She sobbed and took a deep breath. The smell of horses and the steely scent of his iron armor entered her lungs. Riftan placed both his hands on the windowsill and stared at the crescent moon floating on the sky. A tense flowing aura that could cut emitted from his back; he was still cladded in armor. Max had no idea what to say. She stared at his tense back with a hazy vision and as she lowered her gaze down to her knees, she heard a light knock on the door.
"Sir Calypse, the hot water is ready."
Ruth announced from the other side of the door. Riftan slowly turned and opened the door. Max scooted to the edge of the bed to avoid the light that creeped in from the hallway. Ruth was shooting a worried glance over Riftan's shoulder.
"Here, I brought some clean towels and a set of clothes to change into. As for the food..."
"Bring the food up an hour from now."
Riftan blocked the door with his broad shoulders as if preventing Ruth from entering. He then grabbed the basin, towel, and clothes from him, shutting the door before the wizard could say anything more. Max gazed nervously at Riftan as he approached the bed with the basin in his hands. He placed the basin filled with steaming hot water by the bedside table and dipped a towel into it, then wringed the towel and brought it close to her face. Max reflexively flinched, her throat tightening at his move. Riftan's lips hardened and he spoke in a strangely tight voice.
"I'll wipe off the blood."
"Ah..."
After Riftan had wiped her face clean, he then carefully removed her robe, wiping off the bloodstains from her bare shoulders and back. Max felt miserable and helpless as she wordlessly accepted his care. Every time the warm towel would glide down her back, she felt shameful, she felt an overwhelming urge to run and hide away somewhere, but Riftan diligently wiped away the dried blood and scabs off her bare back, not paying attention to her uneasy expression. Max bit her lips anxiously as she felt his trembling fingertips graze her skin. After a while of wiping down her back, and rinsing the towel several times, he spoke with his mouth barely opening.
"... How often did this happen?"
Max's shoulders tensed; she avoided his gaze and averted her eyes from side to side, like a trapped animal looking for an escape. She forced a stiff smile.
"Wh-what... Do you mean?"
She heard his breathing grow heavier. Max looked away, fiddling with her tangled, messy hair with trembling hands. Despite being silent, Riftan's aura probed for an answer. She tried to ignore it but being unable to withstand the heavy tension, she eventually murmured in an awkward tone.
"It di-didn't happen... that o-often. It's ju-just... that he was extremely f-furious at me... today. U-usually, it's not this... bad..."
He stared at her with an undecipherable expression as she struggled to protect the last ounces of her remaining pride. His gaze felt like he was looking through her, and Max's face turned red in embarrassment.
"Fa-father is... e-exceptionally s-strict... at times, when he gets f-furious..."
"Since when was he doing this to you?"
Riftan brushed off her pathetic effort of trying to cover up the incident like it was no big deal and probed her relentlessly. Max held her breath like she was a cornered person, back pressed helplessly against a wall. She needed a shield, something to wrap her protectively and somehow save her remaining pride. She felt so insecure, like a weak, defenseless, bare infant defending herself from a man clad in armor. Max pulled the blanket nearer to her like it was a shield and looked at him fiercely. That hostility was triggered by the cruelty of being prodded to reveal everything.
