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Chapter 12
“What kind of thing is that to say?”
When my lips trembled as if I’d been hurt, Gio raised his hand to cover his mouth.
“You know I can’t lie. Especially not to you.”
I quickly finished making the soup we were going to eat together and ladled some into Gio’s bowl first.
“The more you know what’s in your food, the healthier it makes you. Looks good, doesn’t it?”
Gio’s expression remained scrunched up, unchanged. Ignoring that, I explained every single ingredient I had put in.
“I made it with vegetables from the field out back. Potatoes, carrots, and tomatoes. While I was looking around, I found some turmeric, so I added that too. And there was fruit on a tree that gave off sweet juice, so I used that instead of sugar. What do you think? Doesn’t it look tasty?”
Scooping up a spoonful of the thick, yellow soup with his wooden spoon, Gio muttered,
“I’d call that dog food.”
I smiled brightly, my lips curling up and my eyes narrowing into crescents. Seeing me laugh, Gio ended up laughing too.
“Dog food? Want to say that again?”
When I asked, gripping the wooden ladle tightly in my hand, Gio clattered his spoon down on the table.
“You just threw everything that looked edible into a pot. You think everything becomes food just because you boil it? I’ve never seen anything like this before. Actually— is this even food? Is it something people can eat?”
Watching him grumble, my hand trembled slightly around the ladle as irritation bubbled up inside me. I ladled more soup into his bowl. Gio’s expression was priceless as he stared at the soup, nearly overflowing.
“You’ll find out once you eat it— whether people can eat it or not.”
“Why should I?”
“Stop whining and eat. Today’s my turn to cook, so you don’t get a choice. Tomorrow is your turn, so let’s see how good you are!”
After taking one bite, Gio clapped a hand over his mouth, threw open the door, and bolted outside. I could hear him spitting out the soup somewhere near the stream. Smiling to myself, I raised my spoon and took a sip of my own portion.
“It’s perfectly delicious.”
As time passed living together in the forest cabin, we became used to each other. Gio was the only one I had to talk to, and the only one who could talk back.
After the day I was captured, I’d tried every morning to find a way out through the forest.
I had planned to move somewhere quiet to live, but not like this.
At that time, I’d even thought about staying by Leandro’s side to protect him.
I hadn’t even chosen a place to settle down, yet here I was, forced to live alone in a remote forest I never wanted.
In frustration, I kicked a thick tree trunk.
“One hundred and second time.”
From a thick branch above, Gio, who had been resting with his eyes closed, lazily jumped down.
“I told you not to wear yourself out for nothing.”
He patted my head as if to calm me, humming a tune as he walked by—clearly trying to provoke me.
“No hint? Why am I trapped here? Can’t you at least tell me where this place is? Even just a name?”
“Why should I?”
He stopped and slowly turned back to face me.
“I’d rather you stay trapped here forever.”
I hadn’t expected him to cooperate, so I decided to wait—until someone from outside appeared.
“Eventually, a hunter or a merchant will pass by someday.”
Fortunately, the vegetables in the garden behind the cabin would last for months if I was careful. And apparently, crops here didn’t follow any season. Things just grew whenever you planted them—sprouting fast and in great variety.
The stream in front of the cabin was clean and cold, though at first, I lost quite a few fruits to the current.
“This soil’s perfect for herbs. In the Maximilian Empire, some of these ingredients were impossible to find.”
The herbs I found in the deserted forest were huge and ancient. Once I had food and a place to sleep, my determination to escape gradually faded.
“Leandro must be looking for me, right? Then… maybe waiting here, making ointments until he finds me isn’t such a bad idea.”
At least I wasn’t alone. Even if my companion was grouchy and full of complaints.
Gio spent his days idly and came down only to eat or sleep. Unlike me, who was constantly moving, he lounged around like a cat. To manage life together, I made some rules and forced him to sit at the table with me.
House Rules:
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Take turns cooking every day.
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Eat whatever’s prepared without complaining.
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No vomiting.
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Absolutely no vomiting.
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No swearing.
When I read them out loud, Gio gave a hollow laugh and grumbled.
“It’s only fair if the food’s good. It has to taste good.”
Seeing his sulky expression, I chuckled.
“Stop whining and eat.”
“Tch.”
“Hiss— rule number five. No swearing!”
“I didn’t.”
“Your face says otherwise. Fix that scowl.”
“Tch.”
Gio’s table manners were surprisingly proper. That confirmed my suspicion—he was definitely of noble birth.
The men I’d seen with him the first day, the ones bitten by snakes, were trained knights after all.
But like most nobles, Gio was extremely picky. He’d get furious if he saw food he didn’t recognize or didn’t like the look of.
“Do you know how hard it is to please your tastes?”
“So what?”
“I’m done. From now on, you either eat what I make or starve.”
Whether he was actually nauseated or just pretending, he started refusing to eat altogether.
“He’ll eat when he’s hungry.”
I wasn’t worried. I grew up as a K-daughter, the kind of eldest daughter who learned to eat what was served—or face her mother’s wooden spoon.
After a few more days of silent protest, Gio eventually started sitting at the table again at mealtimes.
“Smart choice, Gio. You can’t starve yourself.”
Pleased, I patted his hair affectionately—though he clearly hated it.
“You’re following me? You know you can’t escape from here.”
“My job is to follow you.”
I spent mornings gathering herbs for ointments and afternoons tending the vegetable patch.
The natural ointments I made didn’t last long, but this was the perfect place to experiment. There were so many strange herbs I’d never seen before.
Of course, Gio was always my test subject.
“You… you’ll take responsibility if something happens to me, right?”
“Sure. I’ll fix you right up. Now hold out your arm.”
“Haa…”
Whenever he got scratches from climbing trees, splinters from the table, or antler bruises from trying (and failing) to catch a deer, I’d apply my ointments and record the results.
Everything was peaceful. Maybe it was just grudging affection, but by now, Gio seemed to have accepted that I wasn’t someone he needed to harm.
“Gio! Gio!”
I waved at him, perched high up in a tree eating an apple.
“We were supposed to go pick asparagus! It’s heavy, so I need your help carrying it.”
He only looked down at me lazily. Even when I shouted with my hands on my hips, he didn’t react. He just took another bite of his apple.
Giving up, I stomped inside and slammed the wooden door shut.
“Fine! I was going to make potato pancakes with soybeans for dinner, but forget it.”
That evening, I had a simple vegetable stew alone. The bright full moon shone through the cabin, keeping me awake.
“Maybe he just hasn’t found me yet. That must be it. This place is too well hidden. He hasn’t given up—he just can’t find me.”
Though my body had relaxed into this new life, my heart hadn’t.
What if Leandro had forgotten me? What if his feelings had changed?
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped without my realizing it. I got up and went to the kitchen. The moonlight poured through the window, bright as day.
“Gio, want some tea?”
The steady breathing from the second floor said he was deeply asleep.
The moonlight was so bright I didn’t even need a candle. I brewed a cup of ginger tea and stood by the window, sipping slowly as I watched the moon reflected in my cup.
“Are his wounds healed by now? I hope he hasn’t gotten hurt again.”
I found myself thinking of the way Leandro used to slip in through my window every night—graceful, swift, and silent. The memory made my chest ache.
“That’s how scary attachment can be.”
A single memory was enough to bring everything crashing down—the fragile sandcastle of calm I’d built.
As the tea cooled and the night air grew chilly, I draped a jacket over my shoulders.
It was his jacket—the black uniform with red and blue epaulettes he’d draped around me before leaving the carriage that day.
“Don’t come out. No matter what happens, stay in the carriage.”
I would wrap myself in it on nights like this, gazing out the window, clinging to its warmth as if it were him.
“You can’t leave my side.”
“I hate sharing what’s mine.”
“Run, if you think you can. How far do you think you’ll get?”
“If it’s from you, I’d drink even poison.”
Only after being separated from him could I finally see my feelings clearly.
I went back to bed, thinking of his face, and forced myself to sleep.
“…Na! …Rina… Irina. Irina!”
At first, it was a whisper, soft and gentle. Then it grew urgent.
“Gio? What are you— mmp!”
Before I could finish, half-asleep and squinting my eyes open, Gio’s large hand clamped over my mouth. His grip was so strong I could barely breathe.
“Shh. I’ll let go, but you must not scream. Understand? Blink twice if you understand.”
Blink. Blink.
Satisfied, Gio slowly removed his hand. I inhaled sharply and asked,
“What’s going on?”
“It’s serious. Something too urgent to wait.”
Why else would he come to my bed in the middle of the night?
Keeping a straight face, I said,
“Gio, don’t do this. I think of you like a little brother.”
He stared down at me as if I’d said something insane, grabbed the hand I’d pushed against his chest, and scoffed.
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“What?”
