Chapter 18
Kyden grasped Roel’s waist and took the pot from her hands. He gestured towards Roel, who stood dazed as he naturally carried the pot.
“What are you doing standing there?”
Roel walked to the table hesitantly, her actions awkward and self-conscious under his presence.
In contrast, Kyden was the same as yesterday, seemingly indifferent towards her. His gaze was detached, his movements succinct, and he rarely spoke unless spoken to first.
‘He stared so persistently last night.’
The intense, probing gaze of his bright yellow eyes had settled into calmness by morning.
It seemed Kyden’s interest was merely physical. She was unable to take his attention in the daylight. Suppressing the turmoil within, Roel sat down at the table.
Trapped in the cabin, they needed to conserve food. Roel served herself a modest portion of soup, considering the remaining supplies and how long they might be stuck.
It wasn’t enough to fill her up, but hunger was something she was familiar with so she was not overly concerned.
Roel was accustomed to skipping meals while running errands for Roniti. On days Ger brought home meager earnings, she survived on a single piece of bread.
She was content with having had a hearty meal of meat the night before. She savored a piece of bread soaked in soup.
When her bowl was nearly empty, he filled it up with more soup.
“Eat some more.”
“No, it’s okay. We don’t know when we’ll be able to leave…”
“It’s fine. If you eat like that, you’ll starve before we run out of food.”
“…..”
Roel pressed her lips together embarrassed yet grateful. Could she really eat more? She felt a sudden greed. She sneaked a glance at his profile.
Was he a good person? He was so frightening last night… But aside from that, he had treated her quite well. After showing disapproval at first, he hadn’t made her feel unwelcome.
Her feet, which had felt like they were floating in uncertainty, gently settled down. Roel finished her soup. Her stomach felt satisfied and full.
Maybe it was okay to relax a bit.
Even after having another bowl, there was still plenty of soup left for the evening. Roel, who had been worried at first, felt at ease.
As she stood to clean up, Kyden gestured for her to stay seated.
“Stay inside, it’s cold.”
Kyden came back after washing the dishes in the snow. Seeing his fingertips reddened from the cold. Roel felt somewhat uncomfortable.
He always acted whenever Roel showed any sign of wanting to go outside. He took the bucket away to fetch snow when they needed water. He pushed her back inside when she tried to peek outside at the sound of animals, insisting he would check himself.
Because of this, Roel hadn’t stepped outside the cabin at all. Kyden cited the peculiar reason that her ‘skin was too thin’ for the outdoors.
“It’s okay to step out for a bit.”
“If you end up shivering, then I’ll have to warm you up again.”
Her face flushed at his words, reminded of the previous night when he stripped her clothes off because she had been shivering all night. Embarrassed to argue, Roel turned her head away. Finding herself without much to do, she sat idly until she shuddered suddenly.
Sitting still, frightening memories engulfed Roel. Chilling recollections from her past that were so terrifying that it gave goosebumps all over her. Roniti’s harsh words, Howson’s fat hands, blood covered bed, a pillow forcefully held down, a window letting in cold drafts, a fiercely burning fire. The scenes flashed before her eyes.
Feeling like she was being dragged into a dark abyss, she thought she needed to keep busy to distract her mind.
Roel looked around the cabin for something to do and eventually found a small task.
“Do you have a needle?”
“Why do you need a needle?”
“I think I need to mend some clothes… I’m good at sewing.”
“You can rest instead.”
“I just can’t stand the sight of worn-out clothes. It’s not like you’re a beggar… Who would wear these?”
While he reluctantly searched for a needle, Roel frantically examined his clothes.
There’s a hole here. This needs mending. Oh, this is too worn out. I should use this fabric to repair the other clothes.
She clung to the task as if her life depended on it, fearing that if she paused, her terrible memories would consume her.
She focused intently on sewing, not even raising her head. She did not even stop even when she pricked her finger from the needle and blood formed.
When Roel picked up Kyden’s undergarments to mend, he intervened.
“There’s no need to fix those. Just… can you just sit still?”
“Your clothes are all in such a mess. There’s so much to mend. They’re like rags, full of holes everywhere.”
Roel responded in ramblings, hardly aware of what she was saying. She actually found some relief in the fact that there were many things to mend.
Kyden scratched his cheek with an embarrassed face.
Discussion
1 CommentBessy
Thanks