Chapter 3

Rosena blinked her eyes slowly and answered without hesitation.

“I’m just a passing traveler.”

The man shut his mouth. He had a complicated look on his face as if it wasn’t the answer he wanted.

Rosena shrugged her shoulders and gently pulled his hand off.

“First, I’ll go to the village and get what we need.”

When Rosena picked up the bag, the man looked up.

His face was not visible, it was covered by his hair tangled in blood, but somehow he looked like an abandoned beast.

“You are coming back…..?”

“I’ll be here before sunset. As long as I don’t get lost.”

His face looked surprised as he didn’t expected Rosena’s words.

But he didn’t tell Rosena not to go.

“Stay where you are.”

Rosena glanced down at the man. It seemed difficult to stand up because of the severe injury anyway.

So Rosena left the man alone and hurriedly walked.

Squirrels who showed her the way earlier came running and covered Rosena’s surroundings.

When she followed the squirrels, the exit of the forest appeared in no time.

Rosena checked her location again and went straight down to the village.

The village wasn’t that big, but there were a lot of things in the market.

First, Rosena was going to find a pharmacy. She bought medicine and bandages to heal wounds, and also bought a few days’ worth of food and water.

Although she was sad that she had to break into her saved expenses, she vowed to get the interest later.

Carrying a puffy bag, Rosena went back into the forest.

The sun that was floating in the middle of the stream was already flowing to the west.

Rosena stopped for a moment. It was so full of white trees that it was difficult to get directions.

For a while, she searched for directions, then the squirrels she saw earlier reappeared.

Squirrels whose tails were as white as the forest scenery circled around Rosena.

“Will you guide me?”

The squirrels took the lead after hearing Rosena.

Soon after, Rosena arrived at the place where she first met the man.

But there was nothing there, like an illusion.

Was she in the wrong place?

Rosena looked around. Then into her view came a white tree with bloodstains.

It was the tree he was leaning on.

“Hmm.”

Rosena crossed her arms. Maybe he left because he didn’t believe in her.

The wounds were severe, so he couldn’t have gone far…..

Rosena asked the squirrels huddled together with their knees bent.

“Do you know where he went?”

The squirrels looked at each other and shook their heads.

Rosena, who agonized for a while, reached out her hand.

Then a bird circling through the air landed gently on Rosena’s wrist.

“Can you guide me if you know?”

The little bird rubbed its head on Rosena’s wrist and began to flap its wings.

Rosena, who was walking along the slowly rising bird, was able to find a man who seemed exhausted after a while.

He looked at Rosena and parted his lips slightly as if he was seeing a ghost.

Rosena looked down at him with her arms folded.

“I’ve told you I’m coming back.”

“How come…..?”

He sounded very puzzled. He probably didn’t think Rosena was coming back.

When Rosena put her bag down, the man asked in a way that shows he didn’t really understand.

“How did you come here?”

It was quite far from the original location. However Rosena found him in no time.

“There’s a way.”

Rosena searched the bag instead of explaining. She took out the medicine and bandage bought from the pharmacy and approached the man.

“Give me your arm.”

He gently extended his arm. Unlike before, he was quite obedient.

Rosena took the medicine out of the barrel and rubbed it against the man’s limbs. A bitter smell passed by her nose.

Rosena, who was treating the stab wound, naturally grabbed him by the left wrist.

“Ugh!”

Surprised by the brief sound, Rosena released her hand. She looked at his wrist and it was swollen red.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s okay.”

He said, and shook his head.

Rosena looked down at his wrist and gave it a little strength. Then the corners of the man’s mouth twitch.

It hurts but he pretends it doesn’t.

Rosena carefully bandaged the man’s wrist. She isn’t a doctor, so she couldn’t know how and where to bandage it in detail.

“I think you’d better go to the village tomorrow for a diagnosis?”

The man shook his head. Rosena, who saw his tightly closed mouth, no longer brought up the topic.

‘I think he has a reason….. don’t tell me, he is a criminal?!’

“Please raise your arms.”

Rosena grabbed the bandage and wrapped her arms around his back.

As she approached his firm chest, a cool scent tickled the tip of her nose.

It was the scent that she smelled when she first entered the echo forest.

Wrapped in the smell of wild flowers and dry wind, she felt as if she was in the man’s arms.

Come to think of it, she had never been so close to a man before.

Rosena, who had not seen the man’s face properly until now, slowly looked up.

With his damp, blood soaked hair dried up, she saw the man’s face for the first time.

The first thing that caught her eyes was his blue eyes, which were placed under his pigmented eyelashes.

The dark navy eyes, which had only been intense all this time, had already become a clear blue.

Perhaps because the ferocious energy was gone, his face looked clearer.

Underneath the wounds, his white, clean skin made him look like a young boy, but his smooth, sleek jawline and distinct features clearly showed that he is a man.

He is such a beautiful man that she thought everyone would believe in religion if there was a God with this face.

Rosena was mesmerized for a moment, and the man lowered his head slightly.

The man whispered, in such a short distance.

“Why?”

Rosena quickly came to her senses and shook her head.

Anyway, how did he get hurt so badly? Was he attacked by a group of bandits?

“How did you get hurt?”

The man’s shoulders flinched. Rosena put down the bandage for a moment and stared at him.

“You were attacked, weren’t you?”

The man raised his head. Seeing his shaking eyes, Rosena, who thought that her guess was correct, continued with a smile.

“There were bandits in this forest.”

Rosena’s words made him blink slowly.

A strange relief passed his face for a moment, but Rosena didn’t see it.

Rosena put a bandage on his chest.

Compared to his lean body, his muscles flinched whenever Rosena’s hands touched him.

Rosena, who had never seen a man’s naked body, admired it and thought that this was how a man’s body looked.

Rosena’s bandaged fingers slid down on his body.

His shoulders trembled slightly whenever her fingers touched his body.

He watched Rosena with a tenuous face. He made a sour face as if he had never received kindness before.

“Why are you treating me?”

“That’s what I’d say.”

It was an insincere answer, but she couldn’t be more honest than this.

Rosena herself couldn’t figure out why she was doing this.

“You’re….. weird.”

“You too.”

Rosena smiled back. She had heard a lot about it when she was in the mansion, but she didn’t expect to hear it here.

A short silence like the wind passed between the two.

“…..”

He looked down at his hand as he was being treated calmly.

“It’s all done.”

The man looked sad at the word without realizing it.

But a calm expression soon returned. Rosena didn’t notice it.

“It looks like it’s tied up properly, but…..”

Rosena checked the bandage carefully. It was a bit clumsy, but not bad for a beginner.

Rosena took out the clothes she bought from the village and held them out to the man.

“I can ask for a name, right?”

“…Yerhan.”

Rosena grinned at the faint voice.

“I’m Liden.”

It was the name of an ordinary commoner, and it was also an alias that Rosena continued to use since she was in the county.

“Liden…”

Yerhan murmured Rosena’s alias. He was just calling her name, but strangely it felt ticklish, Rosena let out a light cough.

Watching Yerhan change his clothes, Rosena picked up the things lying on the floor.

As she rose from her position, his eyes trembled briefly.

“You’re going to leave?”

Rosena looked down at Yerhan.

Rosena, who was weak for no reason, hesitated for a moment.

Rosena looked up at the sky. The sunset was already burning red as if it were going to burn the forest. Soon it would be completely dark.

She needed to find a place to rest before night came…..

When Rosena didn’t answer, Yerhan’s face hardened little by little.

“Ugh.”

Rosena turned her head in surprise at the brief sound.

Yerhan groaned as heat was felt up all the way up to his chest. His forehead crumpled when the pain returned.

“Does it hurt?”

When Yerhan nodded with an exhausted face, Rosena put her bag down.

Does it hurt so much that no words could describe it? Did she put the bandage incorrectly?

Rosena looked at Yerhan in bewilderment. Then the man, clutching his chest, looked up at Rosena and whispered.

“Stay with me a little longer.”