Under the Oak Tree

Chapter 176

Although Max said that she did not want to see his face, that was impossible since they shared the same room. Seeing him was inevitable. That was why Max decided to take the childish approach: the silent treatment.

“Maxi, let’s talk.”

Riftan, who retired to their room earlier than usual, paced near the bed anxiously. Like a caterpillar, Max simply lay motionless on the bed with the covers over her head. Riftan reached out and tugged at the covers, but she held on with all her power with trembling fingers. She even made snoring sounds, like she was trying to give him a hint.

“Damn it, I know you’re not asleep. Get up.”

He was probably getting more agitated as the force pulling on the blankets grew harsher, but Max just squeezed her eyes shut, doing her best not to lose the coverage that the blankets offered. She heard a rustling sound on the bed’s spot near her.

“Are you really going to keep doing this? A while ago I was...” Riftan’s voice suddenly switched to a weaker tone. Then, as if he had given up, the pulling of the covers stopped and she felt them sink into the bed as he sat next to her. After a moment of heavy silence, he spoke again in a cold voice. “Fine, do whatever you want.”

Riftan took off his shoes and lay down next to her. Max, feeling resentful, squirmed as far away from him as possible and snuggled up. She didn’t want to talk to him, but when he gave up so easily on trying to reconcile with her, she actually felt upset. What the hell did she want anyway? Did she want him to hold her, to comfort her? And apologize for harsh words? Either way, Max felt betrayed by his cold-hearted attitude.

The cold war continued the next day too. Max hid under the covers until Riftan reluctantly left her alone. Only then did she get up and go to hide in Ruth’s tower. She spent the day reading and grinding herbs as usual, but Riftan’s harsh words kept repeating in her mind and she could hardly concentrate.

Max slumped on the desk and bit her lip. No matter how hard she worked and how accomplished she became, Riftan didn’t recognize her. Furthermore, skill wise, she couldn’t even reach the tips of the toes of the beautiful royal wizard that could have been his wife.

She knew she was thinking irrationally, but she couldn’t help it. Riftan made it clear that he had no intention of including her in his life outside of the bedroom, which was practically limited to five hours a day. Max was like a pet cat, sitting in the room all day to only receive an occasional pet at his convenience. Yet why did her heart hurt so much? She was used to being rejected and living as useless.

She couldn’t focus on her work because these self-deprecating thoughts consumed her. Usually at that time of day, she would stop by the infirmary, but she hesitated for a long time. Just the day before she had such a heated and embarrassing screaming fight in front of everyone, she wasn’t sure if she had skin thick enough to face everyone. But the idea of not showing up hurt her pride, everyone would believe that she was defeated by his verbal attack.

Max frowned. She didn’t want to be known as a shy and weak-hearted woman. She was afraid of being compared to the energetic and brilliant princess. After a prolonged infighting, she finally went to the infirmary, with a bag full of prepared herbs. As she walked towards the knights’ quarters where the infirmary was located, as expected, the knights looked at her with uneasy eyes.

She wanted to make excuses, saying she was only there to restock the medicine cabinets. When she reached the entrance to the training ground, she hid behind the large iron gates and looked around to see if Riftan was near, then quickly ran towards the knights’ quarters.

As she sneaked into the infirmary through the side door, she saw a gentleman with bandages around his wrist. He immediately straightened up and bowed politely to her when their eyes met.

“Greetings, Lady Calypse. I didn’t think you were coming today.”

“I came to replenish the herbs... the pain reliever is r-running out...” She uttered almost incomprehensible words and looked at his wrist. “Did you h-hurt your wrist? Would... would you like me to cast a healing spell on it?”

“I’m fine. I wove a bandage around it so the impact doesn’t hurt my joints when I wield my sword.” The knight smiled kindly and waved his hand dismissively.

Max sighed, relieved. She was concerned Riftan had given strict orders forbidding her to enter the infirmary, but based on the gentleman’s attitude, that seemed not to be the case. She relaxed at the desk by the window and began sorting out the herbs she brought. The knight bowed quickly and left. The sound of swords clashing echoed in the background as Max arranged the herbs in wooden boxes, when suddenly a loud voice coming from the door broke her concentration.

“Oh, have you already reconciled with the commander?”

Max turned and smiled ambiguously. “G-greetings, Sir Nirta.”

“Greetings, Lady Calypse.” Hebaron entered and greeted her with a low, exaggerated bow.

“Are you feeling any better?”

“I d-don’t feel particularly bad.” The truth was, she felt like a complete disaster.

Max slammed the lid shut to close the medicine box. Seeing her grim face, Hebaron grinned knowingly as if he understood the whole situation from her expression.

“Ah, I see. You two are still at war.”

“No-No, I’m not at war.”

Max glared at his rudeness. However, Hebaron, whom she knew was the type to tease and pick on others, didn’t even blink at her display of ferocity. Max just sighed and changed the subject.

“What... what brings you here, are you hurt?”

“As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. A couple of us are on our way to subdue nearby monsters, so I’m here to collect some emergency supplies.”

“O-On that shelf, I put the hemostatic medicine... poison antidotes, and healing salves in that bag there...”

Hebaron walked over to the shelf and grabbed the sack and left the infirmary with a leap in his footsteps. Max spent the rest of her time sitting by the desk and reading about southern medicine. She needed to get back before the sunsets. It was early, but Riftan could come back early again and she didn’t want to meet him. Returning, she quickly ate dinner and got into bed.

This time, he returned only after she really fell asleep. Max was being diligent in avoiding him. Every day she went to bed early and started the day late so, after being completely ignored for three days, Riftan’s patience finally ran out.

Max was in the infirmary tending to the knights’ scrapes and bruises when Riftan suddenly appeared. Hebaron and a couple of other gentlemen sneakily followed behind him, not wanting to miss a single second of the pair’s fighting spectacle. She looked at them briefly and quickly lowered her head before pretending to jot down notes on a parchment. Riftan walked over to the desk and looked down at her with a grim expression.

“Maxi, talk to me.”

He begged, but Max didn’t even bother to lift her head, while her quill moved against the parchment. She could feel his fierce gaze piercing the crown of her head.

“Maximillian Calypse, can’t you hear me?” Riftan uttered word per word.

“Sir Nirta.”

Max turned to Hebaron, who was leaning against the wall. The knight leaped to his feet and looked at her in confusion, while ignoring Riftan who was persistently staring at her.

“Can you tell the person in front of me... that I have n-nothing to say?”

There was an eerie silence. Hebaron looked between her and Riftan before hesitantly opening his mouth.

“Commander... your wife has nothing to say to you.”

“I heard it!” He gritted his teeth and hit the desk so hard Max was sure it would break. “I have something to say.”

“Sir Nirta.” Hebaron looked at her with obvious discomfort on his features, but Max simply pretended she hadn’t noticed and continued. “Please tell the person in front of me... that I don’t want to h-hear what he has to say...”

“Commander... your wife said that she...”

“I have ears too!”

Riftan screamed through gritted teeth, then lowered his head and held her face in his hands, trying to force her to look into his eyes. But Max stubbornly fought to avoid it. Desperate and agitated, he was completely lost.

“Don’t pretend I’m not here. Look at me and talk to me!”

“N-no... I don’t want to...”

Riftan inhaled deeply at her answer. He opened his mouth to speak, his tone completely broken.

“Maxi, I spoke wrongly last time. I never wanted to demean or ignore your achievements.” He continued to desperately appeal to her even as she continued to avoid gaze. “I was just worried about you. I don’t want to be a burden to you! If you are faced with this role, people will not stop pestering you to heal them. One day you may get into a situation like before. Damn it, I don’t want you to suffer from that!”

“Do you... do you think I can’t h-handle that... Riftan?” Max, whose gaze was still fixed on the wooden desk, managed to mutter in a suppressed voice. “Probably it’s because you think... I can’t be as good as Princess A-agnes. That’s why... you’re s-so worried.”

“Why does that name keep popping up? Damn it, forget about Princess Agnes!” Riftan ruffled his head in defeat. “Maxi, please. Look at me. Look at my face and talk to me.”

The desperation in his tone was similar to that of a pitiful child. Unable to resist, Max slowly raised her head. Riftan groaned in pain at the tears gathering around her eyes.

“Really, I didn’t mean to offend you.” He panicked and grabbed her face with his big hands again. “I just want you to live a comfortable life.”

“Even if I-I... don’t want that?” She murmured in a very tight tone and looked at his surprised expression, as if her words had just stabbed him in the heart. She forced herself to speak and her voice came out trembling. “Riftan... I don’t want to live comfortably... I... want to do something I’m capable of. Learning new things... using m-magic... it’s amazing and fun... and rewarding... when you tell me you don’t want me to do a-anything... it breaks my heart.”

Riftan pursed his lips and lowered his head in complete defeat. His expression was full of despondency.

“I understand what you’re saying.” He muttered helplessly. “If you really want to be a healer, then do it. Just please don’t look at me with that face. Never avoid me.”

Riftan was like a sobbing child pleading for his parents’ love. She was the one hurt by his words, so why did he look like someone who had been tortured for days and days? Max looked into his eyes doubtfully. When she realized he was waiting for an answer, she gave a slight nod of her head. Riftan’s shoulders, rigid with tension, dropped visibly with relief and he pulled her tightly into his arms.

At that moment, the knights who were silently watching their fight broke into applause for the satisfying conclusion. Max’s face turned beet red as she realized she had such a childish fight in front of an audience, but Riftan only growled violently at the intrigued knights.

“Get out of here if you’re done watching.”

Note – FL: this is one of the funniest chapter to me XD I love how Maxi involved Sir Nirta HAHAHA

Nymeria: SOOO we had actual communication here! That’s so fricking rare, I’m satisfied T^T Hopefully they can start to develop a more mature relationship from now on, as equals! Also, Maxi is so cute when she’s angry, I keep being reminded of my red cat hissing when I piss him off lmao (And we all know that the one who started the applause was Hebaron, right?)