Chapter 114: An Unexpected Act of Kindness

After hours had passed in training, sweat beaded all over Neo’s body. He wiped it away but stayed entirely focused on the training. He didn’t feel tired even after training for hours. On the contrary, he felt even more excited every time he felt his technique developing and being honed more and more.

His improvement only made him feel that his training was worthwhile, which boosted his will to train even more.

After a while of swinging his wooden sword, his hands became heavy and every muscle of his body protested for him to stop. He finally gave in to his body and finished his morning training for today, slumping down on the training field, gasping for air.

Just as he sat there breathing heavily, he suddenly felt someone place something over his head. He raised his hand to see what it was, and it was a soft towel. He lifted his head and looked back to see who it was, and it was none other than the same girl who had, just a few hours ago, been ignoring him, and who was now looking at him with those beautiful violet eyes, offering a towel.

"Thanks..."

He wiped the sweat clinging to his skin as a quiet warmth filled him. After he had wiped himself, Nora took back the towel and then offered him a water bottle filled with cold water, which she herself had preserved with her magic.

Neo looked up at her again. She still wore the same blank expression, without showing any emotion, and he couldn’t guess why she was doing all this.

"Thanks again..."

Neo drank the water and felt the cold liquid travelling down his throat, cooling his body and making him feel refreshed.

He noticed her constant gaze following his every movement, as if she were watching a detective series with deep concentration rather than looking at him.

"Nora, you know what, show some expression or at least say something. I have started to miss the old you..."

Neo couldn’t help but let a flashback flood into his mind, of the time when Nora had at least shared some of her feelings with him, having conversations or showing emotions to him. Now, seeing her so blank and so emotionless, like the first time he had seen her when she was a kid, he felt as if he had failed to protect her.

He didn’t know what path she might be walking now, as many butterfly effects had taken place, so he couldn’t predict whether she would remain alright or walk the same path the original Nora had walked, becoming the ultimate villainess who would destroy the world.

Whatever happened in the future, Neo knew that he was also tied to it. If things changed because of him, then the change would happen to Nora as well, so whatever path she walked would depend on how she changed because of him.

As Neo stared blankly at nothing but the floor, a finger suddenly tapped on his head and pulled him out of his daze, and he looked up again.

"Give me your shirt..."

"!?"

Neo looked blankly at her, not understanding what she was asking for. Nora glanced at him and then pointed at his sweat-soaked shirt, and he finally understood what she was asking for. His face began to warm up as the redness climbed from his neck to his face.

Neo looked away, as he couldn’t meet her eyes.

"W-what?! There is no need for that, I am okay..."

But Nora was Nora. She didn’t back down and remained firm in her decision, looking at him like a stubborn kid with her arms folded, waiting for him to take his shirt off.

Neo couldn’t help but stand up immediately, ready to walk out of this place as soon as possible. Before he could walk away, he felt a warm, slender hand wrap around his, stopping him mid-stride. He saw Nora holding his hand firmly with surprising strength, so much that he couldn’t even react.

"No—Nora? What are you doing?!"

"Shirt!"

Neo couldn’t help but shudder at her sharp tone. He swallowed his protest, as he could see that she wasn’t going to back down. He began to unbutton his shirt while turning around, not wanting to look at her face.

After a while, Neo pulled off his shirt and handed it over to her, and she took it without once taking her eyes off him.

Neo immediately began to walk out without looking back, not wanting her to see his face, as a massive flood of embarrassment weighed down his chest and made him feel like digging a hole and burying himself inside it.

"Wait!"

Neo’s steps halted as she called out, though he didn’t turn around, letting her say whatever she wanted.

"Your pants..."

The colour drained from Neo’s face and he swallowed hard. This time he didn’t give in to her demand, and instead he quickened his steps and burst out of the special training field, reminding himself never to train in her presence again.

He didn’t stop running until he had turned two corners and crossed the whole length of the main hall, and only after the sound of his own footsteps echoed back to him from the high ceiling did he finally lean against a pillar, breathing hard, with his hand pressed against his burning cheek.

’What was that just now? Since when did she become so bold? And what in the world does she want with my sweaty shirt?’

He tried to find some reasonable explanation for her behaviour, but no matter how he looked at it, every possibility only made his face grow hotter. Perhaps she wanted to wash it as a way of thanking him, or perhaps she was simply being her usual strange self, and yet the way she had looked at him while she held that shirt in her hands didn’t feel like either of them.

"Young Master?"

Neo jumped slightly at the voice and turned his head, only to see a maid standing a few steps away with a basket of folded linen in her arms. Her eyes had widened as she looked at him, and then she hurriedly lowered her head, trying hard not to let her gaze fall on his bare upper body, though her ears had turned completely red.

"Y-you are not feeling unwell, are you, Young Master? Shall I fetch a robe for you?"

"No, it’s fine. I just came back from training, and my shirt got too sweaty, so I had to take it off. Please don’t mind it."

Neo forced a smile and gave an explanation which sounded perfectly reasonable, though he could feel that his voice was a little too stiff to be convincing. The maid nodded repeatedly, and without saying anything more, she hurried over and handed him a clean towel from her basket before bowing and walking away so quickly that she almost seemed to be fleeing.

Neo wrapped the towel around his shoulders and let out a long sigh as he started walking towards the stairs, thinking that, among everything that had happened since his return, this was by far the most embarrassing moment.

When he finally reached his room and closed the door behind him, he leaned his back against it and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, covering his face with both hands.

’Never again. I will never train in front of her again.’

But even as he made that decision, a small voice in the corner of his mind told him that it would be of no use, because Nora was not someone who gave up on something once she had decided on it, and she had already shown that she would follow him wherever he went.

After sitting there for a while, he stood up, took a quick bath to wash away the sweat, and changed into a fresh set of clothes before sitting at the desk, where he rested his chin on his hand and stared out of the window at the bright morning sky.

’Still, she did bring me a towel and cold water without me asking... Maybe, in her own way, she is trying to care for me.’

The thought softened his expression a little, and the corners of his lips curved slightly upward before he could stop them. It was a strange feeling, being cared for by someone who showed no emotion at all, yet he found that he didn’t hate it.

Meanwhile, in the special training ground, Nora stood alone at the centre of the empty field, holding Neo’s shirt carefully in both hands, as if it were something fragile. She looked at the door through which he had fled, and for a moment her expression remained as blank as ever, but a faint curve touched the corner of her lips, so small that no one would have noticed it even if they had been there.

She folded the shirt neatly, held it close to her chest, and turned around to walk out of the training ground, as if nothing had happened at all.

’I will return it to him after washing it... Perhaps tomorrow.’