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CHAPTER 06
. The World of Childhood Innocence
Chloe was once again diligently doing the menial chores. Alvin was also leaning his chin against the window frame, idly observing the scenery. Their eyes met several times, and with a deep sigh, he once again turned away from the window.
Chloe asked as he took the laundry from her:
“I didn’t ask you to help.”
“You said I should help if we make eye contact.”
That had only been a joke. At least, it wasn’t part of Edelin’s customs or etiquette. Still, she let the foreign soldier keep misunderstanding it, since they were genuinely short-handed.
And Alvin turned out to be more skilled at work than she had expected. Chloe wrung out the wet clothes firmly, aligned them neatly, and watched his hands closely as he worked. His movements were precise and quick, like someone used to military discipline.
He didn’t look like someone who had ever done this kind of work in his life.
An elegant jawline, neat brows, long narrow eyes, and blue irises—his features suggested he had grown up in luxury. If she hadn’t seen him in an ordinary soldier’s uniform when they first met, Chloe would have assumed he was a nobleman for sure.
And yet, she still felt a vague sense of doubt. Facial features were innate, yes, but people also carried an atmosphere that was hard to hide. He generally spoke casually, but sometimes his tone included archaic expressions. If that was all an act, he would have to be a master performer surpassing even Andrea.
Maybe because she was staring too openly, Alvin let out a low laugh.
“Why do you keep staring at me? If you look at someone like that, they’ll misunderstand.”
“What misunderstanding?”
“They might think you’re interested in me.”
“…That’s a dangerous thing to say.”
She didn’t exactly have interest in him—but curiosity, yes. Still, that was all it was. There was no need to get along with an enemy soldier beyond basic civility. War wasn’t a child’s game.
She pretended not to hear and changed the subject.
“By the way, your clothes… they change strangely often.”
Now that she said it, it was true. He looked unusually well-kept for someone in this base, and part of that was clearly due to his clothing. Supplies were limited, and priority went to Edelin soldiers. Yet Alvin always looked neatly dressed.
“I just take whatever I’m given. Is something wrong?”
He glanced down at his clothes as if puzzled, and Chloe frowned slightly.
“Oh? Which philanthropist was being so generous?”
“……”
Chloe thought, this is a truly rotten world. Even in a warzone, there were people obsessed with appearances. If what he said was true, then someone among the base volunteers must have been out of their mind.
In a time when nations were like this, and everything was falling apart, they were still thinking about romance.
Sensing the sharp edge in her voice, Alvin muttered awkwardly:
“I feel like I shouldn’t answer that.”
“So who was it?”
“I can’t betray my side.”
Chloe shook her head in disbelief.
“There was a spy in the base. I’m definitely going to root them out.”
“This level of kindness should be allowed, shouldn’t it? I consider myself a model prisoner.”
They continued exchanging trivial remarks while hanging the remaining laundry. When Alvin finally finished the last piece, Chloe gave a light nod of acknowledgment. It was their way of saying thanks.
She lifted a laundry basket that was almost as big as her own body with both hands. Alvin, watching her blankly, let out yet another deep sigh. He walked over and took both baskets from her.
“It’s not even heavy.”
Ignoring her, he stacked the baskets she had been carrying and set them down.
“You’re terrible at efficiency.”
“…I was just trying to balance the load.”
“You don’t even have good balance.”
Chloe fell silent and stared at him.
Was that a declaration of war?
She followed him as he walked ahead.
“You can go back. Really, it’s fine.”
“I know. I just haven’t shaken off my habits from civilian life yet.”
Overstepping kindness only complicated things for both sides. Still, Chloe couldn’t help but laugh. It was a clear, bright sound. Alvin looked down at her with a strange expression.
“…Why are you laughing like that?”
“You probably used to be quite the flirt in civilian life.”
Chloe couldn’t stop laughing, and Alvin frowned.
“I’ve never had complicated relationships.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
If anything, it was his face’s fault. Even simple kindness could be misinterpreted when delivered with that kind of appearance.
Chloe, a playwright who visualized entire worlds on stage, understood how easily people were swayed by appearances. Honestly, she had seen so many beautiful people that she was almost numb to it. Performers tended to be visually striking.
Even by her standards, however, his face was dangerously misleading. In a dusty warzone, wearing worn-out supplies, yet still being personally cared for by someone—it already said enough.
Soon, they reached the rear of the base. Chloe unlocked the storage room, and they stepped inside.
Alvin set the empty basket down.
Chloe looked at him, silently signaling that he could leave now, but he spoke again.
“I helped this much. Don’t I get something in return?”
Chloe frowned.
“Your conscience… did it run away? I didn’t ask you to do any of this.”
She already knew this kind of thing happened—small, quiet exchanges between soldiers and base personnel. She could usually overlook it, but she still felt mildly annoyed. Still, she couldn’t deny she had received help, so she relented.
“What do you want? I can get you ointment or food. No alcohol, and no rockweed.”
Rockweed was highly valued in wartime, alongside alcohol, due to its numbing effects against pain and fear. But it was extremely addictive—practically a drug—and tightly controlled.
However, Alvin didn’t seem interested in any of that. He shrugged and glanced at his own body.
“Don’t need that.”
“Okay.”
“Just wash mine along with the others’ stuff.”
Chloe froze for a moment.
“…What?”
A writer of fairy tales had just unintentionally revealed her deeply buried and questionable imagination and vocabulary. It wasn’t entirely her fault—the lack of clarity in his phrasing was also to blame. The adult man who understood everything couldn’t help but chuckle.
Alvin rubbed his mouth with his hand, laughing intermittently at her reaction, then suddenly took off his short-sleeved shirt.
His body was covered with scattered scars, but they did nothing to diminish its sculpted form. If anything, they added to its raw, almost wild presence. Chloe, who had been watching blankly, instinctively stepped back as he approached. In the enclosed space, his build felt far more imposing than when seen in a hospital bed.
Noticing her retreat, Alvin stopped immediately. Seeing her tense expression, confusion flickered in his eyes.
Instead of advancing, he stepped back further than before. Then he tossed his shirt aside. It landed neatly in the laundry basket.
“Sorry if I startled you.”
“……”
“I just didn’t like the feeling of sweat.”
He raised both hands slightly, almost like a surrender.
No bad intentions.
Silence lingered between them.
Chloe’s expression slowly turned stiff. Then she spoke in a purely professional tone, as if nothing had happened.
“Keep your pants on. Don’t take them off here. I’ll bring you clean clothes later.”
Why was this man stripping in a closed room with only the two of them present?
If someone walked in, it would look extremely suspicious.
But Alvin just laughed in disbelief and rubbed his mouth again.
“You’ve got some strange ideas too…”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Why do you keep trying to undress an innocent man’s pants whenever you get the chance? How embarrassing.”
Dragging up previous incidents like that, he only made her expression colder. She corrected him firmly.
“That’s not it. I told you not to take them off in front of me.”
But Alvin still looked amused. The faint smile lingering on his profile as he turned away was clearly visible to her.
Chloe stood still and watched his back as he walked away. His broad, inverted-triangle upper body and flexing back muscles moved naturally as he left.
She rubbed her cheek.
“…That body is seriously intimidating.”
It was embarrassing, but also a little disorienting. Only belatedly did she realize she had entered a confined space alone with an enemy soldier. Lowering her guard like this was definitely not a good sign.
