Max felt dejected at Yulysion’s words, she wondered if perhaps those were only excuses so Riftan could avoid her. Whenever he was angry at her, that was always his course of action, keeping away from her. Max ate her dinner with a worried expression, then went to rest.

  As if her suspicions were proven right, Riftan did not return even until the night was deep. Max forced herself to stay awake, but the overwhelming fatigue engulfed her, and she eventually fell asleep. The next day when she woke up, she was alone as she had expected. She hurriedly got up from bed to wash her face and fix her hair. When she was done wearing her outfit and was just about to head outside, Yulysion, who came to wake her up, greeted her.

  The young man placed a plateful of breakfast on the table accompanied with his usual cheerful smile. Max asked him, doing her best to appear calm and nonchalant.

  Yulysion replied while tilting his head.

  What Max understood from that was that he was careful not to make any sound when he returned and quietly left as well in an effort to avoid her. And she was probably too exhausted from using magic to notice. Max frowned, looking annoyed.

  Max licked her lips and shook her head weakly. In truth, she didn’t know what to tell him. She already told him everything she had to say. Just as the princess said, there was no other choice anyway but to let his head cool and settle. Max sighed in resignation.

  However, four days had passed, and Max still hadn’t managed to see the man’s shadow. Rather than feeling dejected, Max began to feel angry. When she thought of her cowardly husband, who snuck into the barracks in the dead of night, then slipped away before she woke up to avoid her, she became furious. No matter how much she tried to program herself not to fall asleep, she was so exhausted that eventually she would succumb to her fatigue. On the other hand, Riftan seemed not to know the definition of exhaustion. For him to wait for Max to fall asleep and leave before dawn when she wakes up, the man only slept a few hours at best.

  Agitated, Max brushed her hair out of her face and angrily tossed the herbs into the boiling pot. It made her even more upset that he stopped by every night to check on her but wouldn’t even show her his face. As she glared angrily at the herbs boiling in the cauldron, Idcilla, who was coming in with firewood, tilted her head.

  Max quickly wiped the emotions out of her face.

  Max did not confirm nor deny her question, her face turning into an ambiguous expression. Then, Idcilla comforted her as if she knew what she was feeling.

  Idcilla said courageously. Not long ago, she was able to get information about Sir Elbarto Calima through Elliot and Idcilla’s face noticeably lit up.

  Idcilla firmly shook her head and vowed in resolution as she threw branches into the fire.

  Max felt embarrassed after hearing how mature Idcilla sounded. She felt ashamed that she was frustrated and angry for not seeing Riftan’s face for only a number of days. And now, she began to feel anxious that perhaps her presence here added undue burdens to Riftan. Maybe he was too stressed, bearing the brunt of this war, taking care of the lives of his men, and now her.

  Max snapped out of deep thoughts when someone called out to her. He turned and saw Ruth trudging out of the trees.

  He massaged his stiff neck and yawned loudly, then flopped down to sit on a tree stump. Max’s face hardened with concern.

  Then, Ruth continued to speak with a sigh.

  Ruth ruffled his hair in frustration.

  Ruth shrugged and took a deep breath with his serious words.

  Max and Idcilla, who was sitting silently in a corner, had clouded expressions. Sensing the heavy atmosphere he created, Ruth quickly tried to change the subject.

  Ruth looked at her with skeptical eyes.

  Max felt a bit furious about how he reacted.

  Ruth shrugged with an arrogant smirk. Max felt disrespected with his attitude, but left Idcilla to tend to the boiling herbs in the cauldron and took with her medicine and tools for treatment. As she came out of the camp, Yulysion, who was carving wood with a dagger, immediately followed her.

  Yulysion turned to look at Ruth.

  Ruth could only shake his head weakly and they proceeded to walk to their destination in a gloomy atmosphere. She felt the gazes of other soldiers follow her, but because Ruth and Yulysion were with her, no one approached them. Max felt secure and followed behind Ruth at a slow pace. After going through the densely set up barrack tents, they finally reached the Remdragon Knight’s barracks. Ruth was first to go in. Then, they heard a hoarse voice exclaiming.

  As she entered and followed after Ruth, Max’s eyes widened. Hebaron appeared quite restless lying on the bed with thick bandages wrapped around the upper part of his muscular body. She was quite taken aback by how animated the supposed wounded knight was, and when Hebaron finally saw her, he broke out into a bright smile.

  As Max approached his bed, the knight’s thick eyebrows furrowed.

  Ruth clicked his tongue and responded with his usual cynical sarcasm.

  Max’s shoulders flinched at the harsh outburst. He clutched his scarlet, curly hair like he was really furious.

  Max flinched at the profanity thrown around him as she continued to watch their exchange of words.

  Ruth said through clenched teeth, as Hebaron stared daggers at him as if he was deeply offended. Max glanced at them and then began to prepare the herbs and tools she had brought.

  Ruth and Yulysion helped Hebaron to sit up and quickly undid the bandages. Seeing the large, ripped flesh, Max swallowed the groan coming up her throat. The deep wound extended from his shoulder to his chest. It was red and swollen, like a red centipede crawling up his body. As Ruth said, the skin was reddened from inflammation, and she could see dark blue silky fibers sticking out of the wound, resembling the legs of insects.

  Hebaron answered in a slurred voice.

  Hebaron commented.

  Max didn’t know what to do with the wound. After careful thought, she gently applied the salve she brought with her. Among the pain medicines that she had learned how to make from Medrick, it was the most effective one she knew for alleviating inflammation. Fortunately, after about ten minutes of observation, Hebaron’s face became noticeably brighter.

  Max warned him in the strictest voice she could manage, then bandaged the wound with new strips of cloth. She then burned some herbs, removed the ashes, and placed it in a cloth pouch.

  After carefully testing the temperature, Max handed the small bag to Ruth, who eyed it warily before applying it to Hebaron’s shoulder. The knight grunted when the hot compress made contact with his wound, but soon relaxed and fell asleep. Ruth muttered that he must have been very tired from the pain and hadn’t been able to sleep well for weeks.

  Ruth’s tone sounded a bit muddy, so Max gave him an encouraging smile and then quietly packed up and went out of the tent.

  Time passed surprisingly fast, the sky was already a faint purple color. Before returning to Riftan’s tent, Max hurried her steps so she could return to the infirmary and do a final check on the wounded. Just as she was about to leave the barracks, someone blocked her way. Max squealed and took a step back. A tall, brute man with a scary look in his eyes was staring down at her.

  Yulysion quickly hid Max behind him and grabbed the hilt of his sword.

  The man looked at Yulysion, his eyes full of ridicule and smirked with mockery.

  Yulysion’s face burned red in anger at the man’s blatant insult and in an instant, his sword was drawn and aimed at the man’s throat. His movement was so fast that Max couldn’t believe even upon witnessing it with her own eyes.

  Yulysion spat back so fiercely that Max could hardly tell if he was the same innocent boy she knew.

  Suddenly, a round of snorts and laughter erupted after his venomous remarks. Max, who was hiding behind Yulysion, shuddered in fear and turned her head towards where the sound came from. From a short distance away, several large men were sitting around, playing dice. One of them yelled at the man who was blocking their way.

  When Yulysion turned to see who the man was, his expression grew fiercer. Max’s eyes looked at him, alarmed. The man speaking seemed on the younger side, with pale blonde hair and a sharp impression. He tossed the dice he was holding onto the table and flashed her a sly smile.

  Max’s eyes widened at Yulysion’s screams. That scoundrel is the commander of Balto’s forces?

  The man simply laughed frivolously, not taking him seriously at all. She couldn’t believe that such a barbarian held such a high position.

  The man took a swig from the bottle he was holding and scanned her from head to toe with the gaze similar to a snake.

  Note –

  : Hebaron and Ruth bickering is a different level of comedy lol. AnYway, YURI PLEASE SLIT THEIR THROATS

  : I’m ready to throw hands. These brutes! But Yulysion is making this auntie proud <3