Chapter 30: Touched a "Wall
Late at night, Cillian Forrest finished handling his military affairs. It was already quite late when he ended the call with Ethan Cross.
He glanced at Sophie Wexler’s room. The door was shut tight, and not a sound came from within. ’She must be asleep.’
He looked away, put away his Light Brain, and got up to head to the bathroom.
Sophie Wexler’s house wasn’t large, and the bathroom was no exception. When Cillian Forrest stepped inside, his presence made the space feel cramped.
He took off his clothes, one piece at a time, revealing the neck ring hidden beneath his high collar.
Cillian Forrest slowly reached out, his fingertips grazing the cool surface of the neck ring.
Such a device was meant to imprison and restrain slaves, a symbol of shame. And now, that symbol was on him.
The man’s eyes gradually darkened. The hint of light blue hidden deep in his pupils cast an eerie glow, radiating extreme danger. For a moment, it was impossible to guess what he was thinking.
Droplets of water rolled down his body, gliding over the countless scars on his back. Several were still fresh, wounds from his battle with the Swarm that refused to heal. Some even faintly oozed blood.
Cillian Forrest let the water cascade over his wounds, his face showing no hint of pain.
Before bed, Sophie Wexler’s mind was a whirlwind of thoughts about Crystal Stones, spiritual power, and Cillian Forrest—his attitude, the poison in his Spiritual Sea.
With so much cluttering her mind, she had even forgotten to eat dinner. Just as she was drowsily drifting off, her stomach began to RUMBLE.
And just like that, the hunger pangs woke her up.
Sophie Wexler glanced at the time. It was already after midnight. She debated for a long moment whether to go find something to eat, but in the end, hunger won out over laziness.
Sophie Wexler climbed out of bed.
Groggy, she shuffled into her slippers and out of her room, her eyes not even fully open.
’I think there are still some of those snacks I made this morning left in the fridge,’ she remembered.
She was shuffling along when, a moment later, she walked straight into a "wall" with a THUD.
Sophie Wexler hissed in pain. Dazed, she reached out to feel it. "Did I go the wrong way? Is there a wall here?"
"No," a voice replied from above her, devoid of any emotion.
"Right, I didn’t think so either," Sophie Wexler replied automatically.
’No, wait. Who’s talking?!’
’This isn’t a wall!’
Sophie Wexler’s mind cleared in an instant, and only then did she register the texture beneath her hand.
"Tammy, lights on!"
"Right away, Master." At Sophie Wexler’s command, Tammy immediately woke from its dormant state.
With a CLICK, the lights switched on, instantly bathing the room in light. The sudden brightness stung Sophie Wexler’s eyes, and she flinched.
And then, the man’s powerful, bare skin was right in front of her.
Sophie Wexler: "!!!"
Her eyes, which had been half-closed with sleep, instantly shot wide open!
The man was tall, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. His muscles were perfectly defined, not making him look bulky, but rather emanating a sense of power.
The sensation beneath her palm made her mind go completely blank.
"Feels good?"
Sophie Wexler nodded, then, a second later, realized what she was doing and immediately snatched her hand away.
She moved with incredible speed, as if she were afraid her hand would disappear if she were a second slower.
She shook her head so hard it was a blur. "No, it doesn’t feel good. Not good at all."
Seeing Cillian Forrest’s expressionless face, Sophie Wexler wanted to cry but had no tears. ’Who could possibly understand?’ she lamented internally. ’I really didn’t do it on purpose, but it looks like I was deliberately taking advantage of him.’
"Would you believe me if I said I just came out to get something to eat?"
Cillian Forrest glanced at her and grunted, then turned to pick up the nearby bandages and began to re-wrap his wounds.
He had only realized after his shower that he’d forgotten to bring his clean clothes in with him. He had come out only because he thought Sophie Wexler was already asleep.
He hadn’t expected her to get up in the middle of the night for food, and without turning on the lights at that.
"I didn’t do it on purpose! How was I supposed to know you’d be here, and..." Sophie Wexler searched for the right words for a moment before finally stammering, "...and like this..." ’Without any clothes on.’
She didn’t say the last few words out loud. Her gaze lifted and she saw the injuries on Cillian Forrest’s back. "Wait, your injuries."
His back was a tapestry of scars, deep and shallow. Inflamed and red from the water, some were even still bleeding. "What happened? Your injuries still haven’t healed?"
She knew he had been seriously injured before, but she hadn’t expected the wounds to still be unhealed.
Cillian Forrest continued to bandage himself, his movements betraying no sense of pain. Sophie Wexler’s brow furrowed in concern.
"No, wait." Sophie Wexler walked over and grabbed his arm, stopping his almost self-destructive method of bandaging.
"You just ran water over these wounds, and now you’re going to bandage them without any medicine?!" ’Does this man really think his body is made of iron? That he’s indestructible?’
"Is there a problem?" Cillian Forrest asked, his tone completely flat.
In the military, injuries were an everyday occurrence. Soldiers’ bodies were much hardier than the average person’s, so typical wounds weren’t a major issue.
The only trouble was wounds inflicted by Starbugs. They healed too slowly.
Treating such slow-healing wounds every time they washed up was a waste of time. As long as an injury wasn’t fatal, they’d let it heal on its own. They would rather spend that time training than waste it on wound care.
This was the unspoken consensus among all soldiers.
Sophie Wexler listened to his indifferent tone in disbelief. "Of course there’s a problem!"
"Stop bandaging that. Sit there and wait for me." With that, she turned and went to a cabinet on the other side.
She crouched down and started to rummage around. ’I remember the medicine being kept here.’
When the original owner of her body rescued him, the hospital had prescribed medication, but she had just tossed it aside and never used it after they returned.
"Found it. It’s here." With some effort, Sophie Wexler pulled the medicine out from the back of the cabinet.
She walked over to Cillian Forrest, studied the instructions for a moment, and then opened the container.
"Turn a little more, otherwise I can’t put this on for you," Sophie Wexler urged.
Cillian Forrest paused at her words. The next second, Sophie Wexler reached out to adjust his position herself. "Hurry up."
At this, Cillian Forrest shifted slightly but said nothing, allowing Sophie Wexler to work on him.
He felt the medicine being applied to his wounds bit by bit, a cool sensation that was accompanied by the occasional, inadvertent touch of her fingers on his skin.
As for the pain, he was so accustomed to it that his body automatically ignored the sensation.
Sophie Wexler carefully treated every single wound. Afraid she might hurt him, she was incredibly gentle with each application, and by the end, her palms were slick with nervous sweat.
"All done," Sophie Wexler said, letting out a sigh of relief as she finished the last wound.
Cillian Forrest sensed the person behind him straighten up and move away. He lightly pinched the pads of his fingers together, then stood, picked up his clothes from the side, and got dressed.
"Thank you."
"You’re welcome. It was no trouble."
’If I hadn’t seen them, that would be one thing,’ she thought. ’But once I had, I couldn’t just ignore them.’