“Uuu…”

“She’s awake!”

“Hey, don’t be so loud! The patient will be scared!”

“You’re being loud, too!”

Hoeh?

Goo…

“…d morni… ng~”

“Ah, good morning.” The two beastmen who were squabbling suddenly stopped, automatically replying to her greeting.

“How do you feel?” The female beastman acted as if she had not just been fighting with the other man, promptly asking about her condition in detail.

“…Hurt…s…”

“Well, that’s as expected. From what I’ve heard from Sieg over here who found you, it seems like you fell off the cliff.” Mimi sent a glance at the man, “You’re quite lucky, miss. Most people wouldn’t have survived such a fall, but maybe it’s because you were cushioned by the trees…”

“Uuu…” Leila made a move to sit up.

“Ah, don’t! You’ll aggravate your wounds! Just lie down for now.” Mimi hurriedly pushed the girl back down, making sure none of her injuries opened up. She had spent the whole night tending to her, so if the wounds were to open up, then her hard work would have been meaningless.

“…Sorry… Thank you…” Leila looked as if she was having a difficult time speaking, yet she still did not rest until she thanked the two. She knew that the man had picked her up and the woman had patched her up. Thanks to them, she was out of the critical zone and as long as she recuperated properly, the wounds wouldn’t kill her. “Really… I, thank you…”

“No need for thanks. As a healer, I can’t let someone who is hurt be left just like that.” Mimi says, smiling. “And it’s normal to give help to someone in need. Isn’t that right, Sieg?”

Mimi nudged the man who was looking as if he was in a daze ever since the girl woke up.

“I… see… Still, I, owe you my life…” Leila smiled weakly, gratitude flashing in her eyes.

“That being said! Sieg, be a gentleman and get me a bucket of water. I’m sure this miss would want to freshen up, right?”

“Oh! Uh, yeah. I’ll… go get some water, then. From the well.”

Leila giggled at his awkwardness, finding amusement in such a big man acting so cutely. “I’ll be most grateful, mister.”

“Ah, yeah.” The man robotically got up, striding to the exit with his arms and legs of the same side swinging in sync.

The two females exchanged glances, then giggled.

Mimi told the girl to rest up, then went around her hut in search of clothes that the girl could wear. The girl’s clothes had been in tatters when she came in, and it had been further ripped apart so that the healer could examine and treat her wounds easily.

In short, Leila’s current clothes were practically rags, and it was rather unbecoming for a girl to be dressed like that, even if all she would be doing is lie in bed, body covered with a blanket.

Mimi had originally thought that the human girl would be just like the other humans. Most humans would either be in fear or show hostility. While some would be morbidly interested in them, most would keep away from the beastmen, thinking of them as some sort of monsters. However, the girl was calm, and was rather amiable.

Perhaps, she had been too tired to even be scared, but the way that she had calmly thanked them with a smile showed that she was neither hostile nor fearful of them at all.

Mimi smiled wryly, looking down on herself for believing that all humans were the same kind of despicable.

Perhaps she had finally met one of those truly kind humans that she had only ever heard of through the word of mouth.

Finally, after rummaging her scarce wardrobe, she finally found a dress that looked small enough to fit the tiny girl. It was a dress that she had worn for the harvest festival when she was younger, and she could no longer fit in it though she had only worn it a few times.

Luckily, she still kept it. If not, then the girl would not have had anything to wear as Mimi’s current clothes would not have fitted the girl… especially in the chest area.

The two waited for Sieg to come back with the water before washing up.

Because of her wounds, Leila was unable to do it on her own so Mimi had to help her. Unfortunately, it would be bad to have water on her wounds and judging how they covered up almost every inch of her skin, it did not take long for Leila to wash up. Even though not cleaning up her whole body made Leila feel icky, she did not complain as it could not be helped.

Finally, Mimi helped Leila to put on the new clothes.

The dress fitted Leila perfectly, save for the chest area. Clearly, Young Mimi was more developed compared to Leila… somehow, Leila felt defeated.

“…” Seeing the look on the girl’s face, as if she had taken a great hit while her hands trembled against her chest, Mimi did not know whether to laugh or cry.

Meanwhile, in the Rosenbell Mansion.

The door to Julius Rosenbell’s room finally opened after nine days of lull.

The small, frail-looking boy came out of the room quietly, scaring the maid who had been tasked to wait upon the boy.

The boy had visible tear stains on his face. Yet, as if he had cried all his emotions away, his expression was rather frigid for a young boy his age. At that moment, the maid thought that the young boy truly resembled his father, the Viscount.

“Young master?” The maid had a faintly hopeful expression on her face. The madam had been worried that her little boy might never come out of his room, so when the young master had voluntarily left his room, she couldn’t help but feel relieved. After all, the master and madam had put so much effort into getting the little one to get out of his room, yet there had been no response.

In the end, the master had simply left the boy to his devices once he could no longer push back his duties.

“Young master, where would you be going? Are you famished, young master? Shall I have the kitchen prepare some food for you?”

The boy made his way down the hall, ignoring the maid’s pestering.

He took a turn towards the end of the hallway, walking familiarly on the route towards the mansion’s library.

“…”

The boy soundlessly entered the room, scouring for magic tomes and books.

He took one out, then placed it on the ground, zealously reading its content.

“…must… I, have to… stronger…” he mumbled.

“Young master?” The maid felt a chill on her spine. The young master was clearly acting strangely. She did not hesitate to run over to the master’s study, where she knew the master would be, to inform him of the young master’s strange behaviour.

Viscount Rosenbell narrowed his eyes. “Just leave him be,” he said.

“But my lord—“

The viscount dismissed the maid with a wave of his hand, “He’s just reading some books; what harm could he do?”

“…Yes, my lord.” The maid returned to the young master’s side, unable to shake off her feelings of uneasiness.