Sharti hurriedly checked the man’s wounds in response to his sudden condition. She felt his wrist and placed a hand on his forehead.
‘…No fever.’
It was quite different from his previous nightmare-like state.
The man was frowning as if in great pain. However, there were no burst or infected areas.
As he groaned and tossed, Sharti examined various parts of his body to identify the cause.
“…”
Sharti alternated between massaging the man’s legs and gently touching his body, avoiding the wounded areas.
Gradually, the man became quiet again.
‘What is it?’
Sharti and Tein looked at each other with puzzled expressions.
“Ah!”
As if having a realization, Tein let out a short exclamation.
“This is the mother’s healing touch!”
“…?”
Tein murmured seriously, bringing Sharti’s hand to the man’s wound.
“It’s a treatment my grandmother often uses on me! She said it’s a very profound and difficult healing method that can’t be found in any book!”
“…”
Oh.
‘Did his eyebrow just twitch?’
Sharti’s eyes narrowed.
In contrast, Tein’s eyes sparkled as he looked up at Sharti.
“Grandmother said there’s nothing better than a mother’s healing touch for stomach aches. I see you’ve learned it too, teacher!”
The child’s bright eyes were filled with admiration for his mentor.
The ‘mother’s healing touch’ said to be perfected over many years.
Tein was now sensing in Sharti the true form of a master he had seen in his grandmother, Bireta.
“…”
Could the mother’s healing touch really be effective?
‘That can’t be.’
Sharti looked at the man with skeptical eyes.
But seeing Tein’s passionate gaze, she changed her train of thought.
‘He might be emotionally uneasy even in his unconscious state. He did seem to have nightmares often.’
Recalling the previous incident, Sharti nodded. She had heard about the calming effect of human body heat even in unconscious states.
‘But his abdomen seems strangely tense.’
Sharti gently removed her hand from the man’s body.
“…Ugh.”
A short groan escaped the man’s lips.
Tein’s eyes sparkled.
“Teacher! You must never remove your hand. I’m too young to use the mother’s healing touch yet.”
The small response from the patient who had been sleeping like the dead seemed dramatic to Tein.
Inevitably, Sharti took charge of changing the man’s bandages and applying medicine.
The kind-hearted Tein was satisfied just assisting from the side.
“But teacher, don’t we need to find the patient’s family?”
“Yes. If I go home late, Birena sister worries a lot. This patient can’t go home either. His family must be very worried.”
However, she couldn’t recklessly go around trying to find out the man’s identity.
There were many issues with asking the villagers to find out on her behalf.
‘Except for Tein’s family, I haven’t really built relationships with anyone. And it could lead to troublesome situations.’
So Sharti, who had to hide many things in her life, inevitably had to hide the unidentified man as well.
“Why wouldn’t he want others to know he’s injured? His family will be worried.”
Faced with this innocent and pure question, Sharti nodded.
‘…That’s right. They would worry.’
Sharti looked at the man on the bed.
As Tein said, the man’s family might be wondering about his fate and waiting for him even now.
Tein tilted his head, seemingly not understanding.
Tein’s small mouth closed tightly.
Sharti was the only person with whom Tein had shared his sole secret, being someone who cared deeply for his family and had a good nature.
“I think I understand!”
Tein nodded.
“Yes!”
Personal matters were not for a doctor to judge arbitrarily.
A doctor’s domain was the patient’s treatment, not the guardian’s state of mind or situation.
‘In any case, since I saved his life, they shouldn’t blame me for not sending news right away.’
If questioned later, she could explain it as an effort to reduce potential risks to the patient’s safety.
Afterward, while having an herbal lesson with Tein in the cave, it was already late in the day.
Sharti looked admiringly at Tein, who was muttering and memorizing what he had learned today.
‘The sun will set soon.’
Yellow twilight was seeping into the cave.
Sharti quickly finished tidying up the cave interior.
“Then I’ll just have dinner with you and go home today, teacher!”
Though it was a bit early, Tein took out two rice balls from the bag he was carrying.
“Thanks to the patient, we’re using a lot of herbs. I always get 100 points! Thank you. So I brought food for the patient again today.”
Tein generously divided half of the rice ball he brought as the man’s dinner portion.
Sharti chuckled at the admirable sight of him wanting to share the remaining half with his teacher.
Seven years old was a crucial growth period. She couldn’t take food from a child.
“Ah! I understand!”
Tein nodded vigorously and took a big bite of the rice ball.
Sharti broke off small pieces of the rice ball to make it easier for the man to eat. She also put small amounts of water to his lips to help him swallow.
Staring intently at this scene, Tein spoke while holding the rice ball with both hands.
“The patient is like a baby.”
Pft. Sharti reflexively turned her head.
Since she was putting small pieces into his mouth so he could chew as comfortably as possible, Tein’s analogy wasn’t strange.
‘Still, calling him a baby.’
Sharti barely managed to hold back her laughter.
Seeing Sharti laugh, Tein also giggled along.
“…”
In the cheerful atmosphere, neither of them noticed the thick vein that appeared and disappeared on the man’s forehead.
It would only be to the village entrance, as they might encounter soldiers.
“Yes, teacher!”
After Tein gave a final bow to the man, he took Sharti’s hand. Sharti, leaving the cave with Tein, blocked the entrance with a screen woven from bushes and branches.
As the two moved further away from the cave and their footsteps faded, a dark figure stirred in the darkness left inside the cave.
“…”
The dark figure slowly rose from the bed and turned its head from side to side, stretching its neck muscles.
Cyan eyes scanned the dim cave.
“…Ha.”
The man sighed, pressing his temples.
“…A baby, really.”
The man put his feet on the floor below the bed, wearing an incredulous expression.
Clear eyes and natural movements. It was unlike the patient who had been sleeping like the dead in front of Sharti.
Of course it was.
“To think I’ve been pretending to sleep for days and being treated like a baby.”
The man, whose consciousness had faintly returned two days ago and had opened his eyes, had been acting and deceiving Sharti’s eyes until now.
“Well, I don’t know who I am either, so I should be grateful in that respect.”
His injuries were not only physical.
When the man opened his eyes, his mind was already empty.
* * *
Confused mind.
A body heavy as a wet cloth.
Dark vision.
A parched throat.
These were the sensations he felt as he regained consciousness while suffering from nightmares.
−’…What is this?’
This was his first thought as soon as he barely opened his eyes. It was also the curiosity he had while slowly closing and opening his eyes in the darkness.
In the place filled with darkness, he was alone.
−’…What on…’
The man swallowed a gasp at the stinging pain in his abdomen as he tried to sit up. Then he smelled the strong scent of herbs.
The man inhaled the various herbal scents permeating the darkness, trying to calm himself.
On the other hand, his mind was in chaos.
−’Who… am I?’
First, the man tried to recall his name.
Next was his identity, then the situation, and finally the location.
−…My head just hurts.
He gained nothing.
Rather, with his head throbbing, the man lay back down.
−’There’s a problem with my head.’
Unable to remember even his name, let alone anything else, the man silently accepted his amnesiac state.
Instead, he tried to grasp the current situation.
−’Someone is treating me. Do they know about me?’
Even if he couldn’t remember anything, he could feel that his condition was not normal without even looking.
The bandages wrapped around his body and the herbs applied to various wounds. He could deduce that someone was treating him while he was unconscious.
But that was all.
−…I should be cautious for now.
The man decided to bide his time.
The next day, the man woke up hearing someone entering the cave.
He pretended to sleep with his eyes closed.
−’Say something.’
Progress, situation, about him, anything would do.
The man was parched.
He desperately needed any information.
Then something touched his lips.
−…!
The man’s lips trembled slightly as he reflexively tried to open his eyes. But before that, his mouth opened slightly due to his thirst mixed with anxiety.
Cool water flowed in.
−…
It was just the taste of plain water. Feeling his anxious thirst somewhat quenched, the man quickly relaxed his body.
Afterwards, a bitter scent lingered at the tip of his nose.
−’What are they doing?’
His arms and legs were lifted by a weak force.
Soon after, he felt a slippery sensation touching various parts of his body.
−’…Medicine?’
The man focused on every movement of whoever was beside him.
The warmth touching his skin was gentle.
And small.
−’A woman?’
Strangely, the man had the ability to discern gender and age range just from a few brushes of touch. He could even gauge the physical differences between them.
It would be more certain if he could hear the voice, but unfortunately, no voice was heard.
−’It’s nice that it’s quiet.’
Throughout the treatment, the only sounds were their breathing and water droplets falling inside the cave.
It felt unfamiliar yet comfortable.
A moment later, after changing his bandages, the woman’s presence moved away briefly.
The man quietly lifted his eyelids.
−…
Unlike when he was alone, a faint light was dimly illuminating the cave.
Thanks to this, the man slightly turned his head to confirm the retreating figure.
−’…What is this?’
He saw a figure wrapped from head to toe in a long robe.
__________
Turns Out He’s Been Secretly in Love with Me (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: He acts like he doesn’t like her but is actually playing hard to get.
Synopsis:
Xu Muzhou like her. He has liked her for a very long time, and through repeated schemes, he finally closed the distance with her.
But this is still far from enough.
He wants to be the one who stands out among her many suitors, to fight for her attention, and to make her take the initiative to pursue him.
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