“I’m s-sorry!”
Adrian shouted in a fluster.
“I really didn’t mean to overdo it! But a monster almost crossed into the village…!”
Adrian stumbled over his words, flailing his hands and feet in panic.
To summarize, he was saying that there was almost a monster invasion in a village on the outskirts of the empire.
“So, what you’re saying is—you did overdo it, right?”
Sabina, who had been staring at Adrian for a long time, finally asked with a sharp tone.
Adrian flinched and stiffened his shoulders.
Then, he slowly turned his head away.
“W-Well… I guess you could say that… or not…?”
“…”
“But I swear, it wasn’t on purpose…”
Adrian shifted his eyes slightly to gauge Sabina’s reaction.
He looked like a puppy that had chewed up someone’s shoes.
Sabina couldn’t help but feel a strange mix of emotions.
‘Adrian probably isn’t lying.’
There must have really been a serious threat to that village.
If Adrian hadn’t desperately fought to stop it, the village might have been wiped off the map.
Despite everything, Sabina still thought Adrian was a good person.
Someone truly worthy of the title Hero.
Just, righteous, and kind.
But the “good people” Sabina had known…
Had mostly died young.
“Haa…”
Eventually, Sabina let out a long sigh and motioned for Adrian to come closer.
“Fine. Come here.”
Adrian cautiously watched her expression.
“…You’re forgiving me?”
“Well, if you keep insisting on giving me more overtime work… What choice do I have?”
Sabina shrugged with a sarcastic tone.
“When the employer decides something, the powerless employee just has to go along with it, right?”
“…”
Adrian drooped both his shoulders in defeat.
Meanwhile, the corners of Sabina’s lips twitched slightly upward.
Her green eyes suddenly widened.
“Sabina, did you just smile?”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Sabina immediately changed her expression and replied.
But just then—
Mabel, who had been quietly standing nearby, opened her bright, innocent eyes wide and spoke.
“You’re lying. You did smile.”
“…”
Sabina shot a glare full of resentment at her beloved familiar.
Seriously, why is my sweet little Mabel only honest at times like this?!
—
—
Afterward,
Sabina led Adrian to sit on the living room couch.
“Now, could you give me your arm?”
Adrian obediently offered his arm to her.
Sabina gently grasped his wrist and carefully began to channel her magic into him.
As the energy flowed, Adrian’s expression gradually relaxed.
He let out a soft chuckle.
“Knew it. You really are good at this.”
“Stop talking. I need to focus.”
Sabina snapped at him, frowning.
Despite her sharp tone, the magic flowing through Adrian’s body felt incredibly gentle.
He swallowed a chuckle that nearly escaped his lips.
‘For someone who’s supposedly mad, she’s being really thorough.’
The flow of magic that was repairing the cracks in his aura heart and untangling his chaotic aura was nothing short of meticulous.
Aura Heart.
Just as high-level mages like Sabina possess a mana heart, knights have an aura heart.
It’s formed after years—sometimes decades—of training and accumulating pure aura in the body.
This energy forms a crystal-like core near the heart, from which knights or mages draw their power.
It’s this “heart” that allows them to summon winds with magic or split boulders with a sword.
Naturally, the aura heart is one of the most sensitive and vital parts for both knights and mages.
‘I mean, no wonder Sabina was mad…’
Adrian let out a silent groan.
To be honest, he had pushed himself too hard this time, relying on Sabina’s ability to heal him again.
From her perspective, she had just fixed his aura heart—only for him to come back with it broken again.
Just then—
“Hmm.”
Sabina’s expression suddenly stiffened.
She glanced up slightly and spoke seriously.
“Can you take off your shirt?”
“…What?”
For a moment, Adrian doubted his ears.
‘Did I just hear that right?’
Take off his shirt?
As Adrian stared at her in confusion, Sabina’s face instantly turned red.
She had just realized what her words could be misinterpreted as.
“T-That’s not what I meant! You know that, right?!”
Sabina instinctively raised her voice in embarrassment.
Her face flushed all the way to her ears.
“The aura heart is near the chest. I need to channel magic directly beside the heart for the most effective healing.”
“Uh, Sabina?”
“S-So this is purely for treatment, okay?! There’s absolutely no hidden agenda or weird meaning behind it!”
Sabina panicked as she tried to explain herself.
Meanwhile, Adrian found something oddly…
‘Cute.’
He couldn’t help but smile softly.
“Come on, Sabina. No need to be shy with just the two of us.”
With a teasing tone, he casually took off his top.
“…Ah.”
Sabina froze.
Her wide red eyes locked onto his chiseled upper body.
Broad shoulders. Firm chest.
Perfectly defined abs.
Adrian’s body looked like it had been carved by the hands of a divine sculptor.
Even the subtle rise and fall of his muscles as he breathed was strangely mesmerizing.
Sabina suddenly felt her mouth go dry.
Still, she tried her best to appear unfazed.
‘This is just part of the healing process.’
It wasn’t even the first time she’d seen his body.
Back in the forest, when she saved an injured Adrian, she’d undressed him to treat his wounds.
But this time… she couldn’t help being more conscious of his body.
‘Why is he looking at me like that?!’
Like she was the one with inappropriate intentions.
The way he gazed at her with those big eyes pulled her in before she knew it.
Just as Sabina was biting her lip in frustration—
“Sabina.”
“…”
“Sabina?”
Gasp.
Sabina let out a shallow breath.
When she finally looked up, Adrian was staring right at her.
“Aren’t you going to treat me?”
“Ah, right. Of course.”
She quickly composed herself and reached out.
Her slightly trembling fingertips touched his bare chest.
At the same time, Adrian clenched his teeth.
‘Okay, now I’m starting to feel it too.’
To be honest, taking off his shirt hadn’t meant anything at first.
But seeing Sabina—usually cold and aloof—now all flustered and nervous…
Adrian suddenly found himself affected, too.
“Uh, Sabina?”
“Shh.”
Before he could say more, Sabina gently hushed him.
“I need to concentrate. So stay quiet.”
—
