episode_0013

Time passed like that and it became night.

Thanks to her warm heart and devoted care, he quickly recovered from his illness in a short period of time.

Soon his condition improved to the point where he could move his body to some extent.

So, having recovered a lot of his body’s energy, he wanted to make dinner for her who had made him warm porridge.

Since he wasn’t fully recovered yet, she half-forcefully restrained him from heading to the kitchen and laid him back down on the sofa.

With her warrior’s strength and countless experiences on and off the battlefield, she easily subdued him as he headed to the kitchen and carefully threw him onto the sofa.

Compared to women, men are relatively stronger.

This is not to say that only one gender is special, but since ancient times, men have been the ones to go out and hunt animals and find food.

This was inevitable, as women evolved to raise their offspring in safe places.

Of course, with additional training and effort, it was possible for even those born female to surpass men.

Having grown up over a long period of time and having fought in many battlefields, she was able to easily subdue Raon.

The strength of the warrior also served as a foundation to some extent, but the current Camilla has grown into a strong enough person who will not be pushed around by men even if the strength of the warrior disappears.

So Camilla, who had subdued him, was humming and making dinner.

Soon she was making a soup dish different from porridge using ingredients she had around the house.

The fillings were potatoes and mushrooms picked from the mountains. Although there was no meat, the toppings were still plentiful.

Soon she brought him the food she had lovingly prepared and said.

“Here’s dinner. I made a soup dish using potatoes and mushrooms.”

“………”

He stared at her as she said these words.

At his appearance, Camilla smiled faintly as if something had come to mind.

“Are you upset because I threw you on the sofa? But Raon-ssi is still not in good health, so it’s Raon-ssi’s fault for trying to do something too hard.”

She looked at him and joked with him, as if she was playful, as he stared at her without saying anything.

To her words, he answered while looking at her face.

“That’s not it.. I was just a little surprised that Camilla-ssi was stronger than I thought. Last time, I saw you cut down a tree thicker than the two of us combined with a few swings of an axe, so I vaguely thought that she was strong.. But today, after experiencing Camilla-ssi’s strength indirectly, I understood everything. Even though she didn’t put her heart into it, seeing her throw me around so easily.. I thought she was stronger than I thought.”

Raon looked at her face and said what was in his head.

Her eyes widened as if she was shocked by his words.

Raon was simply praising her power for pure purpose, but she remembered what her teacher had said when she was in the orphanage.

“Hey.. Men have always been more attracted to women who are weaker than them and whom they want to protect. So when you meet someone you truly love, arouse his protective instinct.”

It was part of her teacher’s advice that she had given her in the past to use if she ever had a crush on a man.

It has been said that men have always been attracted to women who arouse their protective instincts, and conversely, it is difficult for them to see women who are stronger than them as potential partners.

As these words came to mind, she couldn’t help but feel panicked, wondering if he was looking at her as a friend rather than as a romantic interest.

To be honest, she had a certain amount of affection for him.

Think about it. He not only reached out to her, a wanderer, without asking for anything in return, but he also gave her a place to stay.

How could she not be conscious of him approaching her when she was always alone?

That’s why at some point she started to see him as a person of the opposite sex rather than just the owner of the house, and she was enjoying the moments she spent with him.

He seemed to be in a state of great shock as the words he had just spoken to himself overlapped with the words his past teacher had said to him.

Contrary to her thoughts, Raon blushed slightly and said.

“I guess it’s because I’ve always been alone… I like having someone I can lean on…”

His voice was small, like an ant crawling.

However, his voice struck her ears hard, and upon hearing Raon’s words, Camilla heard a hallucination in her head, as if a large bell was ringing.

People say that when you meet your first love or someone you fell in love with at first sight, a bell rings in your head.

The sensations, the air, the smells, everything at that time was so stimulating and shocking.

People often say that a person is shocked to death by having a bell ring in their head, but she really felt like a bell had rung in her head.

His words were enough to leave her open to misunderstanding.

Above all, his face turned faintly red as he said these words.

This was not a phenomenon that occurred because her head got hot due to a cold, but because she had said or done something embarrassing, and she knew this very well.

She was the same.

I held him in my heart and wanted to hug him right away, feel his warm heart, and rub my face against his.

‘I… have something I haven’t told Raon yet.’

Her unspoken past held her back.

She was currently living in his house, hiding her identity.

He had been living his life keeping his past as a secret from him, where he was once known as a warrior and was hated by everyone, and because of this, he gained his favor.

This was achieved as an ordinary human Camilla, not as the warrior Camilla, and because of this, she had difficulty breathing due to the immense pain that was squeezing her heart.

It was a feeling of guilt.

That you didn’t tell the truth to someone who cared about you and who cared about you too.

At first, she assumed that he did not know her identity as a warrior and lived in his house.

No matter what he said, it was clear that when he found out the truth, he would be overcome with a deep sense of betrayal.

She used him for her own convenience and at the same time mocked him.

She deceived those who showed her kindness, and her actions were not much different from how the citizens treated her in the past.

At some point, she too had become a perpetrator who took advantage of others’ feelings.

Realizing this, she tried to endure the pain that made her heart feel like it was going to burst and answered as if she was fine.

“Is that so..?”

The words I managed to utter while holding my heart that felt like it was going to burst.

His words were so good and so painful at the same time, she cried out, clutching her throat.

Seeing her unusual appearance, he seemed to realize something was wrong and spoke urgently.

“Ah..I..I definitely didn’t say that to Camilla! So don’t misunderstand!”

Perhaps he noticed that she was trying to smile, and he quickly went back on what he had said.

Camilla responded to his actions with a bitter smile on her face, as if she was smiling on the outside but swallowing tears on the inside.

“I see..? I made a big misunderstanding.”

She answered, hiding her feelings as best she could.

And she gave an exaggerated smile.

The reason was that the moment I relaxed my face even a little, I felt like tears would pour out.

She endured the pointing fingers of people for a long time. Some of them threw stones at her, and others poured water on her.

But despite their actions, she didn’t shed a single tear.

Because they were strangers whose faces I had never seen before. Because they were foolish people who believed only rumors and followed them.

That’s why she didn’t shed a single tear.

It looked like tears might well flow from her eyes at any moment.

“I… I’m suddenly feeling sick, so I’ll go in first. Raon, you should eat this and go to sleep too.”

To hide her tears, she ended up throwing the food down in front of him and went into his room.

Laon couldn’t say anything to her sudden action and just looked at her in vain as she entered the room.

Camilla, who had been laughing and joking with him just a moment ago, was gone.

After hearing his words, her expression darkened rapidly and she quickly went into the room. Seeing her like that, Raon tried to figure out what he had done wrong by thinking back on what he had said.

Not knowing her complicated circumstances, he was ultimately unable to find an answer, and the food she had lovingly prepared for him late at night gradually grew cold, losing its warmth like the coldness between them.