Piggyback
Piggyback
"Gongnyeo-nim. We've come to visit! Heok, this house is incredibly huge."
Elody-yang came bouncing into Renoa's bedroom with bubbly energy.
Helena and Aether Argenwald were with her. They had come to visit out of concern for Renoa.
"Elody-yang, you shouldn't run around like that in front of a patient."
"Aht, I'm sorry. But it's the first time in my life I've seen such a massive house! Can't I go take a look around?"
"Be patient for a moment. You haven't even greeted the Gongnyeo-nim yet."
"I understand."
As Helena scolded her, Elody-yang obediently followed her words.
She scurried over to Renoa, who was sitting on the bed.
"Gongnyeo-nim, how is your body feeling?"
"I'm already tired."
"Heok. It's only lunchtime and you're already tired? You have to make sure you eat well. They say nothing in the world is as important as health."
"......."
Renoa narrowed her eyes and looked at Elody-yang. Helena, quickly reading the thoughts in that gaze, stepped in tactfully.
"Go, Gongnyeo-nim. We brought flowers as a get-well gift, would you like to see them?"
"I'll look at them later. If you tell the maid, she'll put them in a vase."
"Understood. Elody-yang, would you like to go give the flowers to the maid outside?"
"Yes!"
Elody-yang, who was about to leave the room, paused for a moment.
"By any chance, may I tour the house?"
"Do as you wish...."
"Wow!"
Having received Renoa's permission, Elody-yang left the room in excitement.
Helena let out a sigh as if she had just shaken off a heavy burden.
"I'm sorry. I did strictly tell her beforehand not to be noisy, but......."
"It's fine. I already knew she was that kind of girl."
"Haha. Still, isn't it nice to see someone so energetic? Usually, there has to be at least one person in a group to liven up the atmosphere."
Aether Argenwald laughed heartily.
"It feels like it's been a while, Gongnyeo."
"Welcome. I apologize for greeting you, Prince-jeonha, while sitting in bed. Please forgive my rudeness."
"I'm not such a narrow-minded person as to tell a patient to stand up, so please be at ease."
Aether Argenwald waved his hand lightly.
"How is your body?"
"According to the doctor, I still need more rest. However, I think I'll be able to get up soon."
"That's a relief. I was so surprised when I heard from Irion that the Gongnyeo had gone on a hunger strike."
"He went and did something unnecessary again......."
Renoa bit her lip slightly in shame.
"Hahaha. Seeing you like this, it looks like you'll be back on your feet in no time. So, how are your eyes?"
"My eyes are also considerably better than at first. It's not perfect, but I can at least distinguish objects."
Renoa hadn't gone completely blind. It was just that the mana circuits leading to the optic nerves had hardened.
As long as she didn't use magic, her vision would gradually begin to return.
"More importantly, where is Irion? Guests have arrived, yet he hasn't even said hello."
"He is currently......."
"Oh. You're all here already. I thought it would take a bit longer."
Just then, the door opened at the perfect time, and Irion walked in.
"You're taking your sweet time even though guests are here. What were you doing and where?"
"I was peeling fruit. Hello, Helena."
"Hi. What's with those apples? Did you peel them, Irion?"
"Yeah. You have some too."
Irion placed a plate on the table. On the plate were apples carved into the shape of rabbits.
Irion picked up another plate with apples and sat on the chair next to the bed.
He picked up a piece of apple with a fork and brought it to Renoa's lips.
"Ah, say ah."
Then, Renoa opened her mouth and took a bite of the apple.
It was an action as natural as flowing water.
"Euing?"
The one who let out a dumbfounded sound was Helena.
As if doubting what she had just seen, her eyes were twice as large as usual.
That Renoa was accepting food fed to her by someone else without a word of complaint?
The parties involved, however, didn't seem to find it strange at all.
"You two, were you always on such good terms?"
Helena wasn't the only one questioning the scene before her. Aether Argenwald had his arms crossed, looking on with intrigued eyes.
Only then did Renoa realize her mistake. A late wave of embarrassment flashed through her green eyes.
"Th-that is...... because my body has weakened since I collapsed, even eating alone is not easy......."
"So Irion has been feeding you."
"......."
Irion shrugged as if it were no big deal.
"When a person is sick, they can eat food fed by someone else, what's the big deal? Now, ah."
She had eaten without thinking just now, but not anymore.
Renoa wasn't brazen enough to accept food while fully conscious in front of others.
"Take it away."
"Tsk."
Having no choice, Irion ate the half-apple he was trying to put into Renoa's mouth instead.
Helena flinched once more because of that.
"Then, Gongnyeo-nim! We'll be going now! We'll come again tomorrow!"
The visit to Renoa began with Elody-yang and ended with Elody-yang.
The group left the mansion, wishing for Renoa's speedy recovery.
As soon as they left, Renoa let out a deep sigh.
"Haa.... Tell them not to come anymore."
Renoa pressed her throbbing temples.
Elody-yang's voice was still ringing in her ears. It felt as if a child were running around haphazardly inside her head.
"Still, thanks to them, it feels like people live here. Before that, it felt like a house where a corpse lived."
"Is that corpse by any chance referring to me?"
"Not you, Milady. You're alive. Though you almost weren't."
For a moment, Renoa was about to say something, unable to hold back her rising temper, but she stopped at just parting her lips.
At the time, Renoa had her own motives and her will was firm, but looking back, there was no greater dark history than that.
And to think Irion even saw her in that state?
Just thinking about it made her want to tear at her blankets every night.
Ttok-ttok.
A knock sounded in the room after the guests had left.
"Milady. I've warmed the bathwater. Would you like to take a bath?"
"Yes. I will."
"Please wash comfortably. I'll be in the next room, so......"
Irion was about to leave the room to take a brief rest.
"Irion."
"Yes."
"Iri on."
"Yes?"
"Iri on."
A play on words using his name.
It was something he had endured countless times during his school days, and yet he was enduring it again after coming to another world.
Irion stood next to Renoa, who was sitting on the bed.
Renoa stared blankly at Irion, her eyes shining clearly.
"Take me to the bathroom."
"Pardon?"
"I've been sitting for so long that there's no strength in my legs. I can't walk there alone."
"That's a bit......"
Irion hesitated, but Renoa didn't care. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
"You said you would become my hands and feet."
"I certainly did say that, but...."
Renoa sighed.
"Right, the loyalty you spoke of was only that much. I should have known what to expect."
"......."
"Bibi would have done it for me."
"I understand. I'll do it, alright?"
To think she would compare him to the girl who fed her master poison. Irion reluctantly moved closer to the bed.
The goal was transport, not support. There are roughly three ways to transport someone who cannot move.
Piggyback, carry in arms, or sling over the shoulder.
By any look, number 3 was not it.
If it were Elody-yang, she would laugh kkareureuk kkareureuk even if she were slung over a shoulder, but if the subject was Renoa, absolutely not.
'It's either 1 or 2....'
Renoa waits without a word. As if to watch which one he chooses.
After agonizing for a long time, Irion turned his back and lowered his body.
"Please get on."
What Irion chose was the piggyback.
No matter what, carrying her in his arms felt too close. Both physically and psychologically.
A piggyback was much better.
Renoa stared blankly at Irion's back.
She wasn't entirely pleased, but she would let it slide this once. If he had tried to sling her over his shoulder, she might not have been able to hold back a torrent of curses.
Renoa moved her body sluggishly. She slowly overlapped her body onto Irion's back.
She didn't lean on him completely. she kept her upper body slightly lifted. A small gap was created between the two.
She draped her arms over his shoulders. This, too, she did loosely, lacking the courage to hold on tight.
"Here we go."
Confirming that Renoa was on his back, Irion straightened his knees and stood up.
"Ah."
A short exclamation escaped at the same time.
This was the first time in Renoa's life that she had been given a piggyback ride by someone.
Was that why?
Startled by the momentary feeling of floating, her body tensed up. She gripped Irion's body tightly with her arms.
Even the slight gap that had existed between them vanished as they pressed together.
Fortunately, it was no big deal, so Renoa quickly regained her composure.
But.
"......."
Renoa did not release the strength in her body.
Because it was an accident.
Because it wasn't her own will.
Rationalizing it like that, she completely entrusted her body to Irion's back.
Irion began to take steps.
A rhythmic swaying was transmitted. Irion's back, felt through her thin indoor clothes, was firmer than Renoa had imagined.
There was no trace left of the boy who had been smaller than her.
Before she knew it, the broad frame of a man who had grown up tall supported Renoa's small figure without any gaps. It was an incredible sense of stability.
And it was something she felt every time she was close to Irion.
'A nice scent....'
Irion always had a pleasant smell that was hard to describe.
She had never seen him spray perfume. If so, this scent lingering at the tip of her nose must be purely his body odor.
Because her sense of smell had become as sensitive as her vision had declined, she felt it more clearly.
She remembered seeing such a sentence in a book once.
That the body odor of a member of the opposite sex one is attracted to feels fragrant. An instinctive attraction coming from a partner one is drawn to on a genetic level.
Renoa had snorted when she read that sentence.
Because she considered it a shallow phrase that defined complex human emotions with a mere animalistic instinct.
That's what she thought.
Seup.
Before she even realized it, Renoa buried her nose near the nape of Irion's neck and was breathing in deeply as if craving that scent.
His warmth filling her lungs deep down.
An indescribable sense of relief.
Her world was so cold and terrible, so why was this slave's embrace so warm and comfortable?
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't know.
From the bedroom to the bathroom was a very short distance of barely a few dozen steps.
During that short time, numerous sensations ransacked Renoa haphazardly.
A desire she couldn't even understand herself—that time would stop forever like this—took place in her thoughts.
"Milady."
"......."
"Milady?"
"......Uh?"
"We're here."
Renoa, her shoulders flinching, hurriedly pulled her head away from the nape of Irion's neck.
They were already here?
It wasn't a long distance to begin with, but today it felt exceptionally short.
A deep sense of regret flashed through Renoa's eyes as her lips moved unconsciously.
But before she could even gather her emotions, Irion bent his knees and lowered his body.
The warmth moved away, and Renoa's bare feet touched the cold floor.
A sense of loss, as if something precious had been taken away, washed over her.
"Can you stand on your own?"
"......Yes."
"Then I'll be going, so please have a relaxing time. I'll leave Milady to you."
"Yes."
Irion, leaving Renoa to the maid, was finally being liberated from her grasp.
No, he should have been liberated.
"Wait a moment."
Renoa called out to Irion.
"Is there something else you need?"
"You come in too."
"......Pardon?"
Irion asked back, wondering if he had misheard.
Renoa said it once more without even changing her expression.
"I said, you come in too."