Raven and Kenji had parted ways in broad daylight, for each had something to take care of on their own. They promised to meet at a nearby inn at nightfall.
It hadn't taken long for Raven to realize that Kenji's wounds were unusual.
In her mind, Kenji was somewhere struggling with his wounds.
Perhaps searching for the medicine to ease his own misery.
Maybe he was even crying.
The moment the thought crossed her mind, she shook it out.
Although Kenji pretended to be fine, Raven was able to see through him.He was pale and looked weak.
She pretended not to know, afraid to only make things awkward for him. Instead, she secretly tried to learn about his illness. She felt like the illness wasn't that unfamiliar. She couldn't just remember where she had heard it. Maybe Shimei once told her about it, or maybe any other person. She couldn't really remember since she never cared about those kind of things.
If only Shimei were here.
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she bumped into someone.
" Excuse me." She said, crouching down to pick up the package that had slipped from the man's hands.
Their eyes met.
Raven quickly adjusted her scarf covering the lower half of her face.
She glanced around and saw guards everywhere.
Many questions popped in her head at the same time.
' What if he calls them?'
' I will get arrested. And then... "
She swallowed. " Die." The word escaped her lips.
She tightened her scarf and turned to leave, but a guard suddenly approached.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Fortunately, he walked past her and approached Rord.
He bowed.
" Long time no see."
" Hmm. Long time no see. You seem to be very busy."
" Yes, we just received information on that Raven. She is actually nearby."
As if he had sensed something wrong, the guard turned.
" Hey! Stop!"
Raven froze.
The guard slowly approached, his hand reaching for the sword.
Raven murmured a curse wishing to just disappear.
She was just about to run, when Rord spoke.
" That's one of my patients."
The guard turned to Rord.
" She has this kind illness on her face. "
Rord actually sighed as he made gestures.
" Don't make her too uncomfortable."
The guard immediately understood. Rord was actually his role model. He muttered an ' oh' and apologized to Raven.
Raven nodded without turning. She took a few steps forward but stopped again. She turned and bowed to Rord in gratitude. She didn't know him, but she instantly had a good impression on him.
Rord calmly nodded back wearing a smile.
Raven sighed, her hand pressed on her chest as she walked away.
She couldn't help but glanced behind one more time.
The man who had saved her was casually chatting with guards. She was sure that he had somehow recognized her. Her portraits were everywhere, so there was no way he couldn't know this was the Raven guards were looking for.
Raven didn't plan on entering through the main entrance, instead she was going to enter through the window.
Kenji was in the inn room tapping his fingers on the table. Raven was late. Very late. And he hated waiting.
He shut his eyes as an unbearable pain shoot through his arms and then to the whole body. He held his head in despair trying too hard not to let any sound out of his mouth. In the end, he gave a muffled pained scream.
Slowly, he slouched to the bed and lay down. Immediately fell unconscious.
By the time Raven entered the room, she saw Kenji ' peacefully sleeping'.
" Can't believe he actually fell asleep. He could have wai_"
Her eyes caught sight of an alcohol jar placed on the table and two cups. A happy smile spread across her face. She totally forgot about her complaints.
" Oh, my love." She said as she sat down and poured a cupful of alcohol.
She raised the cup towards her lips, but immediately stopped.
She looked at Kenji.
Face paler than usual, his hair was wet because of sweating.
Raven put the cup down and rushed to his side.
She put her fingers in front of his nose to check if he was breathing.
He was.
She placed her hand on his forehead. He had a high fever! She almost thought her hand could even burn.
She couldn't help but check his wounds. They were wrapped in new clean bandages. A sigh escaped her lips. She glanced at Kenji's face. His brows were tightly knitted that Raven could almost feel the pain he was going through. She casually put her hand on his forehead again.
" I'm sorry." She said sympathetically.
She searched his clothes for medicine. She found a small bottle with a blue liquid inside. She concluded it was the medicine.
It actually smelled sweet.
She glanced at Kenji's face with a sneaky smile, then a few drops poured a drop onto her tongue.
"Uuugh."
It was bitter.
She wiped her lips as she glared at the bottle. She couldn't believe that it actually tasted awful when the smell was heavenly.
Regretfully, she forcibly opened Kenji's mouth, poured some of the medicine inside and quickly pinched his nose shut so he wouldn't spit it back out.
This technique always worked on her. It was just that a few more people held her legs and arms at the same time.
After her success, she stood up and brought a basin of cold water. She dipped in a towel,wrung it, and put it on Kenji's forehead.
She stared at Kenji's face for a long time.
Many things were unavoidable.
" Sufferings are unavoidable." She murmured with a bitter smile.
She stroked away the strands of hair on Kenji's face. " I don't like patients."
She then slouched just beside the bed and lazily used her leg to pull the table towards herself .
She drank her cup, poured another, drank it, poured another, removed the towel from Kenji's head, soaked it in water, put it back on his forehead, drank her cup, and poured another.