I'll Nurse You
"Then you're hurt, so I'll nurse you myself!"
I declared it to the bodyguard, thumping my chest as if I were the most reliable person in the world.
"I hardly think that will be necessary."
She did not seem especially taken with the idea.
"No! I'm all grown up now, so let me show you how grateful I am."
"I understand the feeling. But the servants and the physicians will be looking after me. What is there to worry about?"
With the bandages finished, the bodyguard moved to put her clothes back on. I stepped in at once and helped the injured woman dress with my own hands.
"See? I'm already useful. You're going to need my nursing."
"Even so, it would be better if a physician were the one to—"
I didn't let her finish. I called out to the physician.
"Physician! Is it all right if I stay beside her and nurse her instead?!"
"Yes, you may, young master."
"See!"
Armed with the physician's permission, I struck a triumphant pose. The bodyguard only shook her head.
"That isn't what I meant. If you are at my side, young master, I don't think I will be able to rest easily."
"I... I'm... a bother...?"
"No! Not at all! I did not mean that you were a bother!"
"Then I can stay, right?"
Haa.
She gave in, and only reluctantly.
"Yes. You may stay."
"Great! If you need anything, you tell me. All of it."
At that, the bodyguard hesitated. The pause stretched on for so many seconds that I started to wonder what on earth she was working herself up to.
"Then... could you draw a chair over and sit here?"
I did as she asked, settling myself a respectable distance away.
"Good?"
"Yes. Now please just stay still."
So saying, she reached out and set her hand on my head. Then she began to stroke my hair.
"What? What is this??"
It didn't stop at my hair. The petting wandered everywhere—over my cheeks, down to my chin.
"What? Seriously, what??"
For all my confusion, the bodyguard wore a look of pure relief, as if she might actually live after all.
"Just... just stay like that."
"Uuugh... fine. For now."
The petting went on for a long while. And now that I was on the receiving end, it was secretly kind of nice... and also kind of not.
On any other day I never would have allowed it. But she was the patient today, so I decided to let it slide.
"But Bodyguard, you didn't take an internal injury, did you? Hurt as badly as you were, I'd think your insides would be a mess too."
"I did injure myself internally, forcing my inner energy up past its limit. But I settled it by circulating my qi, so please don't worry."
She says she took an internal injury like it's nothing at all...
"What does an internal injury feel like?"
"It simply hurts a great deal. Draw on your inner power, and there isn't a place from the dantian out to the meridian gates that doesn't ache."
"And you fought anyway? You're amazing, Bodyguard."
The praise made her smile, and she scrubbed enthusiastically at my chin.
"There are times when the pain makes you feel as if you'll collapse, and still you cannot. Anyone with something they must protect goes through it. It isn't so extraordinary."
She brushed it off and lowered herself, as if it were nothing worth mentioning.
"Bodyguard, you keep cutting yourself down. Even if it's 'only natural,' it's still amazing. Do you know how many people in the world can't even manage that much? And I'm really glad you're my escort."
She must have been pleased, because she started petting me all over again.
"Honestly. You're still a child. Where did you learn to say things like that?"
"Hehe. I'm pretty smart, you know."
Growl.
"Young master, it is time for your meal. Let us go and eat."
She must have heard my stomach's alarm, because she started trying to push herself upright. Come to think of it, she needed a proper meal more than I did.
"Bodyguard! Come eat with me."
"I will see to my own meal. You go on ahead, young master."
"No! We're eating together. You have to eat well if you want to heal fast and get better."
"No, I'm fine. Taking the medicine regularly will be more than enough."
She refused, stubborn to the last. But I had seen this coming, and I had a finishing move prepared for exactly this moment.
"I don't care. If you won't eat with me, I'm going to starve all day."
I said it with a force that left no opening to bend, and before long she seemed to give in.
"Then let us go to the dining hall together."
Hand in hand, we headed for the meal.
Hmm~ hm, hmm~
It had been a while since I'd broken the bodyguard's stubbornness, and as I savored the victory a hum rose out of me all on its own.
"What has you in such high spirits?"
"Just that getting to go eat with you is so exciting!"
At that she let out a soft little laugh.
"Is that so. Even so, you must not be so willful from now on. A mature man does not throw tantrums."
Tch. She's the one being stubborn. Not telling me why, and eating all by herself—that's the real stubbornness.
"Okay. I'll try not to."
"Don't merely try. Please actually refrain."
"Hmm... I'll think about it."
Before we reached the table, I ducked into the kitchen first.
"Uncle, the bodyguard's eating with me. Is there enough food?"
"Of course there is. We always prepare plenty, so there's no problem at all."
"Then please set a portion for her too!"
When I came back out, the bodyguard had already found herself a seat.
"Bodyguard, that's way too far."
"Pardon? I believe this is quite close enough."
"No! Come closer."
She moved her chair.
"Will this do?"
"No! Closer!"
She dragged the chair over once more.
"Isn't this too close?"
"Nope! This is perfect."
She tilted her head, plainly unable to fathom what I was after. We went back and forth about the seating for quite a while before the food arrived.
"Then I'll eat well!"
I snatched up the biggest piece of meat first thing, sprang to my feet, and held it out to her mouth.
"Here, Bodyguard. Say 'ah~.'"
The sight left her more than a little flustered.
"Hurry! My arm's gonna fall off."
At my urging, she finally accepted the bite.
"...It's good."
"Right? Then you do 'ah~' for me too."
This time I opened my mouth and pointed at it. Smiling, she placed a bite between my lips.
"Ugh! This is eggplant!!"
"You do have a tendency to pick up nothing but meat. Please don't skip the vegetables."
It's already in my mouth. I can't spit it back out...!
I wasn't about to be the only one who suffered.
"Okay, Bodyguard, open up. Quick."
She never even caught on to the scheme. She opened her mouth as obediently as anything. But I had picked out only the bland vegetables, so it was as good as my victory.
"Hm. An unusual combination of vegetables."
"What? Why doesn't it bother you at all!"
"I am an adult, young master. I do not eat only what I like."
What is this? Her face is perfectly blank, so why does it feel like she's laughing at me?
Uuugh...! So unfair! I'm just going to eat all the meat myself.
"Young master, say 'ah~.'"
Ah~
"This is a vegetable!"
"Which is precisely why you must not eat only meat."
Damn it. The second she tells me to open my mouth, it opens on its own.
Next time I'm ignoring her with everything I've got.
But the same thing kept happening, over and over, and I had to keep tasting vegetable after vegetable.
"It's been a long time since I ate this balanced a meal."
"I hope you will eat this way as a matter of course."
When the meal was over, we returned to the medicine hall. There the bodyguard brewed her medicine and drank it down. The smell alone was foul enough to turn a stomach, yet she gulped the stuff without so much as a flinch.
Medicine...?
Medicine, huh.
Oh. Right!
"Bodyguard, let's go see Mom and Dad."
"What business do you have at the family head's residence?"
"I have my reasons! Before that, though, I need to ask you a few things..."
I questioned her about this and that until my preparations were airtight. Then, bold as anything, I flung open the door of the study where Mom and Dad were.
Rattle.
"Mom! Dad!"
I called for them at the top of my lungs and threw myself into Mom's arms.
"So you've come."
She gathered me up and lifted me. Perhaps because of the assassins' raid the night before, her face looked worn and hollow.
"I heard assassins broke in overnight. And thanks to you, Mom, they were taken alive! I can't tell you how relieved I am. Mom really is the best!!"
The praise came flying out of nowhere, and for a moment she looked flustered. She must have been pleased, though, because a smile rose on her face.
"And thanks to the escort system Dad designed, the enemy couldn't get away. Dad isn't just cool—he's brilliant, too. I don't know what we would have done without him."
"Haha, oh, come now..."
Dad was just as helpless before the praise. A wide, blooming smile spread across his face.
"I'm glad I'm safe, Mom, I really am, but... I'm sad that Bodyguard and Myoryeong got hurt so badly."
Mom nodded.
"Hayeong did pay a steep price. I do believe her merit was considerable."
"So, about that... I've got homework my master gave me, and with Myoryeong hurt so badly, Bodyguard's burden has gotten a lot heavier, which is why I'm saying this..."
"Saying what?"
Mom tilted her head.
"Please buy a spirit elixir for me and Bodyguard!!"