Hearing her trembling voice, Mika stopped.
He turned back, saw her tear-streaked face, her trembling lips and sighed deeply knowing that he couldn’t take it farther then this.
He gently released Cecilia, then stepped forward and patted Fauna’s head softly, his touch careful and reassuring.
"It’s alright, Fauna. It’s alright."
Mika said in a low, soothing voice, his hand moving slowly through her hair as if calming a frightened child.
"You’re a big girl, aren’t you? I an—" He let out a small chuckle. "—not just a big girl. You’re a full-grown woman. You’re double my age, you have a daughter of your own, you run an entire hospital empire, and there are countless people out there who look up to you."
He tilted his head slightly, still smiling gently.
"And yet here you are, crying like a little baby. What would everyone think if they saw you like this?"
Fauna sniffled, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
"I-I don’t care, Mika. I don’t care what other people think."
She said, her voice shaking. Then she looked up at him, eyes sharp with hurt rather than anger.
"All I care about is that you ran away from . You wouldn’t even look at . I called you, and you turned away."
Her lips trembled.
"That hurt . My baby boy looking away from ...ignoring ...It hurt so much that you can’t even understand."
Mika’s expression lted even more. He bent down slightly so he was closer to her eye level.
"I was just teasing you." He admitted quietly. "Honestly, I was surprised too when you want away. And yeah...I was hurt by the way you reacted."
"So I returned it. I wanted you to feel the sa thing I felt."
He scratched his cheek lightly. "It was just a joke."
Fauna imdiately shook her head.
"Y-You can’t joke about that with , Mika!" She said, her voice cracking again. "You’re strong. You have a much stronger heart than I do. Even if I tried sothing like that on you, you could handle it."
She pressed a hand to her chest.
"But I can’t. When it cos to you...my heart is fragile. It breaks too easily. Even right now it’s racing just thinking that you might hate ."
Her eyes filled again. "I can’t handle that."
That was it.
Mika didn’t hesitate anymore.
He stepped forward, scooped Fauna up as easily as if she weighed nothing, and pulled her into a tight embrace.
"That could never happen." He said firmly, holding her close. "Never. There will never be a day where I could possibly hate you, Fauna. Even if you pulled a prank on every single day, you’re far too adorable for to dislike."
He smiled against her hair.
"I’d just forgive you and move on. Every ti."
Fauna froze for half a second—then lted.
"M-Mika!"
She hugged him back tightly, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist without even realizing it. Mika rubbed her back in slow, comforting motions, holding her securely.
And around them, the terrace had gone completely silent.
Doctors, nurses, patients, children—everyone stood frozen, staring at the unbelievable sight of a mighty battle angel being held like this, cradled in the arms of a young man.
No one even thought to pull out their phones.
Cecilia too covered her mouth, then let out a quiet chuckle.
To her, the scene was strangely clear. Even though Fauna was the adult, the guardian, the powerful figure everyone relied on...right now, it looked like Mika was the one taking care of her.
Like she was the child who needed support.
It was adorable. Endearing. Heart-lting.
Fauna herself didn’t care about the gazes and lted completely into the hug.
All the anxiety, confusion, and pent-up emotions she had been carrying for past two days dissolved in Mika’s embrace.
Even though he was the one who had caused this emotional storm, she felt safer than ever right now. Truly happy.
But then she realized sothing.
She was touching him.
And he was touching her back.
Her body reacted instantly.
"No, Mika—!"
She yelped and kicked away from him like she’d been shocked by lightning, landing clumsily on the ground a few steps away. Her wings twitched, ready to sprout as if she were about to flee again.
But she froze.
She looked down at her hands.
Nothing happened.
No rush. No heat. No overwhelming sensation.
Slowly, she turned back to Mika, who was staring at her in pure confusion.
"Mika..." She said hesitantly. "Can you...lend your hand for a second?"
He raised an eyebrow but held his hand out without question.
Fauna stared at it like it was sothing incredibly dangerous. She leaned closer, inspecting it, eyes narrowed in deep concentration.
Her own hand hovered in the air, trembling slightly, as if his palm were an electric fence that might shock her the mont she touched it.
She swallowed.
Then, with visible determination, she reached out and tapped his hand lightly—just the tip of her finger—before pulling back instantly.
But to her surprise—nothing happened.
Her eyes widened.
She tapped it again. Once more. And again.
Still nothing.
Finally, heart pounding, she grabbed his hand fully.
And the mont she realized nothing was happening, her face lit up brighter than the sun.
"Oh thank god." She breathed, then laughed, squeezing his hand. "Thank god, thank god, thank god. I don’t feel anything."
She looked up at him, smiling so wide it almost hurt.
"I can touch you again. I can touch my baby again. That’s such a relief!"
Mika blinked and tilted his head.
"What do you an, Fauna? What do you an you can touch again?" He asked innocently. "Why couldn’t you touch before?"
She opened her mouth without thinking.
"Oh, it’s because of the massage you gave , Mika. That massage you gave , it was too intense, and I—"
She froze.
Her face flushed bright red as she realized exactly what she was about to say, and how dangerously close she was to blurting out the truth.
"Massage?" Mika imdiately leaned forward, concern replacing his confusion, even though he knew what was going on. "What happened during the massage I gave you? Did I do sothing wrong? Did I hurt you in any way?"
"No! No, no, no." Fauna said quickly, shaking her head so hard her hair swayed. "It’s not like that at all. It’s just that...it’s just that..."
She trailed off again.
Nothing ca to mind.
Mika’s worried, searching gaze only made her more flustered. Her fingers curled nervously at her sides.
For a brief second, she looked genuinely frightened—until, finally, sothing clicked.
"Oh!" She said suddenly, straightening up. "That’s it. That’s exactly it."
She put on her calst smile, forcing confidence into her posture.
"It’s because of your massage, Mika. After that, I realized I needed to work out more and keep my body in better condition. So yesterday I exercised for several hours—proper training. A very intense routine."
She nodded firmly, as if convincing herself as much as him.
"And because of that, my entire body has been aching. Everywhere. Even sitting or lying down hurts a bit, especially when soone touches . It feels really strange."
She looked up at him with a sincere, almost pleading gaze.
"That’s why I avoided you earlier. When you hugged , it felt...overwhelming, because my body was still numb and sore. That’s why I ran away. It wasn’t because of anything else."
She held his eyes, trying her absolute best to look believable, silently begging him to accept it.
Under her breath, barely audible, she muttered to herself,
"A Battle Angel saying she has muscle pain...and not just any Battle Angel, but the Plague Maiden herself...with the best healing in the world."
"What a stupid reason, Fauna, you dummy."
She winced internally, convinced he wouldn’t believe a word of it.
But to her surprise—
Mika didn’t argue.
He didn’t question her.
Instead, he smiled gently and nodded.
"Okay. That makes sense." He said calmly. "Everyone has their own body. Even soone like you—one of the strongest people in the world can get aches now and then."
He nodded thoughtfully.
"That happens."
Hearing this, her shoulders relaxed completely—until he added, with a faint smirk.
"Not to ntion...you’re also getting a bit old, you know."
Silence.
"You’re already in your forties." He went on casually. "It’s only natural you’d need to tone things down. You’re not exactly in your pri anymore. Might reach granny status in a few years."
Fauna stared at him.
"So you should really avoid intense activities without supervision." Mika finished cheerfully. "Next ti bring Anya along. Just in case you throw out your back or sothing."
There was a very brief, very dangerous pause.
Then—Fauna pounced.
She didn’t fly, she lunged straight at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and grabbing his cheeks with both hands.
"Mika, you little—you absolute little brat!" She snapped, yanking his cheeks hard. "Did you just call old?! Did you just call a granny?!"
Mika laughed as he instinctively caught her, steadying them both.
"I didn’t call you old." He protested between chuckles. "I said you’ve reached an age where you need to be careful! That’s genuine concern!"
"That makes it worse!" She huffed, pulling his cheeks harder. "You cheeky boy! You absolute nace! I just want to pinch your face off!"
She tugged and squished his cheeks rcilessly while he laughed, clearly enjoying every second of it. And u close, her angry face looked far more adorable than intimidating, and Mika couldn’t help grinning.
But just as they were lost in their little mont—
"Lady Fauna! Ergency!"
One of the nurses rushed toward them, panting heavily. "We have an ergency!"
Fauna imdiately dropped down from Mika, her expression shifting to professional concern.
"What happened?"
But Mika narrowed his eyes at the nurse.
Then, completely out of nowhere, he said in a suspicious tone,
"Fauna, I think the best decision for this hospital would be to fire this nurse on the spot."
The nurse froze.
"...What?"
Fauna blinked. Cecilia blinked harder.
"Mika, what are you talking about?" Cecilia asked quickly. "She’s done nothing wrong. She’s an excellent nurse, she literally got Nurse of the Month last month. She’s a valuable asset, so how can you think of firing her."
The nurse nodded frantically. "I—I really didn’t do anything!"
Mika crossed his arms, unimpressed.
"I’m not talking about her skills." He said. "She may be exceptional, but she seems to attract disasters."
Everyone stared.
"The day before yesterday, she showed up saying there was an ergency pregnancy. Today, she shows up saying there’s another ergency. At this rate, tomorrow she’ll co running again yelling ergency."
He shook his head solemnly.
"She keeps bringing trouble wherever she goes. I say we remove the source since she seems to be cursed."
"Actually..." One of Cecilia’s colleagues added sneakily.
"Even yesterday she ca over about an ergency as well where the patient got his limbs fused together by a monster in the portal he was exploring and it was quite a problem to deal with."
"See, I told you she’s cursed. I say we pay her severance and fire her on the spot!"
The nurse stared at him, horrified, genuinely wondering if she was about to lose her job.
That is until Fauna stepped in, raising a hand.
"It’s alright. It’s alright." She said firmly. "He’s not firing you. He’s just joking around."
The nurse visibly sagged with relief and Fauna glanced at Mika with a warning look, then turned back to the nurse.
"Now." She said calmly. "Tell us what exactly happened."
Her expression grew serious.
"Is it sothing life-threatening?"
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