GDTEA Chapter 96

Scars

Sharti covered her mouth with her hand and yawned widely.

She had been swept away by drowsiness, and when she woke up, a whole day had already passed.

Thanks to Ren continuously placing heated stones in her bed like doing hot stone therapy, she was able to sleep deeply and soundly for the first time in a long while.

“Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah. Thanks to you, Ren.”

“That’s a relief.”

Sharti rubbed her puffy eyes with the still-warm stone and smiled brightly.

Having filled her stomach with warm sweet potatoes that Ren had roasted from somewhere, her smile came more freely.

Ren silently took in Sharti’s smile with his eyes.

Did she know? Last night, Sharti had fallen asleep entrusting her safety entirely to him.

And what about now? She had greeted the morning completely under his protection. The sight of Sharti looking so comfortable in the morning scene he had dreamed of tickled Ren’s heart.

“Hey Ren, you didn’t fail to sleep because of me, did you?”

“I slept enough.”

“Liar.”

Since Sharti’s eyes were covered as she compressed them, Ren gave a crooked smile.

How could he possibly stretch out and sleep when he’d even consumed a mana stone?

“I did toss and turn a bit.”

“Really?”

When Sharti lowered her hand in surprise, Ren naturally continued the eye compress for her.

Looking at her worriedly pursed lips, Ren chuckled.

“You were talking in your sleep.”

“……Hm?”

“While calling my name.”

“…….”

Sharti’s pale face instantly heated up as she drew in a sharp breath.

Ren burst into silent laughter.

Seeing her squeeze her eyes shut and endure her embarrassment made Ren’s smile widen too.

“You must have been very tired.”

“…….”

Ren didn’t tell her what kind of sleep talk she had done.

As a small bit of mischief toward Sharti who had been playing with his heart all night, he simply leisurely enjoyed watching Sharti’s reddened face.

Sharti bit her lip tightly in embarrassment and couldn’t say anything.

Even that looked cute to him.

During the time that was awkward only for Sharti, once the swelling in her eyes subsided, Ren prepared to leave.

Having skillfully shouldered his luggage, Ren turned to look at Sharti.

“Are we leaving now?”

“Yeah.”

Sharti, whose color had somewhat returned to her face, stood up while brushing off her skirt.

With a hair tie in her mouth, Sharti gathered her disheveled hair together and tied it up high. Ren, who had been glancing at her, quietly measured the size of his hand.

“If we leave now, I think we can reach the valley before sunset.”

“At my speed, we’d probably arrive around lunchtime though.”

When Sharti struggled to lift the remaining bag, Ren naturally took it from her.

“It’s not fair if only one person keeps traveling comfortably while only one person carries all the luggage.”

“That’s true.”

“Then give me the bag now. I’ll carry it.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed.

Though he didn’t say it, he could feel that Sharti was treating him like a patient. Actually, looking at the bandages and band-aids wrapped around his body, he was indeed a patient, not just being treated like one.

Ren tried to hide his displeased expression and deliberately let out a deep sigh.

“Sha, think about it. If we arrive at another village and need to buy a mana stone, whose money will we use to pay for it?”

“Why would you even think about that? We’re buying something that broke in an accident.”

“This is an important issue we need to address. Isn’t it unfair that I cause the accident and Sha, you have to clean it up?”

Ren drooped his eyebrows.

Though he had acted with sympathy to break Sharti’s stubbornness until now, Ren had discovered the most effective method through his past experiences.

“Most importantly, this is what I want. If Sha, you can travel comfortably by me carrying just a few bags, I’ll gladly do it.”

Sharti was weak to honesty.

“I don’t want Sha to have to carry heavy luggage, and I don’t have the confidence to just watch as Sha walk alone on rough mountain paths. I know you can do everything well on your own, but I want to work harder to fill that role for you, and I can do it. You must know by now, Sha.”

She was especially weak to Ren’s honest confessions.

“The very act of doing something for you is the only thing that gives me fulfillment. It may seem trivial to you and you might think it’s childish stubbornness……. but I want to be part of your life in this way. Rather than becoming a patient, I’m truly ready to even become a slave and serve my master.”

Burdensome yet frank.

Shameless yet sincere.

Cowardly yet upright.

Obsessive yet desperate.

“If it really bothers you, promote me from slave to assistant.”

“……Promotion?”

“I’ll take your money and do all the odd jobs.”

“H-hey, wait, wait a minute……!”

In an atmosphere that was about to become stiff and heavy, Ren suddenly scooped Sharti up.

He quickly exited the cave while Sharti was flustered.

Under the rare clear sky, Ren firmly held Sharti in his arms and smiled at her.

“I’ll add my wages from here to the valley and then to the next village to buy the mana stone. Fair and square.”

“…….”

Sharti blinked her eyes and then burst into laughter.

Of all the positions to desire, slave or assistant.

Sharti, covering her mouth with a smile in her eyes, looked at Ren.

“You’ll really work as an assistant?”

“Is assistant too much of a jump from slave?”

Ren, who had asked an absurd question in return, seemed to think for a moment and then nodded.

“Then let’s not do slave, but servant instead.”

Ren briefly added that servant seemed appropriate since an assistant would need to be smart too.

At those words, Sharti burst into giggles in his arms.

At the clear sound of laughter, Ren’s chest tickled and he squinted slightly.

“Won’t it be hard?”

Ren, who had been running while facing the pleasantly blowing winter wind, lightly snorted.

“It’s better than being a patient who can’t do anything and can only be taken care of.”

“……Hmm…….”

Sharti looked at Ren with strange eyes and then sighed with a “huu.”

It seemed he had completely forgotten about her first confession.

“Sha?”

“……I think you’ll regret it later.”

Without her knowing, Ren declared in a confident voice that there was no way that would happen.

What was there to regret?

However, as always, Ren would soon be grinding his teeth while recalling this rash moment.

[Ren truly has nothing in his head.]

Crouched in front of Tein, lamenting his own situation of having pinned himself as a servant, Ren would have no choice but to acknowledge the child’s cold assessment.

****

Ren was definitely fast.

Just as Ren had promised, Sharti arrived at the valley around noon, which she would have reached around sunset.

Listening to the sound of the cold valley water, Sharti slipped out of Ren’s arms.

‘I should do the laundry before washing up.’

When Sharti took out the robe dirtied with muddy water, Ren rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

“I’ll do it.”

“Do you even know how?”

“……Don’t you just scrub until it’s clean?”

Sharti pushed away the overly enthusiastic Ren with a grin.

Though it was a cheap robe, unskilled washing could damage the fabric even more.

“Ren, help me dry this.”

“Alright.”

Ren, who perfectly understood the instruction to start a fire, quickly gathered the luggage and went off to find a suitable spot.

Only after Ren disappeared from view did Sharti take off her fur coat and roll up her sleeves.

On her left arm, a hideous scar extending from the back of her hand was revealed.

“The weather is really nice.”

Sharti walked toward a pool where the valley water had gathered separately and put the laundry in.

“Fortunately, the water temperature isn’t too cold yet.”

Compared to midwinter valley water, the temperature was moderate.

Sharti unhesitatingly plunged her hands into the valley water and diligently kneaded the laundry.

Sharti, who had been blowing on her cold hands intermittently, hung her head in frustration.

“It’s not coming out very well…….”

Scrubbing with her hands didn’t seem like it would solve the problem.

Sharti pondered for a moment and then glanced around.

‘……Can I finish quickly before Ren comes?’

Sharti stared at the laundry and made up her mind.

Sharti unhesitatingly took off her shoes and rolled up her long skirt. Her bare legs with bandages wrapped only on the right were completely exposed.

‘Let’s finish quickly.’

Gripping her skirt tightly, Sharti dipped her feet into the valley water.

Sharti shivered briefly at the chill of the valley water that came up above her ankles. Thanks to Ren, she hadn’t had to walk, so she vigorously marched in place in the valley water while stepping on the laundry.

As she stepped here and there with practiced skill, the valley water began to turn murky.

‘Foot washing definitely applies force better.’

When doing hand washing, her shoulders and back would hurt, so she had often done foot washing.

Though her feet were cold, breathing in the refreshing mountain air made her feel invigorated.

“……Ah!”

Perhaps because she got too excited, Sharti momentarily lost her balance and stepped on a branch that had floated by.

It was the moment Sharti reflexively squinted at the sharp branch.

“Kyaa!”

Pulled up by a strong force, Sharti flinched in surprise.

Before she knew it, Ren had returned and instantly scooped her up.

Too shocked, Sharti didn’t even feel the pain in the sole of her foot.

“……Re, Ren?”

While her heart was pounding, Sharti gauged Ren’s reaction.

Ren’s face was frozen pale beyond description.

“Um, Ren—”

The moment Sharti gathered courage to call him, Ren sat her down on a tree stump. Then, without giving her a chance to say anything, Ren lowered himself and checked the sole of her foot.

As Ren examined the sole of her foot, which was only slightly scratched, his Adam’s apple bobbed heavily.

‘……Ah, the scars!’

Sharti’s heart sank belatedly as she hurriedly pulled down her skirt to cover her right leg. She also urgently pulled down the sleeve that had fully exposed her left arm.

Ren, who deliberately didn’t pay attention to Sharti’s bustle, moved his lips.

But before that, Sharti looked around with exaggerated eye movements.

“I should put medicine on it. Ren, could you bring…… the bag?”

“…….”

Water droplets from the soaked bandage dripped down her ankle.

A brief silence flowed.

With her neck shrunk, Sharti, who had kept her mouth shut for a while, swallowed her dry saliva at the smell of burnt wood emanating from Ren.

He must have already seen everything, so pretending not to know seemed more unnatural.

“I’m…… not hurt at all.”

“…….”

Sharti tried to make a bright expression and stroked her left arm.

The burn scar from five years ago had flesh that was hideously shriveled, and unlike other parts of her white skin, it had a murky reddish tinge.

As long as she didn’t overdo it, there was no reason for it to hurt—it was just a trace of the past that had already gone by.

“It only looks severe, but it’s nothing now.”

“…….”

“Really. Truly, it doesn’t hurt.”

When Ren slowly raised his head, his terribly distorted expression could be seen.

“I’m really okay.”

However, unlike the fine Sharti, Ren was suffering painfully as if burning inside.

His tightly closed lips trembled, and his deep turquoise eyes wavered. He repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists, trying to release the strength from his hands.

Watching Ren suffer silently, Sharti deliberately spoke in a bright voice and lightly began.

“It was a fire. A slightly big fire.”

Sharti, wearing a smile, poked at the deep furrow in Ren’s brow.

“My neck, I hurt it then too, but everything’s fine now.”

“…….”

“Of course, I haven’t forgotten everything from back then, but that’s gradually getting better too. You know that, Ren.”

Sharti’s bitter smile gradually faded.

Her crimson eyes that had been looking at Ren wavered, and with just one cold breeze, her eyes reddened.

“……The scars, they’re really hideous…… aren’t they……?”

“I…….”

His sunken voice trembled pathetically.

“I don’t know what to say…… to keep you from crying, Sha.”

At those words, Sharti barely held back the tears that were about to burst out and moved her lips.