“You didn’t try to ‘handle’ me like a dog, right?”

“I didn’t treat you like a dog; it’s the little one who’s doing it to me.”

Every time she left the house, he was greeted and given a request to take good care of the house.

“So, what’s the deal?”

“I feel like you might stumble.”

It might be less dangerous if he held her hand at least.

“Well, I won’t refuse.”

Although there was no need to hold Kael’s hand, Leciel didn’t want to reject Kael’s consideration, so she quietly took Kael’s hand.

“Uncle, your hand is really big.”

Leciel admired Kael’s hand, which was large enough to hold both of her hands in one.

‘It’s been a while since I felt this way.’

Holding someone’s hand. And the warmth transmitted from that person’s hand.

These were things that Leciel had taken for granted in Korea, but not here.

Finding the feeling unfamiliar and pleasant, Leciel absentmindedly wriggled her fingers.

Even if there wasn’t a soft feeling due to the calluses from holding a sword, just that alone was enough.

Once Kael left, she wouldn’t feel this sensation again.

Meanwhile, Kael also felt a strange emotion as he felt Lecièl’s hand holding his own.

She was already a small child for a 10-year-old.

Her age itself was also relatively young.

However, holding such a small hand made Kael realize how young and small Leciel really was.

With these small hands, she had lived in the monster forest for two years.

It was truly impressive.

How was she able to hunt, cook, and did everything necessary to survive with such hands alone?

Even when his son was five years old, his hands weren’t this small.

In fact, her physique was smaller than when his son was eight years old.

Moreover, perhaps because it was a girl’s hand, it felt very delicate.

The child’s hands were so soft that it was difficult to imagine that she had spent two years in such a place.

‘Would I have felt like this if I had a daughter?’

Compared to his rough son, Leciel was more expressive in emotions, and there was a subtle charm in her actions.

Her lively tone of speech, the round eyes that widened whenever she smiled, her lively face, and her constantly moving small mouth all looked adorable.

Even when she got angry and attacked whenever she was touched, it was equally cute.

‘Come to think of it, my son must be worried about me.’

Thinking that his blunt son might be worried about him, Kael wanted to return home quickly to see him, but his mind was still preoccupied with Leciel.

‘If I bring the kid along, how would my son react?’

He hadn’t decided yet whether to take Leciel or not, but somehow it seemed like he might end up taking the child with him.

‘Would he be jealous?’

Or would he not care whether he took her or not?

Since his son rarely expressed emotions, Kael couldn’t easily predict his reaction, even though he was his own son.

‘But he still cares.’

Maybe he would think his father was crazy for doing something he had never done before, and he might look at him strangely.

Just by imagining that scene, a smile naturally appeared on Kael’s lips.

Even though he acted indifferent on the surface, Kael cherished and loved his only son more than anyone else.

Thus, lost in their own thoughts, they didn’t realize that the laundry was nearing completion.

Leciel, as if giving one last burst of energy, moved her feet even harder than before.

“Be careful. You might trip if you keep going like that.”

Kael said with a worried expression after seeing the determination in her step as if she were going to break the laundry basket.

“Oh, I don’t trip easily.”

“You never know.”

At Kael’s nonchalant words, Leciel’s body twitched suddenly. Then, just as Kael had feared, she stumbled.

Luckily, Kael was there in front of her, so Leciel’s face was prevented from hitting the ground, but that was all.

Although Kael quickly tried to support Lecière’s body to regain balance, his body condition was different due to the injury, and eventually the two of them ended up falling together side by side.

As a result, the laundry basket also fell over with them, and the laundry they had just finished became dirty again.

“Are you okay?”

Kael asked, gently stroking Leciel’s head, which had landed squarely on his chest.

“Your chest feels like it’s got rocks in it.”

Although her face had hit his chest, not the floor, her nose still felt numb as if it had hit the ground.

“I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“A compliment is a compliment.”

It means your chest muscles are really strong. Of course, that wasn’t the intention she had in mind.

“More importantly, are you okay, uncle?”

Even if she was, Kael was the patient here.

She worried that Kael’s wound might have opened up again because of her.

“I’m fine too. But let’s get up.”

To avoid catching a cold, they needed to wipe their wet bodies as soon as possible.

With that in mind, Kael grabbed Leciel’s waist with both hands and stood up straight.

“Whoa.”

Leciel, who was suddenly lifted up by Kael’s hands, exclaimed in admiration.

Such an easy movement.

No matter how young she was, to think he could lift such a weight so easily.

And there wasn’t even a slight tremor like an ace bed.

“It must be heavy, but I guess you’re stronger than you look, uncle.”

“Not at all. The little one is like feathers.”

“It’s heavy.”

“I could probably lift you with one hand.”

“Oh, come on, don’t exaggerate.”

However, as he had said, Leciel’s mouth fall open as he effortlessly lifted herself up with one arm.

“You’re quite the fitting father figure.”

“Is that so?”

“Well, usually kids like to cling to their fathers and play.”

In that sense, Kael would be able to play with the children very well.

“Does that mean you also want to play and have fun?”

“I’m not so heartless as to bother a patient.”

“Just because I’m a patient doesn’t mean I’m so fragile that I can’t lift a feather-like kid, though.”

“I can’t deny that.”

Hadn’t she experienced it herself already?

“Still, I’ll refuse.”

It would be conscienceless to ask him for that on top of everything he had already done for her, especially considering he had ended up wet and dirtied himself.

“I should clean up first.”

“Shouldn’t you wash up before that? You’re not just wet, you’re soaked in soapy water.”

Especially the foam from the grass used as  soap was stronger than regular  soap, causing the skin to turn red if not properly rinsed off.

“Is there a place to wash?”

Kael asked as he had done simple showers and haircuts before, but he had never properly washed himself.

“If there isn’t anywhere to wash, it means that I’ve gone two years without washing even once, but I don’t smell or seem dirty, do I?”

“I guess not.”

“But is it alright? It might not be good for the injured area to get wet.”

“It’s already wet. And it should be fine if I wash carefully.”

At least it was already healed to the point that getting wet wouldn’t worsen his wounds.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

She was worried, but he couldn’t not wash himself. Leciel quickly gathered some clothes to change into and  cloth to wash herself with.

“Is this where you wash?”

“Yeah, at first I used to scoop up water to wash, but that turned out to be too much work.”

A simple  washbasin would have sufficed for a quick wash, but washing the whole body required more water than she had expected.

“Right.”

Kael agreed, nodding in understanding.

“You go ahead and wash first, sir. I’ll turn around.”

“I’ll let the kid wash first.”

“No, there are both hot and cold water here, how can I, the youngest, wash first…”

Before Leciel could finish her sentence, Kael suddenly picked her up and dropped her into the stream.

However, it was a gentle touch despite the abrupt action.

“You could’ve just said it.”

With a pout, Leciel, who had ended up falling in the stream, complained to Kael.

A moment later, she retaliated by splashing water at Kael as a small revenge.

It wasn’t much, just a spray of water, so it didn’t have much effect.

“I guess I’m not the only kid here.”

Understanding Leciel’s desire to play in the water, Kael let it slide, considering she could easily catch a cold if she wasn’t careful.

So Leciel gave up on splashing Kael with water and quietly washed herself.

She didn’t feel like having a water fight against Kael, who was a patient.

Her actions were just a tiny bit of mischief for being dunked into the water.

After the two had finished washing up safely, they returned home.

“I guess I’ll do the laundry tomorrow.”

Seeing that the clothes were dirtier than before, Leciel decided to postpone washing them.

“Sounds good.”

Rest would probably be more necessary to her than doing laundry.

Looking at Leciel’s tired face full of laziness, Kael absentmindedly reached out and stroked her hair.

 

* * *

That night, Leciel stayed up later than usual.

“Uncle, are you sleeping?”

Rolling around on Mimi’s body, Leciel softly spoke to Kael.

“…Not yet.”

Having a habit of working until late at night and then sleeping, Kael simply lay on the bed, unable to fall asleep.

“Then let’s have a little chat.”

“Is it still not enough?”

Even with the conversation they had today, it felt like they had talked for days.

“Maybe it’s because I feel bad about sleeping like this?”

At Leciel’s words, Kael turned to look at her quietly.

Her slightly drooping eyes and slower speech clearly indicated that she was getting sleepy.

But she still seemed to have no intention of going to bed. Even though it was time for her to sleep.

Kael somehow felt like he knew the reason.

Perhaps she had also instinctively realized. That he would soon leave this place.

Since she had been disinfecting his wounds every day, she must have known that his wounds had healed significantly more than before, and she must have known about the words he had brought up today.

Therefore, Kael decided to put aside his annoyance and let her do as she pleased.

It wouldn’t be too bad to stay up late talking tonight.

However, Kael’s decision was rendered futile as Leciel, who had been enthusiastically continuing the conversation at first, soon fell asleep.

“You must be really tired.”

Kael gazed at Leciel tenderly as he watched her sleeping soundly with closed eyes and a murmuring sound.

Then, after gently stroking Leciel’s head with a wish for her to sleep well, he quietly drifted off to sleep as well.

 

* * *

The next morning.

 

Having slept later than usual yesterday and feeling unusually heavy, possibly due to the unintentional spillage of water, Leciel slowly opened her eyes.

Then, feeling something strange, she turned her head.

Mimi, who was lying beneath her, seemed to be squirming restlessly.

“Mimi, what’s wrong?”

As Leciel asked, Mimi glanced at Kael.

Upon following Mimi’s gaze, Leciel’s face stiffened.

Kael was groaning continuously, his face covered in cold sweat, and his body temperature was dangerously high.

“Uncle…?”

Feeling that something was seriously wrong, Leciel called out to Kael with concern, but there was no response.