Chapter 99
Kaien had given Ken a separate order to stay close to Philome, ensuring that Winston and Philome would never be alone together.
But catching Jake’s eye as he silently handed Philome bandages and gauze, he stood up. With Jake there, it should be fine. And the situation was urgent.
As Ken left to find other injured people, Philome examined Winston.
Seeing that Winston’s arm had turned purple from lack of blood flow, she gasped and quickly loosened the bandage.
It took a long time to undo it, as it had been tied very tightly.
Just as she finally managed to loosen it and was about to start wrapping it again after stopping the bleeding, Winston’s eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes.
Still dazed from just regaining consciousness, Winston instinctively mumbled, “Mel…?”
Philome didn’t hesitate at his words and continued her actions naturally.
“You keep calling me by another name, Your Highness the Third Prince.”
Winston blinked a few times before realizing the identity of the person in front of him.
“Lady Philome?”
“Don’t move.”
As Winston’s focus returned, he abruptly sat up. Philome hurriedly pressed his shoulder down to make him lie back down.
It wasn’t that she was worried about him; she just didn’t want to have to treat his wounds again if they opened up after all her effort.
“If your wound opens up, it’ll take longer to heal. How do you plan to come out again in your injured state?”
“The Saintess insisted on going out today to deal with the monsters, so…”
Philome swallowed a sigh as she finished her treatment.
“Don’t go getting yourself hurt again trying to help. Just stay inside. In your current condition, you’ll only cause more trouble than help.”
Philome spoke sharply without hesitation.
“But I can’t just stay inside while everyone else is struggling.”
Despite being told he would only be a hindrance, he stubbornly insisted. Philome let out an annoyed sigh at his attitude.
“Anyway, they say the monsters will likely retreat within an hour, so please go back.”
She then removed her hands from Winston’s arm.
As Winston blankly rubbed the bandages wrapped around his arm, Philome took out a new bandage and spoke while waiting for the next injured person.
“And please don’t call me by someone else’s name anymore. It doesn’t feel good to be confused with someone else.”
Winston’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Me? Who on earth…?”
“Someone named Mel.”
“Ah….”
Winston blinked.
Seeing Winston’s expression turn distant as if lost in memories made Philome incredulous. She barely managed to hide her disbelief and clenched her fist.
Watching him reminisce about someone he had tried to kill made her blood boil.
In the meantime, Winston stammered, “I’m sorry. They’re someone very precious to me, so I can’t help but think of them…”
‘Who on earth tries to kill someone precious to them?’
The words of rebuttal rose to her throat, but Philome held them back.
It was clear that talking wouldn’t get through to him. Moreover, she didn’t have the energy to be angry at Winston’s hypocritical side right now.
“Thank you for the treatment.”
“If you’re grateful, could you please leave quickly?”
“Pardon?”
“You’re in the way. Ken, put him down over here.”
Unlike before, Ken gently set the injured person down.
As Philome raised her eyebrows, Winston, flustered, got up from his seat. Philome immediately began treating a knight who had been injured in the leg.
Winston, who had been standing awkwardly, bumped into Ken’s shoulder and felt the pain in his arm before heading toward the castle.
After taking a few steps, he turned around to look at Philome. Her hands and clothes were soaked in blood, yet she moved her hands calmly as she treated the injuries.
He had never closely examined Philome’s face until now. When he briefly lost consciousness and then woke up, it was the first time he saw her up close.
Due to the urgent situation, sweat was flowing down Philome’s face, and blood was smeared everywhere. Her tightly tied hair was slightly disheveled, and there was a faint smell of blood.
Though she wasn’t more beautiful than Nadia, strangely, Winston couldn’t take his eyes off Philome.
It felt as if they were the only two left in the world.
However, it seemed that Philome was too busy treating the injured to notice Winston’s gaze. She appeared to have completely forgotten him, as if it were hard to believe they had been together just a few minutes ago.
‘The Third Prince keeps calling me by another name.’
Mel, Philome.
Philome, Mel.
Winston rolled those two names in his mouth and couldn’t take his eyes off Philome for a long time.
☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓 ☪︎ ִ ࣪𖤐 𐦍 ☾𖤓
An hour later.
As Natasha had predicted, the remaining twenty or so monsters retreated into the snowy plains. Kaien and Theodore did not pursue them in a group and returned directly to the castle.
At that moment, after examining the last injured person and finishing her bath, Philome was resting with Natasha after putting Liazell to sleep.
“There are a total of 34 injured, most with minor injuries or bruises.”
“Were you counting all of that?”
When Natasha asked in surprise, Philome smiled lightly, looking a bit embarrassed.
“It was easy to estimate the number of bandages used from memory.”
“I needed to assess the number of injured, so thanks to Philome, one task has been taken off my plate.”
“Anyone can do it.”
“But not just anyone can. Thank you, Philome. You’ve worked hard.”
“You’ve worked harder, Natasha. Are you injured anywhere?”
As Philome spoke, she looked over at Natasha.
On the surface, Natasha appeared to be a bit tired, but she had no visible injuries. Still, she asked just in case there was an unseen injury.
Natasha shook her head.
“I didn’t even swing my sword. Just take care of Kaien when he arrives.”
As soon as Natasha finished speaking, Gio announced the return of Theodore and Kaien.
As Philome jumped up from her seat, the two entered the office.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”
It was difficult to assess any injuries due to the monster’s blood smeared all over their armor.
As she looked them over, Kaien asked, “What about you? Are you hurt?”
“I was only inside the castle walls. Are you okay, Duke?”
“Not a scratch on me.”
Theodore and Natasha quietly rolled their eyes as they watched the two check each other over upon meeting.
Only then did the two realize that Theodore and Natasha were present, and they cleared their throats and sat down.
All four were exhausted to the point of collapse, but they needed to share what had happened today and document it.
After discussing among themselves, Natasha summarized the situation.
“The battle that started at 5 AM concluded at 2 PM, with zero fatalities and 34 injured. We dealt with 82 out of 100 monsters. That’s all.”
After everyone nodded, Natasha recorded this in the ‘Monster Report,’ adding a second record.
