Incompatible Interspecies Wives chapter 186

186 – Request for Support(6)

I came to my senses from the warmth I felt on my lips.

Biting down softly on my lower lip, our noses rubbed together.

A sense of happiness poured from her breath into me.

I let out a chuckle, triggered by this show of affection, and pulled her close.

Pulling her in, we shared a deeper kiss.

After a while of kissing, I opened my eyes.

Cien was lying on top of me, grinning.

“Good morning, Bell.”

She whispered.

The mask that had been on my face was now discarded on the ground.

“…I said we’d have to wait for the kiss.”

“For someone who had to wait, you seemed to enjoy it.”

“I have to wait because I like it.”

At those words, Cien relaxed, resting her head on my chest.

When Cien let go, I too relaxed, lying comfortably on the bed.

I organized today’s tasks in my head.

The management of the sick starting today. Preparations for farming. Subjugation of thieves. Paperwork…

On top of that, there was the potentially impending moment for a funeral.

I let out a sigh without realizing.

“……sigh…”

Cien reacted to that sigh.

“…Bell?”

“Speak.”

“…if you’re having a hard time… you should tell me?”

“All of a sudden?”

Cien answered my question by lightly shaking her head.

“…it’s not sudden.”

“…?”

Could she know something even I don’t?

From her perspective, maybe I looked like I was struggling.

There were definitely many concerns, but I tried not to show them.

Considering the situation, I was managing thanks to Cien.

Regardless of the problem I barely recognized, I was grateful that Cien was worrying on my behalf, and so, I held her.

“You too, Cien.”

“…”

“…if you have any worries…tell me.”

“All I need is for you to be happy.”

“…”

“…you are my benefactor…my everything.”

In such a moment, I held Cien tighter in my embrace.

We enjoyed the warmth for a moment.

***

I was walking around the ward, with Ner and Raan.

Cautiously checking on the patients with my mask on, I approached Benze.

The symptoms had considerably worsened since.

“…Benze. How are you feeling today?”

“Cough…! Cough…!”

His feeble appearance, even in his coughing, wasn’t easy to see, especially as a colleague I fought numerous battles with, now aimlessly wandering through with sickness.

He managed to slowly turn his eye towards me at my call.

“…Cough…! Captain…”

“…”

He chuckled weakly, and whispered.

“I…Cough…! Didn’t think I’d die like this… even thought I would die with a sword in my hands… at least”

I scowled at his words and replied.

“Cut that out.”

“…Cough!! Cough!!”

“If you give up now, what’s the point? Pull yourself together, you can rise again.”

Ner grabbed my clenched fist in a moment.

She naturally acted as if she was my wife once.

“Calm down, Berg.”

And she tries to calm me down.

She seemed much stabilized than yesterday, for some reason.

Soon, she kneeled in front of Benze, and took something out of her pocket.

A herb appeared.

“…Benze.”

Benze noticed her presence a bit late at the sound of her call.

“… Madam… no, Ner? Why are you here…”

“I came at Berg’s request. You know our family is rich in medical knowledge, right? I will help you heal… don’t think negatively.”

And she handed the herb to Benze.

“Bite on this. It will help alleviate the cough.”

Benze tried to take the herb, but lacked the strength to reach out his hand.

Looking at him, Ner put the herb in Benze’s mouth herself.

Despite the fear of the plague, she acted for my people.

Benze slowly started to chew the herb placed in his mouth.

He chuckled and responded.

“My throat… it is getting immediately better.”

“Feel better?”

Ner asked Vernz with a smile.

Vernz nodded.

Then, he looked up at me and asked,

“Chief…my…my lover is…”

Vernz’s lover had contracted the plague while caring for him.

While it wasn’t as serious as Vernz’s yet, it was uncertain when it might worsen.

I couldn’t bear to tell the seemingly hopeless Vernz that news.

“She’s holding up better than you.”

So I evaded with that response, hoping he could feel at ease.

“She’s not as weak as you.”

Vernz chuckled at that and nodded.

“…That’s a relief.”

Thus we, the patients, shared stories and checked on their conditions.

Some were members of the Hong Yeom Unit, others were unfamiliar tribespeople.

All were there to hear my story, hoping to take root with the Stockfin.

Each time I felt their lives depended on me, the sense of pressure intensified.

It was an issue my elder brother Adam had spoken of before.

Perhaps I was feeling too much responsibility.

The reason why the old patriarch told me to leave…

Ironically, to fulfill his last wish, I became the lord managing one territory.

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‘I believe.’

His last words lingered in my mind.

I still didn’t quite understand their meaning.

I assumed they mean to fulfill his dream, and headed in that direction.

After making the round of the rooms, I was about to head to the office to finish the remaining work.

“Verg. Go wash up and don’t neglect this.”

Ner spoke to me as I was leaving.

I nodded at Ner and said,

“…You should rest now.”

“I…will stick around, looking after more patients.”

“…”

Upon her words, I locked eyes with Ner for a long time.

I already understood that she’d acted this way for me.

As our silent stare stretched on, Ner’s expression grew serious.

She swallowed, glancing briefly at my mask.

Wariness, she took a careful step towards me.

“…..Can I hug you…just once?”

“…”

At my expression, she quickly stepped back.

“…I’m…sorry.”

I averted my eyes from her.

Of course, I did not embrace him.

At the same time, I was unable to express my gratitude in any other way.

I moved on.

Yet Nero smiled and waved goodbye at my departure.

.

.

.

I went to seek a respite at Adam’s grave.

I brushed off the morning frost accumulated on his tombstone overnight.

Then, I poured a drink on his grave.

Suppressing the desire for a casual drink, I instead offered it to my brother.

I let out a long sigh and whispered to him,

“… why is it so heartbreaking.”

I talked to Adam about someone.

It was a story I couldn’t even tell to Sien.

What would my brother say to this?

The relationship with Nero was something that Adam had facilitated.

– chirp! chirp! chirp!

Just then, as expected, Lua came over while I was resting.

I looked up, smiling at the chirping sound.

“…Lua. You’re here.”

Lua, hovered around me a few times before landing on my shoulder.

I tried to stroke her always adorable figure.

– peck!

“Ah.”

However, at that moment, Lua began pecking at my hand.

– peck! peck! peck!

“…why?”

This was the first time this had happened.

Lua pecked at my hand, expressing her displeasure, and when I pulled my hand away, she poked insistently on my shoulder.

– chirp! chirp! chirp!

I couldn’t quite tell, but it seemed she was raging.

I gently grasped the frantically behaving Lua.

Even under such circumstances, Lua continued trying to peck my hand.

She was highly agitated.

“…what’s the matter, really.”

I asked the animal with whom I could not converse.

– peck!

My finger from which she’d been pecking started to bleed lightly.

It didn’t hurt much.

“What’s the problem?”

After Lua’s continued tantrum, I gently released her.

Lua kept chirping and flew off into the distance.

I wondered why she had come in the first place if she was just going to leave in anger.

Lost in thought, I gazed in the direction Lua had disappeared, then poured a drink at Adam’s grave to finish my break.

“I’ll be going, brother.”

If Adam had seen what just happened, he would’ve laughed for a long time.

With that image in mind, I too smiled as I continued on my way.

****

“Why… why…”

Arwin was incapacitated by the pain emanating from her chest.

The reality she witnessed was too much to bear.

A year and a half of observing Berg closely.

A year and a half of yearning for him daily, performing sacrificial rituals.

A year and a half of drinking nightly with Berg in sight.

During this time, many heart-wrenching events transpired.

The love between Berg and Sien was the most significant.

Two beings, two fleeting races, loved only each other.

They exchanged kisses daily and shared passionate nights.

Arwin had to endure the sight of Berg hungrily seeking Sien.

It wasn’t just their physical intimacy.

What made Arwin the most envious was when they locked eyes, silently exchanging feelings.

The kind of connection Arwin longed for.

Sien felt a sense of security, happiness, and love that Arwin envied.

Especially since Arwin once had the chance to experience it.

But she had nothing now.

She’d do anything to receive Berg’s love.

Even if it meant giving up her once-treasured lifespan.

But Arwin had no power to disrupt Berg’s love and had to wait.

She had no choice but to endure and wait for Sien’s life to end.

However, unexpectedly, Ner Blackwood appeared yesterday.

She continued living and acting in Berg’s house.

She stayed by his side.

Arwin’s emotions spiraled seeing this reality.

She understood why Blackwood came, but that didn’t mean she accepted it emotionally.

“Why only Ner…”

Arwin whispered with an irregular breath.

“…why only Ner…”

Ner’s arrival was the final blow to Arwin’s patience.

Especially after she saw Ner secretly steal a kiss from Berg last night.

She tried to wait patiently, but it seemed impossible.

Perhaps Berg didn’t realize the love he evoked in others.

Now might be the time to make him understand.

Years of suppressed obsession began to erupt.

Arwin dipped her quill into ink and started writing a letter.

She quickly thought of a reason to approach him.

If Ner could do it, then with a slight twist in the story, so could she.

This was her chance to use all the information she’d gathered while observing Berg.

But then, thinking of Ner’s actions, Arwin shuddered.

“…She lost her sanity, didn’t she?”

She whispered a gossip about Ner, which she would never hear.

But Arwin knew.

It wasn’t just Ner who had lost her sanity.

Deep down, she realized she had been asking herself the same question over and over.

‘….Why…….only you…?’

Arwin shook off her convoluted thoughts, clenched her teeth, and continued writing the letter.