Calling an attendant would raise questions.

And doing nothing was clearly not an option. H

"...Seriously."

I didn’t bother to prepare any potion for small wounds because everyone around me would fuss over me and cause a scene whenever I got even a minor injury. Besides, I didn’t get injured that often except for my showdowns with my father. And I always had my personal servants around to call for help.

A silver bell was placed on the desk in my room.

If I rang this bell, I could call the attendants regardless of the time of day, but I didn’t feel like ringing it right now. It was clear that news would reach Elena in nine out of ten times. Maybe if it were her, as soon as she heard the news, she would run straight to me.

It was only a minor wound, but I didn’t want to show her my injuries.

So, In the end, I had no choice but to go outside to find some potions. Knights need these things all the time, so I was sure I could find them in any training ground’s warehouse.

"Damn it. Come to think of it, I was at the training ground until a while ago. I should have just grabbed a potion then instead of coming back here..."

It was a mistake to come back to my room without taking care of my injury first. What kind of fool forgets his own injury?

As I was about to leave the room, a smell wafted through the door. It was immediately clear what the smell was. It was the smell of the meat stew I usually enjoy. Apparently, since I couldn’t participate in the dinner tonight, it seemed that someone brought a meal to my room for me, who couldn’t eat.

Judging by the unfamiliar sound of the footsteps I heard, it seemed that it was not Ken or Maria. It seemed that they had already told the other attendants. Thanks to that, I thought I could get potion and bandages without much fuss.

– Kock. Kock...

"Come in."

When I heard a short knock, I told the person outside to come in right away.

"Is tonight’s dinner meat stew? I could smell it from outside. But, sorry to bother you, could you get me some bandages and potion..."

First of all, I naturally tried to talk to the person who was entering so as not to panic when they saw the wound, but when I saw the face of the person who entered the room, I was embarrassed.

The one I thought was an attendant was Elena, whom I didn’t want to show myself in this state.

"Elena? Why is Elena here? Wait, hold on! Leave first..."

"Your arm..."

Looking at the wound on my arm, she murmured softly, and I remembered what had happened with her this morning. I remember her crying face when I just said let’s think about our engagement some more time. When she saw the wound on my arm, she didn’t know how to react, so she tried to hide it.

"Why, why did you get hurt like this? Could it be that your father...? I thought what your father said at dinner was just a joke, but really..."

"Eh, Elena? This is because I, I made a mistake. Stop! First, let’s calm down."

Elena, apparently agitated by the sight of my wound, continued to mutter something while wiping the blood from my arm with a handkerchief. She then suddenly raised her head and left the room, saying that she would fetch the potion.

"No, You know where the potion is in my house?"

"Damian! I found it!!"

"Yes??"

Surprisingly, Elena brought the potion within minutes of leaving my room. She may have brought it personally, but the pattern engraved on the potion bottle was the crest of the workshop that signed an exclusive contract with Kraus here in Sarham, so there was no choice but to be more suspicious.

However, Elena, who brought the potion, was applying the potion to my wound as if nothing had happened.

When the red potion touched the wound, the blood flowing from the wound began to stop. Even though this was a world of fantasy with magic, it wasn’t like the wound could be perfectly healed with just one potion.

Such things were more like miracles performed by priests who believe in the gods, and potions were more like items that help users recover, such as household medicines and fatigue-relieving pills. Still, it was amazing just that the blood stopped immediately or that it improved the natural recovery ability.

As if worried that the wound might get infected, she hung a ’clean’ handkerchief on it, carefully tying the handkerchief around the wound. However, perhaps because we were so close, her soft breath touched my skin.

"Elena over there..."

Perhaps because she was concentrating, she couldn’t hear me. So I called her name again.

"Elena?"

"Yes? Damian, wait a minute. This is more than I thought uh...?!"

"You tied it too tight."

She lifted her head at my response and took a step back, startled by my face that had come up to her nose. Her serious expression from just a moment ago turned into a flustered one in an instant, which naturally made the corners of my mouth twitch.

I loosened the knot that Elena had been tying diligently and offered my arm to her again.

"Could you tie it a bit more gently this time?"

"Eh...ah, yes."

She started tying the knot on my arm again. This time, her touch was much softer than before, and her face, which had been stiff with effort, was now relaxed. After a moment, a butterfly made of her handkerchief was sitting on my arm.

"It’s pretty. Thank you, Elena. But why did you bring my meal..."

"That, that’s..."

I looked at the tray she had brought. One was a meat stew that seemed to be my meal, and the other was a dessert that didn’t suit my taste as I couldn’t eat sweet things. She should know by now that I couldn’t eat sweet things, so why did she prepare it?

I smiled mischievously and looked at her. Elena’s face turned even redder, as if she knew the meaning behind my smile. Her embarrassed expression had a charming quality that made me want to play a prank on her.

Without saying a word, I moved closer to her little by little.

Just like before, my face came close enough to touch her nose. The only difference this time was that although her face was very red, she didn’t run back like before. Instead, she seemed to be waiting for something.

When she closed her eyes, I stopped approaching.

Instead...

-Poke

"Uh...?"

I poked her soft cheek with my finger. It was even softer than I had anticipated. Softer than Alphonse’s cheek.

Elena opened her eyes and looked at me with a confused expression, wondering what was happening. I smiled at her and said.

"I just wanted to touch it."

For a moment, Elena looked dazed, but then she regained her senses and-

"Damiaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!"

-called my name with all her might.