After a week had passed, the girl finally showed signs of waking as her lashes twitched before she slowly opened her eyes, revealing a pair of beautiful crimson irises, and upon regaining her vision, the first sights she first saw were the clear-cut features of the youth, bordering between beauty and elegance, paired with his silver locks serving as the perfect frame of his face as it dangled by his alluring hazel eyes painted with worry.

“What are you doing?” Solia’s soft voice smoothly rang out as she stared at the youth’s face hovering above her, successfully bringing her peace of mind as her aesthetics were met.

“Master! You’re finally awake! I was so worried when you hadn’t woken up from your sleep even after three days! Oh right, you’ve been asleep for a whole week now which’s why I was very worried about you actually turning into a corps before me and leaving me alone here in this dangerous forest!” Servio immediately started babbling about how worried he was the moment he opened his mouth as his face continued hovering above Solia’s, gradually moving down closer to hers the more he chattered.

Soon enough, there was only a few inches left between them before Servio panickingly straightened his back and sat upright once again, not being able to move away since he had placed Solia’s head on top of his lap while she was asleep.

Realizing how intimate their current position was, Solia slowly sat up as she felt her body ache all over due to a week of inactivity. She then pointed towards the silver-headed youth’s lap with a questioning gaze.

“I only did this because I thought you were going to be uncomfortable with having to lay on the hard ground since we have no pillows here” Servio hastily explained while looking straight at her as he raised both of his hands by his face to motion to her that had no other ulterior motives.

Solia then pointed to her throat as she raised her brow towards Servio. She had actually been quite surprised that she had been able to speak without any discomfort at all despite being in deep slumber for a whole week.

While she did suspect Servio at first, her suspicions were dispelled when she felt the all-too-familiar ache of her body which only came whenever she fell into a comatose state from her previous missions.

“Th-that is…” The youth’s eyes slowly evaded the girl’s gaze as he gulped at his loss for words in explaining what he had been doing to her.

Noticing something amiss with his reaction, Solia narrowed her eyes at the silver haired youth in front of her that had been fidgeting as he chose his words.

“I-I…was worried that you’d die from dehydration-! So I…m-made sure to g-give you enough water daily…” Servio’s voice shrunk by the time he finished speaking as he sweat dropped at his guilty conscience that wasn’t even supposed to be there in the first place.

He really was just worried about her, so why does he feel like he did something wrong…

“Judging from your reaction, you used your own mouth to make me drink water daily, am I right?” With Solia heading straight to the point with a raised brow, Servio’s ears reddened as he stood in his spot speechlessly before suddenly feeling the need to explain himself.

“Y-Yes, but I really didn’t have any other motives when I did that!”

Damn! I definitely had a hard time controlling those motives alright?! Yet why does it still feel like I took advantage of Master again when I’m clearly the one who suffered!

“You only did it to keep me alive, so I believe you” The youth’s guilt suddenly rose to a new level as he met with the girl’s crystal-clear eyes, devoid of any suspicion. However, realizing how calm the girl was, he frowned before eyeing her in doubt.

“Master… you seem so calm after hearing that I’ve kissed you, have you perhaps done this type of thing with others before?” He grabbed one of her hands as his frown deepened when he questioned her.

“Do you think there are people idiotic enough to try such a thing with me?” Solia easily shot down his feelings of displeasure with her blunt tone as a smile made it back to his face.

“Master are you calling me an idiot?” With a grin brightening his face, Solia simply moved her other hand and gave him the usual pats on his head as she nodded in response, in which such response was gladly accepted by Servio as he chortled while enjoying the girl’s delicate touch.

“Oh right, Master…those marks on your body…” Finally remembering his main concern, he hesitatingly brought up the topic.

Aware of how bright the marks had shone that day as it seemed to have seeped out of her clothes, Solia stopped patting the youth’s head and moved her hand back by her side before casually speaking about it, “It’s an ancient spell meant for slavery. The house that bought me wanted to keep me in check so they had it cast on me in preparation for my future growth.”

Hearing those few lines, a chord seemed to have been struck within Servio as he lowered his head to hide the sharp glint emerging from his hazel pupils.

“Rather than keeping you in check, didn’t they just put that on you to make use of you for their own lofty goals?” A cold voice rang out from the silver-headed youth as his grip on the girl’s hand tightened.

Caught off guard by the coldness in the youth’s voice, Solia tried calling out to him, “Servio…?”

“Don’t you resent that?” Raising his head to meet Solia’s eyes, his stormy gaze became more apparent.

“People only reach out to you when they need you for something but always keep you at bay just because of those bloody-red eyes of yours” With Servio’s voice falling frigidly, he added, “The weak use the strong to protect themselves with reasons such as responsibility, yet all you get are endless chains made by those you serve”

Keeping silent, Solia’s face turned solemn at those piercing facts she had always been aware of. However, what placed her in bewilderment was the stream of agony seeping out of the silver-headed youth’s eyes who had usually been smiling energetically around her the past month they’ve been together.

“Solia…have you never wanted to have been born a little less monstrous?”

She was taken aback, not because of his question, but rather the feeling she got when he asked her that. Though his words were directed at her, Solia had an inkling that it wasn’t she that he was referring to as monstrous.

Nevertheless, she still answered, “I never have…and never will”

Those few words of hers filled Servio’s eyes with confusion as he gazed at Solia incredulously.

“This power I have right now is something that’s mine alone…something others don’t have and are envious of. Why would I want to get rid of something blessed to me by fate?” As Solia’s voice softly rang out with her eyes growing tender.

Seeing the girl’s fondness of her prowess that would’ve been deemed a curse by anyone else but her, the youth’s pupils constricted for a moment before his brows furrowed in distress, for he could never accept that kind of reality.

“Then…aren’t you lonely? Isn’t it suffocating to be stuck with all those expectations and responsibilities?” Servio loosened his hold on the girl’s hand as he slightly caressed her fingers with a frown.

“It’s suffocating but…does it really matter?” With eyes touched by a tinge of amusement, a helpless smile bloomed on Solia’s face as she held a steady gaze towards Servio.

“Whenever it’s painful, don’t we all just get used to it? The same can be said for suffocation…when it gets too hard, you simply learn how to hold your breath and get through them” Bringing her palm up to the youth’s face, she slowly caressed his ear with her palm warming up his cheek before continuing,

“Besides, don’t we all have our own responsibilities, may it be for ourselves or for others, whether we have power or not? I’m actually pretty lucky to have been given ample capabilities that allowed me to still be needed by the people if I say so myself”

Listening to Solia speak as if she were simply stating facts after facts, Servio was taken aback at how this girl in front of him actually viewed her world. She was the total opposite of him.

While she, who had been treated as a monster and avoided like the plague her whole life accepted and grew fond of her prowess, he loathed his own abilities despite being held in high esteem by those around him. He resented the responsibilities pinned onto him by his people and he hated them more for approaching him with only their agendas in mind.

Yet this girl in front of him…was genuinely stronger and purer than anyone he had ever seen.

“Well…I’m clueless about loneliness that comes from the lack of company though…after all, just as people say, one can’t suffer from something one never had” Sighing at her inexperience while still having that helpless smile on her face, she lightly tapped the youth’s cheek twice to pull him out of his daze.

“Now that I’m awake, why don’t we start heading to town as we still have a long road ahead?” In response, Solia’s offer, Servio meekly nodded with an adorable expression on his face, similar to a dazed lamb.

As Solia slowly slipped her hand off from his grasp and strode forward, Servio immediately followed behind her with his bag of tools on hand.

I had wanted to simply make her mine at first since I thought we were similar and she was comfortable to be with…but now…

With his deep gaze landing on the girl’s back as he went into contemplation, he felt his heart panged when he thought back to the girl’s last words before she changed the topic.