No matter how much it hurt, I couldn’t just leave an injury untreated.
I let out a long sigh and pressed the alcohol-soaked cotton firmly against the wound again and again.
“Just bear with it for a moment. If we don’t disinfect it properly, it’ll fester later.”
With injuries like this, I couldn’t do anything about the scars, but at the very least, I had to clean it well so it wouldn’t get infected later.
“Does it hurt?”
“…No.”
No, my foot.
He was visibly trembling. Just looking at it, I could tell it hurt like hell.
Then again, with a wound like that, if it really didn’t hurt, that would be a problem too.
“If you get hurt again in the future, tell me right away. Okay?”
His bare upper body was covered here and there with small scars.
They were probably from when he’d been trapped in the slave market. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of suffering he’d gone through.
But that’s all in the past now.
Now that he was here, there was no need for him to keep getting hurt—and even if he did, he was in an environment where he could be treated right away. No matter how little money I had, I could still afford to fix one person.
“Don’t just stay quiet because you don’t want to bother me.”
“….”
“If a wound gets worse, it creates more trouble.”
“S-sorry.”
Matthias, who had promised not to trouble me, mumbled weakly. I let out a frustrated groan.
Seriously, what kind of villain is this puppy?
That terrifying mastermind? That was all in the past.
Right now, he was just a shrinking little thing worrying about whether his own opinions were allowed.
If I hadn’t insisted on treating him first, he probably would’ve stayed silent until his wound dried up completely.
I glanced at the man, who was still tightly shutting his mouth.
After finishing the disinfecting, I dropped the used cotton into an empty container.
At that moment—
“?!”
Matthias’s eyes went wide.
His head, which had been lowered, snapped up. I held his cheeks with both hands and looked straight into those red eyes.
For a moment, he seemed to forget how to breathe.
Just as I was staring blankly at that compact little face, a blunt voice came out of my mouth.
“You’re the one who’s hurting, you know. You.”
“…Me?”
Matthias asked in a dazed voice.
Since he was clearly asking who I meant, I answered obediently.
“Yes, you.”
With a short sigh, I looked directly at his still-bewildered expression.
“It’s not that you’re annoying. I’m worried about you.”
Honestly, if I really found him annoying, I wouldn’t have brought him here in the first place.
Looking at our current situation, I didn’t have time to leisurely save random people.
I was already busy taking care of everyone in the mansion. How was I supposed to take care of someone else too?
I huffed and slowly lowered the face I’d been holding.
“No matter how hard things get, I can still afford to treat you.”
…Though that meant I’d just have to skip one meat stew meal.
Well, that was a family matter. No need to tell him that.
I took an ointment from the medicine box beside me and twisted open the round lid.
“Not getting treated properly, not eating meals, and sleeping in all the time…”
“….”
“That’s the kind of thing that makes me worry.”
If he just sat still, got treated, and ate properly, how great would that be? Then I could at least think he was doing okay here and feel relieved.
I applied plenty of ointment to a fresh cotton swab and looked over the wound again.
Good thing I disinfected it first.
After wiping it clean once, the area where blood and pus had gathered became clearly visible.
I disinfected the same spot once more, then covered the wound completely with cool ointment.
“Ngk!”
“See? It hurts, doesn’t it?”
How could he say it was fine when it hurt this much?
If I’d left it alone, he’d have been quietly suffering on his own at night for sure.
“If it gets worse, you could get a fever. Then you’d be in even more pain, and it’d become a real problem.”
I spread the ointment evenly over the whole area and let out a tired sigh.
When I looked up, I saw him pressing his lips together tightly, as if trying to endure the pain.
At the same time, he also looked like he was hesitating about something.
I kept applying ointment in silence until he spoke first.
After a while, Matthias slowly parted his lips.
“…Scary. People.”
I had just finished the ointment, so I asked back,
“Who? The doctor you saw earlier?”
Matthias nodded immediately, as if he’d been waiting for the question.
“A little.”
“….”
“Not a little. A lot.”
The way he kept talking made it obvious he had serious trauma. Well, the longer someone had been locked up, the deeper the wounds on the inside would be too.
“You don’t have to worry, though.”
Sophia had introduced him, but just in case, I’d hidden the fact that he was a slave and only told the doctor that I’d brought him here because he was in a difficult situation.
After all, he didn’t have shackles on his feet right now. Unless someone pointed it out, it wouldn’t be easy to realize he’d been a slave.
And I was planning to make sure the doctor kept quiet, too.
But I couldn’t just force someone who felt uncomfortable into accepting treatment. If I pushed too hard and triggered his trauma, that would be a problem.
Then what do I do?
I still needed to check his injuries.
I wasn’t a doctor, so I couldn’t examine him in detail. And if he pushed me away again like before, leaving him alone was a little worrying too…
Hmm.
After thinking for a moment, I cautiously suggested,
“Then… should I stay with you?”
If being alone with another person was difficult, maybe it would be better for Matthias if I stayed with him.
“…Together?”
Perhaps he liked the suggestion too, because Matthias repeated it carefully.
Seeing that he’d taken the bait, I nodded right away.
“I think that’d be better. Or I could at least help with the treatment.”
If he’d been abused, then just having another person touch him might already feel uncomfortable.
I’d heard that even when he bathed, he didn’t let anyone come near him—and even his clothes, he prepared himself. He didn’t want to rely on anyone for anything.
At least he was willing to accept my touch, so that was a relief.
“As long as you’re okay with it, we can do it that way.”
If that was too hard, I’d just have to think of another method.
Or I could teach him only the treatment steps and let him do it himself. I’d find a way to adjust.
I just wanted him to be able to stay here without stress.
“How does that sound?”
“….”
Instead of answering, Matthias swallowed dryly and lowered his eyes.
He stared at the floor for a long while, as if in a silent contest with it, before finally nodding.
“Is it okay for me to stay with you?”
“Yes.”
He muttered quietly that he didn’t like being alone, then looked at me warily for no reason.
The sight of him was oddly pitiful, so I patted his hair.
“I don’t like being alone.”
“You don’t like it?”
“Yes.”
He nodded without hesitation.
“Stay with me.”
As if it were enough for him to have only me.