What’s going on? Is he not feeling well?

I couldn’t help but worry about his slightly unusual behavior today.

“Are you okay? You’re not sick, are you?”

I couldn’t help but worry, especially since he had been violently attacked by Reiana and passed out a while ago.

I knew all too well the content of the nightmares he had every night, because I had read the novel.

Could the dark circles under his eyes be because of nightmares?

He claimed to be generally healthy, but it was tough for a boy who hadn’t yet grown into an adult.

“Could you have a fever again…”

I instinctively reached out toward Askan’s forehead, worrying if he might have a fever like before.

Suddenly, Askan grabbed my hand in the blink of an eye.

For some reason, he was slightly frowning, but the corners of his eyes were unusually red.

“Do you do this with others?”

He sounded a bit angry, almost resentful.

I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant.

“Do what?”

“Do you touch anyone’s forehead like this to check their temperature?”

“What are you talking about? Why would I care if others have a fever?”

I’m not Mother Teresa, I don’t care about everyone.

“Because it’s you, that’s why.”

At my response, Askan’s golden iris fluttered. He soon squinted his eyes as if holding something back.

What’s going on? What’s with this reaction?

The one feeling awkward wasn’t him, it was me.

“Do you hate me checking your temperature so much? Or rather…”

There were a lot of things I wanted to say, but the heat from Askan’s hand was so intense, it felt like a flaming torch.

“Your hand, it’s really hot.”

At my words, Askan, as if realizing late, quickly let go of my hand.

Even after his hand left, the heat lingered for a while.

“At this rate, I don’t need to check your forehead to know for sure that you have a fever.”

“I don’t have a fever.”

“Then what?”

“My head’s a bit… cluttered.”

So his hand is hot because his head is cluttered?

I didn’t understand and could only look at him with a puzzled expression.

As if he wanted to escape the situation, Askan, hiding his reddened eyes, abruptly stood up from his seat.

When he stood, I was suddenly surprised at his height compared to mine. When did he get so tall? Has he always been this tall?

“I will take note of the areas you just mentioned. I’ve finished my dinner, so can I go now?”

“Yeah, sure.”

There was much more I had considered about Askan’s sudden departure, but I couldn’t hold him back, seeing as he seemed to want to leave.

I watched him as he exited the room with a faster pace than usual.

Suddenly, I remembered the map spread out on the table and hurriedly folded it.

No one would know our conversation just by looking at the map, but I didn’t want to leave any evidence that could raise suspicion.

In the nick of time, I stashed the map back in its original pocket just before Askan opened the door.

However, Jerin, who had been waiting outside, seemed to have seen me hiding something. He probably didn’t know it was the map.

After Askan left, Jerin hurriedly approached me.

“Miss, what happened?”

“No, why?”

“Askan’s face was really red? It’s the first time I’ve seen him like that.”

“Is that so?”

Why is he acting like that all of a sudden?

Unable to comprehend, I glanced in the direction Askan had disappeared to, then turned my head back.

But then I caught Jerin looking at me with suspicious eyes.

“What’s with that look?”

“Oh, no, miss.”

Jerrin awkwardly laughed and attempted to clear the food on the table.

It was then that I finally understood what Jerrin was thinking. After all, I knew that the original Tanashia had tormented Askan mercilessly.

“No, why would I torment Askan?”

“Ha, ha, of course.”

Just by hearing Jerrin’s awkward laughter, I could feel I was being suspected.

He seemed to misunderstand me even more after seeing my seemingly secretive demeanor.

“Really. I’m serious.”

“What did I say? Even if you tormented Askan, we couldn’t do anything about it. I was just surprised because you’ve been nice to Askan lately.”

So why are you surprised?!

I didn’t really torment him!

I felt so wronged I could die. I blocked Jerrin who was trying to clear the dessert from the table and defended myself.

“I really didn’t do anything, okay?”

I only tried to help Askan escape.

Moreover, technically, Askan holding my hand is a more significant physical contact than me trying to measure his fever with my forehead, isn’t it?

“Yes, I understand.”

When Jerrin tried to avoid me with an awkward smile, I felt so stifled that I was going insane.

No, you don’t know anything right now!

Bam!

Askan returned to his room.

The door closed more violently than usual, but he had no time to care about such things.

He had no idea how he managed to get here, as he could not recall anything from the moment he left Tanashia’s room.

‘How can she approach me so nonchalantly?’

At a distance where she would have been reachable if he had just stretched out his hand, Tanashia whispered her explanation. He was so conscious of her proximity that he could not hear a word she said.

Tanashia’s scent was too strong, and the ticklish sensation of her long hair touching his shoulder was unbearably vivid.

Moreover, the look of worry in her eyes, the small and delicate hand that had been held in his.

‘…Was there always no distance between us?’

It felt as if Tanashia had effortlessly leaped over the barrier he had set up to prevent himself from rashly approaching her.

In fact, it was a lie when he told Tanashia that he had hidden the gem well.

He had spent the entire night looking at the gems she gave him. He had to confirm with his own eyes, because it felt like a dream otherwise.

How could she let him go so easily?

Regardless of his status as a slave, he thought Tanashia, who knew his physical secrets, would try to keep him by her side in some way.

─I don’t need Noxia’s power now. Noxia is Noxia, and I am me. I no longer care about those things, so you don’t have to keep it in your heart anymore. Were you still thinking about that?

Askan could not understand, but those words were undeniably true.

He could tell just by seeing the actions Tanashia showed today. It was unbelievable to even his own eyes that she even tried to help him escape effectively.

Askan was so confused and flustered because he didn’t know how to react to someone treating him so kindly for the first time in his life.

‘Why didn’t I realize it before…?’

For the first time since escaping from the lab last night, he didn’t have a nightmare.

Instead, Tanashia appeared in his dream and smiled brightly. She was incredibly beautiful as she called Askan’s name in a tender voice and laughed endlessly.

‘How could I not know all this time?’

Tanashia’s smooth forehead, blue eyes that looked straight at people, her straight nose, and deep red lips.

There wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t beautiful. She was so cute and pretty, as if she was born to bewitch Askan.

‘She’s so pretty it’s annoying.’

Until now, he had no idea. Tanashia was so beautiful that she constantly blurred his vision.

Askan was so taken aback by his own thoughts that he didn’t know what to do.

He wanted to clear his mind and buried his face into his bed. However, whether he saw it or not, her very existence was eating away at his nerves.

Thump, thump, thump, the sound that had been ringing in his ears since a while ago was annoying.

‘What is it, it’s been too noisy since a while ago…….’

Askan covered his ears and delved deeper into the bed. But the noise didn’t stop, it became even clearer.

It was then that he realized.

That it was the sound of his heart beating.