“…”
Embarrassment suddenly rushed in like a tidal wave. The actions he’d done while rationalizing them as being like kissing a pet now felt far too shameful. Naro suddenly became curious.
If Ray asked for a morning greeting starting tomorrow, would he be able to kiss him without hesitation? The heart that had occasionally been skipping beats whenever he looked at Ray lately was acting up again now. Why on earth did he feel this way?
Ray was a precious friend, family. Though Naro had never had family connected by blood or friends his own age, he could still tell. That hearts don’t skip like they’re broken when looking at family or friends.
Touching Ray’s face without knowing any better had been the problem. Just carelessly sitting next to him and staring intently at his face had been the mistake. Because of that trivial action, the questions and emotions he’d been trying hard to suppress came flooding in all at once like overdue homework. This could safely be said to be diving into a whirlpool of his own accord.
While Naro was wandering inside that unexpected whirlpool of confusion, Ray’s eyelids slowly rose.
“…Naro.”
“Ah.”
His heart tickled at the voice calling his name in a drowsy state, still not fully awake. His face quickly became hot. Naro quickly pulled away the hand he’d been holding close to Ray’s face and jumped up from his seat.
“You’re awake? Uh, you were sleeping really deeply. It’s interesting that Ray has times like this too.”
Naro unnecessarily cleared his throat and continued speaking while trying hard to act nonchalant. Ray, who was still half sprawled awkwardly on the table, blinked his eyes slowly and stared intently at Naro’s hand flickering in his vision.
“Sleep the rest comfortably at the inn.”
He tried to grab his hand, but Naro, who didn’t notice this, walked toward the lounge door first. Feeling his traces disappear from view, Ray scratched the back of his head. His expression held some dissatisfaction.
* * *
“So how was it?”
Naro asked with a tense face. Sitting in front of him was Mellian with her long hair tightly tied up high. She thought deeply about Naro’s question and tapped her fingers on the table.
Having heard in detail about Mellian’s physical condition in their previous meeting, Naro had requested the necessary medicinal herbs from Hayla. True to her word that she would procure them as quickly as possible, the herbs were really delivered to the inn the next day, and Naro shut himself in his room constantly worrying and thinking about how to mix them well.
Since his mind had been restless lately, it was quite fortunate that work he could seriously concentrate on had arisen.
He mixed the herbs he’d researched like that and delivered them to Mellian. Depending on how medicinal herbs were taken, there could be differences in their effects. For now, Naro explained to brew and drink them as tea for about three days, and if there were no major problems with her body after that, to grind them finely, mix with water, and take them like a potion.
“Actually, I didn’t really feel my energy rising much.”
“I see…”
Naro made a gloomy face while diligently writing down Mellian’s words.
“But my small coughs definitely seem to have decreased.”
“Ah, really?”
“Yeah, I didn’t notice, but Hayla said so. When I thought about it carefully after hearing that, the number of times I coughed definitely decreased.”
Naro quietly repeated Mellian’s words while organizing them in his own way in his notebook.
Watching that, Mellian chewed over the changes so far anew. The people Bern had brought so far were first-rate doctors or experts evaluated as having considerable skill. But even with them attached, they couldn’t create clear changes, yet this commoner herbalist before her eyes was different.
Mellian recalled how Naro had asked about her symptoms in extremely great detail back then. The experts who had come until now had only brought formulaic methods.
For instance, like how you must take fever reducers when you have a fever, they only followed already verified content. While just using medicines or herbs that raised immunity and energy. Perhaps because they’d only received higher education at their homes, they relied only on others’ research materials and such.
But Naro focused on the symptoms that only Mellian had. He identified them one by one, thought of all the herbs that might show effects, and mixed them while paying attention to even the ratios in detail.
“It’s a positive reaction, but for now the goal is to raise your weak energy, Young Lady. I’ll try to supplement it more. May I go report to the Duke first?”
“Sure, Father should still be in the reception room.”
Naro left Mellian’s room with his notebook. While doing so, he didn’t forget to ask the two not to fight since he’d be back soon.
Mellian drank her tea while carelessly glancing at Ray playing with Pin in the corner.
“Black mass, you’re quiet today?”
“My name is Ray. Stubborn mule.”
“You’re the one who won’t call my name properly either.”
“Haah… I don’t have the energy to deal with you today. I’m in a bad mood right now.”
Then Mellian snorted.
“Why are you in a bad mood? Since you don’t seem to have anyone particularly close besides Naro, I can listen if you have worries.”
Ray stared intently at Mellian. The somewhat rebellious look in his eyes seemed to say ‘You?’, so Mellian couldn’t help but be quite astounded. When it came to the Hernia Ducal House, it was a prestigious family to the point where there was no one in this Empire who didn’t know of it. Therefore, if someone else saw Ray’s insolent attitude, they might have been shocked.
Of course, Mellian didn’t want to wear the family’s honor like an accessory and show off to others, nor did she want to act like young ladies from various other families who used such things as weapons to look down on others.
She was just increasingly amazed the more she looked. Ray’s attitude of acting confidently in front of a person from a ducal house that everyone looked up to. Moreover, that wasn’t even bravado. Who would put on airs in front of a member of a renowned family, but Ray’s behavior was transparent. It felt like he really didn’t understand why he should bow and scrape to others.
“If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t.”
Mellian lifted her teacup again.
“When do humans’ behaviors change?”
“What?”
“If someone suddenly acts differently from usual, I’m curious what the reason might be.”
Ray said while giving his attention to Pin sprawled on the floor. Naro had been a bit strange lately. Of course, Naro was always cute and pretty so just looking at him made him feel good, but something had subtly changed.
He didn’t hold his hand well, and it had been a long time since he’d given him a morning greeting. Like placing magnets of the same pole together, when he approached, he naturally moved one step away smoothly. It felt like there was now this thing called distance that he’d never once felt from Naro before.
“Isn’t that because there’s been a change of heart?”
“Heart?”
“The state of one’s feelings.”
“So it’s because their heart changed?”
“I’m saying that could be one reason.”
Mellian shrugged, saying it wasn’t necessarily the absolute reason. Unlike her who stated her opinion calmly, Ray became quite serious. Naro’s heart changed? That didn’t sound very good.
“Or the other person did something wrong. So their behavior might have suddenly changed because of that.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong.”
As it was, Ray had been practicing restraint for the first time in his life lately. The dictionary meaning of restraint was to control and limit so as not to exceed a certain degree.
That’s what Naro had said. That in order to be with him, perhaps the lost memories might be needed. So Naro had chosen to go to the capital to find out about the Dragon Tribe. When he saw him actively stepping forward to be with him, indescribable emotions swirled.
Since Naro was working so hard for him like that, Ray thought he should restrain as much as possible from actions that would trouble him. So when the human teacher had arranged separate rooms, he accepted it as is.
He wanted to share one room, but if they did that, Naro would somehow seem uncomfortable. Since Naro went around saying their relationship was cousins, he faithfully followed that setting too. When other humans were around, he held back the urge to pull him close by the waist, and crumpled up the desire to sleep together into a corner.
So when Naro first grabbed his hand at the plaza, he felt good. But no sooner had he savored that joy than now Naro not only didn’t hold his hand, but even when he tried to hold it from his side, he only slipped away somehow.
Anyway, in various ways, Naro lately felt unfamiliar. He who was trying hard to restrain himself hadn’t done anything wrong. Then why on earth did Naro have a change of heart?
“I knew it was about you after all?”
“It’s not.”
“You just confessed with your own mouth.”
Ray decided to just ignore Mellian’s words, perhaps thinking he was at a disadvantage. Just before another childish bickering fight broke out, Naro entered with good timing.
Having finished reporting to Bern, he explained future plans to Mellian again. After saying he would keep only some components of the first herbs sent and newly mix the rest to deliver again, the two left the mansion.
Getting off the carriage and walking, a woman standing blankly near the inn suddenly entered Naro’s eyes. She was holding a wooden sign with writing on it in her hands.
