Ste called out for them to enter, and Leonard walked in, holding the cat.


    Seeing Leonard, Ste''s expression darkened.


    "What are you doing here? Shouldn''t you be in bed resting?"


    Leonard said, "I got bored lying in bed. I wanted to walk around a bit."


    Ste replied, "Your wounds haven''t healed yet. You shouldn''t be walking around. If they reopen, your recovery will take even longer. Leonard, are you trying to y games with our agreement?"


    Leonard was silent for a moment before saying, "If I dy my own recovery, I''ll take responsibility. I won''t me you for it."


    Aside from changing his bandages and bringing him meals, Ste almost never appeared before him.


    Before, when he wanted to see her, he could just go to her. Now that he was injured, he couldn''t move around easily.


    Ste said tly, "But it will affect your ability to fly the ne."


    Leonard knew what she was thinking. He said in a low voice, "As long as I''m still breathing, I will do what I promised you."


    Since he''d put it that way, Ste didn''t bother insisting.


    She sat back down in her chair and resumed her work on the wind chime,pletely ignoring him.


    Leonard watched her focused profile. "I thought you would just do a half-hearted job."


    Without looking up, Ste said, "Even if I prepared all the gifts overnight, you still need to recover before we can leave. I could be perfunctory, but that would only give you a pretext to cause trouble and prolong my stay. It has no real benefit besides saving me a little effort. I have plenty of time right now, and I''m idle anyway."


    Hearing such an honest response, Leonard actually smiled.


    "You''re telling me the truth. Aren''t you afraid of making me angry?"


    Ste said, "Even if I didn''t say it, you''d figure it out. Why bother making up excuses? It''s just exhausting."


    Leonard asked, "What are your ns after you leave?"


    Ste finally looked up at him, her expression guarded.


    "Why are you asking?"


    Leonard said, "After I take you away from here, I might be gone for a while."


    Ste gave a nomittal response, showing no interest in what he nned to do.


    Leonard added, "If your hand is healed, will you y the violin again?"


    Ste''s movements paused.


    She looked up at Leonard. "After you became head of the family, did you continue to paint?"


    Leonard said nothing more.


    With him silent, Ste didn''t speak either. The only sound in the


    was the scraping of shellsoomet


    being


    polished content belongs to


    Leonard gazed at Ste quietly, feeling as if he could never get enough of the sight of her.


    After some time, Ste put down her


    tools and


    noticed Leonard was.


    standing in the same spot, staring at


    S without blinking Contem


    Ste frowned. "Leonard, you should go back."


    This time, Leonard was obedient and nodded.


    "Alright."


    He didn''t disturb her any further and turned to leave.


    Time flew by, and more than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.


    Leonard''s wounds had almostpletely healed, and Ste had finished preparing all of his birthday gifts.


    Even though she hadn''t put her heart


    into it preparing thirty gifts,


    at once


    waken her over ano


    Gontent


    That day, Ste changed Leonard''s dressing onest time and inspected his wounds.


    She said to him, "Your injuries seem to be fine now. I''ll have the doctore and confirm."