"Crunch!"
Crunching on the dry branches, Shire walked down the winding forest path.
The blood from the wound had stopped after a simple bandaging, and in a few days it might not even be there.
She glanced down at her clothes and trousers, uncomfortably soaked with blood which left a large stain.
Shire shook her head as she clutched her arms - doing her best to keep her thoughts focused.
Another glance back at the illuminated hill, where the villagers were still picking up the thieves' money and perhaps celebrating.
But that was no longer of any concern to her: she just wanted to get out of this place sooner rather than later.
She grasped at the gold coin she had squeezed tightly in her hand, her trembling heart settling down a little.
After another hour or so of walking, her strength had almost depleted, and her whole body was in a state of extreme fatigue because of blood loss.
Seeing that her body was about to reach its limit, she used her last strength to climb up a large tree and lie down on it.
"Pop!"
She opened the lid of the glass tube and smelled it carefully; she could tell by its colour and smell that it was a magic potion.
Homever, the magic potion in her hand was somewhat different from the ones commonly found: it had an unexpected hint of red in its ghastly blue.
Without overthinking, Shire chose to trust Lin.
The Magic Potion was special: it was not only useful for magicians, it also had a tremendous effect on common folk.
There was often only one problem with - it was too expensive.
She tilted her head and drank the liquid inside in one go, the sweet concoction flowed down her tongue, and her depleted spirit was immediately replenished.
Not only that, but she could clearly sense her body changing; her heart's beat becoming more powerful, her remaining injuries quickly closing, and even her strength was closer to how it was before.
When she took a deep breath, every cell in her body cried out in joy.
She remembered the figure again, this time so clearly as if he glowed, so distant and noble that she dared not look up.
"I need to repay him somehow ......"
With that thought, Shire fell into a deep sleep, the gold coins still clutched tight in her hands.
......
The night scene outside the window slowly disappeared as the luxurious carriage went back the same way.
Bella propped her chin up and said, "Big bro Lin, don't blame me for not reminding you, but turning back here will delay our escape and we might be caught by the king's lackeys."
"Then why didn't you stop me?" Lin quickly glanced over, wondering what she was thinking.
Bella smiled cheekily, "This carriage is very durable, the three of us made it, so as long as we don't get into any accidents, we will be able to reach our destination."
After this escort mission, some of them would also return to the palace, and these people were important warriors for the sisters.
"Lin, you’re thinking about that girl from earlier, right?" Bella continued to ask as she went over and clung to Lin’s arm.
"You figured it out?" Lin lowered his head, his eyes still lost in thought.
Bella took Lin's hand and held it, "Of course, Lin, you're so dreamy, I know what posture you assume when you’re thinking."
Lin flicked her on the forehead, "Don't say weird things or you'll get a spanking."
"Will I?" Bella asked excitedly.
Lin: "......."
He was no longer able to communicate with her in this state..
At least his mood improved after her interjection. That letter really did a number on him.
The content of those letters was always worrying, last time it was Louise trying to eat him, this time it was Shire dying because of him.
But how could he make her repay him with her life when he had only done a simple thing at most?
Now that he knew the terrible future, he would rather die trying to fix it than do nothing at all.
The only good news from the letter was thats he was still alive three years later, but that was all.
Lin's mind was in shock as her figure and the contents of the letter swirled in his head for a long time.
When he returned to the hill, Lin saw no sign of Shire; he only saw villagers carrying large bags, fighting over their fair share.
After casually looking for someone to ask, he realised that Shire already left.
Luckily, they had magicians in the caravan who were good at tracking, and it was almost three in the morning when they found Shire up on a tree by the side of a forest path.
She was in a deep sleep, and their arrival did not wake her up.
"She seems to have been injured and is now in a sort of semi-comatose state." Bella looked over at Lin, "Do you need me to have someone bring her down?"
Lin thought for a moment and shook his head, "I'll do it."
Not allowing for someone else to do it, Lin took it upon himself to climb the tree and bring her down, and as he did, he saw an empty vialin her hand.
Bella glanced at Shire carried by Lin's arms, seemingly slightly envious, and said, "Carry her back to the carriage, I can take care of her."
Sensing how important she was to Lin, she did not take her chances by leaving her to the others.
When he got back to the carriage, Bella had him put Shire on the bed, and she lifted her shirt to see the bandages stained red with blood.
Bella used her magic on Shire, and it only took a few minutes to heal her injuries, Having done so, she stepped to the side, leaving the spot to Lin.
"I'll leave the rest to you, she's not too badly injured, she's just overexerted herself and needs some rest, There's hot water in the room; you can clean her up."
Shire was dirty all over, in addition to blood she was caked in mud and dust, it would be no wonder if she felt very uncomfortable.
As a young princess who had grown up pampered and chaperoned by servants, Bella did not know how to take care of others, so she could only leave it to Lin.
"That's kind of bad." Lin was slightly hesitant.
"Who else do you want to do it?" Bella spread her small hands, "I'm the only one in the whole caravan whose room has a bath, and you wouldn't want to leave her in the hands of someone else, right?"
Bella walked over and patted Lin's shoulder, making a smug expression, "Don't dwell on it too much. Since you chose to pick her up, be prepared to take care of her, no pressure, go for it!"
Taking a glance at the sleeping Shire, and then at the caravan, Lin confirmed his thoughts.
Gritting his teeth, he set the hot water with the magic tool, then turned around and scrubbed her before setting her down in the barrel with a swift movement.
In the meantime, Bella found a new set of towels and set them down, as she smiled confidently at Lin and started handing them over.
She didn't know how to serve others, but changing the towels was no problem, and Bella went to work with her sleeves rolled up.
"waa~"
There was a constant splattering sound of water coming from the other side as Lin scrubbed down Shire's body..
As the clean water turned opaque, Rin couldn't help but stare.
He suddenly felt that what the letter had said about Shire being captivating could very well be true, and that she seemed to have that kind of potential.
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