It's been three days since I saw Lino and his sister trapped in Gorthok's body. I set up a small hut for our shelter.
Lhara's conditions become better, her wounds healed up and already awake from the peerless battle, for the meantime I shifted into a babysitter serving her food, doing the lovely house course, and her bodyguard.
She's been a bit quiet lately, sometimes she refuses to eat my servings, and always dozed off when I'm talking to her. Yesterday noon I cooked a savory, umami-rich broth, a simple miso soup, but I ended up eating the whole thing, because Lhara's appetite is lying.
I tried talking to her directly and I got nothing but a cold frown. I'm not an apothecary or something that can understand if she had an illness, but I could smell the scents of rutted thoughts beneath her sinking eyes.
I left the matter to her, respecting her boundaries, and giving her enough space and time to think. I already summoned my misty bear to guard her while I'm mapping the area.
I already went in the south yesterday morning and saw the towering walls in the slope of a giant mountain, it was probably the area of a dwarf, the haven of the great craftsman. But I don't think I need to go inside so I just sent a goodbye and went back to Lhara.
I'm planning to explore the northeast side of the forest early this morning so I already made up a breakfast, I started to arrange the plates and placed the fluffy pancakes with sweet honey syrup and fresh bananas.
I poured the creamy cow's milk in the cups and sprinkled some sugar powder, stirred, and took a sip. The sweet aroma of milk melts my tongue, 'I want some honey!' I whispered.
"Lhara...! The breakfast is ready!" I shouted, pulling out the chair beside the wooden table.
Lhara entered and with her eyes narrowed, "Why did you serve the breakfast? I told y'all I can cook for today!"
"Here take a sit!" I muttered, slicing the pancake into pieces.
"Did you hear me?" Lhara slammed the table with her piercing eyes.
"I did, but the food was already at the table...,do you want to cook another batch?" I said while gently patting her head.
Lhara sat down and I began putting the slice of pancakes on her plate, after that I sat down and grabbed another pancake, "Thank you for the food! Let's eat!" I muttered while chowing the fluffy pancake.
Lhara gently placed the slice of pancake in her mouth, I glanced at her cherry lips and silky hair with a question in my mind, 'How beautiful she is?'
I took a sip and gently placed the cup in the table, "It looks better than before!" 
She silently gazed at the plate and whispered, "Thank you!"
"Oh...! that's not a compliment!"
"No...what I mean is...! Thank you for being here for me!" She uttered staring at my eyes with a bitter smile.
"Don't be too dramatic...I did it with my own will, so you don't need to feel bad about yourself!"
"But...I felt so useless!"
"If that's what you felt then leave it like that...!" I muttered glazing at her crimson eyes.
After that a brief silence fled from the room, "I'm going to the northeast to gather some information, you can stay here, I already summoned my servant to guard you" I pondered while standing up.
She bit her lips and grabbed the edge of my clothes, "Wait...!" She whispered.
"Let me guess! You didn't want me to leave, but you have no courage to say don't ya?" I exclaimed.
She released her hand and glanced down, "I'm sorry!"
"Sigh...! I will stay here the whole day for you if don'tcha want to be lonely!"
"That's a bit...!"
"Then why don't you come with me?" I retorted.
"Eh...?!" She muttered, her eyes seemingly smiling.
"It's been three days since you last walked outside, you also need a fresh air and hot ray of Mira." I explained.
I opened the door and bonded my body down, "Hop on my back; I'll give you a nice piggyback ride!"
"I'm not a child anymore, and my weig...t!"
"Don't worry, you've already done it with me right?" I reflected back to the day when she first joined me.
"Can I reject your offer?" She muttered.
"Nope!" I replied, waiting for her to jump on.
With no other choice Lhara rode my back, 'Honestly I want to remember the sensation of her body.' I thought.
"Pervert, you offer your back again just to feel my body." 
"Wow..! You're good at reading my mind!" I playfully mumbled.
"Now you finally admitted your crime pervert boy. You love my body, don't you?" Lhara teased me with her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"It's not my fault for being born as a man, blame yourself for being a woman!"
"Hah...! What the heck is wrong with you?" Lhara whispered in my ears while caressing my neck.
We began to walk in the depths of the gloomy forest where the uncertainties reside. Lhara gently hops up on my back like a baby monkey.
"Why didn't you leave me after fighting against Gorthok?"
"Hmm...! Before I answer you, why did you choose to travel with me instead of going back to Princess Selva?" I gently asked.
"Looks like you're not satisfied with my past answer ha?"
"Sort of!, we became companions for almost half a year, but I think your answer back then is irrelevant."
Lhara let her weight off and laid her face touching mine. She rubbed my hair and smoothly hugged me behind.
"Maybe because I sensed something familiar with you upon seeing you!"
"Scent of familiarity?"
"Something like that or a sense of similarly!" She replied.
"Can you explain?"
"How could I put this... ugh! I don't really know how to describe it"
"Really, is that why you seemed off last days?"
"Yes, like that! Last time I fought the Gorthok I almost lost control over my body. That time my nightmare came, my past memories came back to my head."
"Something like that happened?" 
"Yeah, would you mind if I share my past with you?"
"That's rather unusual for someone to seek permission to share their experiences, don't mind me, I will listen...!"
"Thanks...how should I start this...?" She asked and paused for a minute.
"The first time I saw you with Princess Selva, I felt a buzzing connection, I felt that we are simply similar to each other, that's why I joined with you...!" Lhara uttered, holding my hand.
"I was once a child with a simple dream and that is to leave with my parents happily, I have no big problem, all I want is to eat beside my mother and play with my father. We live in the depths of the forest where no other one can disturb us. My father is a human with a lovely and caring personality, he always played with me happily, my mother is a vampire who loves my father deeply, she always cooked for as, do the house course along with helping my father."
As she narrates, I begin to visualize their family, having two different creatures loving each other is already a big problem. According to the memories of Marquez The Wise, it is a taboo to love a different blood, it was a symbol for impurity and disobedience to the Rules of the land.
I continued to listen and walked with her.
"One day while my mother was busy cleaning my room and my father was chopping a firewood, I snuck and went in the yard, there I saw a red berry so I picked up some, but a black raven snatched it away from me. I followed it not knowing that I was already in the middle of the forest, so I tried to look for the way back, but I failed to do so." She explained.
"Then a huge orc shaman attacked me, luckily a merchant emerged out of nowhere and saved me, after that the merchant asked my family name, and because of awe I recklessly shared everything with him. He helped me to find the way back to my house and disappeared after I finally made it back. I kept the situation as a secret because I don't want my parents to become angry with me" She further narrates.
"That decision of mine turned out to be a huge mistake, while playing with my father and mother a rustling sounds circle our house. Then a huge army of men clothed with armor and armed with swords emerged, my parents fought back and we managed to get away from our pursuers. Two years have passed, we live in a complete disaster, we always change our location to hide ourselves. One cloudy night, while the heavy rain was flooding the land, the pursuers managed to capture me and eventually our parents surrendered. In front of me my father served his body,  he defended me from the pursuers and was killed while holding my body. Soon after, we are transferred into a town where my nightmare continues. They locked me down into a cell filled with rats, I remained there for a few days and after I stepped out a shocking scene blocked my head. From the crowds I tried to snuck my body to saw my mother, for the first hand I saw my mother being beheaded, while I'm bursting into sorrow everyone cheered into laughter."
With those words, I finally realized that we have a similar fate, although mine was not that much unlike her, yet still similar.
"I tried to run away and went into the rural Village of Engol, where the mayor accepted me as her own child, but extreme poverty struck the village and for me to survive, the mayor forced himself to send me to the Baron household of Kintaria where I served as a servant. One night the Baron's son tried to assault me, but I couldn't control my rage and eventually killed him. They threw me into prison and tortured me like a lifeless corpse. Then Princess Selva came and brought me out of the cave of sorrow and I became her servant until I finally met you"
After she finally finished sharing her story, I stopped and dismounted her out of my back, I sat down, laying my back in the trunk while gesturing her to sit beside me.
I could feel her reluctant and shy action, so I stood up and hugged her tightly, "Wa...what ywar dwoing...?" Lhara uttered, while her voice was shaking.
I patted her head and gently rubbed her hair, "Don't hold back, you can cry right now, just release everything inside your heart, don't try to hide it, you can shout, you can slap me if you want, right now you can do everything to me!"
/SNEEZING/CRIES/
Sniffing Lhara burst into tears, her crystal cries slowly cascaded like a waterfall. 
"I'm really sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry mother, father, please forgive me....!" Lhara whispered.
"There, there, there, your parents probably love you and they don't hold any anger against you" I held both of her hands and muttered.
'That's right show me your weakness and I will turn you into a great toy, a toy that no one can surpass, and a toy that I'm the one who can control.' I muttered inside my head, glaring at the sky with a silent grin.
'Right now I'm the only one she trusts, so using her vulnerability would make me even stronger.' I added.
While I'm busy taming Lhara, I sent my misty bear in the south to make a rack of chaos, I felt a draining blast in my soul core, my fingers were getting numb, and my head was pounding with pain. The bear probably manages to enter the towering walls of the dwarf and destroy anything on its sight.
Then after a few minutes passed and I felt the aching sensation, a loss in appetite, and the smell of burning tobacco. 'How fun..! They got my bear already!'
"Feeling well?" I asked, staring at Lhara's crimson eyes.
I can't deny that her menacing and well honed body is a world class appearance, her angelic voice was striking while her face is cute like a lost Princess.
"Yes, for some reason...! Thank you...!" She replied.
I tried to pull her body out of mine, but I failed. She pout her face and stared at me with a playful grin.
"Can you spoil me a little?" She whispered in my ear.
"I won't!" I declared.
"How cold, you told me earlier that I can do anything to you!" She retorted.
"Are you dreaming? I never said that!"
"Really? You said and I will quote, ...you can slap me if you want, right now you can do everything....!"
"Can you please forget that thing! That was too cringe!" I muttered, covering my face.
She held my hands down and gently stared at my eyes, "That personality of you is what I love!" She exclaimed.
A girl being rizz out of a sudden and using me as her subject is a pure torture for me. I left myself hooked to her, yet I don't mind.
"I won't fall for your flowering word!"
"Just spoil me a little...!"
In the end she managed to force me to spoil her, it's not only she hopped up on my back without permission, but she also became clingy like a panda.
After my body was worn out due to Lhara's childish request, like climbing into a tree with her mounting my back, jumping into a slope, and running into a river, we finally reached our destination.
A wooden finch with spears and three demi-human holding an axe and bow seemingly guarding the area merge at my sight.
I tried to sneak, but I accidentally stepped on a branch of a tree creating cracking sounds. The three demi-human swiftly ran towards me and Lhara, after seeing me carrying Lhara at my back one of the demi-human asked, "What happened to her?"
I breathed in a sigh of relief after the third guard took out its helmet and revealed her face.
"Greetings, yuman! This isn't a place for y'all to wonder. What might y'all need'?" 
"Oow...!, what?" Lhara muttered while sucking her fingers.