Chapter 191- A Visit (Part 1)
A few days later,
"Rin! Listen to me and don't move!" Aria yelled as she pushed Rin back on the bed with a serious look on her face.
"I just want to go out for a small walk!" Rin protested as he tried to resist with all of his power. However, that power only amounted to a fraction of what Rin used to have before sustaining that injury.
"No! Didn't hear what Miss Emilia said? You can't move from the bed."
"But, I feel way better than before. Just let me get some fresh air."
"You aren't allowed to do so. Just sit there and behave." Aria didn't move as she crossed her arms in front of her big chest and glared at Rin.
"Tsk, you are horrible!" Pouting, Rin glared back at Aria.
"Say whatever you want, as your sister, I must not let you do anything reckless."
"It's not something reckless. I can walk properly on my legs. I'm sure in a few more days, I can return to training."
"Sigh… You like to throw tantrums don't you?" Sighing, Aria sat down beside the bed.
Even though their interaction seemed like usual, both of them were sensing it… The weird tension between them that appeared out of nowhere. Rin first noticed it after Aria left the room when she heard about Rin and Elise's new feelings.
Even though Rin was worried about her, he couldn't leave the room to search for her because of his condition. Luckily, she came back a few hours later with a wide smile on her face as if nothing happened.
However, Rin knew better not to believe that fake smile as he could see through her eyes that she didn't look fine. He had known Aria for a long time and could easily read her like an open book.
But, even then, he didn't know how to tackle this conversation. At this point, he was sure that Aria's feelings for him aren't as simple as mere siblings' love. In fact, she seemed to think of him as a serious love potential.
While that might've made anyone else feel weird, Rin only felt confused about how he should deal with the matter without hurting Aria too much. A broken heart is a very sensitive thing that must be taken care of gently and carefully. Not to mention that Rin considered Aria as his family.
With that a few days passed quietly, Rin kept getting visited by Elise, Aria, and Emilia frequently, even multiple times a day.
They provided him with food, and clothes, and even helped him walk to the shower so he can get cleaned. It was very awkward to find yourself completely incapable of doing anything alone practically overnight. Rin wasn't the type to rely on others that much either so he had to swallow his shame and accept their generosity.
Obviously, staying in one place for days on end wasn't something fun at all as Rin couldn't find anything to do except for talking with his system and cracking bad jokes to try and make himself laugh yet ended up with a serious look as he fixed the plan in his head and then start executing it.
But, doing the thing in his head, only took a fraction of the massive free time he had. That's when boredom kicked in
That's how he ended up in this situation where he was being forced to stay in bed when he just wanted to walk around for a few minutes just to get rid of the cruel boredom eating away from his sanity.
"I'm leaving to deal with some matters. You must stay here or I will really get angry, ok?" Aria said with a serious look, peering through Rin's eyes and practically staring into his soul. It was as if she could read his thoughts.
"Fine… Sigh, I won't leave."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise." Rolling his eyes, Rin promised her.
However, even after saying that, Aria didn't immediately stand up to leave. Instead, she looked deeply at him and her expression changed a little bit.
"Rin… I…" Opening her mouth to speak but then halted and closed it again. A complicated expression appeared on her face as if she was in a conflict with herself over something.
"Hm? You have something to say?"
"No, not really… Hahaha! Anyway, take care of yourself and don't rest, ok?"
After that, Aria stood up, kissed Rin's forehead, and then left the room.
"Sigh, I really don't know how I'm gonna deal with Aria." Rubbing the back of his head, Rin fell into deep thought as he stared at the window. His mind was filled with many things yet he can't even properly focus on any of them.
As he was like that, he felt a gush of air reach his face and flutter his midnight black hair.
"Are you having fun?~" A sweet voice spoke to him from up close.
"Does staying in bed the whole day look like a fun time for you?" Rin replied sarcastically without even looking at the owner of the voice as he knew who she was.
"Fufuf~ as sharp-tongued as ever, Rin. It seems even sickness can't tone down your harsh words." Evelyn said as she sat down on the bed beside him.
"I won't change just because I'm not feeling well. It's still me."
"That's good… I see…"
Then, silence took over the room again until Evelyn broke it again with a question. Her tone carried a hint of worry in it.
"How are you feeling now?"
"Not bad. I'm doing my best to recover as fast as possible."
"Is your injury still not getting any better?"
"Well, it's not bad too. I hope that it will be completely healed soon."
"I see, that's good." When he answered that way, Evelyn's face relaxed visibly, and a relieved smile appeared on her face.
"Were you that worried about me?" Rin asked with his eyebrows raised.
"E-Ehem, obviously not. I was just making sure my plaything is not completely broken when I still want to play with it."
"Hahaha, so funny." Rolling his eyes Rin ignored Evelyn's clear fake answer. Instead, he took a serious expression and asked her.
"Are you perhaps feeling guilty over what happened?"
The moment he asked her that, her expression changed for a split second before returning to normal. However, Rin caught that change.
"Not really! W-What do you mean, fufuf~?" Trying to cover her reaction, Evelyn chuckled lightly.
"You know, I don't really blame you at all. You gave me an offer and I accepted it fully knowing the consequences that could follow it. Besides, you kept your word about the sword so it wasn't a complete disaster, for the better part."
"..." Looking at Rin in susrpise, Evelyn couldn't believe her ears.
"You aren't… mad?"
"Why would I be mad? As far as I'm concerned, you didn't have any bad intentions aimed at me or Elise. So, no need for you to feel guilty."
"But, your sister and Elise… I'm sure they hate me to the bone." She replied.
"Hahaha! That sounds like them. But, for me, I'm not really that angry. In fact, this injury had made me realize something important."
"Hm, what did you realize?"
Staring down at his hand, Rin continued.
"It's that I'm as close to death as ever no matter where I go. There is no safe place in this world for me. Even though I grew stronger, this only put my life in even more danger than before. It's ironic, hahaha!"
"Rin…"
"I have only one goal in this life, Evelyn. No, scratch that, two goals. One is to protect those that I care for no matter what."
"And the second?"
"The second… Well, the second is to restore what I had lost."
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