Not Your Typical Romance Story

Chapter One:

The Stranger and the Help Strategy: Or, How My Peaceful Evening Was Officially Cancelled.

The night had swallowed Wintermere whole.
Mist drifted lazily between the cottages, wrapping the quiet village in a pale blanket. Lanterns glowed faintly behind frosted windows while smoke curled from chimneys into the dark sky. Snow covered almost everything in sight, turning the village into a peaceful painting.
Peaceful...
Until I opened my door.
Someone was lying in front of my house.
...
No.
Someone was bleeding in front of my house.
A young man, perhaps in his twenties, lay motionless on the snow. Dark bruises stained the side of his face, while fresh blood seeped from a deep wound near his stomach, slowly colouring the white snow beneath him crimson.
His breathing was faint.
Barely noticeable.
Who he was didn't matter.
Whether he survived the night...
That was the real question.

I folded my arms.
"...Why?"

The unconscious man, quite rudely, refused to answer.

I looked up the road.
Then back at him.
Then up the road again.
"...You're joking."

Three houses back lived Daya.
A physician.
A real physician.
Someone who actually knew how to save dying people.

So naturally...
This stranger had chosen my doorstep.
"Do I have a sign that says 'Emergency Collection Point'?"
Silence.

Even unconscious people were unhelpful.

Wintermere was a small village where almost everyone knew everyone else.

Snow stayed for most of the year, disappearing only during the short, warm summers before winter reclaimed the land once more.

It wasn't rich.
Neither was I.

I was simply another commoner trying to live peacefully in a world ruled by nobles.
A peaceful life.
That was all I wanted.
Apparently...
Peace didn't want me.
The worst part?
I had finally convinced myself to take a bath.
After three days.
Mind you, I had perfectly reasonable explanations.
Mostly.

Mind: Congratulations.

Lumina: "For what?"

You finally admitted you needed a bath.

"...I was considering it."

You spent an hour negotiating with yourself.

"I was weighing my options."

Soap won.

"...Unfortunately."

Now... about the dying man.

I blinked.
"The what?"

The dying man.

"Oh."

I looked back at him.
"...Right."

Will you help him?
"Me?"

Yes.

"You mean me?"
Unless another Lumina appears out of nowhere.

I immediately took five careful steps backwards.

"He could be dangerous."

He's unconscious.

"He could wake up."

Eventually.

"He looks suspicious."

He's bleeding.

"...That doesn't make him less suspicious."

I studied him from what I considered a perfectly safe distance.

He was...
Annoyingly handsome.
Not that it mattered.
At all.

Mind: You noticed.
"I have eyes."

You looked twice.

"I was confirming he hadn't moved."

Mm-hm.
"I was."

Of course.

I cleared my throat.
"Anyway..."
My mind drifted toward the countless novels I'd read during my free time.

Mind: Correction.
"You spend most of your time free."
"I have a business."

A small one.

"I still have one."

Fair point.

"I design clothes."

Beautiful clothes.
"I know."

Someone had to say it.

I ignored the last comment.
"Based on my extensive knowledge of novels..."

Here we go.

"...this is usually where the kind-hearted heroine brings the injured stranger home."

Correct.

"And then..."

I raised one finger.
"Scenario One."

The Mind sighed dramatically.
Proceed.

"The heroine nurses him back to health."
"He falls in love with her."
"Or she falls in love with him."
"Or both."
"They survive misunderstandings, villains, dramatic rain scenes..."
"...and eventually live happily ever after."

Reasonable summary.

"Scenario Two."
"The heroine mistakes kindness for love."
"Or love for obsession."
"Or obsession for destiny."
"Somehow everyone calls it romance."
"I don't understand why."

Neither do I.

"They marry."
"They have children."
"They forgive crimes that absolutely shouldn't be forgiven."
"They smile."
"They cry."
"The End."
I shivered.
"No."

No?

"No."
"I have absolutely no interest in any of that."

Interesting.

"I like my quiet life."

Do you?

"...Mostly."
I glanced back at the stranger.
His chest rose.
Then fell.
He was still breathing.
Barely.

"..."
"...That's inconvenient."

Mind: Because?

"Because now I know he's alive."

And?
"..."
Lumina.

"I know."

Do you?
"..."

"What am I supposed to do with you?"

Far across the snowy road, a few villagers had quietly gathered.
Not close enough to help.
Close enough to watch.

One old woman leaned toward another.
"My..."
"He's a handsome young man."
Another nodded.
"The poor girl."
"The poor man."

Neither of them looked particularly sure which one deserved more sympathy.

______________________<^_^>_____________

Wintermere Whispers

"Someone said Lumina finally left her house."
"Impossible."
"I saw it with my own eyes."
"Then something serious must have happened."
"It did."
"What?"
"...A handsome stranger collapsed in front of her door."
"Poor stranger."