“I just have to do it myself.”
“How would you do it properly? Do you plan to waste precious medicine?”
It was true that medicine and bandages were scarce in this environment, so Rieta had no choice but to lift her dress a little.
But she couldn’t even make it past the calf halfway and quickly stopped.
“Where, where is Elisha?”
In her embarrassment, Rieta looked around.
Seeing her crying and covering her legs, Noel got a strange feeling about her.
What could he say? Why did it feel like he had become unscrupulous?
“Elisha said he would be with the mercenaries to reassure people here!” Noel answered irritably.
“Ah, that’s right. Then Emile…?”
“You really think I might think something strange when I look at your legs?!”
Rieta couldn’t answer his question.
“Anyway, I’ve seen your legs so many times since I was young that I don’t even think about them!”
The two of them were childhood friends who have seen everything.
However, despite his claims, Rieta still looked hesitant.
Why was she so wary?
Noel couldn’t understand Rieta’s feelings at all.
As for relying on Elisha first, he could at least understand it. But wasn’t it a bit too much for her to show her injury to Emile, but not to Noel?
“Why on earth am I worse than that mercenary?”
Rieta responded by fiddling with her clothes as Noel grunted while resting his chin.
“That.”
“Yes, what is that?”
“…That’s.”
“What?”
Noel frowned at the voice he couldn’t hear well.
“… Because of that.”
Rieta’s voice became quieter.
In her frustration, Noel held Rieta’s face in his hands and made her look straight at his face.
Since he couldn’t hear any sound, he wanted to see those quiet lips moving.
“Say it again.”
“Uh.”
Rieta’s face somehow turned red when their eyes met.
What on earth did she say that made her so embarrassed?
Noel still waited for her explanation with a skeptical face.
“That is…”
After a moment of hesitation, Rieta seemed to have decided that she could not delay any longer.
“Noel, you have nothing but ulterior intentions towards me…”
“…”
“You’re a sneaky pervert…”
“You—”
Noel opened his mouth sternly, still holding Rieta’s face.
“Do you really believe that?”
“That, that’s, Noel said so!”
That was the first thing Rieta heard the moment she woke up.
It was so shocking that her clouded mind suddenly jolted awake.
“Ha. You’re driving me crazy.”
Noel’s tone slowly began to show irritation.
“Okay, let’s just say I’m a crazy pervert who has nothing but ulterior intentions towards you.”
“…”
“The person you like is sick enough to admit to that, but would anyone look at your wound and think romantic thoughts?! Huh?!”
“That.”
When Rieta couldn’t answer, Noel grabbed her face and scolded her.
“I will not! I never think about strange things! Is it human to think that way about a patient? You’re completely crazy!”
Hearing his subtly persuasive words, Rieta nodded with a puzzled look on her face.
“Good. No put your leg out.”
Only then did Noel let go of Rieta’s face.
“I’m sorry.”
Rieta offered her apology right away, so he gladly accepted it.
There was a limit to treating a person as a pervert.
How could she expect someone to think that way when they saw an injured person?
He took the medicine from the pocket, and fresh bandages and cotton from the box.
When he turned around, he saw Rieta pulling up her dress.
It was a leg he had seen countless times since he was young, so he had no reason to think about anything else the moment that white skin was slowly revealed.
However…
…Gulp.
The sound of Noel swallowing nervously echoed throughout the quiet tent.
As if that wasn’t enough, his nervous fingertips trembled.
“Noel?”
Rieta, unexpectedly not noticing her, called him.
Noel blinked his eyes.
“I will not! I never think about strange things! Is it human to think that way about a patient? You’re completely crazy!”
The words he said earlier lingered in his ears.
…Could it be that I am a crazy bastard? Noel’s silence grew longer.
“…”
“Noel?”
“…No.”
No, that couldn’t be possible. He shook his head with an effort, then moved his gaze to Rieta’s wound.
He saw a deep wound that could not have been treated at all if it were not for the medicine from the temple that Elisha and Noel had brought with them.
“What would you have done if you hadn’t met us?”
Noel’s expression was very distorted as he started applying the medicine.
He must have wanted to get angry very badly.
It was not okay to laugh in front of Noel like that, but still Rieta couldn’t help but laugh.
“Are you laughing?”
“That’s right, Noel’s expression… It’s been so long.”
“…Ha.”
At those words, Noel glared at Rieta with an astonished expression, slapped down the medicine-covered cotton, and lowered his head.
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Noel.”
“What?”
“Thank you for coming.”
“Yes.”
He answered bluntly, without even looking at Rieta.
“Thank you for treating me.”
“Yeah.”
Noel nodded his head.
Inside the tent, which had become quiet, the only sound was the sound of the bandage being unraveled.
Rieta stared at him.
The reason nagging Noel kept silent was probably to get her to open her mouth.
“Hey.”
Rieta began to talk cautiously.
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