Nathasia instinctively shrank backward, seeing that he was indeed walking towards her.
Damien sat down on a chair before the sofa and said as he gestured, "Come near. Your lips look quite swollen."
A light of surprise shone in Nathasia's eyes, wondering whether she heard him right or not. But seeing his serious expression and how he was still extending out a hand while on his other hand he was holding an ice pack, she knew she did indeed hear him right.
"What are you looking at?" Damien asked with knitted brows.
"N-Nothing. It's just...." Nathasia didn't know what to say since this whole gesture was surprising. She never thought he would offer to soothe her injuries for her considering how he had been ever since they were on the run.
Then thinking back to how her lip got swollen because of his slap, she wondered if he was doing it out of guilt or because he wanted to. But then again, she still felt that he wasn't the type of person who would do something out of guilt, at least not now.
She slowly extended out her head, still feeling stupefied by his gesture, and saw him extending his hand out towards her lips, making her cheeks get dyed in a delicate pink.
"Ow…" Nathasia grimaced as he pressed the ice pack on her lips gently and the way he continued to softly press the ice pack against her skin made her wonder in surprise again if what was happening was not an illusion.
But then, seeing again how serious and focused he was in treating her swollen lip, she felt that he indeed looked more handsome and magnetically charming than before.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})She could also see how his previously frigid eyes now had a touch of softness in them as he continued to apply the ice pack on her lips.
She then remembered how he answered her queries as well when previously he would either ignore her or tell her to shut up.
She wondered what change came over him right after he woke up to be this gentle and caring. Even though he wasn't saying any soothing words, his gesture was more than soothing for her, especially when it came from him.
She now felt glad that she was able to stop him from killing the mother and son pair since otherwise, he would definitely not be like this now.
Even if it seemed like he was nonchalant about killing people, she felt that somewhere inside, he still didn't want to kill people for no reason at all.
She then noticed how his face was looking a bit pale and...tired as if he had not been sleeping and eating for days.
"What happened to your powers?" She suddenly asked, seeing that this was the best time to ask.
Damien slowly moved his gaze over to hers and stopped moving his hand. He then looked away and continued to treat her as he said after a moment of brief silence, "I don't know. I should probably ask whoever made me like this."
Sensing the resentment in his tone, Nathasia wondered if he was talking about the Great Calamity. She was now even more curious and eager to ask him what happened that day and why he did what he did.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})She still refused to believe that he did it of his own volition, especially when he was hailed as the Divine Child by everyone and loved by the world.
The question she wanted to ask was on the tip of her tongue, but then she swallowed them, feeling that she shouldn't make his mood sour again.
Even the fact that he doesn't seem moody like before was a great thing.
"There. It should look alright soon," Damien said as he leaned back after treating her swollen lips.
Damien felt as if he had regained some clarity of mind and control over his emotions after waking up. Strangely enough, he didn't feel as if his mind was in shambles like before.
Nathasia slowly touched her lips and felt a sense of warmth and coolness spreading from her lips which made her feel better as a whole.
Her lips didn't seem swollen like before, and instead, she was not even feeling any sense of uncomfortableness on her lips.
Damien then suddenly extended his hand out and pressed her back slightly, much to her surprise.
"Ahh!" Nathasia grimaced as she shrunk her back, feeling a stinging sensation on her back.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"You hurt your back as well, right? When you hit your back against the wall?" Damien asked as he receded his hand.
Nathasia rubbed her back with her hand, realizing that he was trying to check up on her injuries.
She lowered her head as a sense of warmth spread across her chest. She slowly nodded her head as she said in a low voice, "Yes...but it will go away on its own."
"Nonsense. I barely pressed your back, and you already reacted like that. Your back must be in quite a bad shape," Damien said in a firm tone.
Nathasia glanced away, knowing that he was right, and now that her mind was no longer distracted, she could clearly feel the pain stemming from her back and stomach.
She felt as if she would have a hard time walking with her back hurting like this.
"Take off your dress. Let me treat your back," Damien said in a serious tone with a calm expression.
"Ehhh?" Nathasia was bewildered hearing his words but seeing how he asked without any change in his expression made her think that he wasn't kidding. And seeing how serious his face looked, it seemed as if he asked only because he wanted to treat her back and not with any ulterior motives.
Her face reddened as she hugged her shoulders, "It's fine. You don't have to worry about it…I can take care of it myself."
"Treat it yourself? How are you going to apply an ice pack on your back by yourself? If I don't treat it now, you will not be able to walk properly for at least a few days. We can't afford that risk, especially when this place could get compromised any time," Damien said in a warning tone.
Nathasia bit her lip, feeling embarrassed and conflicted, not knowing what to do, especially when she had never taken off her dress before any man.
