Chapter 612

Chapter 612 Cheering Himself Up

The sight of the plains at night was gorgeous. Hanging high above the skies was a river of twinkling

stars we could never see in the city. The moon coated the earth with a silvery light, and I felt like we

were walking straight into an anime scene. Shawn and I had been walking the whole day, so we were

exhausted. The chill was getting to me due to fatigue, and I was shivering in Shawn's embrace. He

held me tightly, not saying a word.

I could feel his hand rubbing against my cheek. And a long while later, he said, "You should eat

something."

I shook my head. "I'm not hungry."

He took the bread and tore a small piece of it, then tried to feed me. I looked into his eyes. Just the

thought of him eating raw fish just now stopped me from opening my mouth. "I'm not hungry. Really."

He cooed, "Now, now, be a good girl."

I pursed my lips and opened my mouth. He would worry if I went on for too long without food, and I

needed something to keep up my strength, but I was still uneasy from everything.

With difficulty, I finished half the bread, and Shawn whipped out some biscuits. He fed me a couple and

asked, "Do you want more?"

I shook my head. "That's enough."

There weren't a lot of snacks in the bag, but they were enough to last an adult two whole days. I

wouldn't eat anything unless absolutely necessary. Shawn opened up a pack of sausages and fed me

those.

I was a bit speechless for a moment. "Well, that question was redundant."

"You might be lying. Just eat more."

I teared up. "I never lie to you."

Shawn cocked his eyebrow. "Really?"

I smiled sheepishly. "Well, small lies."

He said nothing. Instead, he stared at me as I finished the sausage. I took the bag and whipped a

bottle of milk out. After a couple of swigs, I handed it to him, pretending that I couldn't finish it. "I can't

finish this. Here, help me out."

He gave me a questioning look.

"Why are you staring at me?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he finished one-third of the milk and put it aside. Then he took my boots off.

If there was one thing I shouldn't have done, it was wearing these boots. It was waterproof, but it wasn't

warm enough, and I was wearing particularly thin socks.

He stared at my feet. "You've got blisters."

"We've been walking the whole day. Of course, I have blisters."

He grunted and placed me on the ground, then he placed my legs on his lap.

With trepidation, I asked, "You're going to pop them?"

Shawn cooed, "It won't hurt."

I closed my eyes. "Make it quick."

Mere moments later, he said, "Done."

I moved my hands away from my eyes. " I didn't feel anything." I then looked at my feet. "You didn't pop

them."

He helped me wear my boots. "I'll do it tomorrow."

Shawn pulled me into his embrace, and I wrapped my hands around his waist under his coat. "Who's

trying to attack you? Do you know that pilot?"

Shawn rested his chin on my head. "Yeah. He's one of my regular pilots. Waylen handles the

background checks and the pilot has a clean background, or so it seemed. I have no idea whom he's

working for now. I have a lot of enemies, so I can't remember them all. I'll look into it once we leave this

place. I promise there will be answers."

I shook my head. "I don't care about answers. I care about you. There are a lot of people working for

you. You can't be on guard against everyone, but that's all the more reason danger gets to you easily.

This is only one of the many crises you'll have to face, and I'm already worried sick."

Shawn was always swimming in danger, and it left marks on him. I was reminded of the scores of scars

on his body, and some of them were even fresh. At this thought, I sat up and saw him staring at me

thoughtfully. Then I held his arm and rested my head on his shoulder. "You must be tired. I don't want

you to hold me all the time. That'd be bad for you. Good night," I said gently.

I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. Twenty minutes later, I slowly opened my eyes and saw

Shawn falling asleep while he was sitting up. He wasn't even leaning on the boulder behind him. That

was understandable. His back was hurt, but sleeping while sitting up must feel awful too. I sighed and

pulled him into my embrace. His head rested on my chest. If this was any other time, he would have

woken up, but now he was asleep, though his face was as white as a sheet.

He was quiet and his breathing was shallow when he was asleep. I looked at him intently and wiped a

tear away. "Good night, Shawn." I shed tears out of worry.

The night was freezing. It took me a long time just to force myself to fall asleep. I felt something move

in my arms late at night. Despite my best attempts to wake up, my willpower wasn't strong enough, so I

remained asleep. The next second, I felt someone taking my boots off, and then a surge of pain shot

up into my head. I gasped.

Someone cooed gently, "Just hold on."

This must be a dream. I felt someone pulling me into their embrace. Still overwhelmed by exhaustion, I

turned around once in their arms and fell asleep. It was already morning when I woke up, and Shawn

was not by my side. I got up and, to my surprise, realized that my feet didn't hurt anymore. So, I took

my boots off and noticed that the blisters were gone. Reminded of the events that happened the night

before, I muttered, "So it wasn't a dream."

I looked for Shawn nearby and found him in the same place I did the day before. He was staring into

the distance, where the endless plains slept. Strewn around him were the innards and bones of a fish.

Did he eat raw fish again? I shouted, "Shawn!"

Shawn kicked the remains of the fish into the river and approached me.

Shawn kicked the remains of the fish into the river and approached me.

I blew into my hands. "Hungry?"

"No. We'll set off once you have breakfast."

"What did you eat?" I asked, pretending that I didn't just see the remains of a fish.

"We have a lot of fish here," he said.

"We don't even have fire. Were you eating raw fish again?"

Shawn patted my head. "I have fire," he changed the subject and whipped out a lighter from his pocket.

I asked, "So why didn't you light a fire last night?"

"We're in a prairie. No wood, no fire."

I held back the pain that was welling up in my heart. "I'll keep it for you. Maybe we'll find somewhere

warm if we keep walking."

We went back to the boulder, and Shawn watched me finish the milk and bread before he would

resume the journey. There were a lot of streams nearby, but they were shallow, and we skirted around

them. There were a few times when we had to cross it, and Shawn would take me on his back. I

refused for fear that his wounds would reopen, but he didn't care.

And so, I was forced to put my weight on his wounds as he took me across the streams. We finally got

through every single one of them in the afternoon. We had drinks every time we needed to quench our

thirst, after which we filled the bottles with water from the streams. We were nearing a human

settlement. I noticed some shrubs nearby, and the temperature was getting warmer. At least the nights

weren't so chilly anymore.

Shawn found another boulder and told me to rest while he went somewhere else. I knew he was going

to check his wounds and hunt for food. There were no streams nearby, however, so I wondered what

he would eat that night. Quietly, I followed him, but he wasn't searching for food. Instead, he was sitting

on the ground, staring into the distance. He rested his head in his hand, seemingly hiding something.

I hid behind a tree, and I heard him mutter, "You gotta hold on, Shawn. One more day. One more day

and we'll get to a human settlement. She must live."

He was keeping his spirits high, and there was a sign of warning in his voice. Sorrow filled my heart,

and I could no longer pretend to be strong anymore. I cried. I had been crying easily for the last two

days, but not because of my pain. It was because of Shawn—brave, courageous Shawn who

shouldered everything himself.

He never told me about his worries or showed me his weaker side. If he did, he knew I would be

scared. I was hiding behind the trees, turning into a mess of tears. The more he was hiding, the more it

pained me. Sometimes, I wished he would show his vulnerable side to me.

Just then, he muttered again, "If you fall now, what happens to her?"