Manuel didn't know how long he had been asleep, but as soon as he regained consciousness, he wanted to get up and ask about the outcome of the Kaffa battle.
However, he heard a girl's sob beside him; listening closely, it was Barbara's voice.
Then, reason and the pain in his chest told him it was better to pretend to be unconscious for now.
He then clearly heard Barbara's somewhat confused outpouring and eventual confession beside him.
This made Manuel's face and body feel a bit hot: this was the first time in his two lives that a girl had expressed her feelings to him from the bottom of her heart, even though she said these words while he was 'unconscious'.
But hearing her tone, so sad, he must have been unconscious for a long time.
He should have been more cautious then, instead of executing such a risky plan alone.
This was a lesson almost paid for with his life, Manuel thought bitterly.
"By the way, how did I wake up? Logically, given the poor medical conditions of this era, being shot through the right chest with a crossbow bolt, even if I didn't die, I would get tetanus.
Why do I feel like there's no other problem except for the pain in my chest?"
Manuel sensed something abnormal, but still kept his eyes closed, pretending to be unconscious, out of a desire not to expose himself.
After he no longer heard any sound beside him, and after slightly squinting his eyes to confirm it was still night, Manuel tried to get up.
Honestly, it went quite smoothly; there were no symptoms of sleep paralysis, except for the lingering pain in his chest muscles.
"No nightmares, no difficulty breathing.
Wasn't my lung pierced by the crossbow bolt?"
Manuel murmured, while trying to feel his wound.
At this moment, he saw a faint, almost imperceptible glow emanating from his left palm.
He brought his left hand very close to observe carefully, and saw the six-letter character.
Just as he was deep in thought, he suddenly felt an incredible gaze from in front of him, and then that person asked in astonishment, "Is... is that Manuel? Are you still alive?"
What kind of question was that, but with that tone and voice, was Barbara still awake?
Manuel smiled awkwardly, "Alive.
If you don't believe me, you can come closer and listen to my heart."
As it turned out, she actually leaned forward and listened.
This made Manuel's heart beat even faster, and after a short while, he anxiously changed the subject, "How long have I been unconscious?"
"Three weeks."
Manuel gasped, and immediately asked impatiently, "Did we win? The decisive battle outside Kaffa."
"We won."
Barbara's tone became somewhat strange at this point.
What was wrong now? Manuel became puzzled and began to review the battle.
Then Barbara suddenly asked out of the blue, "Um, those things I just said, did you hear them?"
"Oh, of course, all of it... No, no, no!"
Manuel, who was replaying the battle in his mind, instinctively spoke the truth when she asked, but he quickly reacted, waving his hands repeatedly in denial.
However, Barbara had already confirmed it; her face was flushed crimson, and she softly scolded, "Idiot, scoundrel, pervert, it's over.
You heard everything and still won't admit it.
It seems my life as a princess and partner is just over..."
As she spoke, the light in her eyes gradually faded, making her fiancé's hair stand on end.
"Stop it, your words are dangerous!"
After hearing her outrageous remarks, Manuel quickly tried to stop her.
To curb her increasingly surreal thoughts, he had to endure the pain and get out of bed to comfort her gently.
As they went back and forth, due to their close proximity, Manuel also noticed her not-so-healthy mental state, and subconsciously asked with concern, "Barbara, you don't seem to be in good spirits.
Why don't you get some sleep?
We can discuss the details tomorrow morning."
"Then let's sleep together.
It's been cold lately, and it'll be warmer if we huddle together."
Barbara regretted her words as soon as she said them, but she also felt a little anticipation in her heart.
"Sure."
Manuel didn't think much of it; he was still contemplating how to handle the unfinished war matters tomorrow.
And so, this young couple, still only engaged, squeezed onto one bed.
Looking at Manuel's sleeping face, his eyes almost closed, Barbara, thinking he had fallen asleep again, complained in a mosquito-like voice, "You woke up and didn't even tell me.
Seriously, do you know how much someone worries about you?"
"I'm not asleep yet."
Manuel chuckled softly, helplessly.
"Not... not asleep yet?"
She became a little flustered, "I'm sorry, what I just said wasn't..."
"It's alright.
You all must have had a very hard time during this period, taking care of someone whose life was uncertain."
"Mm-hmm,"
Barbara nodded slightly, then immediately shook her head in denial, "No, no."
"It's okay to be frank with me."
Upon hearing this, Barbara looked at him with some distress, and after a long time, she lowered her head and said, "I'm sorry, but I was really scared, what if..."
"But I'm fine now, aren't I?"
Manuel tried his best to appear relaxed, "No matter what, I am here now, and I always will be."
"Can you swear to the Holy Father that you will never leave me from now on?"
"I swear to the Holy Father, forever."
Barbara smiled contentedly.
Finally, she suddenly remembered something, and shyly touched his elbow, "Um, shouldn't we do something?"
"Hmm, you're right."
Manuel thought about it seriously and felt that she made a lot of sense.
Coincidentally, he also felt a burning sensation there due to their skin contact.
Manuel used his left hand to pull Barbara's head closer, while his right hand reached out to caress her head, and then, mouth to mouth, lip to lip, he intimately kissed her.
After maintaining this posture for a considerable time, he reluctantly let go, and his fiancée clearly seemed to want more.
She asked him disappointedly, "Is that all?"
Manuel said helplessly, "We can talk about the specifics after we get married.
Doing it now wouldn't be good for your body.
You've been so tired during this time, so get some rest first."
"You don't like men, do you?"
"Impossible!!! I like women!"
He quickly added, "The first time for both of us should have a bit of ceremony."
Of course, there was a more important reason he couldn't say: it was embarrassing to admit, but he genuinely lacked that kind of desire for a body that was quite, well, flat.
"Maybe when Barbara's figure grows a bit, but if I told her the truth, she'd probably hit me on the spot, haha."
Manuel thought.
After he finished explaining, Barbara reluctantly fell asleep, and after confirming she was asleep, Manuel also stopped his thoughts about the aftermath of the Kaffa war, and carefully observed the lovely girl beside him.
Perhaps they truly would be very good soulmates; with this thought, his eyelids soon drooped, and he fell asleep.
The next day, when Manuel personally stood up and declared that he had fully recovered, everyone was overjoyed.
Zoe and Maria, mother and daughter, even directly embraced him, crying, "Thank Saint Mary, son/brother, you are safe and sound."
Manuel was also moved to tears on the spot: no matter in which world, family always cared about him the most.
"Your father couldn't come because of military and political matters," Zoe quickly added, fearing that Manuel might harbor resentment towards Alexius.
"It's alright, after all, the Principality's affairs are more important, and besides, I'll be going to Mangup soon."
The sum of Manuel's two lives was not small, and at times like this, he understood what was more important.
But he remembered his younger brother at home, and casually asked, "By the way, where's Isaac?"
"He..."
Maria was about to say something when Zoe interrupted her, "Your little brother prays to Saint Mary for you every day.
He didn't come this time because your father assigned him more study tasks."
"It's alright, Mother.
Tell Isaac to study hard, after all, as a future chief administrator, he might be very busy."
Manuel didn't take this to heart and just smiled it off.
After Manuel temporarily separated from them to deal with the backlog of political affairs, Maria quietly asked their mother, "Mother, why didn't you tell brother the truth?"
"It's normal for children to babble.
Saying such things would only harm their brotherly relationship.
We should just pretend nothing happened," Zoe explained.