33-Krish-san's bare face

When I woke up, it was dark out. The day had just started before I'd gone to sleep, but now it seemed that night had arrived.

I moved my limbs restlessly as I looked around. There was a candle on the bedside table, illuminating its immediate surroundings.

"You're awake."

"Krish-san."

Krish-san was sitting right by the bed. Had he stayed beside me this whole time?

"You should drink some water. Can you get up?"

I shook my head. Krish-san helped me sit up before pressing a glass of water to my lips, giving above and beyond service.

I took a sip. Suddenly, I realized that my throat was parched, and proceeded to gulp down the whole glass.

"Do you want to drink more?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks."

At my refusal, Krish-san helped me lie back down and even tucked me in. I felt a little giddy with happiness at receiving such kindness.

"Krish-san, how's Pochi and the others?"

"The veterinarian's examined them, and they're fine. You don't need to worry. Pochi's wound is completely closed up so there's no need for treatment, and the rest of your animals are in good health.

"The whole day, all of them sat by the front door waiting for you. If you're feeling better tomorrow, you should go and see them."

"I see. That's good."

With a sigh of relief, my body suddenly felt a whole lot heavier. Krish-san had replaced a cold towel on my forehead, and the coolness felt so good that it was making me doze off.

It looked like I was still exhausted; as soon as I lay down, I could feel the sleepiness stealing over me. I had a lot of things I wanted to ask about, such as the whereabouts of those men, but my body wouldn't listen to me.

As I began to nod off, I heard a small thunk. When I blearily half-opened my eyes, I saw that Krish-san had stood up from his chair. Hurriedly, I grabbed onto his hand. "Krish-san, are you leaving?"

"No, I'm just changing the water in the bucket."

I squeezed Krish-san's hand, suddenly feeling uneasy.

I knew he was going to change the water for my sake, and that I had to let go. But I felt scared just thinking about being alone in this dark room.

"Shinobu? What's wrong?"

He gently patted my blanket-covered chest. The anxiety I was feeling lessened, but I still didn't want to be alone. I didn't let go.

"Are you anxious about being alone? Then I'll let you borrow this." Krish-san raised his other hand towards the back of his head. There was a clinking sound. When he lifted his helmet with one hand, I saw a manly jawline. "Hold on to it until I come back."

I froze as the thought dawned that I was about to see Krish-san's face that I'd been wanting to see for a long time now.

Krish-san was incredibly handsome. He had chartreuse-colored eyes and short hair of the same color. He looked like a fighter from a video game.

As I lay there gaping, Krish-san placed the helmet next to my pillow. Seeing his face up close, I noticed a scar bisecting his left eyebrow. I unconsciously reached a hand towards it. "Does it hurt?"

Tracing the scar, I could feel the raised skin. My brows scrunched. Getting a cut on this spot should've bled a lot, right?

Had he gotten this injury while he was guarding Firks-sama?

"No, it doesn't hurt anymore. I got it when I was a kid. I was running around and hit a pole."

"So you were a kid too, huh."

It was such an obvious fact, but I just couldn't imagine the cool and manly Krish-san as a kid.

"It's not like I was born this scruffy."

"You're not scruffy, Krish-san. You're really handsome."

But, I see. Krish-san had been a mischievous kid once, too. His mother had probably been shocked when she saw Krish-san hitting that pole.

Krish-san gave a little cough and ruffled my hair.

That large and gentle hand made me happy. I pulled the blanket up to my nose to hide the silly grin on my face. Being so happy at getting my head rubbed; how childish of me.

"Krish-san, come back soon, okay?"

Oh no. That sounded like something a kid would say to his dad who's leaving for work.

A corner of Krish-san's mouth deftly lifted. He let out a huff of laughter before taking the bucket and leaving the room.

I hugged Krish-san's helmet as I listened to the sound of his footsteps heading down the stairs.

The way Krish-san had smiled just now was really handsome!! It felt so mature. If I did it myself, would I seem more of an adult?

"Owowow." There was a prickle of pain. It seemed I'd cut the corner of my mouth from when I was beaten up."Huh? It's pretty difficult?"

What's more, when I raised my lips, my nostrils widened with it.

"I didn't know that my face was so clumsy..."

This might need some special training. Alright, once the cut is healed, I'll practice it every day.

But how should I practice so that I'll be able to move my face skillfully?

My mom would do facial exercises like widening her eyes or pursing her lips. Should I do those?

When I tried to open my eyes wide, my right eyelid throbbed. Oh right, it was swollen.

At first, I hadn't liked how I could barely see through it, but now it seemed I'd gotten so used to it that I actually forgot about it.

"Urgh, I'm such an idiot."

I moved the wet towel on my forehead a bit so that it covered my right eye. At that moment, Krish-san came back with the bucket of water.

"Shinobu, does your eye hurt?"

"Yeah, a little bit."

I couldn't exactly tell him that it hurt because I was doing facial exercises, so I just smiled and made an excuse.

Krish-san wet another towel and replaced the one on my forehead. "You still have a bit of a fever."

While he was at it, he touched my forehead, cheek, and neck one by one to check my temperature. Krish-san frowned. "I'll have the doctor check on you again tomorrow. You should rest before then."

Krish-san took my hand that was on top of the blanket and put it back under the covers, then patted my chest in a gentle pattern. I felt my eyelids grow heavier, even though the drowsiness had disappeared while Krish-san was gone.

I was really acting spoiled with Krish-san, I thought as I let out a tiny yawn. It would feel so good if I just fell asleep like this... Just as I was about to fall asleep, a thought suddenly had me wide awake.

I just remembered, I only had one bed in my entire house.

"Krish-san, I'm sorry I didn't realize sooner, but I don't have a guest bed. This one is big enough, so why don't you just sleep with me?"

"You're injured, so you don't need to worry about something like that. I'll be fine with this chair."

"But that chair is too small for you, and it doesn't have a cushion, so it's not comfortable, right? Your body will ache if you sleep in that."

If he slept in an awkward position, he might get a crick in his neck. He came to help me, so of course, I couldn't have him sleeping in a chair.

"C'mon Krish-san, let's sleep together? I won't be able to sleep worrying about this otherwise."

Somehow, I was able to move my uncooperative body to the side and patted the space I'd made on the bed enticingly.

My bed was big enough, so there wouldn't be any problem with Krish-san sleeping beside me.

"It can't be helped. I might stink of sweat, but no complaints, alright?"

Krish-san unbuckled the latches on his heavy armor and took it off. Then he lay on his side on top of the vacant space on the bed. Relieved, I smiled, certain that I'd be able to fall asleep at last.

When Krish-san got under the covers, it instantly grew warmer. To be honest, I'd just been thinking that it was kind of cold. Maybe because of the fever?

There weren't any thick quilts here, only thin ones that resembled cotton blankets, so I'd just resigned myself to them.

I moved closer to Krish-san, lured in by that comfortable warmth. It felt really good.

But even though it felt great for me, it was probably too hot for Krish-san. I debated on whether to move away or not.

"Are you hot, Krish-san?"

When I took a glance up at him, Krish-san drew me closer to him instead.

"But you're cold, right? Don't worry about it."

Mm, so warm. It felt so good. Krish-san was so kind.

I was really liking Krish-san better and better. Such a wonderful person, of course, he had a lover who was like a princess.

But since this world allowed marriage between men like with Norn and Couge, Krish-san's lover Annette-sama might not be very happy if she found out I was sticking close to him like this.

But please forgive it this once, I inwardly apologized.

There was no way a wonderful person like Krish-san would ever consider someone like me who looked ten years old, so please let me have this for today.

I'd been so scared and anxious last night, and felt so hopeless, that I just want to stay close to Krish-san right now.

I wanted to bask more in Krish-san's warmth, but my eyelids felt heavy and I felt so sleepy.

Inside the blanket, I held onto Krish-san's finger and squeezed.

Please, just for now, don't leave me, okay?

Just as I felt sad about having to let go of that finger, Krish-san's large hand covered mine and held on. "I'll stay with you until you wake up. So don't worry and just go to sleep."

I felt bad about acting spoiled and causing trouble, but I was really happy that he was holding my hand for me.

I was sure I was smiling. It might look pretty horrible for my face that looked like a ghost right now to be smiling, though.

"Thank you, Krish-san......"

I was already half-asleep when I thanked him, so I wonder if I was able to properly convey it to Krish-san?

Once I wake up, I'll thank him again. Then, I'll go apologize to Pochi, Brian, and the others who'd been so worried about me that they waited by the front door. Then I'll give them lots of delicious, freshly-drawn water to drink.

The fields must be buried in the giant grass, so I'll have to ask Genett-san to let Couge know that I won't be able to supply him with vegetables until I get that all sorted out. After that......

Even though I had lots of things to think about, my thoughts were interrupted by sleep washing over me.