Chapter 116: Kiki’s Face  

In the middle of the wide lawn stood a large white tent, open on all sides. Inside, heat wafted up from a massive barbecue grill.  

That was where Wilhelm and Ethan were standing.  

Around the big tent, smaller tents were clustered together, and people dressed in traditional clothing gathered inside them. The vibrant colors of their outfits stood out immediately.  

‘Who are these people? They look like they’re dressed as Heidi from the Alps.’  

There were about 30 of them.  

Women with white scarves on their heads, wearing white linen blouses paired with green vests. Below, they wore red and black vertically striped skirts and white aprons embroidered with wildflowers. The men wore similarly styled traditional clothing, and they were all chatting happily.  

Most of them had simple, honest faces, the epitome of mountain villagers.  

They were so engrossed in their conversations that they hadn’t noticed my arrival.  

Adorable children in traditional outfits darted between the tents, and one of them zipped past me in a flash.  

“My lady!”  

Wilhelm came running over, waving a pair of barbecue tongs. In his large hand, the tongs looked like a mere toy. Ethan followed closely behind him.  

“My lady, how have you been?”  

“Wilhelm, you look well.”  

Had he been weight training during his leave? Seeing Wilhelm’s bulked-up physique in this sweltering weather made me feel even more suffocated.  

“Haha, without my health, I’d be a corpse! Where else would the strength from all this meat go?”  

“Ah, I see.”  

Wilhelm was as protein-packed as ever.  

I loved meat too, but this man was the real deal.  

Even General Ethan, whose face was red from grilling meat, looked in good spirits.  

“How have you been, my lady?”  

“Ethan, have you been well? Did you enjoy your leave?”  

“Yes. Wilhelm and I returned to our hometown.”  

“Ah, that’s right.”  

I’d heard they were from a village near the Everlasting Snow Mountains, where they had once gone to find the Valian flower. After the war ended, Xavier had given the generals leave, and the two of them always used that time to visit their hometown.  

“My lady, please accept our greetings.”  

At Ethan’s lead, both generals placed their hands over their chests and bent their knees in a knightly bow.  

Suddenly, the murmuring of the crowd quieted, and the atmosphere shifted. As the two showed me their respect, the people who had been chatting turned their attention to me.  

The villagers in their traditional attire, looking bewildered, bowed toward me.  

I raised my hand slightly to acknowledge their greetings and asked,  

“Ethan, who are these people?”  

“They’re from our hometown. Some of them are my family.”  

“Your hometown?”  

“Yes.”  

So, they were grilling meat for these people?  

Just as Ethan was about to explain in more detail, a familiar voice interrupted.  

“Of course, you came down too.”  

Xavier appeared in the garden. He had shed his formal uniform for a casual white shirt and black trousers. With the sleeves of his shirt rolled up to his elbows, he looked refreshingly cool.  

Since we’d been so busy with work that we hadn’t had time to talk, I got excited and blurted out,  

“Did you come down because you smelled the meat, Xavier?”  

…Ah, my loose tongue.  

It had been days since I’d last seen him, and this was the best I could say?  

“What nonsense. I’m not Wilhelm, you know.”  

The man in question looked over with an expression that seemed to say, “Why me?” Xavier patted Wilhelm on the shoulder and asked me,  

“Or did you come out here because you smelled the meat?”  

“Of course!”  

I answered confidently, raising the corners of my mouth in a grin.  

If there’s meat, it’s only right to eat it.  

“When I went to your room to get you, you weren’t there. Naturally, I figured you’d be around here.”  

“Spot on. I’ll take that as a compliment.”  

Xavier smiled faintly.  

It had been so long since I’d seen his smile.  

Ah, it was healing.  

‘I’ve been so parched.’  

I suddenly realized how much I’d missed Xavier, as much as my parched throat needed water.  

Wilhelm, still holding the tongs and staring blankly at us, had his head forcibly pushed down by Ethan, who said,  

“Then, Your Grace, we’ll continue grilling meat for everyone.”  

“Make sure to grill something special for Yuria.”  

As he said this, Xavier glanced at me.  

“She’s been particularly low on energy these days.”  

“Yes, Your Grace!”  

Wilhelm and Ethan responded energetically and returned to the central tent.  

“It’s hot. Let’s go find a place to sit.”  

“Alright.”  

Xavier and I chose one of the tents and went inside.  

The white tent provided shade under the blazing sun. Magic stones emitting a natural cooling effect were placed in special cases and hung at the corners of the table and tent, making the interior surprisingly cool.  

“This is refreshing.”  

“Maybe because it’s a smaller space, the cooling effect is stronger.”  

“Oh, look at this!”  

The square folding table inside the tent looked familiar. It was the same kind used at the camp in the Bern Mountains during mealtime.  

“Albert has a knack for repurposing things from the camp.”  

“It’s nice to see it again.”  

‘Xavier had once sat across from me here, toasting me with a drink, and even finishing every last bite of the chicken porridge I’d made.’  

Memories from that time came flooding back.  

I ran my hand over the slightly rough surface of the table before sitting down slowly.  

Xavier, too, gazed at the table for a moment before speaking.  

“Back then, I didn’t realize…”  

He smiled softly at me and, instead of sitting, unfolded a neatly placed napkin on the table and approached me from behind.  

“Xavier?”  

“I never imagined that the woman waving her soot-covered hands would become my wife.”  

“You remember the food I cooked…?”  

“Of course. It was delicious.”  

His voice came from just behind my ear. His strong arms, holding the white napkin, extended forward, and I found myself naturally leaning into his broad chest.  

Thump.  

The napkin fluttered through the air and landed gently on my lap.  

As I stared down at it, his firm arms softly encircled my shoulders.  

For a moment, time seemed to slow in the lively garden.  

It was as if we were the only two people in the world, with all other sounds muted.  

Only the irregular rhythm of quiet and the sound of my heartbeat filled the space.  

“How could I forget the bold young lady who came to the battlefield to make a request? You claimed you wanted a carefree life, yet you worked so tirelessly with your small frame.”  

Xavier chuckled, his warm breath brushing against the nape of my neck.  

“How do you know that?”  

“On the day you fell ill, I covered you with a blanket, and you told me yourself.”  

“So, it really was you who left that recovery tonic that day?”  

“Yes.”  

I’d suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed made my lips twitch upward uncontrollably.  

Feeling the heat rise to my cheeks, I replied nonchalantly,  

“You must have been really grateful to me.”  

“Grateful? That’s not all I felt.”  

“!”  

“Throughout it all, I wanted to see you.”  

As his voice faded into the distance, the strong arms around my shoulders slowly released me.  

His hands rested lightly on my shoulders before his warm lips brushed against my cheek. I heard the sound of him taking a deep breath.  

“I missed you more than the scent of the saintess, Yuria.”  

Feeling the lingering warmth of his lips, I turned to see Xavier sitting beside me with a dazed expression.  

“What? Do you wish for more?”  

Without realizing it, I nodded. His face, like mine, was flushed red.  

If I could, I would have thrown all my work aside to spend a leisurely time with Xavier.  

“I feel the same, but it can’t be helped right now.”  

As if to confirm his words, the muted sounds around us returned. Laughter and chatter from the open surroundings filled the air once more.  

Realizing the meaning behind Xavier’s words made my face burn.  

That’s when I noticed the scarred back of Xavier’s hand.  

“Xavier, I have something for you.”  

I pulled out a round patch I always carried in my sleeve. It was a high-dosage holy power storage device I’d asked Daniel to specially create.  

When I placed the sheet of patches, covered in dozens of them, on the table, Xavier immediately frowned.  

“I told you I didn’t want that.”  

“Still, you never know.”  

I grabbed his hand and examined the back of it. Though the bandages had been removed, scars remained on his elegant knuckles.  

“This will help fade the scars.”  

I tried peeling off one of the patches, decorated with a drawing of a Russian Blue cat.  

But Xavier’s intense gaze made me fumble.  

“Strange. Why isn’t it coming off easily?”  

“See? I told you, just kiss it instead.”  

Xavier tilted his chin slightly as he spoke.  

“Forget it! Do you know how much effort I put into drawing this?”  

“You drew this yourself?”  

“Yes. …Ah, there we go!”  

I managed to stick three patches onto the back of his hand.  

As Xavier inspected the patches closely, he asked,  

“So, this is supposed to be me?”  

“That’s right. I drew it myself. Isn’t it cute?”  

Though I wasn’t skilled at drawing, I’d poured my heart into sketching Xavier with care.  

There was a sleeping Kiki, a crying Kiki, and a Kiki eating food, among others.  

Feeling proud, I waited for his praise.  

“Why did you draw Kiki instead of my face?”  

He pointed at his face with a puzzled expression.  

Did he really not know? Or was he pretending not to?  

Well, he hated his feline form, so maybe he wasn’t thrilled about it.  

But Kiki was adorable.  

“Your face was too hard to draw.”  

“Why?”  

Xavier asked persistently, genuinely curious.  

“I’m not good at drawing, and also…”  

‘How could I possibly capture that ridiculously handsome face?’  

I puffed out my lips and answered,  

“Because you’re ugly.”  

For a moment, Xavier’s eyes widened in shock.  

“You think I’m ugly? Are you serious?”