The news was indeed shocking. Amelia was unable to use her most powerful elements for a long period of time— a month, to be exact.


    But that was all.


    "Well, it''s fine. You cannot use your magic tomorrow anyway."


    That was what Orion said after thinking about it briefly. He shrugged it off, grabbed her hand, and walked with the group to rest at the castle.


    ...


    The fight against Karteira was way more exhausting than they had expected, so they cancelled any kind of training for the day and instead stayed with Karteira to explain what their plans were for the next day.


    Orion had to explain in many details his current abilities in battle that he didn''t show in the morning, though Karteira already knew most of his prowess after spying on his training sessions.


    They unleashed everything at each other during the battle, which was enough for all three of them to form a bond that no one could have expected.


    Strangely, Amelia and Karteira were both enjoying some tea and talking about many topics.


    Someone was feeling left out, but he didn''t show it.


    For the first time, Amelia was able to have another woman around her age as a partner instead of Orion. He smiled warmly upon seeing this scene.


    Although, during their conversation, Orion noticed two details that made him move faster than his thoughts.


    He walked out of Amelia''s room and ran to his to pick up a box that was in his bag. After running back, he entered the room again, catching their attention.


    "Amelia, right arm."


    He pointed at Amelia''s right arm.


    "And you, Karteira, the tail."


    Then at Karteira''s tail.


    "What?"


    Both replied at the same time, a questioning look on their faces.


    "Don''t make me repeat."


    He placed the box on the table and opened it, revealing its contents. It was full of medical supplies.


    With a guilty look, they both stared at the ground and showed the injured limb in question.


    Amelia''s right arm had a horizontal cut near the wrist. It looked pretty deep, and it was not treated yet. Orion believed she got injured when Dana was ejected from her hand, even despite the fact the blade was dulled.


    Karteira''s tail appeared to have a pretty bad rash on the stinger segment, most likely when her tail pierced the ground when he pushed her back.


    "I can''t believe both of you; why didn''t you say anything? It''s looking pretty bad."


    Still looking at the floor, he couldn''t see their expression, but he was fairly certain they were ashamed of hiding these injuries, especially Amelia.


    "I should be the one hurt, but what is this? A deep cut, and a rash. Still, they don''t look like severe injuries. Give it a week at most, and it should heal."


    He moved further away from them.


    *Slap*


    Amelia shuddered at this sound. She knew what it was without looking.


    ''Oh no. Oh, no! We''re done for; it''s going to hurt so bad!''


    Orion had a good disposition for healing injuries because of his unquenchable search for new knowledge. He read numerous books on medicine and illnesses.


    As there was a possibility he could be gravely injured during a hunt, knowing how to patch himself up was precious knowledge for him.


    And many times in the past, he had to heal an injured Amelia after training. Injuries she tried her best not to have, ever. Because Orion was a monster.


    He disinfected wounds with alcohol before wrapping a bandage with gauze soaked in the same alcohol, changing it a day later with a simple bandage.


    The slapping sound was him putting gloves on to avoid aggravating the wound further with his fingers and to protect them from other infections. The books on medicine were remarkable.


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    She grabbed Karteira''s hand with her left hand and closed her eyes while expecting the worst.


    "What''s that sound?"


    Intrigued, the blue-haired woman couldn''t stop herself from looking up.


    The sight of Orion walking closer with a disinfectant and gauze in his hands terrified her instantly. She looked at her tail as if she were going to lose a close friend.


    "Alright, I''m starting with the worst one. Amelia, I''m starting with your arm. It won''t hurt, I promise."


    Biting her lower lips in anticipation, she cursed him.


    ''Liar! It always hurts! I''m the one who should heal you, not the other way around!''


    Hearing the spray, she prepared herself for the worst stinging pain ever.


    She felt a cold liquid where her cut was and a soft tissue rubbing her skin.


    "I''m done. I''ve cleaned all the dust from it and wrapped the bandage for you."


    "What?"


    She opened her eyes and quickly looked at her arm, alternating between the bandage and Orion.


    ''No pain?''


    Seemingly understanding her reaction, he slapped her hand gently and laughed.


    "I promised, didn''t I? You''ve complained so much about me cleaning your wounds that I''ve found a way to prevent the pain. It still does the same job as alcohol, but with less discomfort."


    Tears of relief appeared in the corners of her eyes.


    "Orion. I love you!"


    He took a step back at the sudden confession.


    ''Was that such a shock for her to find a disinfecting spray that doesn''t hurt?''


    Recovering his composure, Orion ignored her puppy''s expression and turned to Karteira.


    "Calm your horses; it''s just a first aid treatment. You will have to be careful not to open it up again. If you do, alcohol this time."


    "Hiiiie! I''ll be careful!"


    The sound she made was funny to him. As he smirked from teasing her, he focused on Karteira''s stinger.


    "Good. Now, show me your tail, Karteira."


    He saw her nod and gently reached for the tail.


    "Can I touch it without you getting hurt?"


    "Yes, there shouldn''t be any problem with that."


    He rubbed the segments of the scorpion tail to feel how it behaved under his touch. It did not show any negative reaction, so he made her turn on the side for him to place the stinger segment on the table.


    ''It''s surprisingly soft. I suppose that''s why it is so flexible.''


    He switched his thoughts and looked at the ripped skin of the blue tail.


    "It''s pretty bad, too. Though, it doesn''t seem to have injured the muscles, only the soft plates. Scorpions are pretty rare, so their anatomy is not well known for me to be certain."


    Karteira listened shyly, while Orion was focused on looking for a way to clean up the injury.


    "Well, there''s a lot of dirt and dust. I can remove some pieces of dirt with a cloth, but I will have to remove the remaining pieces myself."


    He used the spray on the tail and cleaned everything meticulously. Surprisingly, it didn''t hurt as much as she expected.


    ''It looks pretty clean already; I don''t think I will have to remove any more dirt.''


    After looking over every part, he sprayed the gauze and wrapped it with a bandage around the injured part.


    "It''s done. You two should be alright. I do hope it won''t hinder you tomorrow."


    "Thank you."


    Karteira lowered her head after she felt the throbbing pain she had before completely vanish.


    For someone who had to protect her tail from those kinds of injuries, she expected greater pain, but it was taken care of so easily by one man.


    "You''ve really found a way to make it painless... I''m sorry for making you do the impossible every time."


    He shrugged, removed his gloves, and placed the spray, the gauze, the bandages, and the straps all inside the box, which he closed right after.


    "It''s my job to make your life easier. I owe you this much."


    He took the box and left the room.


    ...


    *Sigh*


    "I thought I was going to die there."


    Amelia let out a sigh after Orion exited her room.


    "Why, it wasn''t so bad. I cannot feel any remaining pain now."


    Karteira was caressing her tail, as she took great care of it outside of battles.


    "Well, sure, each time he healed me, I was in a better shape than if I had not treated the wounds. But the pain it gave me when he cleaned it was awful. It felt like double the pain you had at that moment."


    With a perplexed smile, she looked at her right thigh.


    "Surely, you''re inflating things. It can''t be that bad. I wouldn''t know because we never had this kind of treatment in the village."


    "Look at my scar; it wasn''t treated correctly, and it left a horrible mark."


    She was still a woman. Having such a scar wasn''t easy to accept.


    "I wanted to ask, but did you get your eye injured at the same time? You''re wearing an eyepatch, so I wondered about it."


    Karteira touched where her right eye was.


    "During a fight against one of the beasts, I suffered a hit that rendered me blind from that eye. There was nothing to be done about it, so I hid it. Having a white eye seemed to scare everyone else, so I had no choice."


    "I see."


    Both looked at each other, and Amelia brought herself to talk about her own insecurities.


    "You know..."


    "I''ve had an accident with my magic three years ago. I lost control of it and almost killed Orion in the process. Since then, I''ve feared using magic."


    Remembering the awful state Orion was in when he escaped the burning orphanage and the time it took for him to wake up, she still felt a sour taste in her mouth.


    "Did he... Did Orion say anything about that?"


    Karteira, who was bad at recalling names, sought to remember both of their names.


    "I did. He asked that I stop feeling guilty about it, that it wasn''t my fault."


    Karteira listened, but she couldn''t stop her thoughts from coming out.


    "If he said that, maybe you should forgive yourself?"


    "Ah! I''m sorry, I didn''t mean to give my opinion; I don''t have the position to-"


    She began to shake her arms, thinking she might have been extremely rude. Amelia stopped her after thinking about her words.


    "No, you might be right. It''s been so long, and I couldn''t bring myself to talk about it with him, so maybe I just refused to listen to him."


    The conversation stopped there, and Amelia observed who she had in front of her.


    A woman like herself who never shared anything with others. Someone who had no friend to talk to, and a gorgeous person at that.


    There was no choice to make. Karteira was already her friend.


    "I''m in your care, Karteira."


    She bowed slightly and grabbed her hands at the same time.


    Taken by surprise, Karteira realized that, for the first time in her life, she might have found her first friend.


    "Thank you. I am also in your care... Amelia."


    She squeezed back, and they both opened themselves to each other.


    ...


    Orion entered the room after taking his time on the way back, this time seeing both girls smiling at each other warmly.


    "What is this scene? Did you two fall in love?"


    "Of course not!"


    Two angry voices echoed throughout the entire building at his rude remark.