My Strange Savior - Chapter 78

Chapter 78

[First Love of a Man]

No matter how you look at it, Kalion was in big trouble because he wasn’t mad at all. 

What’s the rush with wet hair? What’s so urgent? Dry the hair at least before coming out.

Kalion, who grabbed Gia’s wet hair while she was smiling, exhaled slowly. It would have bothered him before, but now it wasn’t even surprising.

Kalion, who gently comforted Gia and sat her on the sofa, brought a towel. 

“Why didn’t you dry your hair?”

“Too lazy.”

Kalion, who secretly glanced at Gia, who was sitting with dignity, nodded. 

“Please sit. I’ll dry it for you.”

“It’s okay… Oh, alright.”

Gia, who had said it was okay, looked at Kalion’s face, which had suddenly turned grim. She straightened herself quietly.

Sitting on a spacious sofa where three people could sit comfortably, Gia, who sat with her arms neatly attached and in a proper posture, slightly turned her body. Kalion, who approached behind Gia and sat down, sighed quietly.

Kalion gently held Gia’s wet hair in his hands and carefully removed the moisture with a towel. 

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. By the way, what brings you here at this late hour?”

“Ah!”

Only then did Gia remember the matter. She turned her body towards Kalion, making a sound as if biting her tongue.

“That… about Rey.”

Gia carefully opened her mouth.

“If he hears that we’ll come tomorrow morning… he’ll be disappointed, right? He must have had high expectations.”

Rey might have believed firmly that Gia would have saved his parents. 

How to convey disappointing news? Even thinking about it didn’t provide a clear answer. 

Gia’s face twisted as if she was about to cry.

“Gia…”

“Yeah?”

“You did your best. It’s inevitable.”

“Yeah… I know. I understand, but I still don’t know what to say to Rey. I feel sorry when I think about Rey’s disappointed face. He’ll have to survive in this harsh world without parents, and that’s also a concern.”

As if projecting herself onto Rey, her chest suddenly hurt unbearably. 

Living in a world without parents is so difficult and full of suffering that Gia, who knows it better than anyone else, shows bitterness on her face.

“Didn’t I tell you last time?”

Kalion gathered Gia’s wet hair to one side and carefully wrapped it with a towel. 

Kalion’s touch was incredibly gentle. 

Pat, pat. The sensation of the soft towel gently touching her caused Gia’s eyes to tremble and then close.

“If Rey doesn’t realize how grateful he should be and blames you, I won’t stay silent.” 

Kalion’s voice resonated warmly in Gia’s ears before she could finish her rough remark.

“Really… to a kid.”

Before Gia’s rough words could finish, Kalion’s voice gently echoed in her ears.

“So, please don’t worry. I am here.”

Why does that statement bring so much comfort? It wasn’t grand or anything, just a simple assurance to be by her side, yet Gia felt an immense sense of relief from those words.

Gia, relaxing her expression like a languid cat, entrusted her head to Kalion’s hands. 

Until now, Gia hadn’t realized how tired she was. 

It might have been a misconception, but fatigue, accumulated by Kalion’s touch, rushed in like a flood. Gia’s eyes involuntarily closed, and her mind relaxed.

Gia, who had come to Kalion’s room like a cat burglar without solving anything, found that nothing had changed. However, Kalion’s comfort washed away Gia’s uncomfortable emotions.

After letting go of her feelings, what came was a long sleep. 

She shouldn’t sleep. She should go to her room and sleep. 

Despite silently urging herself to wake up, Gia’s body involuntarily succumbed to the heavy eyelids.

“You shouldn’t sleep here.”

Seeing Gia quietly resting her head without any response, Kalion, somewhat concerned, wanted to advise her, but there was no response.

“Gia?”

Kalion, who was drying her hair, called Gia’s name.

“Are you sleeping?”

In the meantime, Gia’s body swayed back and forth as if she had fallen into a deep sleep. 

Kalion, who held her shoulders and stood her up, looked down at Gia’s forehead with an awkward expression.

It wasn’t enough that she intruded into a man’s room at this late hour. Now, how should he handle this woman who had fallen asleep so peacefully? 

Kalion, who was gently drying her hair, gradually relaxed his grip and leaned Gia against his chest.

Supporting Gia with an embracing posture from behind, Kalion gently stroked her hair with his fingertips.

“It’s not completely dry yet….”

Among Gia’s long hair, there was an oddly cut area. Kalion’s hand grasped the end and gently twirled it.

“Gia.”

“Uh.”

Kalion’s soft voice calling Gia had a considerable distance from any intention to wake her up. Instead, the touch of Kalion’s hand and his voice, caressing Gia’s head, were gentle.

Kalion’s fingers, attempting to shake Gia’s shoulder to wake her up, curved in the air. Seeing her sleep so peacefully, he wondered if there was any need to disturb her.

Even while pondering over it for a long time, Kalion remained motionless like a statue. In case Gia, who was leaning against his chest, would fall, Kalion carefully exhaled his breath.

Had there ever been such an intimate moment between a man and a woman? 

How should he handle this woman who had effortlessly intruded into his life? 

Kalion didn’t know the true nature of these feelings. It was an emotion he had never experienced in his lifetime. 

The rigid expression on Kalion’s face distorted in bewilderment.

“Gia….”

Kalion’s voice calling Gia made him feel powerless. 

Kalion inadvertently surrendered a part of his heart to Gia. Although he couldn’t clearly define these emotions, he knew that it wasn’t just a light feeling he could easily let go of.

Even Kalion, who was indifferent to male-female relationships, wasn’t ignorant of such emotions. It was much deeper and weightier than what could be packaged as camaraderie. 

The sight of Gia leaning against his chest, breathing evenly, deeply troubled Kalion. 

‘What do I want to share with this woman?’

One day, a stranger appeared out of nowhere on the mountain. 

When did Gia, who spouted unbelievable stories, get so close to him? Was it when she spat out rough words while fighting goblins? Or was it when she lured a troll alone to protect other members from harm? Or perhaps when he was pushed by Kayler, and almost fell off a cliff?

He looked at Gia’s hand placed neatly on his knee. Kalion carefully adjusted his posture to avoid waking her. He leaned in a bit more to make her more comfortable, supporting Gia’s back.

Looking at Gia’s hand on his knee, Kalion gently held it, caressing the back of her hand.

Was it when this hand did not let go of him until the end at the cliff’s edge? 

As he thought about Gia’s presence, which had subtly crept into his life during countless incidents, Kalion’s face turned red.

Kalion didn’t dislike this strange emotion that made his heart complicated.

Gia’s cheeks, glowing with warmth, were charmingly flushed. Kalion, caressing Gia’s now-dry hair, finally released the breath he had been holding.

“It seems that… I might… like you.”

This was indeed a feeling of affection. It wasn’t camaraderie. 

As the shell of the emotions labeled as camaraderie was peeled away, a fluffy, pink-stained something was revealed without any filter.

“I… I seem to like you.”

If not that, there was no explanation for this emotion, this undeniable attraction to Gia.

Even after admitting his feelings, Kalion felt more tormented. Perhaps the temperature of the emotions held by Kalion and Gia was different. 

The imposing figure, who seemed fearless in the assumption that there was nothing to fear in that assumption, trembled with fear.

Kalion, who had cooled down his flushed cheeks, carefully lifted Gia. 

Kalion, holding the sleeping Gia, left the room as if he were cradling something precious. The moonlight bathed Gia’s face, which was lost in a deep sleep.

He scolded himself for allowing a woman, who should return to her original place, to occupy his heart. He couldn’t be so foolish. Kalion, who had been praised as a genius since childhood, blamed his foolishness. 

Suppressing the sense of self-pity, he walked towards Gia’s room.

Kalion gently laid Gia on the pristine white bedding and covered her with a blanket up to her neck. Gia, who had been tossing and turning uncomfortably, soon found a comfortable position and relaxed.

As Kalion’s fingertips tidied up Gia’s disheveled hair, they touched her earlobe and fell away. He was holding back feelings of affection. Acknowledging it only intensified the unrestrained emotions flowing towards Gia.

He should withdraw his hand, but as if it were magnetized, Kalion’s hand couldn’t resist and swept Gia’s cheek.

What was he trying to do with a sleeping woman? 

Kalion felt like a frivolous man chattering in the mundane world. The moralistic person Kalion had been in his lifetime was shaken by unfamiliar emotions.

“Sleep, please.”

Kalion’s trembling voice sounded as if he were a child caught stealing, shaking pitifully.

Whether out of lingering regret or not, as Kalion left Gia’s room, he found himself several times on the verge of jumping onto the bed. 

Gia, unknowingly sleeping soundly, seemed even more pitiful.

As Kalion wiped his face, he felt a warmth against his cold palm. Closing the door without making a sound, Kalion leaned against it, lost in thought.

“This is crazy.”

He had tried to hide his foolish emotions, but it wasn’t easy. 

The person who knew best that he couldn’t expect reciprocation for the feelings he harbored towards Gia had indulged in a futile dream.

Kalion, who had been sitting on the cold floor lost in thought for a while, roughly tousled his hair.

* * *

“Wow….”

Gia’s eyes widened at the sumptuously set table. 

It seemed even more splendid than the day she was welcomed to the castle.

The variety of dishes on the table was endless, to the point where she didn’t know where to move her fork. Kalion, sitting across from her, urged her to start eating.

“I’ll enjoy it.”

Excitedly, Gia, still in her black combat attire, devoured the food. 

Kalion, who had promised to buy her a dress last night, cautiously broached the subject.