Chapter Thirteen

"Wake up!" Celius felt something on his chest. He slowly opened his eyes and found Rislia sitting on him. Her eyes were filled with cute anger. "Hurry, why are you sleeping so long?" He felt her attack his chest and he immediately woke up.

As he got up in such quick speed, Rislia almost flew off of him, but luckily he caught her. He looked outside of his room's window and found that the sky was very blue, nothing like the morning yellow. 'Crap, I slept in!' He looked at Rislia's face which was still a sleepy mess. He picked her up and began to wash her face and body in the water basin. Usually, his grandpa changed the water in the basin, but since he wasn't around Celius would have to do that later. After cleaning Rislia and putting some clothes on her, he quickly woke up Elrith and Alura. Fortunately, he found that the two were already awake. Elrith was sitting down while staring blankly at his stick, while Alura laid on the bed pretending to be asleep. He easily caught her because of her trembling eyelids, and the smirk on her face. "Alright both of you, let's go get ready." He picked up Alura from the bed, who began to giggle and laugh playfully. Elrith, on the other hand, stood up and walked out of the room without much complaint.

He got the twins ready quickly and gave them sliced fruits for breakfast. Nothing too extravagant since they were already late. "Brother, why are we late?" Alura asked him while eating her sliced peaches.

"I don't know, maybe I was too tired?" He doubtfully said this. Although he was tired, that didn't mean he would wake up late. He even slept earlier than normal. Celius just shrugged and continued to feed his siblings. After everyone was done, he quickly walked them out the door. Surprisingly, he found Ennie walking towards his house. "Ennie?"

"Celius? What are you doing here?" The second she said this, she regretted it. "I mean, what are you doing here at such an hour? Shouldn't you be working on your field?"

A bitter smile appeared on Celius' face. "I slept in…" He spoke these words with a bit of embarrassment. He usually never slept in, even if he worked ten times harder than he did the day before.

Seeing the embarrassed Celius, Ennie couldn't help but laugh. "You? Even you can wake up late?" Celius didn't know what to say. It was new to him too. Maybe when he first started taking care of the three, he would sometimes sleep in, but that was mostly because of the stress and emotional strain of his parents being gone. He wasn't a tardy person.

"I have no clue how. Well, what are you doing here?" He was a little confused as to why she would visit.

"Oh, I was here to visit grandpa Amlenor and Rislia to give them some food. My mom sent it." Celius finally noticed the little basket in her hands.

"Umm, Grandpa isn't here, plus he won't be here for a while. He has some work to do related to the festival, so I was going to look after the three today." He explained slowly.

"You?��� She was a little confused. "What about your field? Were you planning on taking a few days off?" She didn't think this would be the case since Celius was such a workaholic.

"No, I was planning on going there with Rislia and working while she played. Since danger level is not super high, she would be safe to a certain extent. Alura and Elrith would join her after they were done their classes, which started about thirty minutes ago. You can walk with me while I go there if you'd like." He was in a hurry, but he didn't want to be rude. The best compromise was for her to walk with him.

"Sure." She nodded her head and followed Celius. "Celius, why don't you just drop Rislia and the twins at my place? My mom can look after them while you work. Although the danger is low in the fields, it is still there, plus they would get in your way, right?"

"I can't do that; your mom is already busy with Luna. Plus, she has lots of other things to do, so I can't just dump these three on her. Anyways, it's no big deal if they come with me. It could be like a camping trip or something. Plus, I will get to spend more time with them." He didn't want the three intruding on Aunt Vena's house since he thought it would be way too rude. Plus, it was only a few days and then his aunt would be there to take care of the three. Also, when his aunt would be gone, his grandpa would be able to take care of them again. Everything would go back to normal.

"Celius, why are you treating us like outsiders? We're family, aren't we? As their aunt, my mom wouldn't mind one bit. So just drop them at my house." Ennie was able to tell that Celius still had his reservations and she wanted to remove those.

"Umm, are you sure?" it would be easier for him, but he found it a little weird. "Like, your mother probably has a way she likes doing things, and what if these three get in the way or do something to annoy her? I know your mother wouldn't mind, but I definitely wouldn't like these three annoying your mom."

"If you're really worried about that, then why don't I babysit them at your house?" When she said this, Celius began to cough out loud. Ennie crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "What? Do you think that I can't do it?"

Feeling a little awkward, Celius shook his head. "It's not that, but have you ever taken care of kids? Like, this young? Especially Rislia, she has needs that are a hassle. Alura and Elrith can handle themselves to a certain extent, but Elrith is still kind of dimwitted. Alura is smart, but she is still little. Children are difficult to handle." He didn't want to scare her, but children were no easy task. Celius genuinely found it easier to cut trees for hours then caring for kids. There was less stress when cutting trees, plus it was straightforward. Caring for kids was a completely different story. One would have to be on their feet to make sure they get what they want, not cry, throw a tantrum or anything else.

"So, you think I can't do it?" Celius smiled awkwardly but didn't comment. This only made Ennie more displeased. "Celius, I have a little sister and do occasionally look after her. Plus, these three do like me, right?" She looked at Rislia when she spoke, and the latter nodded her head with a smile. Alura and Elrith also nodded their heads. "See? Trust me, I can do it. If anything does happen, I'll come running to you or just ask my mom."

"Are you sure?" They finally got to the class area and Celius quickly dropped the twins off. Of course, he got an earful from the teacher, but luckily she was from out of town, so she only spoke about him being late, and about nothing else. After making sure they were set, he walked away with Rislia and Ennie. He looked back at Ennie and asked once again. "Are you sure? Like I said, kids are hard to handle. Although Rislia likes you and all, she might not feel comfortable around someone other than me and grandpa for a long period. Sometimes she doesn't even like being around grandpa, so are you sure?"

"Relax Celius, I can handle it." She smiled in confidence. Celius sighed and walked her back to his house.

"Alright, then let me give you a run-through on their likes and dislikes, their habits, moods, and what to do in some situations, etc." Celius put on a serious face and began to explain. "The easiest to handle is Alura. She is generally very calm and mature. She also knows where most things in the house are, so if you can't find anything ask her. She likes…" He began to explain all the details on Alura, of course only the main points. "As for Elrith, he also isn't too hard to manage, but when he gets cranky, he can be very difficult. He likes…" Once again, he began to explain the situation revolving around Elrith. "Finally, there is Rislia. Being the youngest, she is the hardest to handle. She is cute when she wants to be but when she is mad and cranky, then things become hard. She has many mood swings, some are too difficult to handle, some easy. Even I get a headache sometimes. Her likes are…" Then came things related to Rislia. Her information was more than two times that of Elrith and Alura combined.

"Alright, I got it." She said with confidence, but her mind was in turmoil. 'This is so much information. How am I going to remember all of this, but it shouldn't be too hard? Celius seems to be able to do it quite easily. I have seen mom handle Luna as well, so it shouldn't be too bad, right?'

"Remember, after about two hours, Alura and Elrith will be done their classes. So, make sure not to forget them because they don't know the way back. If you have any problems, you know where my field is, so just bring the three there." Ennie nodded her head over and over again.

"Celius, I got it, so relax. Just get to work and I will handle it. Trust me, they're my cousins, I will handle it." She smiled weakly as her mind was exhausted from all the information. Celius was still hesitating but seeing that she wanted to do it, plus she kept saying she could, then he didn't find any harm in letting her try. Plus, what was the worst that could happen?

"Rislia, come here," Celius called out to Rislia who was playing in her room. She came out of the room running with her little feet. She jumped into his arms and Celius began to kiss her all over her face. "Brother is going to go to work now, alright?"

"Ok." She looked into his eyes and smiled cutely.

"Big sister Ennie will stay with you today, alright?" He had to make sure she understood something before he left.

Rislia looked at Ennie before looking back at Celius. "Grandpa?"

"No, Rislia. Grandpa is busy, so big sister Ennie will be here to play with you, ok? Big brother Elrith and big sister Alura will be home soon, so you can play with them too when they come, ok?" His adorable little sister put her little finger on her chin and thought for a moment. She then smiled quietly again.

"Ok." Seeing that she understood, at least somewhat of what he was saying, Celius smiled. He gave her a bunch of kisses again and she giggled in his arms. He then passed her to Ennie, who happily took her in her arms. He walked towards the door, while Ennie followed behind him. Just before he left, he looked at Rislia once again and felt a little reluctant.

"Rislia, brother will be home soon, so don't bug big sister Ennie. When I come back, I will bring lots of candy for you and toys, alright?" Rislia nodded her head with a smile. "Alright, give me a kiss before I leave." He leaned forward and Rislia gave him a small peck on his cheek. Celius smiled before turning around and walking away.

Watching Celius walk away, Ennie couldn't help but get a weird feeling in her heart. 'Is this not similar to how a father goes off to work while his wife and kids send him off?' When she thought this, she quickly walked back into the house and closed the door. Her face was somewhat flushed, but she regained her calm easily. 'Alright, so I have a few hours before I have to pick up the twins.'

"Sister Ennie?" She suddenly hears a little voice and so looked at Rislia, who was staring back at her with her big green eyes.

"Yes, Rislia?" Ennie also found Rislia to be an adorable child, she couldn't help but smile when she saw her cute face.

"I want to play." When she said this, Ennie quickly thought back to what Celius explained about the games Rislia liked.

Rislia likes to play games like hide'n'seek, but you can't let her hide for too long or she will get scared and start crying. Also, you have to hide in an open place, because if you are hidden too well, she will get scared and start crying. If you play house with her, you have to be really into it, she can tell if you are having fun or not quite easily. If she finds that you're bored, she will start crying. She also likes tag, but you can never catch her, or she will cry. If she is chasing you, don't get caught too easily or she will get mad and cry, but don't be too difficult or she will get frustrated and cry.

"What do you want to play? Tag? House? What about hide'n'seek?" She spoke quickly, listing the games that Celius said she liked to play.

Rislia pondered for a moment before answering. "House." She then quickly went into her room and brought out two dolls. Although these dolls weren't very pretty, they were good enough for Rislia. She handed the bigger doll to Ennie and then dragged her into her bedroom.

Ennie allowed her to pull her and so she entered Rislia's and Celius' room. She then began to play with Rislia. She genuinely enjoyed playing with Rislia, since the girl was so cute. "Where is the tea? I'm so thirsty." They began to roleplay and Rislia's laughter filled the house.

Soon an hour passed and Rislia started to get bored. "Tag!" She looked at Ennie and spoke. The latter nodded her head and began to chase her. Rislia ran quickly on her two little feet, laughing loudly whenever Ennie almost caught her but didn't.

Bump!

As Rislia was running and looking back, she bumped into the wall, head first. "Ah! Ehhh!" As expected, she began to cry loudly on the ground.

"Rislia!" Ennie's face went completely pale. She quickly picked Rislia up and slowly rubbed her head. "It's ok, it's ok." Of course, Rislia didn't stop crying from that.

"Brother! Ehh!" She began to fling her arms around, calling for Celius. Ennie tried everything to calm her down. She gave her fruits. Tried to make her laugh. Tickled her. She did everything she thought would work, but in the end, nothing did.

'What should I do? Think, what advice did Celius give you?' She began to think back on what Celius said.

If Rislia begins to cry for any reason, take her outside for a walk, it will calm her down a little. Let her play by the pond, maybe cradle her while softly telling her a story.

Thinking about all of this, Ennie gently picked Rislia up and started walking for the door. "Rislia, do you want to go for a walk? We can go to the market and get some candy. Do you want some?"

Hearing her words, Rislia began to slowly calm down, however, she continued to sniffle quietly while nodding her head. Ennie smiled when she saw this and walked outside of the house with Rislia. She shut the door and headed towards the market. On their way, she would stop by some trees and let Rislia touch the leaves or grab flowers. Sometimes small critters would be lurking on the trees, so she would stop and let Rislia observe them, of course at a safe distance.

"Screw off!" Back in the field, Celius was surprisingly in combat with an animal. Luckily it wasn't anything too strong, but it was a large boar. It had tough skin, plus its tusks weren't easy to handle. A small section of the fence was destroyed, with the boar trying to enter the field. 'Who would have thought that even the beginning stages of the flower's growth would release such dense essence. Fortunately, I didn't bring Rislia, or she might have been frightened or worse, hurt.' With an ax in his hands, he swung at the large boar, sadly it was too fast. It was able to dodge with ease, which began to annoy him quite a bit.

HURRPH

A deep snort came from the boar as it charged towards Celius. "Come, you fat pig!" Waiting for the right moment, Celius quickly dodged to the side and swung his ax down. The boar tried to dodge it, but this time, it couldn't. The ax was able to penetrate its thick hide, but not able to completely cut its head off.

ARUUGG

The boar began to scream as it shook its body, trying to remove the ax. The agony it was feeling made it scream in pain. Blood began to pour from its deep wound and Celius wasn't ready to let it go just like that. "You think you can just enter and leave as you please? Sorry, you're going to be tonight's dinner." Taking his ax out of the boars' wound, he swung it once more, of course, he missed again. The boar was in a panic, so it was moving around randomly. Seeing that it was nearing one of his hills, Celius snorted and jumped onto it's back and tightly held the boar's tusks. He planted his feet firmly on the ground and began to pull as hard as he could. "Arg! No, you don't!"

The boar was held in place for only a second, before Celius found his body being dragged forward, albeit slowly. His feet were sliding on the surface, not being able to stay firmly planted anymore.

'C'mon, think Celius. I can't let it trample on the hills.' He quickly released on of his hand from the tusks and jumped onto the boars back once again. He slid his open hand under the boar's non-existing neck and quickly turned both of their bodies over. "ARGG!" The boar weighed so much that when they fell over, he felt his breathing halting for a moment. Quickly recovering, he wrapped his legs around the boar's lower body.

ARUUGG

The boar continued to struggle, but Celius wasn't ready to give up. Keeping his hand firmly under the boar's neck, he released his tusk and tried to find something to attack the boar with. About a meter away from him was a sharp-looking rock. 'Why does it have to be so far?' He couldn't help but curse his bad luck. Using his fist, he began to punch the boars face. Although the damage being done was very minimal, he needed to do something. Plus, the boar was struggling so much that he was scared that he might be pierced by the tusks or crushed to death by its massive weight. He then thought of a strategy, although risky.

Using his fingers, he began to harshly poke the boar's eyes. As its weakest spot, that was the best place he could hit. Of course, the risk was getting the boar angrier and crazier, and there was a chance of losing his hand in the process.

ARUG

The boar struggled violently. The tusks moved around so fast that they were able to scratch his face. "ARG!" Finally, one of the tusks pierced his left shoulder. Celius couldn't help but moan in pain. "Screw you!" With strength coming into his body after that fright, he was able to move the boar off of his body, but he never let go of it. He began to slowly drag it in the direction of the sharp rock. When he finally reached and grabbed hold of it, he began to smash the boars face with the rock. "Die you bastard!" His attacks became more and more powerful while the boar also got more powerful. As its life was in danger, the boar began to exhibit strength far superior to what it previously had.

It quickly got out of Celius' grasp, and with one working eye, it glared at Celius and charged towards him. Celius threw the rock at the boar's face and dodged to the side, He rushed towards his fallen ax and quickly grabbed it. The boar noticed this and hesitated whether it should run or attack. Unfortunately, it was still very interested in the growing flower which released a dense essence. It wanted a taste, so the boar decided to attack Celius once again.

Seeing the boar charge towards him, Celius took a deep breath and gripped tightly on his ax. Using his dominant leg to boost him forward, he also charged towards the incoming boar. His swing this time was different from before. Rather than aiming from the top, he swung from his side, as if swinging a bat. With the ax moving with lightning speed, the boar wasn't able to dodge and was quickly attacked from the front. The ax entered its wide mouth and continued ripping apart it's flesh until it was stuck a little deeper than the neck.

The boar's body continued to run for a few more seconds before it fell over with a large thump. Celius breathed heavily as a smirk appeared on his face. He slowly walked towards the boar, while stumbling slightly. He took the ax out from its neck and swung once more. He aimed for the first wound and penetrated a little deeper. Although the animal was dead, he just wanted to make sure. "Tonight, we're going to have a great meal. Haha!" Although he had rarely fought animals in the past, he did go hunting once in a while with his uncle, so he knew the basics of keeping an animal under control. Of course, he wasn't very skilled at it. "Let me fix this fence quickly and then clean the boar's blood and stuff. I don't want to attract any unwanted guests." He began to swiftly cut another tree and then used some leftover ropes to repair the fence as much as he could. He then grabbed the boar and dragged it to the second nearest pond. He went a little further away since he didn't want animals coming too near his field because of the bloody smell, plus he used the closer pond to bathe and hunt. If he washed the boar's blood in that pond, then it could cause some future problems for both his health, hygiene, and food supply.

He reached the pond, which was quite large, much larger than the one he usually used, after about thirty minutes. It was a longer trip since he was dragging a heavy boar. Once he got to the pond, the first thing he did was use his ax to completely decapitate the boar. He allowed the blood to drain for a few minutes and then began to skin the boar. His skills weren't too bad since he did skin smaller animals often, but they weren't great as he rarely worked with larger animals.

An hour passed and a few large bark plates were filled with meat of different cuts. The meat wasn't completely clean, but it was close enough, especially for a quick job. There were large pieces with bones, and smaller, meatier, pieces as well. Celius had a smile on his face when he looked at the large amount of meat. Beside the pond, there was still half of the boar remaining, but he just left it. For one, he couldn't carry it with him since it would be too much, also he had enough meat to last him a good two weeks or even a month if he was smart.

"That should do it for now. I'll drop this home and then get back to the field. Seems like it's a lot more dangerous to care for a field then I thought. Who knows which animal will want to stop by next?" He sighed a little as he recalled his previous fight. 'Who would have ever thought that the White Boulder Flower would release such dense essence during its growth period? What would happen once it bloomed?' Just the thought scared him, but also made him somewhat excited. The better the results of the flower, the more money he could make when he sold his batches.

He picked up all of the bark plates and walked back in the direction of his house. He walked past his field and when he knew nothing was wrong, he began to sprint towards his house. The faster he dropped the food off, and checked if everything was alright with Ennie, the quicker he could get back to work.

After running for a while, he reached his house. 'Why is it so quiet?' When he noticed that there was no sound, he got a little worried. The worst thoughts began to appear in his mind, so he quickly barged into the house. He placed the meat on the table and looked around the house. "Rislia? Ennie?" He called out, but no one answered. "Did they go somewhere?" He took the meat from the table and placed them into an icebox, to freeze them. He walked out of the house and scanned the area. "Did they go to pick up Alura and Elrith? But there is still some time left." He began to walk towards the center of the village. It was where the market, lessons, and job building were located. He walked speedily since he was very worried. "Ennie, where are you?" He kept talking to himself as he walked. His speed walk soon turned into a jog. Using his eyes to scan the surroundings, he felt his heart began to thump loudly. He was even more scared than when he faced the boar. Even the wound on his shoulder didn't hurt at that moment. All that he could think about was his little sister and where she could be.

He quickly reached the village center. His appearance was extremely tattered and there were cut wounds all over his face, and lots of blood was gathering on his left shoulder. It was soaking his shirt, but he didn't care. He walked up to the nearest person and asked with some impatience and anxiousness. "Have you seen Ennie? She's a tall girl with long brown hair. Also, she should have a little girl with her." He didn't recognize the person too clearly, maybe he knew him, maybe not, but he was too worried to care.

The man was a little stunned to see Celius. He knew of him of course and knew what he looked like. Seeing that Celius was in a hurry, he answered quickly. "Yea, I saw her in the market." After those words left his mouth, Celius sprinted to the center of the market. A snort escaped his nose as he annoyingly glanced at Celius' back. "What a rude kid, not even thanking me, even though I was nice enough to tell him where Ennie was." He grumbled and walked away.

Celius didn't know the man's thoughts and probably wouldn't have cared too much. He was rushing towards the center of the market, and fortunately, he saw Ennie and Rislia standing in front of a candy stall. "Rislia!" He couldn't help but shout a little as he rushed towards his little sister. His heart was relieved, and he felt the piercing pain from his shoulder return, but he was able to keep a straight face.

Rislia turned around in confusion when she heard her name being called. When she saw her brother running towards her, she couldn't help but smile brightly. She used her hand to wipe away her wet eyes and she rushed towards him too. "Brother."

"Celius?" Ennie also turned around and saw Celius running towards them. She was shocked to see his appearance and couldn't help but pale greatly when she took sight of the large amount of blood coming from his shoulder. "Celius, you're hurt!" She also ran towards him.

Rislia jumped into Celius' arms, while the latter grabbed her and hugged her tightly with his eyes shut. His heart was washed with relief as he held his sister in his arms. He ignored Ennie for a second a looked at Rislia. "Rislia, why are you out here?"

"Hurt." She pointed to her forehead which had a small bump. Celius saw that his face fell a little.

"Ennie, what happened? Why is her head like this?" He was a little mad, but that feeling mostly came from the stress that was built up from before.

Ennie was a little taken aback when she saw a hint of anger in Celius' tone. She couldn't help but stutter as she spoke. "W-well, we were playing tag, and she walked i-into the wall and got a little hurt." She had a weak smile on her face. "I brought her to get some candy since she was crying."

Seeing her expression, Celius couldn't help but sigh. "Sorry, I was just a little stressed when I saw you guys were gone." He felt a little guilty, even though his anger was minimal. Ennie was doing him a favor, and kids getting hurt was normal, so it wasn't something he should fuss over.

When Ennie saw that he calmed down, she sighed in relief as well. She then walked up to him and inspected his shoulder with a bit of a worry plastered on her face. "What happened? How did you get such a bad wound?"

"Brother, hurt?" Rislia finally noticed the wound and tears appeared in her eyes as she looked into her brother's eyes.

"No no, this doesn't hurt. I was playing with color, and I got red on me, see?" He smiled at her and held back the pain. Rislia had a doubtful expression, but she saw that her brother smile didn't seem strained so she smiled.

"Candy." She pointed back at the stall she was at. Celius nodded his head and walked towards it. He placed Rislia on the ground and allowed her to choose any candy she wanted. He had some coins on him, so it wasn't a big deal. Plus, candy was cheap, usually around three copper.

"Celius, this doesn't look like nothing." Ennie was still concerned about the wound since the bleeding wasn't stopping. Plus, Celius' body was pale because of the lack of blood.

He put on a weakened smile as he used one of his hands to cover the wound. "Yea, I was a little dumb and got hurt. I'll cover it at home or something, no big deal." Although he said this, his mind had other thoughts. 'No big deal, my butt. If I was in the forest, I would have been screaming like a maniac. This hurts so much!' He didn't feel the pain before since his body was still in a state of excitement and the adrenaline was still pumping, and even when he was skinning the boar the excitement didn't leave, rather it grew as he acquired more food. Only when he got in front of Rislia did the pain finally explode.

"Don't wait that long, you will lose too much blood. Here, let me wrap this around your shoulder." She took a long cloth from the candy stall without caring about what the owner would say. Lifting Celius' arm, she began to wrap the wound tightly with the cloth. Celius couldn't help but grit his teeth when his wound was touched, but he didn't make a sound. Rislia was right there and she would have gotten scared.

Ennie finished wrapping his wound, and at the same time Rislia picked out what she wanted. "This one and this one." She pointed at two somewhat large pieces of chocolate. Celius looked at their price and they were fairly expensive, sitting at ten copper each. Sighing a little, he pulled out some coins and paid the man, of course, his bill was more than just twenty copper. The stall owner charged him for the cloth, anger written on his face. Celius sighed a little before taking the chocolate and passing them to Rislia.

"You have to eat them slowly, ok? Also, eat a little right now and a little later, you don't want a tummy ache." He patiently told Rislia what to do and the latter complained a little but eventually agreed. Rislia was actually a very easy child to work with. She listened and usually didn't make much of a fuss. Of course, compared to her two siblings she was a handful.

"Ennie, thanks again for doing this. If Rislia was with me right now, who knows what would have happened." He sighed as he gratefully looked at Ennie.

"What happened exactly? Did you fall or get hit by something?" She was still curious as to how Celius got hurt.

He scratched the back of his head and didn't know how to explain. "Well, a boar kind of wanted to take a look at my flowers, so we got into a small conflict. I held it down and its tusks got me in the shoulder. Luckily, it's dead, so no worries for now."

"You're crazy." She couldn't help but exclaim. "Don't you know how difficult it is to kill a boar? Not only are they extremely strong, but they also have tough skin, plus they aren't slow either. Why would you even try to pin it down?"

"It was trying to trample my hills, so I had no choice.�� He was a little embarrassed because he knew what he did was extremely dangerous. He could have very well been killed.

She felt speechless by his reply. "You could have just let it take down a hill or something. Your life is more important than the flowers." Her heart couldn't help but burn with anger at the thought of Celius doing stupid stunts like wrestling a boar just to protect a single hill.

"The hill is my future; I can't just watch it fall. Anyways, I survived so no big deal." Celius didn't know what to say so he just tried to end the conversation there.

Ennie sighed a little. 'He may be smart in some things, but he is useless in others.' She couldn't help but shiver at the thought of Celius passing away just for a hill. Once the thought came, she couldn't help but become a little pale.

Celius noticed this and became a little worried. "What's wrong? Do you feel sick again?"

Ennie glared at Celius but didn't say anything. She silently walked with him until they got home.

"I'm going to go and clean this wound in the pond, I'll be right back. I'll take Rislia with me." He wanted to take Rislia to the pond so that he could calm his still restless mind. Although he was very calm now, he was still feeling a little frightened by the events that happened and the thought that Rislia could have been in danger too if Ennie didn't look after her for him.

"Should I come too? I can look after Rislia while you get yourself clean." Celius thought for a moment and then nodded.

"Sure. Let me first get some clean clothes and a proper bandage." He walked into his room and pulled out another white tunic and a set of thick bandages. He also got some smaller bandages for his facial wounds.

Ennie lifted Rislia and the three walked towards the pond. Rislia got onto the ground when they arrived and started playing with the grass. She wasn't allowed in the water without Celius, but Celius was busy getting rid of the blood on his body. Ennie sat beside Rislia while Celius walked into the pond. When he got to the center, he took his shirt off slowly. His shirt was stuck to his wound, so it was annoying to remove, plus it stung a little.

After removing his shirt, he sunk his body under the water for a few seconds, head included. He jumped out and took a few quick breaths. Using his hands, he began to wash the wound as much as he could. Ennie watched from afar and noticed lots of small wounds on his back as well. It looked similar to whip marks. She couldn't help but feel a little pained in her hurt but didn't say anything. A few minutes passed and Celius had mostly cleaned the wound with water. It wasn't the best way, plus it could still get infected, but that was his best method. Plus, viruses would have difficulty harming his body since he purged most of his impurities, so he was able to resist most viruses and infections easily.

He walked out of the water with a drenched body. The first thing he did was pick up the large bandages. "Ennie, can you help me with this?" He couldn't get the proper angle after trying for a bit, so he asked Ennie. The latter got up from the grass and walked towards him. She sat him down and she kneeled behind him. Using her slender fingers, she began to carefully put the bandage around his arm. She used a little force, but not too much since it could cause the wound to reopen. She wrapped it twice, and then closed it off with a tight not.

"Done." Her heart was flustered slightly during the process, but she didn't go crazy like last time. The biggest reason was that Celius was hurt and it pained her slightly to see him in such a state.

"Thanks again. I should be good for now then. Let's head back. I also have something to show all of you. Hehe." He laughed mischievously, which caused Ennie to raise an eyebrow.

"What?" Celius shook his head with a smile.

"You'll see when we get home." His smirk continued to stay on his face, which aroused Ennie's curiosity. He wore his shirt and then picked up Rislia. The latter had grass in one hand, while her melting chocolate in the other. "Rislia, why do eat so messily?" He took to the side of the pond and began to wash her hands. Rislia just smiled as she looked at her brother. She splashed the water a couple of times for fun, which made Celius somewhat frustrated. "Rislia, let's get your hands clean, c'mon."

"Water!" She continued to splash the water, but this time in a somewhat angry way.

"Yes, water. It's fun. We'll come back with Elrith and Alura, alright? For now, let's just get you clean." He began to clean her mouth as well, which was brown because of the chocolate. She continued to splash, but Celius eventually cleaned her. He then picked her up and walked to Ennie. "Let's go."

Ennie nodded her head and started to walk with Celius. While they walked, Ennie noticed that Rislia kept scratching and pinching Celius' face. Of course, the latter kept telling her to stop and eventually just gave up. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

They soon reached the house. The first thing Celius did was sit Rislia in her seat. He quickly cut some peach slices and gave it to her on a plate. He didn't know if she ate anything other than chocolate, so he just gave her some. He then dragged Ennie to the icebox. "Open it." He spoke with a smirk on his face.

Raising her hand, she lifted the icebox's cover and she found a bunch of meat sitting there, not yet frozen. "What is this?"

"Hehe." He laughed evilly a little before picking a smaller piece. "Boar meat." He kept tossing it up and catching it.

She was speechless. "The one that you wrestled?"

"Wrestled? More like slayed. Haha, now I get to eat it." He was filled with happiness. Large animals weren't too common in the forest, so their meat was expensive. He usually never got them for the house since he couldn't afford them, but now that he caught one himself, he couldn't help but feel exhilarated. Grabbing a bundle of the meat, he placed it on the table. "I'll take this to your house."

"That's fine, Celius…" Celius shook his head.

"Relax, there is plenty of meat. Don't worry. I'll drop it off before I go to work." Ennie smiled sweetly and couldn't help but feel a little red.

'Really feels like we're playing house. Celius the husband, Rislia the daughter and me… the wife.' She couldn't help but begin to daydream a little. 'Why do I keep thinking about such weird things? I know I have a small crush, but is it so bad?' Sighing a little, she walked Celius to the door.

"Remember to pick up Elrith and Alura soon. They should be done classes very soon." Ennie nodded her head. Celius gave Rislia one last wave before leaving once again. Ennie shut the door and walked into the house. She sat in front of Rislia who was eating her peach slices.

"Rislia, do you like your brother?" Rislia nodded her head with a smile.

"He's the best." She spoke while stuffing her face with the fruit.

"Who do you like better, grandpa or brother?" She couldn't help but ask this, of course, she knew what the answer would be.

"Brother." Rislia didn't hesitate for a second before answering. Ennie smiled and pinched her cheeks. She waited until Rislia was done eating before leaving to pick up Alura and Elrith.