SDIWD - Chapter 20
Chapter 20
After Hua Mu finished speaking, she stared at Bai Zhen with reddened eyes. Bai Zhen stared back blankly, unable to react for a moment.
She had completely overlooked this matter!
After years of training, it was perfectly natural for a Sentinel's body to enter a state of alert. At times like this, before she was a woman, before she was a person, she was first and foremost a war machine.
But she had forgotten that Hua Mu was not.
Bai Zhen was overcome with deep self-blame.
Hua Mu felt awful. Aside from the fact that her stomach hurt so much she felt like she was dying, the way the other woman stood there silently, practically shut down, made her feel utterly mortified and furious.
"Miss, please wait a moment."
After a long moment of staring at Hua Mu, Bai Zhen finally reacted. She rushed to the shore, dragged the items she had left there above the high-tide line, and then cleaned the two fish and the octopus by the water. Following the method Hua Mu had taught her that afternoon, she stuffed them with mint, scraped some sea salt from the rim of the distillation pot, wrapped everything in banana leaves, and buried it in the embers to cook.
By the time she had done all this, the sky had completely darkened. When Hua Mu saw that she still had the presence of mind to prepare dinner, seemingly without a care for her, she sat to one side and sulked.
Bai Zhen quickly finished these tasks, then put some water on to boil in a coconut shell. Finally, she said to Hua Mu, "Miss, I'll be back within half an hour. If you have an emergency, fire a shot."
Hearing that Bai Zhen was actually planning to leave, Hua Mu felt a fresh wave of anger and hurt, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes again.
"Fine, go! Just go!"
If you leave, don't come back!
What could possibly be more important than comforting her? She felt like she was dying from the pain! And after she'd said something so humiliating, the other woman hadn't reacted at all. She wouldn't even stay with her. What good was this Sentinel!
Bai Zhen left without hesitation.
Seeing how decisively she left, Hua Mu's tears finally spilled over.
"Sob... You jerk! Idiot! Moron! You're heartless!"
She hurled every insult she could think of at Bai Zhen, but it still wasn't enough. The charcoal fire crackled, and the aroma of fish and octopus began to drift through the air. The water in the coconut shell was gradually heating up.
Hua Mu cried herself out. Clutching her stomach, she curled up on the pile of grass, having no desire to deal with the awful situation down below.
It was probably a disaster already, anyway. Out of sight, out of mind!
Bai Zhen had said she would be back within half an hour, but she returned in just over ten minutes. She appeared to come from the direction of the rainforest, carrying several clumps of plants.
Hua Mu saw her return only to bustle about again, without a single word of concern for her. She felt like she was about to fall apart. She'd just see what on earth was more important than her!
Bai Zhen first plucked a few leaves and tossed them into the coconut shell, then stuffed the clumps of green grass into the fire. Because the grass wasn't completely dry, Hua Mu soon smelled smoke.
Strangely, however, she didn't find the smell unpleasant. In fact, it was even somewhat comforting.
Bai Zhen silently completed these tasks, then pulled the tank top she had taken off before swimming out from under her jacket and cut it into strips with her dagger.
At this, Hua Mu could finally sit still no longer.
"What on earth are you doing!?" She grabbed a handful of dry grass to throw at Bai Zhen, but it was too light and scattered all over herself instead. She spat in frustration. "Ptooey, ptooey."
The water had just finished boiling. Bai Zhen poured some into another coconut shell and rose to her feet, walking over to Hua Mu.
"Miss, drink some while it's hot."
Finally on the receiving end of some concern, Hua Mu's long-suppressed feelings of hurt erupted.
"Drink what? I'd rather just die!"
All anyone ever says for period cramps is to drink hot water. And to think she was a girl, too!
Bai Zhen knelt beside her and said softly, "You'll feel a little better if you drink it. You can't afford to get a chill right now."
It was rare for the Sentinel to be so gentle and considerate; Hua Mu nearly started crying again.
"You're only saying this now? What were you, dead earlier?"
"I'm sorry, Miss."
Hua Mu didn't want to hear 'sorry'. She needed comfort! She needed care! She needed lots and lots of love!
"I can't get up..."
Bai Zhen carefully helped her sit up, blew on the hot water in the coconut shell to cool it slightly, then held it to her lips.
Leaning against the Sentinel's warm chest, her wounded spirit and aching body finally found a measure of comfort.
The water had a strange taste, but it wasn't unpleasant. The warmth seemed to flow all the way down to her belly, and the pain eased considerably.
"What were you making?" Now that she felt more comfortable, she had the energy to care about other things.
"I'm making you a menstrual belt."
Hua Mu didn't understand.
"What's that?"
Bai Zhen wasn't good with words and didn't know how to explain. She could only say, "You'll see when it's finished."
Oh, so now she's being mysterious.
"Why were you ignoring me?"
The Miss, now on her period, was in desperate need of attention and care, and her tendency to say the opposite of what she meant plummeted.
"I wasn't ignoring you."
"Yes, you were. You left me all alone."
"I went to find herbs. The drink will make you feel a little better."
So that strange taste was the herbs, Hua Mu thought, somewhat mollified.
"I'm hungry."
"The fish should be done. I'll get it out. You eat something first, and we can deal with the other issue later."
In the flickering firelight, Bai Zhen's deep-set eyes and sharp jawline seemed especially gentle. Hua Mu decided she must be feeling vulnerable to find this big, foolish Sentinel so considerate and comforting.
"Then go ahead."
Bai Zhen pulled the banana leaf packet from the embers. Inside, the fish and pieces of octopus were steaming, giving off a faint scent of mint. She drizzled a little lemon juice over it and offered it to Hua Mu.
Hua Mu didn't want to feed herself. She pouted. "You feed me."
The Miss's word was law; any request was perfectly reasonable.
Without a word, Bai Zhen began searching for a stick to fashion into chopsticks.
"Just use your hand. Why go to all that trouble?"
It's not like I haven't eaten from her hand before, Hua Mu thought, finding her fussiness annoying.
Bai Zhen seemed a little flustered. After a moment's hesitation, she resigned herself to it, picked up a piece of fish, and brought it to Hua Mu's mouth.
Hua Mu sighed in satisfaction.
If she could, she would live this life of being waited on hand and foot forever—oh, right, her life before had been pretty much the same.
With just a little salt, the flavor of their dinner had improved by leaps and bounds. Hua Mu's foul mood over the distillation device, which had lasted all afternoon, finally began to lift.
Of course, she didn't have much mental energy to spare for regrets right now anyway.
Bai Zhen diligently fed Hua Mu until she was full. Without taking any for herself, she went over to the fire and scraped the ash from the burned plants, along with some charcoal, onto a banana leaf.
Hua Mu was now genuinely curious about what Bai Zhen was going to do, since it was obviously something for her.
Then, she saw Bai Zhen pull a sealed bag from her trouser pocket. Inside, perfectly preserved, was the handkerchief she had thrown away.
???!!!
Hua Mu was stunned!
"Bai Zhen!!!"
Bai Zhen, who was concentrating on scraping the ash, flinched at Hua Mu's yell and nearly dropped the handkerchief in her other hand. She had never heard the Miss raise her voice like that.
"Miss?"
She turned her head and looked at Hua Mu in confusion.
Don't you dare tilt your head and look at me with that pure, confused expression after doing something so perverted, acting like you have no idea what you've done!
"You... you pervert!"
Called a pervert by the Miss again... Bai Zhen was growing numb to it.
She was beginning to fail to understand what Hua Mu meant by "pervert," and she grew more certain that it probably didn't mean what it usually did.
After all, no one had ever called her that before.
"Miss, what's wrong?"
It's not what's wrong with me, it's what's about to be done to me! What kind of normal person picks up a handkerchief someone else used to wipe... and keeps it like a treasured possession!
"You... Didn't I tell you not to pick it up?!"
Bai Zhen fell silent for a moment before uttering a sentence that made Hua Mu question reality itself.
"...I didn't pick it up. It floated back to me."
Those thick brows and big, honest eyes are a complete sham, aren't they?! Look at that stubborn, shameless expression, like a cornered animal. She's banking on the fact that I can't do a thing to her, isn't she?
"It floated back, so you just picked it up? Don't you think it's dirty?"
"You only wiped—"
"Shut up!"
Bai Zhen lowered her head and began using a torn piece of banana leaf to scoop the plant ash onto the center of the handkerchief.
"I washed it."
Completely unrepentant.
More than angry, Hua Mu was mortified and flustered. Not only did this Sentinel have improper designs on her, but there was also something wrong with her brain!
"You're a pervert!"
As she rolled up the handkerchief, Bai Zhen mumbled, "Miss, I'm not a pervert."
How dare she talk back!
Hua Mu became so agitated that her stomach began to hurt again. She clutched her abdomen, crying out, "Oww."
Bai Zhen grew anxious. She quickly tied the ends of the handkerchief, fastened it to the strip of cloth from her tank top with a pin, and rushed to Hua Mu's side.
"Miss, are you all right?"
Hua Mu figured she wasn't going to starve or die of thirst. If she died here, it would be because Bai Zhen had angered her to death.
"I'm dying!"
Bai Zhen said hurriedly, "Miss, you won't die."
I'm about to die right now!
"It hurts."
Casting aside any fear of overstepping, Bai Zhen pulled Hua Mu into her arms, placed a palm on her lower abdomen, and began to rub gently.
Though her spirit animal was an ice wolf, Bai Zhen's body was always warm, and the heat from her palm was incredibly soothing.
Hua Mu felt as if a heating pad had been placed on her stomach, and warmth spread through her entire body. She lay limply in Bai Zhen's arms and said through her tears, "My dress must be ruined."
Bai Zhen glanced over and saw that the back of the white dress was indeed stained.
"I'll wash it for you tomorrow."
"I don't want you washing something so dirty."
Hua Mu shifted, as if trying to get off Bai Zhen's lap. Bai Zhen held her firmly, keeping her still.
"Nothing about you is dirty."
Suppressing her wildly pounding heart, Hua Mu said stubbornly, "You're still a pervert."
Bai Zhen sighed, not daring to contradict her any further.
"Yes, I'm a pervert."
Hua Mu's heart dropped. She nearly fainted from shock.
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