{ Rossweisse POV }
" Ughh. " Pain, that was what I was feeling right now, especially my back. That fight with that giant Draug really did a number on me, I thought I was going to die!
' Well, I really need to thank that man. ' I mused as I recall the blurry memories of my saviour. I remembered he released a stream of fire at the Draug, ' A fire mage I guess. '
I also remember that he said something:
Otoydi ot neye, ublyudok!( Get away from her you bastard! )
That sounded like Russian, ' What is a Russian man doing here in the middle of an undead-infested forest? That too far away from his home country. '
I could feel the softness of the mattress of a bed behind my back and a warm blanket covering me. I open my eyes to see a wooden ceiling of an old house, ' I'm at his house. '
There was no chance I'm in the village, we have travelled too much of a distance from that dragon chase. ' That Dragon got the Oracle, without her we have no way to return to Asgard. I need to get back to them, Sigrun would be really distraught with me not returning. '
I tried to get up, but my aching back was pulling me back to the mattress as I groaned from the dull pain.
" Igor'! Ona prosnulas'! ( Igor! she's awake! ) "
" Ty idi I skazhi pape. ( You go and tell Papa. ) "
I perked up from hearing two voices near my bed, I forced myself into a sitting position to see two male twins staring at me with curious aqua eyes. They looked so identical, especially with their hairstyle.
" Privet! ( Hello! ) " One of them said, I don't know Russian but I did learn Translation magic, which I promptly cast without them knowing.
" Artom, she doesn't speak Russian. " The other said, " Go and tell Papa. "
' Papa? These two must be his children. ' I assumed as the child name Artom left the room and then seconds later.
" Papa! The weirdly dressed lady is awake. "
' Weirdly dressed lady? ' In what way I'm weirdly dressed, that is when I realised I was probably still dressed in my Valkyrie armour. Well, I originally thought the same when I first saw them.
I heard footsteps coming closer to the room, I was feeling a little nervous about meeting him. It was then I met my saviour from last night and I was quite surprised.
When one thinks of a Russian man, certain stereotypes come into play. Pale skin, blonde hair, blue eyes and a stoic face. But the Russian man in front of me was the polar opposite.
He was brown-skinned, with brown hair, brown eyes and a goatee adorned on his chin. He has a gentle smile on his face that immediately calmed my nervous self as if he was telling me that I'm safe. But I could also see scars on his face especially the two diagonal scars on both his eyes and the four fang-like scars on both the upper and lower lip. ' They look as if they were intentionally carved on his face. '
" Something wrong with my face? " He said as he inspected his face. I blushed as I realised I was staring at his face too intently. I quickly shook my head telling him that nothing was wrong.
" Well, that's good~ " He smiled at me as he sat at the edge of the bed. " Wouldn't want a bad first impression, would I? " His contagious smile made me smile as well. But he immediately became nervous, which confused me. He scratched the back of his head and was looking at me nervously.
Then with a deep breath, he spoke.
" Sorry.My. English no good. So.I Apologies in advance. But. you hungry? "
.
.
.
.
.
" Hahaha! " I cannot, I just cannot. " Hahaha! "
Even his son was holding his stomach as he laugh without any restrain
The man immediately turned red in embarrassment as he completely butchered his English, " At least I made you two laugh... that too at my expense."
" I'm sorry, I don't want to be disrespectful, but you're, Hahaha! " There was no way I could hold my laughter, the way he so seriously looked at me and spoke those broken English words, I just can't.
The man however had a different reaction, it was not anger, but that of surprise. " Wait a minute! You know Russian!? I can't believe I just made a fool of myself. "
" No, I don't speak Russian. " I corrected him, as I continued to hold myself from giggling at his funny mistake.
" Huh? "
" I used Translation Magic, to understand what you are saying and in turn be able to speak to you. "
" How does that work? " the other twin immediately came up and asked exuberantly.
His father placed his hand to calm his excited child. " Igor, calm down. Let her rest first, why don't you go have breakfast? "
" Ok! "
With Igor out of the room, there was only me and him in this room. " You kids are really sweet~ " I commenced a conversation as we just sat there in silence, I choose a topic which he might like and judging from his smile, I guess he really liked it.
" Sure they are, but they can get really naughty at times. "
" Their mother must be really beautiful. " It seemed they got more physical features from her as they don't really look like their father, except for their hairstyle.
" I can't really say if that's true. " He said, " Since their mother died seven years ago. "
I felt my heart tighten as I heard that, I just had to remind a husband about his dead wife, I felt really guilty for even bringing up that topic.
" I'm sorry for your loss sir, your wife I mean. " I kept my gaze down not worthy to look at his face. ' He must be really angry at me. I just made my saviour mad because I wanted to start a conversation.
But what she heard next was totally the opposite of what she expected from him, " Wife? I'm not married! I'm just I just turned twenty-two, I'm too young for that."
" Heh? " I immediately turned to him, as he had a confused look.
" I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions! when I heard they call you Papa, I thought you were married! " I apologised as I frantically waved my hands in front of him. " Ow! " A dull pain came from my back as I had tried to have a little too much movement.
The man immediately came to my side; he took the pillows and placed them behind me to make me more comfortable. However, in that process, he came a little too close to me, as he placed his hand on my shoulder. I could even smell his masculine scent, which immediately made me blush furiously at such a close interaction with someone of the opposite gender.
The only man I had ever been this close to was my father, and even he had warned me to watch out for men who would try to take advantage of me. If any man approached me with illicit intentions, he said, I should smack him. But this man in front of me had no such intentions. He was simply trying to help me and was only touching me because he wanted to adjust my position so that my back wouldn't hurt.
But it didn't change the fact that he was very close to me!
" If you need more pillows, tell me ok?" I could not respond as I had to take a nervous gulp and I simply nodded.
" So, what's your name? " He asked as he sat near me. " It's kinda awkward calling you " weirdly dressed lady ". "
" My name is Rosseweisse and I wouldn't really call my dress weird, It's Valkyrie armour and is made for mobility. Lady Freya was said to be the fastest female warrior in all of Asgard and that was due to her light armour! It was copied and mass-produced for us so we can act as a first-response force to enemy attacks or hit-and-run missions! Plus there are magical defences to keep the open parts protected. " I basically recited what our instructor told me when I inquired about the armour. He on the other hand didn't seem too convinced.
" That sounded more like an excuse than a description; moreover, it took almost half an hour just to remove those accessories and metal parts from you. That time, you looked like you were having difficulty breathing. "
" What? " I asked in horror, indeed my body feels lighter, ' is he implying that- "
" Yeah, I kept them there. " He said as he casually pointed to a table where all the metal parts of my armour and is that my stockings?! I lifted the blanket and to my horror, I saw that I was wearing only my black leotard.
HE STRIPED ME!!!
I glared at the man and he seemed clueless as to why I'm angry at him. How dare he!
" Why did you strip me?! YOU PERVERT! " I raged as I slammed my fist repeatedly on his chest that didn't really do much damage.
He didn't seem affected by my outburst; as he simply placed his reassuring hand on my shoulder. I shuddered at the warm touch of his rough hands. "I had to do it, your armour was restricting your breathing and those accessories might get you hurt while you sleep. Rest assured, I have no inappropriate intentions of doing all of that, and besides, if I didn't remove your armour, how would I dress your injuries?"
I then looked down at the bandages that were wrapped around my arms and my right foot. I realized I had overreacted and just accused my saviour of being a pervert, but in reality, he was just taking care of me. I felt ashamed for yelling and accusing the kind man just for trying to help me.
" I-I'm sorry. "
" No, I should be the one to apologize. " He bowed his head not willing to look at my face, " I should have used a better alternative. I hope you can forgive me. "
" I-I'm not mad at you anymore. " He lifted his head meeting my gaze, " I should have not reacted that way. I understand that you were only trying to help me, but- " Despite me not being mad at him anymore, one thing did not change... He did strip me! even if it was for a good cause.
My eyes began to water, as I had just remembered what my mother told me years ago and the promise I made to her, a promise I had already broke. " The only man you should undress for is your husband. Promise me, Rose, that you will not expose yourself to any other men except your husband. I don't want people to call my daughter a promiscuous woman. These days, the girls have no sense of shame; I don't want you to be like them."
I was always an obedient child and I always followed and obeyed whatever my parents told me because they knew what was best for me. This time I broke a serious promise I made to Mom. She is not going to be happy about this.
" I-I can never get married after this. " How can I ever face Mom again? No matter how hard I will try to hide it, she'll eventually find out.
My saviour was in a big dilemma; he had no idea what to do or how to console me. He scratched his head, looking for an epiphany. He gazed at me and, with a deep breath, he declared.
" Well, if that's the case, then I, Nikolai Volkov, as a man, will take responsibility for my actions and if needed, I will take your hand in marriage. "
" Wha- " I was flabbergasted at his declaration, ' Marry me? '
" But why? " I asked, not really understanding just why he would want to marry a promiscuous woman like me.
" Why? You ask. It's because I am a man and as a man, I must take responsibility for my actions, because if not, then I am just another asshole. "
"But--" I tried to argue with him, but he interrupted me, "Look, we started on the wrong foot; So let me introduce myself again."
He cleared his throat and extended his hand towards me, " My name is Nikolai Vilkov it's a pleasure to meet you, Rosseweisse. "
I took his hand and gave a firm shake, " My name is Rosseweisse, it's a pleasure to meet you, Nikolai. "
He gave me a very contagious smile, that spread to me as I also smiled at him.
" Well, I hope you're hungry? " He pulled out a bowl of soup that he brought that I didn't t really notice he had brought earlier.
GROWL!!!
My face turned red with embarrassment as my starving stomach demanded that it wanted to be fed. Even Nikolai was chuckling at me, ' So embarrassing! '
" Someone really wants to be fed it seems. " Please no more.
He stirred the soup that had potatoes and meat in it and took a good amount on the wooden spoon. He blow on the steaming hot soup to cool it and pointed at me.
" Say Aahh! "