Sniffing, her nose was bombarded by the strong smell of blood and she sat frozen in her seat when she realized that the blood had most probably leaked out.
The cloth… it must've already been full!
Ingrid cursed under her breath as she avoided moving in her seat. Blushing from embarrassment, she looked at Raghnall with a strained expression as she stuttered.
"I… uh... I-i know this is.. i-inappropriate but… can y-you do me a favor?"
Raghnall raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in demeanor.
"What favor?"
Normally, Ingrid didn't want to rely on anyone for anything, especially a stranger at that. But knowing she had no choice, she decided to just swallow her embarrassment.
"My bleeding cloth. It's… full. Can you help me get one from the manor? I... I know it's strange to ask a stranger, much more a man, for this but as you can see, if I move any more than necessary, I might leak. And besides, you've been to the manor yourself, right? It would be easy for you to know where my room was since you barged in it on the day I woke up."
A look of understanding finally dawned on Raghnall's face when he saw her rigid posture. He was never close enough to any woman to know about their Blood Week. So, seeing Ingrid, he never realized until now that it was such a burdensome thing for them.
It also made him wonder if Inna would ever rely on him during those burdensome days…
"Do you need anything else aside from the cloth? Water perhaps? Or clean clothes?"
He asked as he readied himself to teleport. Although he felt pretty drained from setting up the barriers, he figured he could spare two teleportation spells before going back to his dorm to rest. It was the least he could do for acting inappropriately in front of Ingrid.
Ingrid thought about his question and she replied to him meekly.
"Just a towel soaked in warm water. I'd need it to get the blood out of this chair. After cleaning, I'd probably return back to the manor."
Raghnall raised an eyebrow as he expressed an idea that popped in his mind.
"Why don't I just teleport you back to the manor and I'll be the one to clean up instead?"
Ingrid turned red as she vehemently refused.
"No, no, no. It's quite embarrassing for you to clean up after my blood. That's… also very inappropriate as well. We have no relationship whatsoever and to let an unmarried man clean up the blood of an unmarried woman… that's just…"
Ingrid trailed off as she was at a loss of words on how to let Raghnall understand. But luckily, she didn't need to say more since Raghnall seemed to have gotten her point.
"I see. Okay, I'll be getting the cloth and some warm wet towel then. But… it might be insensitive of me to ask this but, where would you be changing your cloth?"
Ingrid thought she couldn't go any redder but she was proven wrong when her face went up in flames. Her whole head became a huge tomato as she struggled to get a word out.
"I… uhhh… uhm… I was gonna… ask you to uhm… leave for a while? Or maybe turn around or something… And to… nullify this illumination spell… so that I… wouldn't be… seen."
Ingrid's voice ended with just a mere whisper as she shrunk back to her seat in shame. Raghnall somehow couldn't help but find her reaction cute when he noticed her redness. It was as if Inna was being embarrassed in front of him. And he had to admit that it was a rare sight since Inna was rarely embarrassed in his presence.
Chuckling, Raghnall nodded as he made his way outside the pavilion. Then, after casting the teleportation spell, Raghnall politely excused himself before disappearing in thin air.
Ingrid was now left alone and she finally was able to fully relax. She carefully slumped by the chair as she began to patiently wait for Raghnall's return.
Then, she realized something that made her suddenly curse at herself.
She forgot to tell him where the cloth was!
She was only able to vaguely point out that it was in her room because of her embarrassment. Groaning in annoyance, she prayed in her heart that he'd be able to find the cloth fast despite the lack of directions. Because she felt that at any minute now, if she so much as shift in her position, the red liquid would gush out like a waterfall and taint the pavilion in red.
Enduring the urge to sneeze, cough, and move, Ingrid looked like a statue as she willed herself to stay still. And she nearly leaked when the illumination spell Raghnall casted suddenly gave out.
She had been waiting for quite a long stretch of time and she could slightly understand why. Her room was a big mess and to find an enhanced cloth in the middle of it all was probably one of the hardest things to do. And since she stayed there ever since her Blood Week started, the room must've been filled to the brim with magic particles that would hinder anyone's senses.
And so, he'd have to search for the cloth without using his magical senses.
Ingrid tried to distract herself from the temptations of moving by trying to think of random things.
And while Ingrid was lost in her thoughts, someone hidden by the shadows smiled in glee.
The person never thought that they'd be able to see Inna in such a protected place. The person never even though the place existed if they didn't end up tailing after her!
Smiling from ear to ear, the person tightly clutched the item by their hand.
They have never seen Inna alone ever since!
It was by far the best time to strike…
But the person willed their emotions to calm down as they slowly stalked towards her.
Hiding behind the shadows of the pavilion, the person slowly maneuvered their way to lessen the distance between them and Inna.
And just as when the person was at the perfect distance, they began to chant.