrowth they had chosen to avoid people’s eyes, rather than the regular mountain path.

At the same time, he was careful not to let the clothes Sharti had made get scratched by branches and such.

“But even if we fill this wooden bucket with water, it won’t be enough to fill one bathtub. How many trips did you usually make?”

“It varies depending on the time. Basically, I go more often in summer and less in winter.”

“…I see.”

The water storage container in the old log cabin would be roughly filled after pouring water from the wooden bucket he was holding more than 30 times.

Imagining her struggling alone on this rough path carrying the water bucket, Ren furrowed his brow.

“Do you fetch drinking water separately? Where do you get it from?”

“They distribute it in the village.”

“…”

Ren swallowed a sigh.

His hand gripping the wooden bucket handle tightened.

He couldn’t earn money, and he didn’t have the brains to be an assistant. Then there was only one thing he could do.

[You shouldn’t make a woman suffer!]

He had to take charge of the housework to make Sharti’s life easier.

“It’s over there.”

Ren raised his head at the sound of water, cool to the point of being cold.

The stream came into view.

Following Sharti towards the stream, Ren immediately filled the wooden bucket with water. It was quite heavy.

“Let’s go then.”

“Wait. Sha, you stay here.”

Ren, who effortlessly lifted the wooden bucket with one hand, turned to Sharti with a calm face.

Ren pointed to a rock near the stream.

“Sit there and I’ll be right back.”