"T-This is all I can do. I can’t tell what’s wrong with Rin. All my scans show he’s exhausted."
Alia sounded frustrated as she checked again. But the results on her screen did not change. She was exhausted as well, but Shelly’s gaze didn’t let her relax.
"Tsk, can re exhaustion make soone faint like this? Run the scans again. Maybe you missed sothing."
Shelly ordered, and Alia felt her mood sour.
"I’m trying my best for Rin too. But I can’t make a disease appear out of thin air and then cure it. And how do you even know Rin? I was not even aware you both knew each other."
"We only have each other. Now, stop questioning and keep healing him."
Alia huffed at Shelly’s tone. She did not believe it when Shelly told her that she and Rin were ’the only ones for each other’
After all, Alia had seen Rin around Reina and she firmly believed that there was sothing going on between her sister and Rin. Shelly was likely mistaken about Rin’s feelings for her. Even if they were childhood friends (Alia assud), their relationship seed one-sided.
She wanted to say a lot, but Alia kept her words to herself. Shelly had finally lost her temper and she looked terrifying. It was better not to trigger her.
But Shelly was not the only trouble Alia had. There was also Rin’s squad, who were watching them and their unconscious leader. They hadn’t attacked yet, but it was only a matter of ti.
a three-against-twelve fight and Alia was certain they would be decimated if they fought.
The best option here was to offer an olive branch and ask for help. So she acted first before Shelly could.
"Ehm, we are not here to harm Rin. I promise you that I’m not suspicious. You can even ask Rin about us once he wakes up-"
"Miss Shelly, is that you! Oh my god! Y-You are alive-"
One of Rin’s group mbers recognized Shelly’s pink hair and the tension instantly faded. Even Shelly looked a little more relaxed and nodded.
But her eyes never left Rin for even a single second.
"Everyone, I think we should get going now. The sun has started to set and we need to reach the base. That’s what Sir Rin would have wanted."
The man from earlier spoke again. Her bold words made them realize they were behind schedule. It was ti for them to leave Rin and return to Albus.
But Shelly didn’t even consider it.
She picked up Rin and dragged him toward the truck being prepared to move.
Alia grabbed Shelly’s hand and pulled her back.
"H-Hey, where are you going? A-Are you leaving? What about Albus? He said he’ll be back once he finds the relic. H-He saved your life. How can you just leave him like this—"
"Then you stay here and regroup with him. Albus also said that he wanted to reach Rin’s settlent, so you both can head over once you’re ready. I will go ahead with Rin."
Shelly didn’t hesitate. There was no guilt on her face.
"B-But, what about Albus-"
"What about him? He’s an adult. He can take care of himself. Or, do you want to coddle him like a kid?"
"No, that was not what I-"
Alia was speechless. She had a lot she wanted to say in her mind, but none of it ca out.
The Shelly in front of her felt unfamiliar. She was not rude, nor was she making a bad point. But sohow, her tone felt off-putting. It was as if she didn’t care about Albus at all and was ready to abandon him.
But that was not how Shelly had behaved until now.
’Is this...the real Shelly? Her selfish self who only cares about herself? Did she see an opportunity and jump ship? This will break Albus’s heart. Maybe I can use this opportunity to get close to him and repay him for what he did for .’
Alia felt conflicted. Each step they took made her want to follow.
But her gratitude toward Albus won in the end. She did not want to be ungrateful like Shelly had been and betray her saviour.
So she decided to wait for Albus.
He ca back after an hour and the first thing he did was look around for Shelly.
"Where’s Shelly? Did she run off to fight a monster? Should we go and fetch her?"
Albus looked carefree when talking about Shelly. Alia did not know how to tell him Shelly abandoned him for her childhood friend.
But she hardened her heart and finally spoke up.
"Actually, we ran into Shelly’s childhood friend and she went with them. I-I think she was worried about him after he collapsed but I couldn’t find anything wrong. W-What do you want to do now?"
Albus fell silent, his eyes darkening. The look in his eyes made Alia nervous and she hesitated, then tried to touch him.
"S-Sir Albus-"
"Oh! So Shelly decided to go ahead without us? That’s fine. It was about ti for us to head there as well...is there sothing you want to say to ?"
Albus asked and Alia felt conflicted. She had a lot she wanted to ask him.
’Were you the one who saved ? Did you only save for my abilities? Do you like Shelly more than you like ? What do you want from ?’
She wanted to know her own feelings even more.
She wanted to ask herself if her feelings for Albus were genuine or because she believed he had saved her?
But Alia had always been a weak person ntally. She was more comfortable hiding herself.
So she did the sa this ti. She smiled at Albus and pushed all her questions to the back of her mind.
After all, what was the point of thinking about all this? She just needed to focus on survival.
’Reina is dead. My parents are probably dead too. I’m alone in this world now. No, I have no one but Albus.’
But her heart wouldn’t accept it. It kept telling her that soone else had helped her and deserved her gratitude.
Unfortunately, she could only rember waking up with Albus when she woke up.
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