"Gakane! Come on out! It's time for the shift change!"

Even before he could finish speaking, the abrupt entrance of the Eldore siblings cut short the conversation between Yuder and Gakane.

"Ah, Yuder is awake. Are you feeling better now?"

"How's your body?"

"I'm okay. Thanks."

"Okay? You're far from okay."

Following Yuder's response, Lusan grumbled, to which the Eldore siblings chimed in agreeably. It seemed that the proposal he had intended to make to Gakane would have to be postponed.

"Wait, just a moment. Yuder was about to say something. Just let him speak, and then we can go."

"What was he about to say?"

Yet Gakane persisted. The Eldore siblings showed interest in his grumbling, which he muttered out strenuously, bearing the weight of the siblings hanging on his arms. Yuder felt a wave of awkwardness as he sensed the eyes around the room turn to him.

"I was going to ask Gakane if he would consider working with me once he has successfully completed this mission."

"Work? What work?"

"Why is the offer only for Gakane?"

"For... for me?"

The clamorous voices of the Eldore siblings and a stunned Gakane filled the room. Unable to withstand the persistent questions from the Eldores, Yuder finally disclosed his secret, the right to appoint aides, granted to him by Kishiar.

'It's alright. I can trust everyone in this room.'

He had not used any of the five appointments yet. Upon Yuder's orders, they would work together, but that didn't mean they could skip their regular Cavalry training and duties. The members fell silent upon hearing this.

"So... it means we can be appointed as long as we're below Deputy Commanders rank?"

"Yes."

"What? Then we want to do it too. Include us!"

"But you just heard him. It won't be a pleasure cruise. Currently, he's considering gathering information for the Cavalry, but we might end up doing other things too."

"Even better! Gathering information sounds cool! We're stronger than Gakane, so include us too!"

With a loud yell, something under the bed started to shake. Yuder heard a sorrowful murmur from Gakane, who was laughing awkwardly beside him.

"I admit I haven't won a single duel yet, but hearing you say it so directly hurts, Hinn"

"There is no one who doesn't underestimate us when they see our appearance. We are neither Deputy Commanders nor Commander, but skilled, acknowledged by the Commander himself. We can do everything without missing out on training, and we're full of enthusiasm. Aren't we just the right fit? Who else could be more suitable?"

Listening to the Eldore siblings' outcry, Yuder began to feel swayed by their arguments.

'They aren't wrong.'

Enthusiasm is important, whatever the task. It could be better to include someone who knows Yuder well and wants to work with him, rather than forcing someone who doesn't want to do it.

"Alright. If you're so insistent, I'll consider it. Let's see how well you perform your duties in the west first."

"Great!"

The Eldore siblings seemed satisfied with the same conditions as Gakane.

"Gakane, what about you?"

When he turned his head towards where Gakane should be, he heard a voice full of warmth, following a moment of silence.

"I'm in too, sounds good."

Gakane returned, his passion incomparable to before. Yuder silently accepted the touch of Priest Lusan undoing the bandage over his eyes, while listening to the Eldore' siblings chatter away. Just a bit of conversation with his comrades and re-bandaging his arms and legs had left him utterly exhausted.

"Sir Yuder, this is the last part. Even if you're sleepy, please bear with it a little longer."

Priest Lusan seemed to notice Yuder's condition. It dawned on Yuder that not only his arms and legs were afflicted by the venom.

"Are the other parts... not needed to be re-bandaged?"

"Yes. Since you had it changed last night... um, it's all unwrapped now. Would you like to open your eyes?"

Something tugged at his nerves, but Yuder followed the command and exerted force on his closed eyelids. A dizzying pain spread, and something faintly wavered in the darkness. No matter how many times he blinked, the dark spots blurring his vision remained unaltered.

"How does it feel?"

"There's a black spot... I can't really tell what's what."

"As expected, there's no change yet."

With a sigh, Lusan applied medicine over his eyes and wrapped them in a new bandage.

"That black spot is the venom seeping into your eyes. It seems it wasn't good that you kept your eyes open after the venom overtook you."

Until then, he hadn't really considered it a great inconvenience, but as his vision darkened again, he remembered the touch of the round candy rolling in his hand. Yuder reached out to touch his clothes, but naturally, his pockets were empty.

"What are you looking for?"

"By any chance... wasn't there something in my clothes when I came back here?"

He asked, thinking that even though they had changed his clothes for treatment, if they had found something in his pocket, they might have taken it out. However, Lusan responded that he didn't know.

"I was too out of it to notice... Ah, the clothes soaked with the fluids were changed by the Commander. Should I ask? If you tell me what you're looking for."

"No, it's nothing. It wasn't anything important."

Yuder closed his mouth immediately. However, he could not suppress the question burning within him and eventually let out another remark.

"Did the Commander really... change my clothes?"

"Yes. It was really amazing."

Lusan responded nonchalantly, gently wiping Yuder's neck and cheeks with a wet towel.

"I actually thought it was amazing that such individuals know how to change their own clothes, but this incident made me rethink my prejudice. If they hadn't been by my side the whole time, I don't know how I could have recovered so quickly..."

Listening to Lusan's words, Yuder's breathing gradually heated up. He could clearly feel a fever coming on. He absently fumbled with his empty pocket with his fingertips, and then Yuder surrendered his consciousness to the vague darkness.

His dream was terribly messy. Everything was jumbled, and he remembered nothing, but even after waking up, it took a while for him to regain his senses.

Yuder groaned at the splitting headache and gasped for breath. It was too cold. It felt as if his body was filled with cold ice shards that were shaking him from the inside. He wanted to scrape out the ice filling him, but his hand wouldn't move as he wanted. It was only after several failed attempts to move his arm while curled up that he finally regained full consciousness.

""

Struggling to steady his labored breathing, Yuder tried to grip his hand. Fumbling and trembling a few times, he finally recognized the large hand clenched immobile between his fingers.

There was no one else with such large hands. Late to arrive, the faint but familiar musky scent made his heart pound in an instant.

"Commander."

His dreadfully hoarse voice slowly seeped out. Only then did the fingers that had been tightly squeezing Yuder's hand slip away.

"What... is this...?"

"I had no choice when you tried to tear off the bandage I had wrapped."

A voice, lower than usual, came in response.

"It seems you had another nightmare."

"..."

"I brought some food; can you swallow it?"

Only upon hearing those words did Yuder realize it had been a long time since he had a proper meal. Although he had no appetite, he was always aware that, for survival and recovery, he had to eat regardless of his desires. As Yuder, who barely nodded, tried to sit up, an approaching hand helped him sit by supporting his shoulder. Every part of his body throbbed painfully.

"You should drink some water first."

Yuder reflexively extended his hand.

"Let me drink."

Kishiar was silent for a moment, but soon handed him a cup. However, Yuder could not overcome the weight of the cup, even before bringing it to his lips, and dropped it. In a blink of an eye, the cold liquid drenched his body and the bed.

Overwhelmed with confusion, he opened his mouth, and the approaching arm swiftly lifted him.

"As I expected."

At words that seemed to anticipate him dropping the water cup, Yuder turned his head, a cold wind-like chuckle brushing against his cheek.

"What do you mean by 'as expected'?"

"If I had said that you wouldn't even have the strength to hold a spoon, my assistant would have definitely disagreed."

"So you gave me water first?"

"Since I had to reapply the medicine and change the bedding anyway, I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone."

Holding Yuder, Kishiar headed somewhere. As he sat down, the faint scent of food tickled Yuder's nose. It was then that he realized that Kishiar had never intended for him to eat in bed. Yuder was flabbergasted, but at the same time, a small ache throbbed in his chest again.

"Please put me down now. I can at least sit on my own."

"Normally, when a person with several broken ribs says such a thing, we discourage them."

"But."

"There."

With a slight adjustment to his posture, Kishiar, who had neatly ignored Yuder's request by merely changing the way he held him, began to spoon the soup he had brought into Yuder's mouth while sitting him on his lap. At a glance, he seemed as composed as usual, but his demeanor lacked the usual light-heartedness and intense emotions he had previously shown. Caught between confusion, a mild sense of shame, and the reflexive relief from the warmth wrapping around him, Yuder swallowed in a daze.

As far as he could remember, even from his youngest days, he had never experienced being cradled in someone's arms while eating.