8 An Unforgettable Picnic (2)

"Rose!" I heard Vladford shout.

I can feel a sting over my cheek. I unconsciously touched it and I saw blood on my hand.

"Don't touch it!" Vladford was by my side in a hear beat. "It might get infected. Here, use this." He handed me his handkerchief.

"Thanks." I appreciated the gesture and quickly put it over my cheek to stop the bleeding.

"In all the places… hah." Vladford sighed. "Why did it have to be your beautiful face." His face was filled with worry.

"You need not worry about it." I assured him. "It will heal for sure."

"But it might leave a scar." Jacob said. "The strong of the bow is high grade and it should not snap like that if it was cared for properly."

"Let's just go back to the picnic spot." Vladford said. "I have some of the maids pack some medicine in this kind of situations. It is better to treat it fast so it will not scar." He took my hand and we walked out of the archery area.

I saw Hilna who looked so guilty of what happened. Vladford did not even give her a side glance once we passed her.

"I'm sorry." I hear Hilna whisper to me once we passed by.

"It's not your fault." I whispered back to her.

Once back in the picnic site, the male protagonist called for a servant to get the medicine box. We take out seat on too of the picnic cloth and he looked for the right medicine inside the box.

"Here it is." Vladford said. He took out a bottle of white liquid and poured it out on a clean piece of cloth.

"It is not the same ointment you used on me last night?" I asked seeing that the medicine he applied on my feet last night were different.

"Yes, this is a different one." Vladford replied while smearing the medicine onto my cheek. It stung at first but it felt numb after. "This is more effective for deep wounds. It will help your wound so that it would heal nicely and it will not scar."

"Oh, I see." I replied. "Thank you." I said with gratitude.

"You do not need to thank me." Vladford replied. "It is my fault that this happened to you in the first place. I should have been more attentive." I can sense guilt in his voice.

"It is not your fault. It was an accident." I said. "Who would have known that the string will snap like that?"

"Hah…" Vladford only sighed. After that he tend to my wound silently and it became awkward between us.

Jacob and Hilna arrived and the awkwardness between me and the male protagonist just intensified. I can see the male protagonist looked at Hilna like his eyes were sharp as daggers.

Food was prepared not long after and all of us ate in silence. My wound was bandaged nicely by the male lead and it did not hurt at all after the medicine was applied.

"… um, I will just go and wash this for you." I said looking at the bloodied handkerchief.

"You not need to…" Vladford was about to say but I cut him off.

"I insist." I said and ran off from the awkwardness that we were having.

I ran to a shallow side of the lake and dipped the bloodied handkerchief that the male protagonist lent me. I looked at it and saw his family's crest embroidered in it.

"This must be a special handkerchief." I said. "All the more important to clean it."

I scrubbed the blood stains off until it was completely off. There were no stains left after I have scrubbed it clean. But what's left was my palms so red.

"Looks like Rose is not used to doing chores." I said looking at my palms. "Well, she is a lady of a ducal house. She is not expected to lift a finger."

I was walking the way back when I heard raised voices. I can hear that it was the male protagonist reprimanding Hilna.

"You should have checked the bow first before lending it to Rose." Vladford said. "She is the precious daughter of the lord duke De Falco. She is his precious gem. How do you think would we explain on how her face was scratched. It might even leave a scar."

"I-I am sorry." Hilna was sobbing. "I did not mean for that to happen. That how was one of my spare and… and I was not able to check it more often." She sobbed.

"Stop it you two." Jacob shouted. "Vlad, I know that you are worried of the consequences of what happened to the lady De Falco, but it is not good to scold Hilna any further because it was an accident. And Hilna, you insisted on doing archery. You should have checked the bow you brought in the first place."

The male protagonist and Hilna fell silent. Then there eyes saw reasoning and looked at each other.

"I am sorry for getting mad at you." Vladford said. "I was just thinking how Rose is not accustomed to our ways here. She is a noble lady from the capital of the Draconian Empire."

"I am sorry Vlad." Hilna said while crying. "It won't happened again. I promise."

The male protagonist hugged Hilna while she cried her heart out on his chest. Not long I see Jacob gave the two one big hug. They started giggling after a heat warming talk.

It was good to see but I felt a pang in my chest. I silently walked away from them, not wanting to ruin there heart warming moment.

I was walking by the lake side looking at the handkerchief I just washed.

"I have never had such friends before." I said to myself.

As an introvert gamer otaku girl, I never really socialized that well in my original world. Yes I had small circle of friends and even hand romantic relationships, but it never really got so deep as for us being close.

"Maybe that is why I am feeling this way." I said to myself. "I should be happy seeing the characters in the game I love in real life, but I never thought it would get to me this way."

That made me realize that this is not just a game anymore. This is real life for me as Rosaline De Falco. And if I want to be a much better person that I was in my original world, then I need to do much better to make a difference.

"I promised to help the male protagonist, and is what I will do." I said to myself.

While I thought of turning around and going back to the picnic site, I saw something small and furry under the bushes. I got curious and investigated it. When I got near, I saw a small puppy shivering. The small thing had wounds all over his body.

"Oh my, you poor thing." I took the wounded puppy and carried it. It whimpered in my arms. "Do not worry little guy. I will get you back and give you first aid."

When I was about to walk away I heard something quite frighting that sent shivers down my spine.

*GRRR*

I looked around and saw eyes shining under the bushes. Those pair of eyes got out of the bushes and each pair belonged to huge wolves that I never seen in my entire life. Those wolves were snarling right at me. Fright enveloped all over my body.

**

(Vladford's POV)

I had just felt angry a while ago because of what happened to Rose and let it out on Hilna. I know it was wrong of me to do, but seeing that Rose got scratched on the cheek because of what happened let me lose all reasoning.

'She is my fiancée and so I need to protect her.' I said to myself. 'That is right. That is why I am feeling this way.' I interpreted what I was feeling as my duty as her fiancé.

"Where is the lady?" Jacob asked. "It has been a while since she was away."

I looked around and cannot see her in the vicinity. My heart start to thump inside my chest. I felt like something bad happened.

*AAAAHHHHH*

We heard a shout that was bone chilling and it cane from no other than Rose.

"Its Rose." I said and started to fear for what had happened.

I quickly grabbed my sword and dashed towards where I heard the voice came from.