Caroline, who’d made little progress with the shirt she’d been working on, had given up and attempted reading instead. Without Thio around, and having always been a habitually active person, being bed bound was mind numbing. Books seemed the only alternative.

The library was downstairs, and Metts didn’t have the strength to carry her (not that she’d even thought to ask). He decided, all on his own, to lug books up and down the stairs for her to pick and choose what she wanted. Even though she felt bad about it, she also admired his dedication to his job.

As she went through Thio’s library, she realized fairly quickly that he didn’t read for fun. Or at least not her definition of “fun”. It was all magic and spell theory, which sometimes strongly resembled college level math, and historical accounts. The first she couldn’t understand at all and the second was surprisingly dry. How historians managed to make the history of (supposedly) famous mages so boring was impressive even to her.

There was one book that did catch her interest. It was an account of the founding of the Empire. The Holy Golden Empire (the official name rarely used except in books like this) was so old there were no written records of it’s founding. All that was left were ancient monuments and oral traditions passed down through generations.

The Author had collected all the common legends and myths about the country’s founding, gathered them together in this book, and then proceeded to over-analyze and nitpick every single one. It was a hard-fought effort by the Author to turn such an interesting topic into something dry and insufferable. But fortunately they couldn’t quite succeed, and the original entertaining content shown through.

It was this book Caroline was reading when she heard the door of the room creak open. She glanced up, expecting Metts, and saw Thio instead. He had a basket of items in his hands and immediately placed them on the dresser with a thud.

Smiling, he greeted her and said, “I got the things you requested. I also made sure to talk to the Guild and Church so they knew where you were.”

“Thank you! I bet they were worried.”

“They thought a dragon had kidnapped you.”

Caroline’s eyebrows shot up and she giggled.

“A draagon? What? How does a rumor like that even start?”

“It’s probably from when I had a Dragon come pick you up.”

“Eh?”

“There were too many curses. I couldn’t transport you, but taking a week to get to the Capital wasn’t acceptable either.”

“SO THERE WAS ACTUALLY A DRAGON INVOLVED?!” She dropped her book, eyes wide.

“Is that exciting?”

“Of course it’s exciting! Do you consider it normal?! It’s a dragon! A DRAGON. Aw… I don’t remember it at all though. That’s not cool.”

Thio paused. “I’ve been meaning to ask this for a long time…”

“Yeah?”

“What does temperature have to do with it?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you speak of things being cool or not cool…”

“Oh. Oo——oh. Ha. Hahaha. It’s just… a figure of speech? It’s kind of means something is… fashionably good?”

“So… not remembering the dragon is… unfashionable?”

“Uh… that… I don’t think that’s quite right…”

“The use of such a word in that manner… it comes from your homeland, correct?”

“Yeah!”

“I wish I could go to such a place. Your people must be interesting conversationalists.”

“I dunno, a place with dragons and magic… that’s way more interesting in my opinion.” Caroline attempted to kick her feet, but all that came out was a wiggle. Sighing in annoyance, she continued. “I wish I could use magic.”

“I wish you could too. You wouldn’t get so close to danger if you did.”

She wrinkled her nose in reply.

“Speaking of danger.” He pulled out her Guild outfit. “I’d like to know why you’re using such… old… armor.”

“Ah that,” She scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “I’ve been thinking of getting an upgrade for a while now. I’d been saving up for it so…”

“A long while, I should think.” He then dug into the basket and pulled out the chest and dropped it at the end of the bed. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have a treasure chest hiding under your bed.”

She stared at the chest and then at Thio. Considering her conversation with Metts earlier in the day, she wondered if she’d made a huge mistake concerning that money.

“Might I ask what kind of armor you are saving up for that requires this much money?” He tapped the chest, to make his point.

“Hmmmmmm…” She couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Caroline.”

“Well…” She twiddled her fingers, and then decided to blurt it out all at once. “So, you see, you kept sending me all that money. I used it at first cause I had to, but then I started feeling guilty. It wasn’t my money, it was yours. We weren’t gonna stay married forever. I thought you’d resent having to give me money. So I saved it. And when we got our marriage annulled, I was gonna give it all back. I even paid back what I’d used… so…”

She peeked at him. Rather than angry, his eyebrows were pushed together ever so slightly.

“You.. Are you upset?”

He gave a small sigh. “No. Rather… just like with “cool”, I’m reminded you weren’t born and raised here. Your values are… different. Sometimes I forget that.” His forehead crinkled slightly. “Speaking of that, do people in your country routinely go around throwing themselves into danger, or is that just you?”

“I—I’ll have you know helping people is an HONORABLE thing to do! So there!”

“I noticed you’re not actually answering the question.”

She pressed her cheeks together and glared. “It’s different! I’ve told you this before, there’s no magic where I’m from. None! So there’s no monsters or demons! I couldn’t have run into the same danger there even if I wanted to!”

“You have said that.” He responded neutrally. They’d argued about this point before. She’d said there was no magic, but then talked about horseless carriages that moved on their own, or even ones that flew. When he asked her how they did that without magic, she couldn’t answer and would just get really frustrated. It was to the point he just felt bad fighting with her about it, so he’d stopped all together.

“..still don’t believe me I see..” She muttered darkly.

“Anyway, we’ve got off topic… this money you’ve been saving, use it to buy decent armor once you’re better. And anything else you’ve wanted too.” He slumped his shoulders slightly. “I know you meant nothing by it, but that money was a gift. Even if between friends, having a gift so soundly rejected would sting.”

“S-sorry.”

“If you’re sorry than make sure to spend it properly!” He gently bopped her on the head.

“Yes, sir!” She saluted, and then grinned.

“Oh yes, before I forget. Mariel made these and told me to give them to you.” He got up and brought them over, explaining simply: “Head scarves.”

“Waah! Mariel thinks of everything!” She lifted up the scarves one by one. “She’s so good at this too. Which one do you think I should wear?”

“Oh? You’re asking me?”

“Well, you’re the one who’s going to have to look at me.”

“Then… this one.”

Caroline laughed. “Of course you pick the one with the mountain and star motif.”

“It— it’s a good design.” He harrumphed, his ears reddening slightly.

Grinning, she attempted to put the head scarf on, but her hands were too shaky to tie the knot. In the end, Thio helped her. When he’d finished, she patted herself on the top of the head and, to her surprise, he kissed her where she’d pat.

She giggled, but at the same time felt a strong sense of déjà vu. Had something like this happened before? But that wasn’t possible, she’d never had her hair this short or worn a scarf… had she? Huh? Maybe she had? Was she forgetting something?

Suddenly, the feeling of déjà vu faded, and with it the sense that something was missing faded too. Her mind righted itself and carried on as if nothing at all had just happen.

But Thio noticed and frowned.

——

The week passed by…

While she’d never been vain, Caroline hated her bruised appearance. She considered the scars and short hair “cool”, but being purple bruising an extraordinarily ugly thing. Even when Thio offered to take her places, Caroline refused to go anywhere that a person might see her. She ended up in bed most of the week because of that.

Thio only had to help Caroline bath once, to which she was extremely thankful. The bruising was especially bad that day and she didn’t want his first glance of her naked to be… that. She suggested bringing Mariel over to help instead, but Thio had put his foot down.

After quite a lot of arguing, they compromised by having Thio wear a blind fold. It was fortunate that his face went completely neutral the more pressured he felt, otherwise what he was really thinking would have been all over his face. Besides finding the whole thing funny, he was a man after all, and what his eyes couldn’t see, his imagination made up for. That night he made sure to take a cold shower.

By the fifth the day, the bruising was almost completely gone. Not only that, she could hold her hand steady and even walk around (very) short distances. Though it wasn’t much, being released from the confines of the bed cheered her up immensely.

The sixth day, Sentra came over to perform the check-up.

Caroline was curious to meet the woman who, not only saved her, but was also on good terms with her husband. There were not many people he worked with that he’d mentioned by name in his letters, Sentra was one of them. From those letters, she’d come to think of Sentra as a sensible, hard working girl with a bright future.

How this translated in terms of looks in Caroline’s mind, even she didn’t know. But what she wasn’t expecting was the drop-dead gorgeous woman who entered her the room to be the same person. Sentra was platinum blond, blue-eyed, pale skinned, and had the ratios men give up their lives for.

“Good evening, Mrs. Caroline. I’m here for your follow-up.” Sentra greeted with a warm smile, even her voice silky-smooth.

Caroline managed to squeeze out a nod and “Hello” in return. She glanced at Thio, stupefied. He looked totally normal. No reaction. Did he just… not notice she was amazingly good looking? Or was he doing that “I’m feeling things but not showing it” face? (Which she sometimes had trouble telling apart from his “I’m just standing here” face.)

“Excuse me.” Sentra said politely, sitting on the chair next to the bed. “Hm, just looking I can tell you’re doing much better. That Recovery ability is working wonders, absolutely amazing. If you don’t mind, I’d like to start the examination?”

There was an awkward silence, with Caroline staring at her blankly.

“Miss? Mrs. Caroline?” Sentra asked worriedly.

Caroline blinked, coming to herself.

“Ah, right! Sorry! Let’s start!” She strained to sound chipper, while inside burning with jealousy.

Four years… Thio’s been around this beautiful woman for four years! And he never mentioned it once! She fumed silently, proving that she was— in fact— a very possessive woman.

“Then excuse me once again.” And then cast: [ιατρικές πληροφορίες 3]

Just like when Thio had cast information, words began to appear in front of Caroline. Unlike his spell, Sentra’s version had ten times more text. It was clearly far more in-depth.

After a few minutes of careful reading, Sentra spoke again: “Yes, as I thought, you’re Recovery rate is doing an excellent job. Your strength, defense, and endurance is ticking back up as well. If you take it slow and don’t hurt yourself, you should be back to normal in about six months.”

“Six months?!”

“Yes, incredibly isn’t it? Usually it’d take years, and that’s with intense therapy, to recover from your Health Abilities being reduced to almost zero. Yet you’ll have your health back to it’s pre-cursed state in less than half a year if my projections are correct. You’re a walking miracle.”

“O-oh, yeah. That’s me! Ha ha. Amazing.” Caroline had actually been horrified. The last four years she’d never gotten sick, and serious wounds had healed in hours. She was use to getting back on her feet quickly and had taken it for granted that it’d go like it always did.

If I ever find that con-artist Requester, Caroline raged internally. I’m not going half way, I’ll kill him with my own two hands!

“Well, even though you’ll be recovering quickly, I want you to be careful.” She pulled out several pieces of paper from a bag she’d brought with her. “The key will be building your strength and defense back up in slow, steady increments. With that in mind, I made a exercise program for you. It should help you pace yourself and prevent any injuries. If done correctly, it might even speed up the process.”

Sentra handed the papers over to Caroline. Each paper had a list of exercises and small illustrations to go along with them. Caroline blinked several times at the drawings.

“These drawings are really good.” She couldn’t help commenting, running a hand over them. It was difficult to make a living on art in this world. The supplies were just expensive enough that doing it as a hobby for most people just wasn’t realistic. You either needed to be rich or have a rich patron. Naturally not many people were good at drawing as a result.

“Oh my, do you think so?”

“Yeah they remind me of…” Caroline envisioned a girl with light brown hair and glasses, hunched over a drawing pad, sketching away. She couldn’t remember the girl’s name. “…a friend. She was great at drawing too. I use to watch her, and she’d get mad. Tell me she wasn’t finished yet.”

“A true artist then!” Sentra gave a small laugh and then smiled. “I drew those myself, so thank you.”

“Y-you did?”

“Indeed yes! Does it surprise you?” The Healer winked. “I may be a Healer now, but when I was younger it was my dream to become a first class artist!”

“You’re good enough you could be.”

Sentra actually blushed and then patted her cheeks, embarrassed.

“Thank you again. But it was never meant to be, now I just use my artist talent to help patients.”

“Aw… you could still be a great artist though.”

“No, I had to choose a more realistic option. Being an artist just… wasn’t possible.” Seeing Caroline’s forlorn look, she gave her a pat on the arm. “It’s not something to be sad about. I found another dream to chase, and it’s given me more freedom and lets me save people like yourself.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Caroline conceded, still feeling a little bothered. They talked a while longer about her condition and then the exercises before Sentra excused herself and left.

“Ah… Sentra’s such a nice person.” Caroline said, completing forgetting her earlier fuming.

“She is very nice.” Thio agreed, looking over the exercise pages. Apparently determined to memorize them in one go.

“You don’t run into people like that often… kind, smart, talented, and beauti—— AH! I FORGOT!”

“Hm?”

“She’s gorgeous! Why didn’t you ever mention that?”

Thio stared at Caroline, confused.

“I’m not sure why it’s important…?”

“Of course it’s important! I wasn’t mentally prepared! And you’ve been working with her for years, right? You’re even friends, aren’t you?! Gah, I’m burning with jealousy! Burning!” Caroline tossed her body on the bed, looking more like a fish out of water than a jealous woman.

“There’s no reason to be jealous. I’m sure she’d be more than willing to be your friend too.”

Caroline stopped her flopping. “Eh?”

“The only person I’ve seen her flat out reject is Evans.”

“I’m not talking about being friends with her!”

“You aren’t?”

“No!” She paused. “Though now that you mention it, maybe I should…”

“Wait, I’m confused. Exactly what are you jealous about?”

“That she was with you! Alone! For years! And not me!”

His eyebrows rose ever so slightly. “Ah… like with the Princess…”

“YES. But worse because she’s beautiful AND nice…”

Thio was silent for a while.

“I wasn’t alone with her. We went on group missions.”

She pouted. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Caroline, I work with many women. Whether they are beautiful or not, it’s more important that they’re good at their job. That’s how I see it. Are you going to get jealous every time I happen to work with or hang around a girl you decide is pretty?”

There was a long scowling pause before she muttered. “I know you’re right, but I can’t help being jealous. I just automatically compare myself and feel threatened.”

“What are you comparing that causes such insecurity?”

She grimaced. “I mean… I’m not… I’m ordinary.”

“You are anything but ordinarily.”

“That’s sounded like an insult.”

“Then let me rephrase: you are beautiful and I have always thought so. Even when I first met you. You are not Sentra, or anyone else, but you don’t need to be. You are you and that’s what I like about you.”

She blushed but continued, “I’m really weird. Even when I don’t mean to be.”

“That’s true.” He shrugged. “But I’m also quite strange. Do you dislike me for not being like other men?”

“Are you strange?”

“Many think so.”

“Then I guess I like that you’re strange.”

“It’s the same for me.”

She pressed her lips together, feeling embarrassed.

“And anyway, you really have nothing to worry about. I have never seen Sentra as a potential romantic interest, and even if I did… there is no way she’d be interested in me.”

“What makes you so certain?”

He sighed. “You should ask her yourself when you see her again. Actually, ask any woman I’ve ever worked with and you’ll get more or less the same answer.”

“And what would that be?”

“…I’m not telling you.”

“Eh, why?”

“Ah..I think it’s time to start dinner.”

“Hey!”

“I’ll go get that started.”

“Gah, come back here! Answer my question!"