Chapter 6

A soft golden glow spilled from his palm, wrapping around the little tiger. That was the healing power unique to Celestor Orcs.

I'd seen Luciano use it before, but every time he did, he'd be wiped out for days. This wasn't regular healing. It was he pouring out his own life force to patch up the cub.

"Luciano, you—" I started.

"It's fine," he said, giving me a gentle smile. "This little guy's hurt way too bad. Your medicine would take too long. I'll use a bit of my power to keep him stable, then you can take your time treating him."

The soft golden glow lasted about 15 minutes, and Luciano's face turned visibly paler. The little tiger's breathing evened out, his wounds stopped bleeding, and his fever started to go down.

The Tigran guy stared in shock and then dropped to his knees with a loud thud. "My lord. Are you—"

"I'm just her assistant," Luciano said, expressionless. Then he quietly walked over to the corner and sat down, looking pale.

I shot him a glare and hurried to pour him a cup of water. He wrapped both hands around it, giving me a weak, hopeful smile. His lips were completely drained of color.

"Don't try to act tough," I said quietly. "Your strength still hasn't fully come back."

"I know, but I just can't help myself," Luciano said, staring at the steam rising from his cup. "When I saw that little guy hurt, I just thought... if it were you, I'd do it all over again for you."

My hand paused for a moment, but I pretended I hadn't heard anything and turned back to treating the little tiger.

The rest of the treatment went smoothly. I cleaned the wounds, stitched them up, applied the medicine, and set the broken leg.

I was at it for a full two hours. The Tigran guy watched the whole thing, and when it was all over, he slapped a big handful of dollars down on the table.

"Miss Robinson, you're human, but your skills are legit. From now on, if any of my Tigran Tribe get hurt, they're coming straight to you," he said, grinning.

I looked at the pile of dollars on the table, and for the first time, I thought maybe this world wasn't so hard to survive in after all.

Luciano quietly counted out the dollars one by one, stacking them up neatly, and then handed them to me. "Miss Robinson, here's today's earnings."

He was so serious about counting, even trying to do the math in his head—though he had to go over numbers under ten three times before he finally got it right.

I couldn't help but laugh.

He froze for a second when he saw me laughing, then his ears slowly turned red.

"When you smile..." he said softly, "it's just like in my dreams."

My smile stiffened on my face. Suddenly, I had no idea how to respond.

I grabbed the dollars from Luciano. "Shut up and go wipe down the medicine cabinet."

"Okay." He got up like a good boy and went to wipe the cabinet, his nine tails squirming under his robe like nine little snakes, all happy and restless.

And so, life just kept rolling along.

Luciano dropped all his Celestor Orc airs in Velburg. Every day, he'd fetch herbs for me, clean up the shop, and act as a calming presence for the sick animals.

It was kind of uncanny. Whenever he was around, even the most injured creatures would settle down, like they could sense the Celestor Orc aura coming off him.

He even learned how to cook—actually learned it this time, not like before when he nearly blew up the kitchen. Now, he'd get up before dawn every morning to make oatmeal for me.

Honestly, I had no clue how he learned all this stuff. Maybe some old habits stuck around in his body, like echoes from his past.

Every time I asked, "Did you remember anything?" he'd always shake his head, looking all disappointed.

"No," he said. "My mind's still empty. But my hands just know what to do. Like, when I brush your hair, they somehow know exactly how gentle to be.

"And when I tuck you in, my hands just know you like to sleep with your feet poking out from under the blanket."

He looked at me, his eyes filled with confusion and a kind of gentle affection.

"Miss Robinson, did I treat you well before?" he asked.

I paused for a moment.

"Yeah, you were pretty good," I said.

"Just pretty good?" he pressed.

"You were wonderful," I said.

He smiled, looking totally content.

"That's good," he said. "At least I never let you feel wronged."

I never told him that the divorce papers he wrote after losing his memory were the biggest hurt I'd ever felt in my life.

But I never said anything. I knew it wasn't his fault.

After losing his memory, he was like a blank slate—a newborn with no history saved. I couldn't expect him to pick up where we left off emotionally.

Just him wanting to stick close to me, to follow me around—that was already the most his body could manage.

But there was something else I needed to figure out.

The baby growing inside me.

I was about two months pregnant, and my belly still hadn't started to show, but I could feel the changes. I was always sleepy, nauseous, and every smell hit me way harder than before—all the usual signals.

I didn't know if I should tell Luciano.

If I told Luciano, he'd definitely stick around, but would it be for the baby, or for me? He wouldn't even know himself.