Atra had never experienced taking care of someone in her life.

When her parents were alive, she was the one being taken care of, and she had no siblings or family members she needed to look after.

After losing her parents, she was always alone. She was alone in the orphanage, and at the academy, she was too obsessed with power to form any close relationships.

As soon as she graduated from the academy, she headed to the front lines of the labyrinth, where she spent years before returning to the inner regions a few years ago.

Even after returning to the inner regions, she didn’t make any new friends. She only maintained acquaintances. The only new relationship she had formed, her former disciple, had passed away.

In short, Atra was not the type to go out of her way to make friends, nor did she have a sociable nature.

“……”

Therefore, she didn’t know how to handle the current situation.

In the healing room where Lee Hayul was hospitalized.

In the cozy atmosphere warmed by the sunlight streaming through the large windows.

Atra let out a deep sigh and looked down at her embrace with a troubled expression.

– Purr…

In her arms was Lee Hayul, sound asleep, making contented murmurs like a pet.

‘…What am I supposed to do with this…’

Atra awkwardly patted Lee Hayul’s back, recalling the events of yesterday.

After Lee Hayul regained consciousness.

She had watched him with bated breath, expecting another seizure, when suddenly he had burst into tears and clung to her.

The sight of tears welling up in his eyes had made her heart drop, and she had instinctively held him.

Struggling to hug her with his barely functioning arms had been so pitiful that she had ended up hugging him tightly.

– Sniff…

Atra, deciding to comfort him, had patted Lee Hayul’s back, but she had found herself staring blankly at him as he sniffled in her arms.

Lee Hayul, with his delicate and fragile appearance, looked even more breakable and in need of protection now that his illness had added to his frailty.

The usually composed and mature façade was nowhere to be found as he clung to her and whined, a sight utterly unfamiliar to her.

After a while of soothing him, the healers had come in.

They had tried to separate him, thinking he needed to be in a proper position for his treatment. With that in mind, she had gently tried to push him away.

– Eee…

…She couldn’t bear to push him away. The moment she showed any sign of doing so, he had whimpered and buried his face back into her chest, shaking his head.

His whimpering, filled with sadness and disappointment, had made her freeze. She couldn’t push him away.

In the end, the treatment had proceeded with Lee Hayul still in her arms.

‘Damn it.’

Atra couldn’t forget the looks the healers had given her…

But she couldn’t push Lee Hayul away. Conscience? Or maybe it was just human decency that made it impossible to make such a decision.

She had reluctantly offered her embrace.

…

…

…And from yesterday, it had been like this.

Once she offered her embrace, he wouldn’t let go. He clung to her as if her arms were his home, sleeping soundly.

Because of this, Atra couldn’t move, ending up lying on the bed Lee Hayul had been using.

Fortunately, the bed was spacious enough for both of them to lie comfortably.

Since Lee Hayul was in her arms, he didn’t take up much space.

Her mind returned to the present.

Atra let out another deep sigh. Her chest rose and fell with her breath, and Lee Hayul’s cheek, buried in her chest, pressed in and out with the motion.

“……”

Looking at him with an awkward gaze, Atra carefully extended her arm.

Her fingers sank into his hair. The sensation was unlike anything she had ever felt.

She slowly moved her arm.

Sss… Her fingers glided through his hair. After a whole day of petting and patting him, she had somewhat gotten used to it.

Lee Hayul’s lips twitched. His face relaxed, and he rubbed his head against her palm with a purr.

Seeing his face relax into a blissful smile filled her vision.

The current image of Lee Hayul overlapped with the one she had seen in the footage.

The face that had been in pain, fighting monsters to protect people, and the face that now clung to her, seeking comfort, overlapped.

And now, the face that acted like a playful puppy, seeking pats, overlapped as well.

Atra regretted it.

She shouldn’t have ignored him when he went outside. She shouldn’t have dismissed her vague anxiety. She shouldn’t have thought it wasn’t her place to interfere because she couldn’t keep him by her side forever.

There were many other regrets, smaller or comparable.

She had been too caught up in the past. She hadn’t properly seen Lee Hayul, who existed in the present. She regretted her attitude, wondering if she had been too harsh and cold.

She had tried her best, but… she should have taught him better. She should’ve taught him to overcome things more effectively.

Atra felt guilty, thinking that her inadequate teaching had led to his severe injuries.

She could have treated him more gently, but she hadn’t.

She had repeated the same mistakes she had regretted in the past, like an idiot.

And it almost ended in irreversible tragedy again.

By some miracle, Lee Hayul had survived. Thankfully, he was breathing in her arms.

Atra got up. She moved carefully, mindful not to make Lee Hayul uncomfortable.

He flinched at the sudden movement and burrowed deeper into her chest.

His breathing felt warm against her chest.

“Hik…”

The strange, unfamiliar sensation made her shoulders tense up.

She had somewhat gotten used to offering her embrace, but the feel of his breath against her skin was something she couldn’t adapt to.

Atra calmed her trembling body.

Once the trembling stopped, she let out another deep sigh.

As she soothed the whimpering Lee Hayul, thinking she was about to separate from him, she adjusted her position.

She turned Lee Hayul’s body and supported his back with one hand.

With the other hand, she picked up the spoon placed within reach.

It was a bowl of porridge and utensils left by a healer with a somewhat peculiar look.

She scooped an appropriate amount of porridge and checked its temperature before guiding the spoon to Lee Hayul’s lips.

“Ah…”

Lee Hayul, who was currently immobile, had lost an arm, and his only remaining arm was wrapped in a thick cast, making it impossible to move.

In other words, he was a patient who needed someone to take care of him.

Confused by the sudden change in position, Lee Hayul’s nose wrinkled.

When she tapped his lips with the spoon, he finally seemed to recognize it and opened his small mouth.

As the spoon went in, his mouth closed around it.

Atra watched his mouth move for a moment before pulling the spoon out.

The porridge on the spoon had long disappeared. Without a word, Atra fed him another spoonful.

This was already the fifth or sixth time she had fed him like this.

The porridge disappeared quickly.

Although it was her first time taking care of a patient, it wasn’t difficult. The truly challenging parts were handled by the healers and magic.

All Atra had to do was feed Lee Hayul porridge while he clung to her, coax him into taking his medicine when he refused, and pat him to sleep once his belly was warm…

…It was just like taking care of a baby. His behavior and appearance were the same.

This was different from his usual demeanor. Normally, Lee Hayul didn’t act spoiled or whiny.

But considering what he had been through, it was understandable.

A child who had never experienced real combat had tried to save people by fighting monsters in an isolated space.

How many times had he faced death in the process? With every attack that came his way, he must have felt death brushing past him.

And at the end, he had been on the brink of death… It wasn’t surprising if he had deep trauma.

In the future, it might hinder his activities as a hero. Many people’s past experiences hold them back even after they’ve grown.

‘…If that happens, I should take him to my home.’

Would Lee Hayul want to continue attending Shio-ram? He might whine about not wanting to after recovering his mental state.

If that happens, Atra would take him to live with her.

She hadn’t retired yet, but she could submit her retirement papers to the association. She had saved up a considerable amount of money.

She could live a comfortable life with Lee Hayul under her care.

Feeling a peculiar sense of satisfaction, Atra offered him another spoonful of porridge.

* * *

He couldn’t see anything. Darkness enveloped him from all sides.

He didn’t use the authority of Observation. The authority of Space was the same.

Trying to use them made his head feel like it was splitting apart.

Maybe it was because he had recklessly used the authority he had just become aware of, or perhaps it was because his circuits and core were injured.

Authority. Not an innate ability, but an externally granted one.

Usually, it was acquired after conquering a tower and being acknowledged as its master.

Why do I have it? Why do I have the authority of Space and Observation?

‘Ah.’

My head hurts. I don’t want to think…

He cut off the thoughts that were trying to connect. He didn’t want to think about anything right now.

He emptied his mind and burrowed deeper into Professor Atra’s embrace.

Something soft and warm enveloped his body.

The warmth of another person’s body was vividly transmitted through the fabric.

Especially the warmth and softness felt on his face were comforting and pleasant.

Perhaps because he was injured, his senses were relatively dull, but it still felt good.

‘Nice…’

He emptied his mind. His thoughts connected simply.

It’s warm. I like the softness. I like the hands that stroke my hair and pat my back.

I just like it.

He postponed thinking for later. Anyway, his body was in pain, and his head felt like it was splitting apart.

He just wanted to stay like this until he fully recovered.

* * *

[Player Adjustment System: Affection]

Lee Hayul → Atra Clyde

●●●●●●○○○○(65/100)

[Affection] [Fear] [Expectation] [Concern]

▼(Dramatic Change)▼

Lee Hayul → Atra Clyde

●●●●●●●○○○(65▷70/100)

[Adult] [Guardian] [Expectation] [Comfort] [Affection Longing]

…

●●●●●●●○○○(70▷71/100)

…

●●●●●●●○○○(71▷72/100)

…

●●●●●●●○○○(72▷73/100)

…

[Conditions for lifting the “Curse of Silence” have not been met]

[Conditions for lifting the “Curse of Loneliness” have not been met]

End of Chapter