What should I do? The moment Elysia froze in shock, Tristan roughly pulled her toward him.
The instant she stumbled into his arms, a low voice pierced her ear.
“Hold your breath.”
With that brief warning, a firm force pressed her face against his chest, and her vision distorted in an instant. Warm water enveloped her entire body as she sank beneath the surface. Elysia could not even resist and was dragged down as though swept along by his strength. Amid the rippling sounds of water, thump, thump, thump. She could hear the dull pounding of his heart. Even while submerged, the warmth supporting her felt strangely reassuring.
If they find me, I’m dead. Elysia squeezed her eyes shut and focused solely on holding her breath.
The door opened almost immediately. The knights who came face-to-face with Tristan froze as though they had encountered a ghost.
“Ah, Commander. We didn’t know you were in here….”
“S-Sorry. We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Under their commander’s sharp gaze, the knights floundered helplessly.
“I believe I told you not to bother me.”
Their shoulders flinched at the icy question.
“Hale Rowen. Colin Mayer. Do you think your superior’s orders are a joke?”
When he glared at them and called them by name, even more color drained from their faces. At the same time, Tristan’s arm tightened more firmly around Elysia.
“No, sir!”
“We’re sorry! It won’t happen again!”
The knights answered in rigid, disciplined voices. When Tristan gave no particular response, they hesitated for a moment, exchanging glances.
“Um… Commander, is your hand all right?”
Colin was the first to speak, and Hale quickly chimed in.
“It doesn’t look good, so everyone’s worried.”
“We have a mission coming up soon too, so we were wondering if you’ll be all right.”
Tristan had assumed a warning like that would naturally make them leave. But the knights under his command were far more loyal than expected.
“Your bandage is wet, so it must hurt and be uncomfortable.”
“Should we perhaps… help you wash?”
Disgusting bastards. Their concern for their superior was admirable, but just imagining their rough hands touching his body gave him goosebumps.
“No.”
He was just about to tell them he could handle it himself and to leave when Hale made a slip of the tongue.
“Did you perhaps not meet the nun?”
“What?”
“She came looking for you earlier because your wound needed disinfecting. Didn’t you see her? The one with pink hair who’s really pretty….”
Tristan’s subordinates were loyal, but at the same time, they were somewhat lacking in tact. Pink hair and really pretty? Why the hell did those bastards remember that?
“Say that again. You think the nun is pretty?”
“…….”
“…….”
The instant Tristan’s gaze turned cold, the knights seemed to realize they had made a mistake and stiffened.
“You call yourselves Holy Knights? You’ve lost your damn minds.”
Meanwhile, Elysia, who was hiding beneath the surface, realized that because she had been submerged so suddenly, she was already running out of breath. Her vision spun, and tiny tremors ran through her entire body. She had reached her limit. Her lungs began to burn painfully.
Oh my God. After spending all this time running away, I’m going to get a drowning ending without ever even having a proper romance.
If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve stopped avoiding everything and at least tried kissing someone.
Bubbles burst upward like convulsions, and her short life on the run flashed before her eyes like a revolving lantern. When she could hold her breath no longer, Elysia unconsciously grabbed Tristan’s arm like a lifeline.
“Haa…, I’ll take care of it myself. Don’t make me say it twice. Just get out.”
Feeling her grip, Tristan quickly ordered them out. The moment the knights fled, Tristan hauled Elysia out of the water.
Cough, cough, cough—!
Elysia released the breath she had been holding and broke into a fit of coughing. Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision, and she could barely think straight. A large hand wiped the moisture from around her eyes.
“That’s why I told you to leave earlier.”
“Cough, cough….”
“You wouldn’t listen to a word I said, and look at you now. Serves you right.”
As her vision cleared, she saw Tristan. His mouth kept scolding her, but his eyes were unmistakably worried.
“You’re practically choking to death.”
“Hic, your hand….”
Elysia was still gasping for breath when her gaze fell on his soaked, ruined bandage. Tristan pulled her completely into his arms so she could no longer see it. Then he gently patted her back to help her catch her breath.
“Just breathe properly. Stop worrying about pointless things.”
Still held in Tristan’s arms, Elysia rested her chin on his shoulder and slowly steadied her breathing. All the strength drained from her body. She felt as though holding her breath for so long had completely exhausted her. At that moment, she could not think about anything. She could only vaguely feel the palm repeatedly patting her back.
As her mind began to clear, her dulled senses gradually sharpened again. Her panting subsided and her racing heart slowly returned to its normal rhythm, but the more it did, the rougher the breathing beside her ears became and the hotter the warmth against her skin felt. Whenever the water occasionally splashed, their soaked bodies seemed to cling even more tightly together. It was only when she realized something heavy was pressing against her buttocks that Elysia noticed just how excessively close their bodies were.
Startled, Elysia hurriedly pushed him away.
“What are you so surprised about? It’s not like you care anyway.”
Tristan grumbled, though his face looked strangely flushed.
“N-No, it’s not that… I was worried your hand might hurt. Cough, cough.”
“Who are you to worry about me? Enough.”
He promptly lifted Elysia into his arms.
“You’ll catch a cold. Let’s get out first.”
***
The two emerged from the bathhouse into the changing room outside, both soaked from head to toe.
The water had definitely been warm, yet now that she was out of it, her entire body trembled. Perhaps it was because she was still wearing waterlogged clothes, but she was shivering hard enough for her teeth to chatter.
[System]
Administer treatment within the time limit.
[Time Remaining - 00:08:42]
Before she knew it, there were less than ten minutes left.
I need to treat him.
“Here.”
…Instead, she was the one being taken care of.
Tristan unfolded a large towel and wrapped it around Elysia’s wet body. Even after covering her, he apparently was not satisfied, because he wrapped several more layers of dry towels around her.
Water was dripping from his own body, and his bandage was soaked and ruined, but he paid no attention to it.
“Um… Tristan.”
“If you’re going to talk about my hand again, stop.”
The instant she cautiously opened her mouth, he cut her off.
“That’s not it. Could you maybe cover your lower….”
…half? Before she could even finish speaking, Tristan looked down, hastily turned around, and wrapped a towel around his waist. Then, apparently embarrassed, he repeatedly cleared his throat.
[Why cover it when it looks so good?]
“…….”
[No fun.]
Madam Rosalie clicked her tongue and complained, but Elysia thought it had been an absolutely necessary measure. With him looking like that, treating him would be difficult, let alone looking at him comfortably.
“Anyway, hurry up and go. You’ll catch a cold.”
“Well….”
“What? Want me to take you back? You said you didn’t want people getting the wrong idea about us.”
She had not even asked. He was asking and answering his own questions.
“I only said that because I was worried you’d get into trouble because of me.”
“…….”
“I mean it.”
Even after her explanation, Tristan gave no particular response.
Come to think of it, although it had not been intentional, they had shared such intimate physical contact, yet his Affection had not increased. He was clearly still holding onto what had happened in the infirmary. If she left now and encountered Valentin, there was a risk that the gap in their Affection would grow even wider.
And putting the quest aside….
Seeing him care only about her well-being despite his injured hand made her unable to stop worrying about him for some reason.
“Let me treat you before I go.”
“You’re shivering from the cold and you’re still talking about that? Worry about yourself.”
But apparently, the same was true for Tristan in reverse.
“Let me do it. If you leave it like this, it’ll get worse.”
“Leave it alone. Just let it get worse.”
“Let it get worse? What kind of childish nonsense is that?”
“Because once the treatment is over….”
Tristan stopped mid-sentence, swallowed the rest, and rubbed a hand over his face. Apparently, even he felt pathetic about what he was thinking.
“I’m doing this because I’m genuinely worried about you.”
In any case, even if only because of the quest, she had to treat him.
When Elysia pleaded with him earnestly, Tristan remained silent for a moment before letting out a long sigh.
“You’re that worried about me?”
“Yeah.”
One corner of his mouth tilted upward.
“Then don’t just say you’re worried. Prove it.”