CHAPTER 32: 29: A ’KIND’ GESTURE.

"I’m sorry young master, but it seems that we were being ambushed."

Edward gawked at Calen, who was looking at him with a smug expression.

"W-what?"

Calen gave him a long look, then his eyes suddenly drifted to his leg, where the arrow had grazed his thigh earlier.

"You’re hurt."

His voice was low, quiet, almost too steady. Yet it made Edward flinch.

Edward looked at the cut in his thigh, which was slightly bleeding onto his pants.

"Oh... its nothing."

But when he looked back up, he almost flinched once again from the look on Calen’s face. The usual composed expression was gone, and his eyes had darkened to the point that it was a little too scary for Edward’s liking.

"I will be back."

Edward stepped forward in panic towards Calen, who had already turned around.

"Wait."

"Stay put young master, I will be back."

And before he knew it, Calen took off from where he was standing back into the jungle.

Edward let out a groan.

"That idiot..."

A few more screams had erupted from the jungle, unsettling the birds that had not fled its canopy in the earlier confrontation. It only took Calen a few more minutes to snuff out the rest of the voices, and when returned there were... blood stains on his dull metal armour.

Edward glanced at the blood in Calen’s armour.

"Are those..." He pointed at them.

Calen just continued to walk towards him.

"It is of no concern, we need to get you to safety."

He grabbed his hand, and slowly led him back towards the carriage. Then, after properly checking its inside and getting rid of all the arrows lodged in its walls, Calen helped Edward climb into the carriage.

He glanced at his bleeding thigh for a moment, his expression a little worried.

"The duke will be furious."

He let out a sigh, and then for some reason, took off his chest plate.

Edward just looked at him like the idiot he was, and after taking off the chest plate, Calen tore a piece off from his shirt.

"Raise your leg."

Edward felt his cheeks heat up for some reason.

[ Objectiv- ]

Before the system could interfere, he mentally pushed the thing into a corner of his mind, using all his willpower in the process.

You. are. not. doing. anything.

He could almost hear the stupid thing chuckle through the display.

He turned his attention back to Calen.

"Can’t I just do it myself." He asked, avoiding eye contact while trying his best to keep his voice steady.

Calen shook his head. "No, you don’t know how to bind it properly. Here, let me do it for you."

Edward hesitated for a moment.

Then another.

god...

And finally building up the courage, he closed his eyes and raised his leg, wincing from the pain now that adrenaline was wearing off.

***

Calen was barely holding back.

Why does he have to be so...

He reigned his mind with all his might, tenderly picking up the young master’s leg as he pressed the cloth to the wound.

Edward flinched when Calen’s hand touched his leg.

Calen did too, inwardly.

Outwardly, he was doing his absolute best to maintain his composure.

In all honesty, this part was a little harder than fighting the assassins he had put down.

He sucked in a heavy breath, and pulled the cloth taught around the wound, pressing lightly into Edward’s soft thigh.

A quiet but intimate moment passed between them as Calen fiddled with the cloth, trying to cover up the wound in Edward’s leg.

And then, when he was almost done with it, he got interrupted.

"Calen..."

Silence.

He hesitated.

Then he looked up, only to see a teary eyes Edward staring back at him.

"Its starting to hurt."

He paused for a moment.

I should comfort him.

Yes, that was the best course of action.

His mind raced, trying to come up with the best solution for this situation.

Then for some goddamn reason, he reached out and caressed Edward’s cheek.

"It’ll be fine, young master. I will get you to a healer in no time."

It was only after the words left his mouth that Calen realised what he was doing.

He immediately tore his hands away from the young master’s soft cheeks.

Shit!

What the hell!?

He immediately bowed, his head almost touching the ground.

"That was impudent of me."

Edward looked away, his face a little flushed.

"Oh n-no... its nothing..."

Calen exhaled.

Control yourself you idiot.

He was a servant, nothing more nothing less. He should learn to keep to himself.

He exhaled, and before the air could turn awkward, Calen straightened, and stepped out.

"I will get us back to the Estate. Please focus on resting." He said without looking at Edward.

He had to search for a while to find the horses which had ran away during the whole mess, after reigning them back to carriage, Calen took the driver’s seat, steering the carriage towards the correct path.

Finding it was hard in the big jungle, but after a few wrong turns, Calen finally ended up finding the correct road.

As they settled into a comfortable rhythm, Calen let a small part of his mind wander for a bit, reviewing what had just happened.

The carriage he was in and the one the young master was in had split up somewhere along the way, and by the time Calen had realised what was happening, young master Edward was nowhere to be seen.

It had taken a gigantic effort from his part to sense the mana fluctuation gave off by master Edward and find the trail, and by the time he had reached him, they was already under attack by the assailants.

Calen had almost ended up killing the assassins while trying to demobilise them.

And when he had seen the cut on Edward.

You worthless idiot...

He let out a long sigh. And focused on the road, keeping himself alert to any threat.

Focus on getting him back to safety.