Melina had no clue how she would live down the shame. She was sure that half the town had seen Alistair carry her to the apothecary, and the other half would find out soon enough. Grannies and other rumor mongers would be quick to jump to conclusions, and soon enough, Leliana would likely pay her another visit, resetting their tentative peace once more.

"You're saying she collapsed suddenly?" Heilia questioned Alistair.

"Yes, and her forehead felt hot to the touch," he nodded.

The elf peered at Melina suspiciously, and a gentle swirl of mana surrounded her. Most likely, Heilia was using magic to assess her condition more accurately.

"Hmm… She has a mild fever, but other than that, there's nothing physically wrong with her. But I do detect signs of severe fatigue."

"She has been working herself ragged this week, starting from the work in the bakery, then going to the smithy, and if I saw correctly, you were also working on Sienna's enclosure."

Sienna chittered something angrily, letting out a puff of smoke. Although nobody could understand her chitters, the meaning was clear—there was even more work Melina had been doing.

"You little snitch!" Melina accused.

"So you were doing even more than that!" Alistair glared.

"The diagnosis is crystal clear—this girl needs to rest!" Heilia declared.

"I'll just eat one of the healing waffles and be fine," Melina objected.

"No, no, no! This isn't something a healing potion or waffle can fix," the elf objected. "Don't you get it? This fever and the dizzy episodes you've been having is your body's desperate plea to rest."

"I can't rest! I have to help Master Gilbert out in the bakery, and I still have to repay my debt to Etan!" She protested.

"How long should she rest?" Alistair asked.

"With how severe her fatigue is, I'd say she ought to spend at least 2 days in bed. After that, she could resume some light activities, but I'd suggest holding off from any serious work for the rest of the week."

"Rest of the week?!" Melina cried in outrage. "There's no way I could take that long off. There are so many things to do."

"I'll make sure that she adheres to your instruction, Miss Heilia. Thank you so much for your time!" Alistair bowed towards the elf.

"Be sure to watch her carefully, otherwise she'll collapse again. Master Gilbert went through a similar episode in his youth. It took quite the effort on Jasmine's part to keep him in check. This one is clearly following in the steps of her master." Heilia glared at Melina.

Alistair nodded at the elf and once again took Melina in his arms, completely ignoring her protests and pleas. If it weren't for the townspeople, she would have kept struggling, but she didn't want to make a scene.

Much to her dismay, as they passed by the inn, Erina happened to be bustling outside. She saw them, a wide grin spreading on her face.

"My oh my! Young ones these days aren't shy in showing their affection," the innkeeper said slyly.

Melina flushed red right away, but Alistair didn't appear bothered by her words in the slightest. "Melina has fallen sick, so I'm going to take care of her for a while."

"Melina is sick! This is horrible! I hope it's nothing serious."

"It's just a bit of fatigue. You're exaggerating," she muttered.

"Fatigue is no joke! Some people have worked themselves to death, saying that they can handle it just fine. Is it smart to take her back to the bakery? I feel like she's the type of girl to jump back to work at the first opportunity."

Erina and Alistair both gave her an appraising look. All three of them knew the answer to that question.

"W-Where else would I go? I can't afford to rent a room at the inn for a whole week," she muttered.

Erina had a conflicted expression on her face. "Normally, I wouldn't hesitate to give you a room to rest at for free. Your tarts have brought me enough customers to make up for the price. But the summer festival is approaching and I'm quickly running out of space…"

"I'll take her to my home. I have plenty of rooms to spare," Alistair said.

"NO!" Melina protested. "What will Master Gilbert say when I don't come home?!"

"I'm sure he'll understand," Alistair said, turning to leave. "If you'll excuse me now, Miss Erina. I'll take Melina to get some rest."

"I'll stop by your house later with a meal," Erina said.

"Thank you! I'd appreciate it."

"Wait! Isn't it highly inappropriate for a young woman to stay in the house of a young man?" Melina pleaded in a whisper.

"I believe your health is more important than rules of propriety," Alistair said, not slowing his stride.

As they retreated from the inn, Melina saw a victorious grin on Erina's face as she mouthed "good luck" to Melina. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

Melina tried to talk Alistair out of his crazy plan, but the man clearly had made up his mind, walking silently to his home. Even Sienna wasn't inclined to help her, instead riding on Alistair's head the whole time. Children who saw them along the way laughed at the sight, while the adults gave curious looks. Women looked much like Erina had—as if they'd seen something deliciously scandalous.

"I'll let you use the bedroom on the first floor. Just let me get you some clean blankets and pillows," Alistair said once they were inside his house.

It was still a bit dusty in places, with a few cobwebs in the corners. However, it was clear that Alistair had put some effort into keeping the place at least somewhat clean. It was just that he was hopelessly bad at cleaning. Melina got the urge to clean the place.

"I can get them myself," she protested.

"No, you're sick and you need a bed rest! You will not be doing anything today!" Alistair reprimanded. Sienna chittered in approval.

Melina had no choice but to sit and watch as Alistair prepared the bed for her and brought her water, along with some apples to snack on.

"Stay here and rest. I'll head to the bakery and tell Gilbert the current situation. Oh, I'll get your clothes and toiletries too. Anything else I should bring?"

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"My notebook?" She asked. Quite honestly, she was hoping that Gilbert would reject this whole idea and force Alistair to bring her back to the bakery. After all, he didn't like Alistair very much.

Yes, I should just leave this to Master Gilbert. I'm sure he'll drag me back to the bakery, and I'll be able to return to work in no time.

"Very well! Sienna, you're in charge. Make sure she remains in bed," he ordered the wyrm.

Sienna chirped in response and grew to her full size.

"Good call," Alistair hummed in approval and left.

"Sienna, you wouldn't actually block my path, would you?" Melina pleaded.

But the wyrm placed herself at the door, leaving Melina no choice but to remain in bed.

A few hours later, Melina finally heard the door of the house open. She had hoped to convince Sienna to let her leave, but the wyrm had no intention of budging. Instead, she had pushed Melina back into the bed, leaving her no other choice but to sleep.

"Is she in that room?" Melina heard Master Gilbert's voice. Hope reignited within her.

I knew I could count on him. I'm sure Master Gilbert will take me back home.

The door opened, and the old baker hobbled into the room, followed by Alistair.

"Hello, Master," she said guiltily.

He eyed her suspiciously. "I told you that you'll work yourself sick, didn't I?"

"You did," Melina muttered.

"I did! Yet you still kept pushing yourself. Tell me when you went to sleep last night?"

"Um… Might have been close to midnight… I didn't check…"

"And when did you wake up?"

"Four in the morning, like always."

"You're staying here until you recover," Gilbert said with a long sigh.

"Wait… In Alistair's home? But isn't that inappropriate?!"

"I don't care. You won't listen to me, and I'm too old to chase after you and force you into bed," Gilbert reprimanded, then turned to Alistair. "I'm leaving this girl up to you."

"I'll make sure she gets plenty of rest," Alistair replied dutifully.

"Wait, wait! What about the bakery? Who will help you?"

"I'll work on my own as I always have before your arrival," he shrugged.

"But the tarts!"

"People will have to make do without them this week. If you feel bad about it, then don't work yourself to the point of collapsing next time," Gilbert said. "I brought some food for you both. Eat it."

Gilbert gave Melina the last warning glare and left. All she could do was gape in shock as the old man who had always taken her side walked away.

"You don't suppose I could head back home now?" Melina asked Alistair with a smile.

He smiled back. "No."

The next two days, Melina spent in bed. There was no chance to compromise–Alistair and Sienna wouldn't allow anything else. All her meals were brought to the bed and later taken away.

When she went to the bathroom, which was right next to her room, Sienna always went with her, making sure that she wouldn't do anything else. Melina was treated like an invalid who wasn't able to even lift her hand. It was quite honestly ridiculous.

But as she lay in the warm covers, forced to rest, Melina realized that it wasn't actually so bad. It was comfortable, and she didn't have to do anything. Although there was a constant gnawing at the back of her mind, she knew that there was no way she could do any work. Alistair wouldn't permit it. So she slept the days away, letting her body recover from the fatigue.

But when Thursday morning came, so did her limit. Alistair just returned from the bakery with a paper bag in tow, no doubt with breakfast from Master Gilbert. Melina stood by the kitchen entrance, waiting for him.

"Good morning, Melina. Shouldn't you be in bed?" Alistair said, narrowing his eyes.

"No! I've been sleeping for two whole days! I am well-rested and ready to return to work today," Melina said, doing her best to appear energetic.

"Heilia said you can only do light activities for 3 more days," Alistair retorted.

"But there's so much to do! I still have work to do at the smithy."

"No, don't worry about it. I paid off your debt," Alistair said dismissively, placing the paper bag on the kitchen table.

"You… what?! You can't do that," she protested.

"I can and I did. You've been pushing yourself too hard. The hard work of a blacksmith is not something someone as delicate as you should be doing."

"I am not a child! You cannot decide such things for me," Melina huffed angrily.

"I never would have pushed so hard if you weren't so stubborn! I remember that you used to do the same thing before. Practice magic until the point where you have no mana left in your body!" Alistair pointed an angry finger at her.

She flushed, remembering that particular memory. It was a short while after they started travelling together. She wasn't yet an [Archmage] at the time and used every spare moment she had to improve herself. Melina had felt inadequate next to Alistair, who had already unlocked his [General] class and was one of the strongest warriors in Alemahria.

One evening, she had lost track of how much mana she had left and accidentally drew more than she had. It had given Alistair a terrible fright at the time as she had nearly killed herself. Magical backlash is no joke.

"You remembered that…" she muttered guiltily.

"Yes, the moment you collapsed," Alistair said. "Please, don't be so hard on yourself. The bakery won't disappear just because you're resting, and if you're worried about the debt, then you can repay me the sum at your leisure."

Melina paused. Had she really been pushing too hard? For her, it always felt like she wasn't doing enough. But thinking about it, juggling two jobs and trying to prepare more on top of that might have been overkill.

"Maybe… you're right," she relented and sat down by the table.

Alistair smiled. "You'll be able to return to your duties once you are well again. But remember that you don't have to do everything alone."

There was a brief pause, and it felt like he wanted to say something more. But a knock sounded on the door.

"I'll get that," Alistair said and rushed to the door.

It turned out that the guests were Erina and Remi, who had stopped by to check on Melina. The four of them ate breakfast together, after which Alistair left Melina in the care of two women as he had a patrol in the morning.

"So, how is it?" Erina asked conspiratorially.

"How is what?"

"Living together with a nobleman," the innkeeper grinned.

"I am just resting in one of his spare rooms. I haven't even seen him all that much since I've been sleeping most of the time," Melina said, then added. "This is your fault. You totally had rooms to spare. Nobody comes to a festival more than a week in advance."

"Opps! I might have gotten my dates mixed up," Erina chuckled.

"Still, it's quite the fancy home Captain has. If only a bit… dusty…" Remi noted.

"He's a man. It can't be helped. They are naturally bad at keeping order."

"That's not true. I remember how good Barrett was at cleaning," the elf objected.

"Yeah. After you all held Church back from entering the bakery, Barrett actually did most of the cleaning," Melina added.

"Hmm… I suppose Barrett isn't as bad as the rest of them. Now, when you mention it, I've never had him break a table in my inn. In fact, he's always helpful, ending some of the rowdier fights."

"You noticed that only now?" Remi sighed. "You humans are so clueless sometimes."

The three of them chatted amicably for a while, enjoying each other's company. It was a very pleasant time for Melina. She didn't remember when she could last sit down and chat with her friends like that.

Friends… It's been a while since I actually had real friends. It's not a bad feeling. Not a bad feeling at all.

"Shame you won't be able to join us at the expedition to the Monster Realm," Remi suddenly noted.

"Wait… what do you mean?" Melina asked.

"Captain Sinclair canceled your attendance. Said you needed to rest properly before heading into danger," she explained, then leaned closer to Melina and whispered. "I'd suggest not arguing with him. He looked quite scary when I mentioned that you'd want to come along."

"But… But… My ingredients…" Melina said helplessly.

"Why do you need to head into the Monster Realm? It seems far too dangerous for girls like us," Erina noted.

"Sienna is a great help to them. She's very strong and can notice danger faster than others," Melina noted.

"So it's Sienna that needs to go. Not you," Erina noted. "Why not just send her along? She's smart enough to do that, isn't she?"

"But…" Melina thought about it, and an idea popped into her mind. "Yeah, actually, you're right. Sienna, you can go in my stead, can't you?"

Sienna chittered excitedly in approval.

"Yes! That's what we'll do then," Melina said with a satisfied hum.

Erina and Remi shared a look. They felt Melina had agreed to the idea far too easily. One could think that she would have learned her lesson after collapsing from exhaustion. But in reality, Melina had already come up with a plan.

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