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 off his hand.
"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 invisible because of 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 and 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 took a walk.
Squirrels who showed her the way earlier came running and covered Rosena's surroundings.
When she followed the squirrel, the end 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 food and water for a few days.
Although she was sad that she had to break the saved expenses, she vowed to get the interest later.
Wearing 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 the direction.
She was searching for directions for a while, and 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 listening to Rosena.
Soon after, Rosena arrived at the place where she first met a man.
But there was nothing there, like an illusion.
Am I in the wrong place?
Rosena looked around. Then came a white tree with bloodstains at the end of the gaze.
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 had been agonizing 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 opened his lips slightly as if he were 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 he didn't really understand.
"How did you come here?"
It wasn't that far, but it was quite far from the original location. However Rosena came right in no time.
"There's a way."
Rosena searched the bag instead of explaining. She took out the acid cure 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 pulled out her hand. She looked at his wrist and it was swollen red.
"Does it hurt?"
"It's okay."
He shook his head and said.
Rosena looked down at his wrist and gave it a little strength. Then the corners of the man's mouth twitch.
It must be hurt but he pretended not to be.
Rosena carefully bandaged the man's wrist.
She wasn'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, the 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 were 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.
When the blood dried up in his damp wet hair, for the first time she saw the man's face.
The first thing that caught her eyes was the blue eyes, which were placed under the pigmented eyelashes.
The dark blue eyes, which were only intense all this time, had already become clear blue eyes.
Perhaps because the ferocious energy was lost, his face looked more clear.
The white, clean skin underneath made him look like a young boy, but his smooth, sleek jawline and distinct features clearly showed that he was a man.
He was such a beautiful man that she thought everyone would believe in the 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 right, continued with a smile.
"There were bandits in this forest."
Rosena's words made him blink slowly.
A strange relief passed by his face for a moment, but Rosena didn't see it.
Rosena put a bandage on his chest.
Compared to his thin body, his muscles flinched whenever Rosena's hands touched him.
Rosena, who had never seen a man's naked body, admired and thought that this was how man's body looked.
Rosena's bandaged fingers slid down on his body.
His shoulders flinched slightly whenever her fingers touched his body.
He watched Rosena with a subtle face. He made a sour face as if he had never received kindness before.
"Why are you treating me?"
"That's what I 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 passed between the two like the wind.
"....."
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 soon it was back with a calm face, 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 man, 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 his name, but strangely it felt ticklish, Rosena let out a light cough.
Watching Yerhan change his clothes, Rosena picked up things lying on the floor.
As she rose from her seat, his eyes shook 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 dark around.
She needed 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 with heat covered up his chest. His eyebrows frowned when the pain returned.
"Does it hurt?"
When Yerhan nodded with a dying face, Rosena put her bag down.
Did it hurt so much that no words could describe? Did she put the bandage wrongly?
Rosena looked at Yerhan in bewilderment. Then the man, clutching his chest, looked up at Rosena and whispered.
"Stay with me a little longer."
TBC