IRER 70

Chapter 70

 The Chief of Staff

After that, Brody’s bloody efforts continued every morning.

Literally bloody efforts.

Brody would make a small cut on her finger and shove it in his face as he was barely awake, asking him to treat it.

However, ever since the first successful day, Aidan would jump back, startled, then go get the medicine box.

He would stop the bleeding and wrap her hand with a bandage.

“Aren’t you going to treat it?”
“I did.”

So the next day, Brody woke him up by pressing her bleeding finger directly against his mouth.

Of course, he woke up the moment her finger touched his mouth, but it had already made contact.
That day was Aidan’s defeat.

The day after that, Aidan endured without sleeping properly, as if standing guard on high alert.

Brody, spurred on by the challenge, made a deeper cut and shoved it at him.
Aidan was distressed but steeled his heart and didn’t fall for her tactic.

He meticulously stopped the bleeding and treated her, but he did not put her wound to his mouth.

What was even more astonishing was what happened after Brody woke up the next day and checked her finger.
Somehow, Brody’s wound had healed overnight.

It seemed Aidan had approached Brody while she was asleep and treated only the wound. Since a scab had already formed, it was obvious it would be ineffective for his headache.

For several days like this, a fierce, secret battle raged every morning in their room.

Aidan couldn’t sleep properly, suffered from headaches, yet constantly pushed away her好意 (goodwill/kindness).

‘Honestly. I even gave her a pretext. She could just pretend to be defeated and treat the wound. Her stubbornness is really something else.’

In the end, Brody was the first to give up.

On the morning she gave up, Brody cut her palm deeply.
That wasn’t her initial intention, but perhaps out of stubborn pride, she cut deeper than she meant to and surprised even herself.

Blood dripped plop, plop onto the bedsheet.

“Please. Please stop. Please.”
“You should please stop!”

Even with a pale, alarmed face, Aidan ultimately turned away from her.

Then, as she menacingly thrust her palm towards his face, he finally pushed her away.

From Aidan’s perspective, it was a very light push, but even with that force, Brody tumbled to the floor.

“Ouch.”

As she fell, the red liquid smeared squick from Brody’s palm onto the floor as she braced herself.
Her expression contorted from the sharp pain.

“Br…Brody. Are you alright?”

Brody came to hate those words more than anything else in the world.
Those words of his, asking if she was ‘alright’.

Her expression, which had been grimacing in pain, soon turned cold.

After that, she refused Aidan’s helping hand, his offer to treat her with medicine.

“Enough. I’ll stop now.”

Brody took the medicine box and left the room.

After that, Brody never offered him medicine, or her blood, ever again.

The headaches became solely Aidan’s burden.

Even though it was what he himself had wanted, for some reason, Aidan didn’t feel at ease at all.

This incident made the relationship between the two even more distant.

Aidan was already keeping his distance from Brody, and she was also thinking she should keep her distance for his sake, so this outcome was only a matter of time.

❖ ❖ ❖

Meanwhile, during all this, the two patients in the sickroom steadily recovered.

The first to open his eyes was River.

“…….”

Upon waking, he rolled his light grey pupils around.
His gaze seemed uneasy.

“What is this situation?”

“Gasp, Chief of Staff! You’re awake! Chief of Staff! The Chief of Staff is awake! Maniim~!”

Teddy, who had been dozing off beside him, let out a shout and ran out of the room.

River, who had asked for an explanation, was annoyed as the boy made a fuss and ran out.

He tried to sit up, bracing his arm on the bed—fortunately, it moved fine.
But a deep pain shot through his right side.

Just as his annoyance doubled, the door swung open again and the woman with ama-colored (chestnut-brown) curly hair entered.
She was wiping the corner of her mouth, as if she had just been eating.

“Coming to your senses, River?”

River frowned.
He was conscious, but he couldn’t understand the situation at all.

“Where is this place?”
“What level of answer are you looking for?”
“Huh?”

At Brody’s reply, River raised an eyebrow.
“First, in broad terms, this is the North.”
“Tell me in a smaller unit.”

Brody shrugged and answered.
“It’s a village with a potato field, the room next to the lodging where His Highness and I are staying, and you are lying on one of the beds in that room.”
“Sigh… Your kind and detailed explanation is touching.”
“Don’t mention it. How’s the pain?”
“Tolerable. More importantly, why am I here?”
“And what should I base the ‘here’ in that question on?”
“Based on me lying on one of the beds in the room next to the lodging where His Highness and Madam are staying. Are you going to keep questioning an injured person like this?”
“I was asking to gauge how much of your senses have returned. It’s part of the treatment, so don’t get excited and calm your mind.”
“…….”

She just doesn’t yield an inch, does she?
River’s eyes twitched slightly with irritation as he looked at her.

‘Where did His Highness the Grand Duke pick up a woman like that… Ah, no, His Highness didn’t pick her up. She appeared.’

Actually, Brody asked these questions to feel River out. It wasn’t with the intention of annoying him. Well, about 80% wasn’t, anyway.

From his answers, Brody could infer where his memory had been cut off due to the effect of the Dreamweed leaves.

‘So he remembers up to entering this village. That means his memory must be fuzzy from the moment of the attack. Of course, he wouldn’t remember me using my ability.’

Brody, feeling fortunate she had removed the plant matter stitching his stomach that very morning, answered.

“Look, don’t be shocked when you hear this. It seems you don’t remember… Chief of Staff, you were attacked.”
“Attacked? Me?”

Brody scrutinized his grey eyes closely. The trembling panic seemed genuine, like he truly didn’t remember.
“Yes, by a woman.”
“A woman? What on earth… Are you saying I was bested by a woman?”
“…….”

Yes… You were doing quite well at being bested by a woman.

But, considering his pride, Brody didn’t answer truthfully. Verbally, that is. River’s face hardened as he saw the expression that flitted across hers.

He asked again.
“Was she an assassin?”
“…….”

This time, too, Brody didn’t answer him verbally for his sake. Instead, she shook her head lightly.

River’s expression grew even more grim.

Brody decided to offer some excuses on River’s behalf.
“But she attacked from behind. You were distracted talking to me.”
“I was talking to you, Madam?”
“Yes, you came to this lodging saying you had something to discuss. That too… you don’t remember?”

Brody thought he wouldn’t remember, but she asked cautiously, feigning worry.

River lowered his head, one hand covering his temple.
Seeing him look so confused, she felt a prick of conscience.
“…….”

Well… No, actually, she didn’t feel that guilty. A little prick. Just a little.

‘Using the Dreamweed leaves was, after all, to save River.’

If she hadn’t used her ability, things might have turned out much worse.

“But.”

River, who had been holding his head lost in thought, shifted his gaze back to Brody and asked.
“Yes, ask away.”

Brody readily accepted his transition.
“Is Madam alright? You said you were together when attacked.”
“Thanks for your concern. I’m fine.”

How are you fine? River’s eyes seemed to ask as he looked at her suspiciously.

Brody sighed and answered.
“I was further inside, so I could avoid the initial strike. The Chief of Staff, who was struck by the sword then, lost consciousness… and after that, I…”
“You lost consciousness right after being struck by the sword?”
“…Yes.”
“…….”

River looked disbelieving, then groaned “Ggeuung” again and held his forehead.
For the person meant to protect Madam to get struck by a single sword and pass out right in front of her? It was an utterly disgraceful spectacle.

“It happens, you can go into shock instantly. Don’t worry too much about it. I haven’t told anyone except His Highness.”
“Then… did His Highness save us?”
“No, I did. Somehow or other…”
“…….”

Now River even began to bite his lip gently. A Chief of Staff who not only failed to protect Madam but was also protected by her?

Moreover, the fact that it was ‘that Brody’ saying she ‘hadn’t told anyone,’ words meant to protect his pride, made it all the more humiliating.

On top of that, she acted as if she had done nothing praiseworthy, handling him with kid gloves.

“Look, River, I told you she wasn’t trained. She was a woman, she seemed mentally frail. I just rushed at her and somehow managed. It was luck, luck.”

By that point, River’s pride was already utterly shattered.

‘This woman. She’s definitely doing it on purpose. On purpose! She’s deliberately trying to weigh on my conscience!’

There was no way to prove whether River’s suspicion was true or not, but Brody was smiling kindly. That smile felt even more unsettling.

Brody got up, pushed down on his shoulder with one hand and supported his back with the other, saying.
“Now, now, save the pondering for after you’ve recovered. A patient needs rest.”
“Whoa.”

Under Brody’s hands, River helplessly flopped back down onto the bed.

But his fluster didn’t end there.

Brody suddenly yanked his shirt up.

“Whoa, wh-what is a woman doing with a man’s body!”

River struggled, grabbing the hem of his shirt to pull it down, speaking reflexively.

But this time, Brody’s reaction was not as kind as her previous gentle attitude. She looked at River with an incredulous expression.
“I didn’t expect to hear such words from the Chief of Staff of all people.”
“……?”

River, still holding his shirt, looked at Brody with a bewildered expression.

“Really. You seem like the last person in the North to be concerned with such things. Does medical treatment care about men and women?”
“…….”

River couldn’t answer.

He certainly thought that way himself. In a crisis, whether the other party was a woman, a beast, or a demon beast, if they could provide treatment, he would probably accept it.

But that was ‘in a crisis situation.’

‘Right now… it’s not!’

But wasn’t only acting that way in a crisis a sign of being less rational? It meant he was refusing now because he felt emotionally uncomfortable.

River was surprised that Brody was so radical, and surprised at his own shallowness. He thought he was quite radical himself, yet he had this conventional reaction! It was humiliating.

Of course, Brody was used to a completely different way of thinking, being a modern person, but River had no way of knowing that.

Her words were rational, though.

‘…….’

But for some reason, River found it hard to let go of his shirt hem.

As his uncomfortable heart and rational mind were fighting, Brody spoke. She wore that expression again, the one mixed with pity. That infuriating expression that seemed to consider his feelings.

“If this is perhaps the first time a woman has touched you, I’m sorry. That could be startling. I understand.”
“~~~~~!”

Talking about understanding and all that—it was a clear provocation.

River’s hand holding his shirt trembled.
“It’s not that! It’s just… I didn’t know Madam also performed treatments. I was uneasy! I need to know if the person is qualified to be entrusted with my valuable body.”
“Yes, I am qualified enough to have saved the Chief of Staff. I’m the one who’s been treating you until now. His Highness is aware too. They say I’m the most skilled healer in this village right now.”

Brody answered with a faint, knowing smile. As if to say, Oh my, what a child, I’ll play along.

‘First she talks about men and women not mattering, and now this excuse~.’

But Brody decided to stop teasing him.

She still had to ask for his understanding regarding the ‘Caleb incident.’