The dawn light began to filter through the treetops, slowly piercing my half-closed eyelids.
My senses, however, had been on high alert for hours.
I hadn't slept a single minute all night. My body was screaming for rest, my muscles protested with every pulse, and my eyes burned from accumulated exhaustion, but I hadn't allowed myself to lower my guard.
After all, we were in an unknown forest, vulnerable and surrounded by creatures capable of tearing us apart without effort.
A faint whimper interrupted my thoughts.
"Mmm..."
Goliath began to move beside me.
He was still curled up, knees drawn to his chest and arms wrapped around them, seeking protection from the cold. He had spent the entire night in that almost fetal position, even though the campfire had stayed lit and I had arranged him close enough to receive its warmth.
The battle against the Snow Lion and the icy water had left him more exhausted than I had imagined.
He rubbed his face with both hands before stretching slowly. His pink hair, tousled and damp from the night, fell over his cheeks as he slowly opened his eyes. His pink pupils, still drowsy, fixed on me.
"A-ah... Master?" he murmured in a hoarse voice.
"You're awake," I replied dryly.
Goliath blinked once, twice. Suddenly, his eyes flew wide open and he sat up with a start.
"Master?! The cat! Where's the cat?!" he exclaimed, bringing a hand to his side to grip a sword that was no longer with him.
I let out a long sigh. Of course. He hadn't even finished waking up and he was already thinking about that beast.
"We lost it. Don't you remember?"
He stayed still, blinking in absolute confusion. I shook my head, trying to ease the accumulated fatigue.
"It cornered us and we had to jump into the river. You passed out in the water, so be grateful we're still alive."
Goliath blinked repeatedly, reconstructing the memories piece by piece. My brow furrowed and a hint of rage began to burn in my chest.
I wanted to yell at him, to ask him what the hell had gone through his head to face such a monster and remind him how his recklessness had almost cost us both our lives.
However, when I was about to reproach him, I saw his face.
His gaze was downcast; the overflowing energy and his usual extravagant antics had disappeared. For the first time since I summoned him, he looked fragile, scared, and vulnerable. Much more vulnerable than while he slept shivering in the night.
He approached me with slow steps and his head lowered.
"I'm sorry..." his voice was barely a murmur. "I... I really am so sorry..."
His lips trembled and a silent tear slid down his cheek.
I stayed silent. I knew that a soldier incapable of recognizing his mistakes needed discipline, and that some lessons are only learned through punishment.
But Goliath didn't need me to teach him to feel guilty; he was already destroying himself from within, and adding more suffering wouldn't change what had happened.
I let out a tired sigh.
"Calm down..." I reached out by instinct and placed my hand on his head.
His pink hair still held a trace of dampness. I gave him a few clumsy pats, improvising comfort.
"Just learn from this. Next time don't throw yourself at a monster without thinking, understood?"
Goliath kept his head down, but clenched his fists tightly. I sensed a certain resignation in his posture, as if he were expecting a severe punishment to settle his guilt.
"Did you understand me?" I insisted.
A few seconds passed before he raised his head. His eyes were still wet, but a small, trembling smile drew itself on his lips.
"Y-yes! I promise! I won't do it again!"
"I hope so..."
For a brief instant, the warmth of his gaze brought me a pang of nostalgia.
It reminded me of my first summon in my past life, of those days of promises and victories where I could still trust someone without fearing betrayal. But I pushed the memory away immediately: there was no point in clinging to a dead past.
I removed my hand from his head.
"Good. Now that we've cleared things up..."
It was at that moment that Goliath lowered his gaze to his own body and froze. An intense blush began to spread rapidly from his neck to his cheeks.
"E-eh...? I-I'm naked?"
Goliath contemplated his white, smooth skin, completely exposed except for the tight underwear with kitty prints he was wearing.
I looked away to one side to grant him a minimum of courtesy.
"When we came out of the river, your clothes were soaked and you were going into hypothermia. I took them off and put them near the fire to dry."
The boy's face seemed to burn even brighter upon noticing that the childish design of his undergarment had been seen by me. He lowered his head again, embarrassed.
"Sorry for causing so much trouble, Master..."
"I already told you it's fine," I waved my hand to cut off his apologies. "Now go and get dressed, I don't want to keep seeing that..."
My traitorous eyes landed for a second on his figure: the curved line of his hips, the contrast of his narrow waist and the prominent roundness of his thighs.
I shook my head energetically to dispel the thought.
"Just go get dressed already."
Goliath nodded clumsily and began to get up. But just as he was about to go for his clothes, his eyes lowered to my waist. He stopped dead. He blinked once, twice, and then looked at me with a mixture of shock and absolute bewilderment.
"Master..."
"What now?"
Goliath pointed tremblingly at my lower half.
"What happened to your clothes... and why are you wearing a skirt of leaves?"
Shame fell over me like a bucket of ice water.
There was my "magnificent" outfit: an improvised skirt made of dry leaves and strips of bark that I had been forced to tear off in the darkness. A masterpiece of survival that destroyed in one stroke the last remnants of my dignity as a former sovereign.
"THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" I exclaimed to hide my embarrassment.
"E-eh?!"
"Go get dressed right now! That's an order!"
"Y-yes, Master!"
The boy shot off toward the branches and began putting on his clothes at a ridiculous speed. Within seconds he was already buttoning his shirt.
I watched him in silence before looking down. One of the dry leaves of my skirt gently detached and fell to the ground. I closed my eyes and took a breath.
"Fuck... why the hell wasn't there spare clothes in that laboratory?" I muttered between my teeth.