An uncomfortable statement

"What does being erratic really mean?"

"Efficiency and power"

"Wait, my aura is weaker than yours?"

Halgrid shook his head.

"No, actually your power should be equivalent to a 2nd level"

"I still don't see the big disadvantage"

Halgrid looked at me in despair.

"Are you stupid? Channeling aura for you is not much different from slowly bleeding, body reconstruction is only enough for you to withstand the first level, not the second."

When he was about to protest, Halgrid continued.

"In short you are like a time bomb while using the aura, fierce and lethal but very short"

Silence enveloped the room.

"And there's no solution to that?"

Nazaria asked confused.

"As far as I know, you only stabilize when you increase your mastery of the aura, the problem is that by the time you reach that level of control you would probably already be at the second level"

"Incredible and here I thought you were a fool who barely knows how to do two things at the same time," commented Nazaria.

"And where did that gratuitous insult come from?" Halgrid looked annoyed.

"How do you expect me to be in a good mood when it's 5 in the morning, if it weren't for the fact that Rohan is in a precarious state, I would be beating him until his white complexion turned purple."

"Thank you Nazaria, I appreciate the gesture" he spoke sarcastically while he looked out the window, noticing that the sun seemed to have already risen an hour ago.

"Wait, I think it's a little late to ask, but how the hell did they find me?"

"Petrov told the mayor of the city where you went and the mayor told me where you went," Carmina said simply.

"Oh"

'Am I that predictable? I'm going to take note of this'

"Well, since you're awake, we'll stay calmer, but I'll go to sleep," Halgrid spoke and took Nazaria by the hand.

Nazaria, stunned, only limited herself to making a slight gesture of farewell, we only limited ourselves to watching how they left the place.

'I must admit that I envy them a little'

As she looked to where the young couple had previously been and I heard a slight yawn next to me.

I turned to see my sister struggling to hide her yawn.

"Andrea, could I ask you again to host my sister?"

"Why do we have rooms at the inn?"

Andrea, ignoring her protest, nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of your little sister" she smiled mockingly at Catalina and began to push her towards the door while Catalina protested.

When Andrea came out with Catalina, an uncomfortable silence formed.

Carmina went to the only chair in the room and brought it closer to my stretcher, her expression was complicated.

"I'd say you seem upset, but something is blocking my left eye. Could you take off the bandages?"

Carmina, before sitting down, approached me and untied the bandages from my face and sat on the chair a few centimeters from me.

I felt slight discomfort in every part of my head.

"Do I look really bad or am I still just as handsome?" I said in a mocking tone.

"You look more handsome"

"Hey?"

"What are you talking about?

Carmina took out a mirror and handed it to me, I quickly looked at it and was surprised.

When I looked in the mirror I noticed that I looked different before, I had a little youthful fat accumulated on my face, it had disappeared, leaving a marked jaw with a more attractive face.

'I may not be stupidly handsome now but I would say I look kind of cute'

"Thank you for the compliment, it's not something you normally do."

"I don't give them because you never do them"

I shrugged and left the small mirror on my lap and sat down, arranging the pillows so I wouldn't have to struggle to stay seated.

"Why would I do it? There's not much to write home about"

Carmina raised an offended eyebrow.

"Are you telling me I'm ugly?"

"I never said that, on the contrary I think you're beautiful"

Carmina smiled slyly.

"How funny I made you give me a compliment" Carmina laughed delicately causing me to feel embarrassed.

"Why did you want me to compliment you?"

"First principle of alchemy, to have a good result you must make an equivalent exchange"

My face must have been very funny because when Carmina saw me she started laughing out loud.

"He was just joking, I don't know why but he just wanted a compliment from you. It's probably a whim"

I raised my eyebrow.

"Since when are you so capricious?"

"Since when are you a hypocrite?"

"Hey?"

'that caught me off guard'

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you say that everyone develops in their own time? If so, what the hell was that?" Carmina asked, annoyed.

"What the hell was that?"

"It" violently lifted the blanket and pointed at my bandaged body.

"From what I see it's exactly what you told me not to do, go crazy in the pursuit of power."

'that's why' 'well I guess I was hypocritical'

I looked into her eyes as she admired her beautiful, angry face.

'even angry she looks like an angel'

Completely ignoring Carmina's reproaches, I looked at her pretending to be listening to her complaints.

"You think you're immortal you idiot?"

I heard Carmina's scream just inches from my face.

"You know Carmina, you have always made me the most beautiful woman on the planet"

I lowered my head and looked askance at her reaction. Her expression went through 3 phases: the first was stunned, the second was confusion, and the third was a deep expression that showed how embarrassed she was.

"I'm not going to lie to you, I did it assuming that maybe she was going to die."

"Then why did you do it Roan?"

She said quietly, bowing her head slightly.

'I haven't heard that nickname since we were kids'

"You brought back memories of when we met, you were very cute even when you were little, I found it charming how you tried to say my name but you still didn't know how to say my name correctly"

I raised my head and stood up with difficulty at the look of surprise, I felt extremely weak so I channeled aura into my legs so I could kneel towards Carmina.

"Today there are no more lies, no more lies, the reason I did it was" I remained silent before Carmina's attentive gaze.

"I ah eh I think I love you and I'm not stupid, I know that even if you are the count's 3rd daughter you are still several times taller than me, I would never have a chance"

"So I took the only path I could think of, to be strong, to be so stupidly strong that I am capable of being able to deserve your love."

Carmina's eyes remained open, although I assumed she knew I liked her and knew she would never expect the statement she was giving.

"I ah" I interrupted Carmina and grabbed her hand.

"I don't need your answer now, I'm sleepy so let me rest"

Carmina in automatic mode stood up with my help and left the room completely shocked.