"Let me do it."
"No, it's my turn. I am his summon, and summons are closer than friends after all."
"Girls, would you please lower your voice. My darling is still sleeping you know."
When my consciousness returned, I could hear the girls bickering. This was nothing new since I had heard them do that several times. But what's new was this feeling. It felt like I was in a bed, but the pillow felt awfully different than normal. It was hard but it felt soft in a different way.
My body felt as if a truck had just run over me. I was in a state where I didn't even feel like lifting my hand. But I was curious as to what was going on, so I slowly lifted my head and opened my eyes.
Outside the opening of the tent, I could see that Princess Anna and Yoru were arguing about something. Arica was there too but it looked like she was enjoying the argument instead of trying to calm them down.
"Are they really fighting over food?"
Princess Anna was holding a bowl of stew while Yoru was trying to take that bowl of stew from her. It was somewhat frustrating to see girls arguing about something so petty in the state I was in.
"I think you should lie down. You still need more rest."
I heard Princess Eliane's voice, but before I could look towards the direction where her voice was coming from, I felt a gentle touch on my cheeks. And before I realized it, my head was back to where I lifted it from— her lap.
It felt a little embarrassing when I realized that but when I looked towards her face, she just had a slight smile with no abnormal reaction. 'Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to lay down for a little while.'
After a while, the noise outside stopped, it looked like they finally reached some kind of conclusion in their arguments. Which was a good thing, since today I wasn't feeling like doing anything, I just wanted to lay on this la— I mean, bed.
As I was trying to relax, Princess Anna and Arica slowly came in. They probably didn't want to disturb my sleep, but at this point, after realizing where my head was, sleep was a dream.
"He just woke up, but I think he needs more rest," Princess Eliane said when she saw them come in.
"Okay, you probably need a break, Eliane. Let me take care of him," Arica said as she sat right next to Eliane.
"Yes, I think I will have my breakfast now. Thanks, Arica."
After saying that, Princess Eliane slowly lifted my head and placed it over Arica's lap. This lap felt somewhat different than the one before and would take some time to get used to. But by no means, I was dissatisfied.
Arica started playing with my hair as soon as my head fell on her lap, and the way she was doing it was making me feel relaxed. Her hands were gentle, and her touch felt soft, but the way she was slowly moving it backward felt so soothing.
"I think I can eat it myself," I said since I could sense that she was definitely here to spoon-feed me. But when I tried to raise myself up Arica stopped me.
"Darling, you know, you were asleep for 3 days. You always push yourself too hard. Just try to relax for a while, okay?"
'Well, I am not surprised I was down for 3 days considering the state I was in. But still...'
Arica's offer wasn't bad considering the fact that my body was still feeling the fatigue. But even in this state, it would be too embarrassing to be spoon-fed.
"Nara, you don't like me, do you?" Princess Anna said while looking down. At this point, I could do nothing but wonder why she was reacting that way.
"Huh?! Where did that come from?" I said in surprise when I saw tears welling up in her eyes. Such an overreaction over something so simple was unexpected.
"Well, you ate when Yoru fed you yesterday morning. And you looked happy when Marina and Arica did that the day before. But yesterday evening when I tried feeding you, you refused to take a single bite after the first one."
'What! So that's what going on!'
"I was unconscious back then. How would I know who was feeding me?"
"Okay. But now that you know, let me feed you."
'That doesn't make any sense' was what I wanted to say. But considering how determined she looked, I was too tired to make a fuss about it. In the end, I gave up and waited for her to put the spoon of stew in my mouth. But when she brought the first spoon full of stew towards me, I understood why I subconsciously refused to eat yesterday.
"Princess Anna, that looks too hot. You need to blow it first," I said right when she brought it in front of my mouth. I would have felt sorry for my taste buds if that stew had accidentally entered my mouth.
"O-oh yeah. Almost forgot. Ha-ha!" Princess Anna said, but her expressions were clearly saying that she had no idea. Well, I have to say, it was foolish of me to expect that the princess of this nation would know how to feed someone.
She took the spoon close to her mouth and blew it several times. After which she slowly brought the spoon towards my mouth.
The stew was tasty. They probably didn't make it spicy knowing that I was still unwell. But for my taste buds that hadn't tasted any good food in days, this was heavens.
The biggest downside of someone else feeding you was the pace. If it was me eating by myself, I would have already finished the stew by now. But the way princess Anna was doing it, it would take me forever to finish that bowl.
I was in no rush though, and eating like this had the perks of its own. The food wasn't the only thing I was enjoying, the way princess Anna was feeding me looked cute in its own way.
After I finished eating, I felt somewhat curious as to what others were doing. I hadn't seen Marina, Billy, Drake, Zagan, or even Flare. So, I looked up towards Arica and asked.
"Hey Arica, where are others?"
"Oh, I think Billy and Drake went hunting early this morning, they are yet to return. Flare is keeping the watch from the sky, and Marina is resting. She hasn't recovered completely yet... As for Zagan, he said he needed a nap and disappeared after bringing us here."
I guess everything was pretty much back to normal. With little more rest, I would also be back to my usual normal self. Even though life would be boring without a few adventures once in a while, at the end of the day, that 'normal' is always the best.