The Night His Tail Brushed Mine - Chapter 4

He Ye’s leg was badly injured.

He had refused to let me look at it last night because a small piece of metal was embedded near the wound.

I did not dare remove it myself, so I took him to the only clinic in the old district.

The doctor saw the beastman and demanded payment first.

I took out everything I had earned that day, but it still was not enough.

“Could I owe you the rest?”

The doctor shook his head. “Some people still haven’t paid for last month’s medicine. I can’t extend any more credit.”

I was wondering whether to borrow a little from my landlady when He Ye climbed down from the examination table.

“No treatment.”

He pulled me toward the door.

I could not budge him, so I wrapped both arms around one of his. “It’ll get infected.”

“Won’t die.”

“But it’ll hurt.”

His steps stopped.

As though no one had ever considered pain itself something worthy of concern.

The doctor sat behind his desk, his gaze settling on the side of He Ye’s neck. Suddenly, he frowned.

“Wait.”

He came closer and brushed aside He Ye’s long hair.

A brand lay beneath it.

Most beastmen in the black market bore only a number, but the mark on the back of He Ye’s neck was far more intricate.

Black lines spread across his skin. At the center, it looked as though someone had burned him again and again with a branding iron until only a blurred mass remained.

The doctor’s expression gradually turned grave.

“Were you once with the Northern Army?”

He Ye violently knocked his hand aside.

His claws sprang out, and murder filled his eyes.

The doctor stumbled back in fright.

I quickly caught He Ye by the wrist.

“It’s all right. We won’t ask.”

He was breathing hard.

Only after I gently patted the back of his hand twice did his claws slowly retract.

The doctor did not dare come near again. Watching from a distance, he said,

“I can treat his wound, but you must promise not to tell anyone what just happened.”

I did not understand why.

But as long as his injury could be treated, that was enough.

The metal had to be removed without anesthetic.

He Ye’s body reacted strongly against common medicines. Afraid something might happen to him, the doctor could only operate directly.

I sat beside the examination table and offered him my hand.

“Squeeze if it hurts.”

He Ye glanced at my thin wrist. “It’ll break.”

“Then hold the bed.”

He gripped its edge.

The instant the doctor made the first cut, a crack split the wooden bed frame.

My vision nearly went black with distress.

We would probably have to pay for that too.

He Ye seemed to understand what I was thinking. He forced himself to release his grip, though cold sweat covered his forehead.

Out of options, I offered him my sleeve.

“Bite this. It doesn’t cost anything.”

He stared at me for a moment, then leaned down.

I thought he was actually going to bite and squeezed my eyes shut in fright.

But he only rested his forehead against my shoulder.

His breath was scorching.

His fingers closed very lightly around the corner of my sleeve.

When the doctor pulled out the metal, his body gave a violent shudder, yet he never made a sound.

I raised a hand and stroked his uninjured ear.

“Almost over.”

His ear was very soft.

It trembled faintly beneath my palm but did not pull away.

After treating the wound, the doctor gave us some medicine.

He waived his fee and merely asked me to organize a backlog of case files.

I could write, so the work went quickly.

By the time I finished at dusk, I had not only covered the consultation fee but also earned several extra copper coins from the doctor.

As we left, he called me aside by the door.

“That beastman’s identity isn’t simple. The brand on him resembles the insignia of the Northern Army.”

I grew nervous. “Did he desert?”

The doctor shook his head.

“Ordinary soldiers aren’t entitled to a mark like that. This seal is used only by the northern royal clan and their personal guards. The outer pattern represents the army; the center is what distinguishes the bearer’s true identity.”

He glanced once more at the back of He Ye’s neck.

“But the mark in the middle has been destroyed. All I can tell now is that he must once have been close to the royal clan.”

I looked back.

He Ye sat on the clinic steps, waiting impatiently. Yet his tail was wound tightly around the paper bag of medicine, as though afraid of losing it.

He did not look anything like a royal guard.

I told the doctor, “Maybe the patterns just look alike.”

The doctor was not certain either. He only warned me to be careful.

On the way home, I did not question He Ye.

Everyone had things they did not want to talk about.

Nor did I tell him that I had been dismissed from the bakery.

Two people without a coin to their names did not need to add to each other’s troubles on their first day together.

My landlady helped clean and dress the wild rabbit.

I gave her one leg, stewed the rest in a pot, and added a few potatoes.

The aroma filled the entire room.

It was the best meal I had eaten in months.

He Ye picked every piece of meat from his bowl and put it in mine.

I put it back.

We passed it to and fro until the meat fell onto the table.

We both fell silent.

The house was old, and the tabletop was hardly clean.

I stared at the piece of meat, my heart aching so badly I could barely breathe.

He Ye extended a claw and swiftly picked it up and ate it.

“Wasn’t dirty yet.”

I could not help laughing.

He glanced at me, his ears tilting slightly away.

After dinner, I told him about looking for a new job.

“Tomorrow, I’m going to ask at the bookshop. You stay home and rest. No more hunting rabbits.”

He Ye asked, “Why?”

“Your wound will reopen.”

“Then what will we eat?”

“I’ll earn money.”

He lowered his eyes to the faint calluses on my palm.

“You’re tired.”

I went still.

It had been a long time since anyone had said that to me.

Everyone only said I was young, that doing a little more would not hurt.

The restaurant owner said I worked too slowly and told me to be more diligent.

The accountant always left the largest pile of ledgers for me because I was easygoing and never asked for extra pay.

Even I thought being a little tired did not matter.

After all, one night’s sleep, and I would still have to get up the next day.

But He Ye had said, You’re tired.

Those two simple words made me want to cry.

I lowered my head and busied myself clearing the dishes.

“It’s not so bad.”

He Ye did not expose the lie.

That night, he still slept by the door.

I tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep.

The system had been silent all day, but now it suddenly appeared.

【A deviation has been detected in the mission target’s fate.】

I sat up. “What does that mean?”

【According to the original course of fate, the mission target would become the City Lord’s consort three months from now, use the power of the City Lord’s residence to return to the beast tribes, and ultimately become the new ruler of the north.】

【But the City Lord’s residence was attacked this afternoon.】

【The mission target has disappeared.】

I remembered the expensive beastman at the auction house.

The system had said that saving him would change my fate.

Now he was gone.

My fate probably would not change either.

I lay back down, strangely calm.

“It doesn’t matter.”

The system did not understand.

【You have lost your only chance to change your life.】

“I can find another job.”

【You will spend the rest of your life struggling.】