A Promise

The trip back to the castle was quite uneventful.

I was sitting in the back of the carriage with a cute and adorable girl sleeping on my lap, her ears would periodically twitch, making me want to play with them but i had to hold back otherwise i would probably wake her up.

At some point she started to shake, the effect of light heal had probably run out and she had started to feel cold again, but unfortunately i had no mana left.

I look around only to see a huge expansion of trees, there was no animal for me to use gluttony.

Then a thought quickly spread through my mind.

I gently waved my hand and a very small amount of gluttonus aura was sent to my nearest tree.

The aura spread quickly, much like a fire would have done and in a couple of seconds a huge tree was no more.

I felt energy and mana replenish, not as much as it would have done if it were a living creature but with a couple more huge trees i would be back to full.

I smile at my conclusion and proceed to wave my right hand 2 more times, this time i targeted trees that were deeper into the forest to make sure that no one notices anything unusual and with my left hand i used light heal.

After a bit of this she stopped trembling but i continued casting light heal and when i was running low on mana i would just 'eat' a tree and recover.

Fun fact, the reason i hadn't leveled light heal yet is because it needs the target of the healing to be at least somewhat affected by the heal.

What this means is that i couldn't just cast light heal on my self and get it over with, i needed to be at least a bit injured for it to count as leveling progress.

I am no masochist, the only reason that i got light heal to level 4 is because i was getting scratched from bushes and trees while i was hunting in the forest.

I do kinda feel bad for using Yumiko as a skill leveling device, but i will explain everything to her when we get to the castle to ask for consent.

A the midway section of our trip my light heal became evolved into heal, and let me tell you that Yumiko absolutely loved the evolved version. It would seem that the light heal was just enough to reduce some of the cold but not all it, but heal was enough to almost not make her feel cold anymore.

It would also seem to make her lose vitality at a smaller rate, a useful piece of information to have for sure but i can't help but think that for her to recover vitality i would need to evolve this skill 5 or even more times for it to work.

"Sigh"

At least now i know a second way for her to recover, it never hurts to have a plan B ready.

I kept doing this until we finaly arrived at the castle.

As much as i would like her to keep sleeping, it would better for her to see her new home.

With that in mind i started whispering near her ear.

"Yumiko, we have arrived please get up."

To this Yumiko slightly opened her eyes and gazed blankly at me for a few seconds before understanding her situation.

She hurriedly tried to get up, but it would seem that she got kinda wrapped up like a bagel so she ended up falling on me again, my poker face skill got a level from me trying to contain my laughter.

I put my hand to her head to keep her still for a bit while with my other hand i unwrapped her from her blankets after which i said.

"Yumiko relax, there is no need for you to be in a hurry."

While i was saying this i was gently rubbing her head, her fluffy ears are truly the best!

After she got up she looked at me and nodded her head, but at the same time her pale face was blushing red while her ears were twiching.

I was trying my hardest to not pat her head when i heard a system notification.

[Ding]

[User has acquired skill 'Desire tolerance']

Dear god the girl is so cute that i just got a skill!

"Ok Yumiko please follow me, i will explain thing as we walk and don't worry we are the only ones here."

After i said this i took her hand and began walking towards the castle.

.....

I haven't slept this well in ages.

This was the first thought in my mind when i woke up.

I was starting to feel cold again but i didn't move a single inch because i was laying on Bell's lap.

I might be no mage but i am curtain that he must have spent a huge amount of mana when he was previously casting light heal on me, all my previous healers couldn't cast nearly as many skills as him.

I tried to stay as still as possible but the i felt freezing cold all the way down to my bones, it wasn't something i could possibly resist so i started trembling.

And it was exactly as i thought, Bell started healing me again, for him to recover all of his mana must have needed a huge amount of mana potions, just how much money is he planning on wasting on a dead person?!

Just as i was about to beg him to stop, something incredible happened.

The warmth that had previously only made me feel a bit better was now enough to remove all coldness from my body, i even felt that my life was slipping away at a slower rate albeit only a tiny amount.

I was completely shocked!

'...is there truly hope for me?'

This was the only thought that was going through my head for the rest of the trip.

It wasn't until i felt the hand leave from the top of my head that i realised that the carriage had stopped.

Before i could do anything i heard a voice right next to my ear.

"Yumiko, we have arrived please get up."

I opened my eyes before my brain blanked out.

'He is too close!'

I panicked and tried to get up, but in my panic i ended up falling back down again.

Just as i was about to attempt to get up again, a hand pressed gently on my head and another was unwrapping the blankets around my body.

"Yumiko relax, there is no need for you to be in a hurry."

Bell said before gently rubbing my head.

'He seems to realy like to rub my head, is it because of my ears?'

I tried to resist my embarrassment and got up, but this sort of thing was too much for me so i ended up blushing heavily.

To ease my embarrassment i started twiching my ears, i wanted to check if he realy liked my ears or if it was just my delusion.

After waching him stare blankly at my twiching ears for a long time i was now certain that is wasn't my delusion and that he does indeed like them a lot.

At some point his eyes widened for a bit before re-gaining his composure.

'Does he realy like my ears so much?'

I think for a moment before it finaly dawns on me, he must have never seen a beast person before or at the very least not touched one.

"Ok Yumiko please follow me, i will explain thing as we walk and don't worry we are the only ones here."

After Bell told be this, he took my hand and procceded to walk forward.

The castle was huge, many time bigger than the house i used to live in, but it was empty.

Bell explained that he and Rose were the only residents is this castle but he didn't go much further into details.

Bell only showed me around the dinning room and the personall room i would be getting before bring me to his room and having me lay on the bed.

"Ok Yumiko, i want you to listen very carefully, your room isn't ready yet so you will have to stay here for a while, your room will be ready later in the day. There isn't a place that you aren't allowed to enter in this castle, but i would like you to rest as much as possible. I will be working on alchemy in a near room so feel free to ask if you need anything, especially if you start to feel cold again then you must call me immediately"

I listened quietly to him before asking a single question.

"... why are you so nice to me?"

This was the only thing i couldn't figure out, why would a noble person like him take care of a little peasant girls like me.

He stopped for a moment before he looked directly at my eyes.

"Hmm, if i had to say anything then it would be because you remind me of myself. Anyway i truly am in a hurry so i can't tell you the full story but you can ask Rose during her break."

After he said this he sat next to me before he started to rub my head.

"You don't have to feel bad about it, actualy my healing spell got stronger because i used it on you so many times, didn't you notice."

'So that was it, his skill must have evolved'

But this was still very unfair.

"But Bel...."

Before i could finish he started to heavily rub my head, to the point i couldn't speak.

"If you are feeling bad about me then the only thing you have to do is to wait for me to cure you before becoming my personal maid."

After he said this he pushed out his pinky finger while having a huge smile on his face.

"So what do you say, pinky promise?"

I stared blankly at his hand for quit a while, before the biggest smile i have ever had in my life appeared on my face.

"Pinky promise!"