It felt like her hurt was burning at the fact that he was within reach, yet she couldn’t even meet him. For a moment, Max seriously considered going after him and confessing everything, but just imagining how Riftan would react sent chills down the spine.

  Just when Max was struggling with an internal dilemma, someone’s hand suddenly landed on her shoulder. A small scream reflexively escaped her lips as she turned to look. A man as big as Hebaron was staring down at her. He gave a strange smile, then tilted his bearded face to hers.

  Max took a step back, her face immediately filling with fright.

  The man chuckled as he took a step closer towards her. Max hurriedly looked around for help; there were soldiers everywhere, but no one seemed to pay attention to help. She had no choice, so she tried to hide her fear and responded as cold and firm as she could.

  As she turned around to leave, the man grabbed her by the forearm. Max stifled a scream and the man growled in annoyance as he pulled her body towards him.

  Max turned her head at the familiar frigid voice. Quahel Leon was glaring at the man with his piercing cold eyes.

  Even with the knight’s warning, the man did not back down.

  Quahel Leon prowled coldly at the man, without casting a single glance at Max.

  The man snorted rudely without feeling any fear or remorse for his actions.

  Max paled quickly when she realized he had mistaken her for a whore and Quahel’s lips twisted in contempt as he also grew tired of the man’s impudence.

  With an air of arrogance, the man tossed Max aside.

  She ran quickly to hide behind the knight while the other man shrugged with attitude, then leisurely turned around to walk away. As Max watched the man move further away, she felt a piercing gaze on the crown of her head. Hesitantly, she raised her head and saw Quahel Leon looking down at her, his eyebrows furrowing deeply. Then, he ordered her in his usual bored tone.

  Still in shock from what had just happened, Max didn’t want to be alone and obediently followed him. She stuck to his side as they made their way through the crowd and only when they reached a quieter place did he open his mouth to scold her.

  His speech was courteous, but his tone was reprimanding.

  The man sighed and turned to leave.

  Max ran into the tent like she was running away. The tension and strength immediately drained from her limbs, and she stumbled toward her bed before collapsing on top of it. Seeing her like this, Idcilla and Selena quickly ran towards her.

  Max shook her head.

  Selena frowned and whispered, seeming like she couldn’t stand seeing her losing weight because of her worries. Max couldn’t help but blush, feeling like a girl in love waiting for just the right moment to confess her love.

  Idcilla grabbed her by the arms and gave an exaggerated shudder to try to animate. Max managed to smile at the girl.

  When the priests entered the barracks, their conversation was immediately cut off. Max rubbed her sweaty hands on her robe and tried to clear her head of what just happened: if she followed Quahel Leon’s advice to never leave the barracks alone, no such thing would happen again. She then went out with the other priestesses and immediately began tending to the wounded to distract her pounding heart.

  ***

  Ruth came to visit her again in the evening. After checking all the wounded men, whose condition worsened due to excessive movement, he signaled Max with a nod to follow him. She looked around to make sure no one was looking, then grabbed a small lamp and ran after him. He led her silently into the dark forest, and only after confirming that no one was around did he sit down to rest on a tree stump, looking completely exhausted.

  Ruth ran his fingers roughly through his messy bangs and sighed deeply.

  Ruth sounded confident, but his face couldn’t hide his deep concern. Seeing that Max’s expression also clouded, he forced a smile and changed the subject.

  Max’s eyes widened at the news of Riftan heading to the frontlines.

  Ruth shot her a look that made her feel pathetic, like this was the first time in his life he was asked such a stupid question.

  He replied dryly, then continued in a softer tone.

  Although the news was not completely reassuring, Max was still relieved to know that Riftan would not be heading into battle anytime soon.

  Max nodded and Ruth returned to his tent after checking on the patients again. Left alone with her chores, she tended to the wounded men throughout the night and did not go to sleep until dawn. The next day, just as the wizard said, the Remdragon Knights went to the front lines in the dim glow of morning. Max watched them as they galloped on their horses, feeling a strange mix of emptiness and relief. Only when the last of the knights left and the doors closed firmly behind them did Ruth approach her.

  Ruth just shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, then walked back to the barracks he’s assigned to. Max spent her time caring for the wounded just as she did at Servyn Castle, but since Ethylene had cooks to prepare meals, they only had to focus on the wounded. However, even with their duties reduced, they were more exhausted than ever.

  Mercenaries approached them to flirt whenever the opportunity arose, so the soldiers of the Holy Order kept their eyes wide open and watched closely on the priestesses’ quarters, but the persistent gazes of men towards them remained. Sometimes the men even spoke openly and obscenely about what they wanted from the priestesses. In particular, Northerners were the worst. According to Ruth, it was because Balto had no priestesses, so they did not understand that they were God’s servants and therefore untouchable.

  Max was shocked by the rudeness of the men who did not pay attention to the principles of the doctrine. She wondered how those men could feel lust for a woman that’s not his wife or lover and she felt threatened by their infidelity.

  But her real discomfort was not avoiding the tenaciously leering stares of the men, it was her own body. It had been days since she last washed, afraid of the men’s lustful gazes. Back in Servyn, she was able to wash her hair in the cold springs with the other priestesses at least once every three days, but ever since they reached Ethylene, all dreams of bathing were shattered. It was unbearable to have the dirt and sweat cooked on her skin from the scorching summer heat.

  Idcilla, unable to bear it anymore, exploded in frustration.

  The priestesses exchanged anxious glances, agreeing with her. They were all in the same boat, so they decided to approach the priests with their sincere request. Fortunately, the high priest readily gave his permission, and now two soldiers stood guard from a distance as they all took turns in groups of four, bathing by the spring in the forest. Max and Idcilla volunteered to go last to avoid being recognized once their robes were removed.

  She couldn’t count the days since her last bath: Max’s heart filled with joy just at the thought of dipping her dirty body into the cool, refreshing water of the spring. She was impatiently waiting for her turn, when suddenly everything became unexpectedly noisy. She looked outside to see what was happening, and her face filled with confusion. The soldiers were running around in commotion.

  A priestess burst into the barracks and screamed urgently.

  Max paled and jumped up to her feet to go to the infirmary. Just then, she saw soldiers carrying wounded men and she hurriedly led them to lay the injured ones on an empty bed. There were a total of seven victims, none with life-threatening injuries, but they all complained of suffering from so much pain. Max looked at the faces of the wounded, then turned to ask a soldier who had brought them.

  Max let out a sigh of relief and immediately started preparing medicine and tools for treatment. Meanwhile, the soldiers helped remove the wounded men’s armors. She sat next to the men and carefully examined their wounds. One of them had a terrible bruise around his ribcage, while the other men bled profusely from being pierced by a spear on the leg.

  Nora, who was tending to the other men, told Max. She immediately prepared a hemostat and hot water. They removed the blood-soaked clothing from around the wound, and quickly washed the torn flesh, revealing the deep wound. After removing the blood clots and any other foreign objects found in the wound, Max applied the medication and gave them an antidote to combat any potential poisons. The soldiers writhed from beginning to end due to immense pain. Once the emergency treatments were completed, her entire body was drenched in sweat.

  The priestesses eagerly set out to carry out their tasks. No matter how fast they worked, by the time they finally finished, the sky was tinted red with the setting sun. With an exhausted face, Max slumped in the corner of the tent to catch her breath. She had the hood over her face all day in the sauna-like tent and now her face was burning red.

  While she fanned her face with her hands to cool off, Max suddenly heard Idcilla urgently call out to her, so she turned to look at her with confusion. Idcilla had a towel in her hand, and waved at her enthusiastically.

  Max quickly grabbed her soap and a change of clothes. It was getting darker, so she was a little tired, but she couldn’t battle the craving she was having for a bath. They sped through the forest as the darkness slowly began to settle, with the only thought that they would finally be able to wash off all the accumulated grime in their bodies in their minds. After a while, they saw two soldiers who were standing a little further away from them in the woods. Idcilla turned towards them and yelled over to Max.

  Before Max could respond, Idcilla was already running towards the soldiers. She felt a little scared to be alone in the dark forest, but she quickly pushed her fears away and walked briskly. She was determined to take a bath before the sun completely set. After a while, a cling spring emerged from the thick bushes.

  Max excitedly ran towards it. She started to remove her clothes and was about to jump into the water when suddenly, the sound of splashing water echoed from a distance. She jumped up like a frog. From a short distance, she saw a large man half-submerged in the water, bathing himself. As Max stared in shock at the man’s smooth back, he turned his head.

  Max immediately bowed her head to hide. She was sweating profusely and her heart pounded like crazy.

  The man was Riftan.

  Note –

  : DUN DUN DUN DUNNNNNN

  : And ladies and gentlemen, that was the moment sht went down