Ruth’s wide-open jaw trembled. He then grabbed his head as if he was getting dizzy and spat out a lot of gibberish before finally saying something.

  Max argued again in a shrill voice, then looked around, surprised by her sudden outburst. The soldiers who were coming down from the hill looked at their way with interest.

  Like a trained parrot, Ruth repeated her words.

  Since he didn’t appear like he was in his right mind, she seriously thought of giving him a few knocks on the head.

  Ruth retaliated in a frustrated tone and jumped out of the water. He then scanned her from head to toe with narrowed eyes as he squeezed the water out of his robes. Aware of her dingy old clothes, tangled hair, dirt and sweat covered face, Max’s cheeks reddened under his scrutinizing gaze.

  He let out a long groan and covered his face with his hands.

  Max brought her hood lower to her face as she started to mutter.

  Only then did Ruth seem to have finally grasped the totality of the situation.

  Scared, Max reached out to cover his mouth again.

  She implored him.

  Ruth looked up in the sky like his whole patience was being tested and muttered as if he was praying in question.

  Max narrowed her eyes at his absurd words. The tears of joy she was about to shed for him had completely dried up.

  Ruth snorted in response, his tone dripping with rude sarcasm.

  Max could only lift her chin up to show the anger on her face.

  Max flinched, then froze on the spot when an unfamiliar voice spoke to them. It was a soldier with his horse, checking out the commotion Ruth was causing. She shook her head, then looked at the wizard’s conflicted expression: the stupid man looked like he was going to give her away. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her hands together so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Then she heard a small click of the tongue, followed by Ruth’s voice.

  The tension eased off her shoulders and she let out a long sigh of relief as Ruth stepped out of the stream and glared at her.

  He shot her an annoyed look, then sighed in resignation.

  Without waiting for an answer, Ruth climbed the hill and headed out onto the gravel road again. Max watched his back as he walked away from her and then returned to the tent. Idcilla, who was waiting eagerly for her, ran to her the moment she entered the shop and asked what she had found out.

  It was time to distribute the medicine and the tent was crowded with the other priestesses. Idcilla nodded silently, realizing that the time was not right. Max rolled up her sleeves and immediately went to work; however, she kept glancing towards the entrance every few minutes.

  He said he will come find me in an hour or two? Will he try and convince me to go back to Levan?

  She felt unhappy and a little betrayed by Ruth’s reaction to seeing her there. Wasn’t he the one who taught her how to heal with medicine and magic? Nevertheless, she noticed that he wasn’t in favor of her working as a caregiver there. Max bit her lip and began to feel more and more agitated. If that was how he reacted, she didn’t even want to imagine how Riftan would respond if he found out. She nervously pushed her hair into her hood, and gathered the medicines she had to give the patients.

  As he promised, Ruth showed up at the tent just as she was starting to change the wound dressings of the wounded. Her eyes widened as she saw him walk casually into the tent. The other priestesses who were tending to the sick also looked at him with suspicion. However, he remained calm under their inquiring gazes.

  “


  True to his words, he began to weave between the beds and looked over the wounded men. Max glanced at him, she couldn’t guess what he was trying to do. It wasn’t until Ruth checked all the patients that he finally turned to the soldier she was caring for. He opened his mouth to speak as he studied the long cut on the soldier’s chest.

  She nodded, wondering where he was going with that facade, but Ruth just continued to examine her practical work and waved a hand at her, indicating for her to continue. Max stiffly applied the herbal cast to the wound and bandaged it. Looking at her, he spoke in an exaggerated tone that made her shudder at his poor acting skills.

  She blinked, unable to believe that this was the extent of Ruth’s acting ability; but luckily, the people around them seemed to have bought it, especially when another nearby young priestess suddenly chirped in.

  The sudden compliment made her blush, she had no idea that she was so appreciated for her abilities. Ruth gave her a strange look, then spoke in a polite tone that didn’t suit him at all.

  Max apologized to the wounded soldier, who was grimacing at the new stinging sensation caused by the herbal medicines in the cast. Ruth immediately led her out of the tent and went straight to a sparsely occupied area. Her eyes shifted nervously at the aura he was emanating. The wizard silently walked and made his way through the dense woods. After making sure that no one else was around, he looked back at her.

  Max pouted at Ruth’s words, which sounded more like he was reprimanding a child.

  Ruth looked down at her robe which was full of holes in the seams from fanning embers on firewood. Max felt her ears burn with shame for presenting such an unpleasant side of herself, but she quickly brushed it off, pretending she didn’t care.

  Ruth said, then let out a long breath.

  Feeling a momentary sense of relief at such unexpected and sincere words, Max smiled a little, but was quickly stifled as he continued in a firm, reproving tone.

  Despite her reassurance, the wrinkles on Ruth’s face did not go away.

  Max drew her neck back like a tortoise when Ruth poked the hole on her plan. He shook his head and took a deep breath.

  She swallowed dryly at his bitter tone of voice.

  The wizard fell silent and Max anxiously looked up at him like a criminal awaiting sentence. Ruth scratched at his tousled hair and let out a long, painful groan.

  She unconsciously smiled in relief, but that seemed to fuel his irritation even more.

  Max’s eyes widened at the news.

  Max was haunted by conflicting emotions. Her heart was fluttering thinking that she would soon see Riftan again, but at the same time she felt heavy knowing that the men she cared for with such dedication were to be subjected to another battle. As she lost herself in her inner dilemma, Ruth quickly added.

  He said, while shooting her an annoyed look.

  Max thought that he was exaggerating. She made it all the way here without the Archduke noticing, no one was suspicious of her aside from being caught by Quahel Leon. She felt very confident in her stealth abilities.

  Ruth explained, and his dark face gradually grew at the reminder.

  Note –

  : I cackled at the 1 kilometer radius xD Really praying Hebaron will be fine though ☹