The old man nodded and drank half of it without wasting any time. However, he didn't give the rest to his wife.
He glanced at Max and asked, "Young sir, now that I've drunk it, can we not give this to her until we know whether it's effective or not?"
Before Max could say anything, the old woman angrily said, "What? You want to leave alone? Give that to me."
The old looked at her with a tender gaze and smiled, "My dear, if something were to happen to me, Maria would have you at least for one more year and won't give in to despair. So, I won't give it to you."
Tears welled up in her eyes when she heard this and gently berated, "You stupid old man, you should've let me drink it if this was the case. Why would you act so selfish?"
...
'Such pure love!' Max sighed in his heart when he saw them bickering like that.
He smiled lightly and said, "Elders, you don't have to worry. This is a high-quality medicine. It can cure you of your illness with no side effects. If you still don't believe me, just wait for a few seconds, you'll know."
Hearing this, the old man smiled and said to his wife, "Do you hear what young sir is saying? We just have to wait a few moments. If nothing goes wrong, I'll let you drink it."
"You...!" The old woman wasn't resigned, but it was as if Max's confidence was contagious, she felt a little assured in her heart and didn't continue arguing.
But despite that, her murky eyes, which stared at her husband without blinking, revealed her inner turmoil.
As they waited, time slowly passed.
30 seconds... One minutes.... Five minutes...
"Argh!" After five minutes, the old man suddenly let out a pained cry and flopped on the wooden bed.
"Are you alright? What happened? Cough! Cough!" The old woman's face went pale seeing her husband cry and convulsed in pain.
She glared at Max and shouted, "See what you've done! We told cough! We told you that taking medicine would kill us."
As she started shouting, Max kept a calm face, and his gaze focused on the old man.
Although it looked as if he was going to die at any moment, Max knew it was only because the antidote was killing the poison that had integrated with their cells. So, it was obvious he would feel excruciating pain in the process.
"Father!" Suddenly, Maria's cry sounded from the other room. She came running and was about to hold his father but Max stopped her.
Maria's eyes were red as she watched her father writhe in extreme pain.
She glanced at Max and urgently shouted, "What happened? What happened to my father?"
Max didn't answer her. He held her tightly in his arms and prevent her from looking at her father since that would only make her feel worse. However, his pained cried still reached her ears, which kept gnawing at her heart. She tried her best to struggle free and run up to her father but couldn't. She was like a trapped bird in a cage in his arms and could only sob in his chest.
Rima, Belen and others also came out and, seeing Maria's father in that state, they frowned, not understanding what was happening.
"B-Big sister, what is happening to that grandpa?" Little Arya worriedly asked.
Swoosh!
Rima waved her hand. Her sound elemental Mana surged out and formed a barrier around little Arya, blocking all the sounds from outside.
After she started practicing [Sonic Echo], her mastery over the sound element increased significantly. She could now manipulate her elemental Mana to do some small things such as sound proofing a small area.
After blocking all the sounds, she stepped in front of her, also blocking her vision.
Although little Arya had seen much cruelty and bloodshed in the dark mages' lair, she was still a child. So, Rima instinctively wanted to prevent her from witnessing this painful scene.
However, how would she have expected that little Arya wouldn't obediently stay behind her and would dash toward the old man instead?
She sat on her knees and pressed her tiny hands on his forehead.
Whoosh!
A gentle green light enveloped her body, which then travelled from her hands to the old man's forehead.
A while later, the old man's cries gradually calmed down, and his body wasn't twitching as violently as before.
This surprised Max and the company quite a lot. Although they already knew little Arya could heal injuries with her halo, they never expected she could also lessen the pain, too.
Seeing her husband had stopped crying, Maria's mother also calmed down. She threw a grateful look at little Arya and looked at her husband's face. To her immense surprise, she noticed his face looked slightly healthier than before.
Suddenly, her heart jumped in excitement and she mumbled in disbelief, "He... he is... healing?"
"Healing?" Maria heard her mother, and she also stopped crying. Raising her head, she looked at Max, her limpid eyes flashed with much excitement and anticipation as she asked, "My... my lord, h-have you given some medicine to my father? Is that why he is in that state?"
"Yes." Max lightly smiled and nodded. "He is in so much pain because the medicine is working. So, don't worry. He will be completely fine after a while."
Saying this, he gently wiped her tears.
Maria's face blossomed with a beautiful smile, and she tightly hugged him. With her head resting on his chest, she said in a low voice, "Thank you."
Max shook his head and tightened his hold around her delicate body and laughed lightly, "You silly girl. You are my woman. So, it's only natural that I take care of my in-laws."
Maria trembled slightly when she heard this, and warmth surged in her heart.
"Mm. Thank you."
When Rima, Belen and Leticia saw them embracing each other, they smiled. There was no hint of envy on their faces.
When Maria's mother saw her daughter curled up in his arms, she felt happy for her. At the same time, she felt guilty that she shouted at him and didn't believe him.
She glanced at her husband and, seeing that his condition had stabilized now, she sighed in relief.
She then turned her gaze toward Max and Maria and coughed lightly, "Cough! Little Maria, would you mind letting him go for a moment? I need to speak to him."
"Ah~" Hearing this, Maria let out a low cry and jumped away from him like a frightened cat and her face flushed red in embarrassment.
Seeing her act so bashfully, her mother smiled. She slowly stood up from the bed and bowed toward Max. "Thank you, young sir. We will never forget your great kindness, and I apologize for not believing you and shouting at you."
Max hurriedly walked up to her and helped her up and respectfully said, "Please don't bow to me, elder. I should be the one to do it. As for helping you, it's only natural since we are relatives from now on and it's my responsibility to take care of you guys."
Seeing him behave so humbly, she nodded her head, a gratified and happy expression on her face as she said, "With such a good man taking caring of my daughter, I won't worry even if I were to die right now."
*****
Note
I've set weekly, Monthly and Gift Bonus chapter goals. (Check Author's note) Please help me complete them so I've enough motivation to pump out more chapters for you. Enjoy~
