Under the Oak Tree



Chapter 75: Chapter 75

From that day on, Maxi frequented the kitchen to heal the servants. She also occasionally tended to the knights.

After ensconcing herself in the kitchen and healing five to six people a day, Maxi’s skills gradually improved to the point where she was able to heal severe injuries. Her speech impediment, on the other hand, showed no signs of improvement.

Her daily routine consisted of shutting herself away in her chambers to practice articulating, or attempting to converse with passersby whenever she was stationed before the kitchen brazier. Despite all her efforts, her tongue only seemed to be growing heavier.

Maxi tried her best not to feel discouraged. She practiced relentlessly, reading phonetic symbols or reciting lyrical poetry. Loath to let Riftan or the servants see her in such a pathetic light, she was secretive about her practice sessions. But practicing alone made progress much more difficult.

There was also still the matter of her studies and duties as the lady of the castle, which she could not neglect. Added to that, the work on the gardens would start once Paxias was over. She was already up to her eyeballs in arrangements and budgeting with Rodrigo and Aderon. As the end of winter neared, the list of tasks requiring Maxi’s attention grew to the point where she wished there were more hours in the day.

“You look tired,” Riftan told her.

Freshly bathed and changed, Riftan stroked her cheek as he spoke. Maxi pulled an awkward smile. Unsurprisingly, trying to complete this number of unfamiliar tasks all at once was overwhelming.

For the past few weeks, she had been waking at dawn alongside Riftan and staying up late into the night, waiting for him to come to bed. Forcing her body to match the daily routine of an athletic knight took its toll, and she ended up with dark circles shadowing her eyes.

Riftan furrowed his brow as he brushed his thumb beneath her eye.

“It’s because you’re overexerting yourself with magic, isn’t it? I know you’ve been healing any and every wound. If that’s the reason-”

“I am not… overexerting… I w-wouldn’t be able to improve… if I didn’t practice… I-In fact, I am the one… troubling everyone… The wounds I h-heal… are minor… so… they d-don’t require much… m-magic.”

Maxi responded as steadily as she could while regarding Riftan.

Riftan worked at least three times harder, but his face showed no signs of fatigue. How did he not let slip even a yawn surviving on only a few hours of sleep? She looked up at him with a hint of fascination.

Every day, Riftan met with blacksmiths to discuss and inspect the creation of new weapons, as well as lead the training of sentries and squires. He had also recently begun plans for road construction that would commence on the eve of Aquarias (the season of water, equivalent to spring).

Yet Riftan was always brimming with energy. Maxi was certain that, if she were to split herself into three, she would not be able to handle even half of his workload. Riftan scooped Maxi up in his warm arms and placed her on his lap, where he began to stroke her nape and the backs of her ears.

“Has anyone else been impertinent?”

“N-No.”

“Is anything troubling you?”

“N-No, nothing is… troubling me.”

A faint line creased Riftan’s forehead. There was an edge to his voice when he spoke. “I know you have always been a woman of few words, but all you seem to tell me recently is that you’re fine.”

“B-But… I-I really am fine… and everyone has been nice…” Maxi trailed off, not knowing what it was he wanted to hear from her.

Riftan leaned back against a cushion and studied Maxi.

“I heard that you’re working on the landscaping of the garden.”

“Y-Yes… I thought it would be b-best… to make it presentable… before guests arrive in the spring.”

“Are you not overworking yourself? Managing the servants alone must be exhausting,” Riftan said, his voice full of worry.

Maxi’s lips twisted into a bitter smile. If anyone was overworking themselves, it was him.

“C-Compared to the things you do… what I do… can hardly be called exhausting.”

“Maxi, that’s not a fair comparison. My body has been conditioned to hard labor my whole life. My stamina is greater than most knights’. But you are frailer than ordinary women.”

“I-I am not frail. I-I would say that I am… on the healthy side.”

Even when her back was gashed and bleeding from her father’s lashings, she had never once fainted. Though she had lost consciousness during the battle with the ogres on their way to Anatol, she considered herself tougher than those noblewomen who screamed and fainted at the sight of mice. Riftan snorted as if she had said something preposterous.

“So says the woman who has spent all her life inside a castle.”

He grabbed her waist with his tanned hand, and his forehead creased with worry.

“See? Not even a handful. You’re so thin I could fit two of you in my arms.”

“I-It is you who… is too big… I-I am ordinary.”

Riftan gave another snort. “None of the women I know are as skinny as you. I get worried just looking at you.”

Maxi was bewildered. It was true that she was slim and not exactly tall, but she did not think it was to the extent to warrant worry of any kind. Still, the look of concern on his face was genuine.

Had he only known tall and voluptuous women? Princess Agnes had participated in the campaign; she certainly must be tougher and more robust than Maxi.

Maxi imagined the imposing and beautiful princess by Riftan’s side. Seeing him next to a woman more suited for him felt like a knife to the heart.

She could not pinpoint when exactly the change had occurred, but she now realized that the ghost that taunted her was no longer Rosetta – it was Princess Agnes. It was incomprehensible why she was torturing herself with comparisons to a woman she had never met.

“You… exaggerate… I-I am not… that s-scrawny.”

Overcome with emotion, her voice came out steelier than intended. She felt Riftan’s hand, which was stroking her back, flinch.

His lips twisted into a frown, and he spoke in a self-deprecating tone. “But I even worry about the winds blowing at you.”

Tightening his arms around her, he rested his chin on top of her head. Maxi leaned her head against his sturdy chest and listened to the beating of his heart.

Sleet whooshed past like ghosts outside the window. Maxi grew conscious of the strange tension that swelled between them in the silence.

A small rift had formed in their relationship. Though Riftan cared for her to an excessive degree, and made every effort to be kind to her, she was never privy to his innermost thoughts. It sometimes felt as though the only thing he wished to share with her was their bedchamber.

Nevertheless, she could not resent him for something she herself found difficult. Maxi could never be herself in front of Riftan. If she had to show her true, wretched self to anyone, he would be the last.

Maxi was the most nervous in front of him, and it was his disillusionment that she feared the most. It was ironic; the more she cared for him, the greater the wall she had built between them grew. It was precisely this wall that kept their relationship from deepening.

Maxi wanted to believe that she was mistaken. Surely there was no more solid a relationship in the world than theirs? Not only did they share a bed, but Riftan kept her safe and made sure she lacked for nothing. And she, on her part, managed the castle and would one day provide him an heir.

As far as she knew, that was all that was required in a marriage. Moreover, theirs was an arranged union, forced upon them by her father. It was shameless of her to expect anything more. Maxi collected her uneasy thoughts and drove them from her heart.

“Just relax,” said Riftan, rubbing her tense shoulder. “We don’t have to do anything if you’re tired.”

He had misread her anxiousness as reluctance to perform her marital duty. Maxi was about to say that she was fine before stopping herself.

Though she did indeed want to be with him, she truly was exhausted, as well as too embarrassed to insist.

Riftan brushed his lips on her forehead and said gruffly, “You need rest.”

He laid her down on the bed. After blowing out the lamp beside them, he crawled in next to her and maneuvered his arm under her head.

Maxi snuggled up to him. A sweet yet masculine scent rolled off him, and Maxi was just inhaling a lungful when he shifted as if uncomfortable. He sighed and began patting her shoulder.

She savored his gentle touch. Although she could feel his hardness pressed against her thigh, he lay still. Enveloped by the warmth and tranquility of his embrace, Maxi slowly drifted off to sleep.

***

The next day began with winter rain. Maxi had been enjoying a late lunch in the dining hall, absorbed in a book on magic, when a drenched group of knights came flooding into the hall. The downpour had cut their training short.

Maxi greeted them. Their interactions had become more frequent recently, and not just because of the occasional healing session. The once brusque knights now initiated conversations with her whenever they crossed paths. Maxi was elated by the change. She launched excitedly into informing them that the soup was exceptionally good today and that the freshly baked bread melted in her mouth.

The knights rubbed their empty bellies and moaned about how famished they were. Maxi was enjoying the banter when she spotted Ulyseon trailing in behind another knight.

She rushed up to him, her eyes wide. The young squire’s face was covered in blood.

“A-Are you all right? H-How did this…”