Chapter 53 - Victory

Geraldine has been laying on her bed and was trying to fall asleep but couldn't as her mind wandered somewhere else. 

It's already night time and Alexjin hasn't arrived yet, making Geraldine wondered what happened to him.

She was about to go out when there's a knock on the door and Alexjin's voice reach her ears.

"Master?" 

Geraldine immediately opened the door to see Alexjin's wounds on his face and there's blood splattered on his armor.

"Omo, what happened?" She gasps as she holds both of his shoulders and examines his body for wounds, "Come inside."

She let Alexjin sit on the chair and helped him removed his armor.

"Master, I'm fine... Here," He smiled widely as he took out a gold medal from his pouch and show it to Geraldine, "Master, I won."

Geraldine's eyes bulge seeing the shining metal from Alexjin's hand. Her gaze is shifting from the medal and to Alexjin's wide smile as if she couldn't believe it. She has been thinking and accepted that Alexjin will lose the round.

"Wow, congratulations!" She smiled happily and playfully ruffled his hair as she knows that he likes it when she does that. 

"I did my best to win master. I want to make you proud of me," Alexjin handed her the medal and flinched when he raised his arms.

"Let's celebrate later but for now, we need to treat your wounds first," She said and removed all of his heavy armor.

"Your clothes are blooded," She murmured when she saw that there blood dripping from his clothes, "Stay here, I'll grab your clothes from your room and don't move," She warned before going to Alexjin's room.

Upon entering, she was in awe when seeing how Alexjin's room is neater than hers and his clothes are neatly folded. She grabbed a shirt and pants from his belongings and went back.

"Remove your clothes," She said as she took a towel and drenched it with water. Alexjin did what she asked but instead of taking it off, he ripped it apart and throw the shirt on the floor.

Geraldine is surprised by his actions but brushed them off and focuses on his wounds instead, "You have many cuts," she said as she put her hands over his deep wound on his right shoulder, making him flinched in pain.

"Hays, sakit ng puso ko ngayon, lagi nalang, wala talaga poreber!" Geraldine murmured a chant that let her heal all Alexjin's wounds but then the light on her hands slowly disappeared.

"What the--" She whispered and look at her hands.

"Master, is everything all right?" Alexjin asks and was about to turn around when Geraldine holds his head straight.

"Everything's fine, just wait for a moment," She said and took a step back before she inhaled and focus her energy within to see what happened to her body.

The abundant mana inside her has been locked because her current body still can't handle to give out a huge amount of mana and she ran out of stock mana that she can use.

"I think medical herbs will heal your wounds faster," She said and took some herbs she kept on her bag in case of emergencies.

"I think master's power is much stronger than those medical herbs," Alexjin said.

"Hmm," Geraldine didn't say anything as she put the medicines on Alexjin's wounds that didn't heal using her powers.

Upon applying the medicine, she couldn't help but saw Alexjin's muscles that weren't there before, and every time he flinches, it keeps on bulging, making his body more defined.

"Take off your pants, I'll put some herbs there," She said without thinking much as she went to grab another set of medical herbs.

Alexjin immediately stands up upon hearing what his master said, "I think I'm okay now, master. There's no need to treat my wounds," he mumbled nervously and grabbed his shirt on the floor while lowkey covering his crotch.

"What?" She looked at him with her eyebrows furrowed, "Sit down and take off your pants so that I can treat your wounds." she said and gestured him to sit back on the chair.

Alexjin remained standing as both of them are staring at each other for a few seconds before Geraldine's eyes went lower at his trunk, seeing his defined abs. Getting lower, she saw his hands covering his crotch and his posture is slightly bent in an awkward position. 

That's when she realized what her words meant, she didn't realize it at first because, for her, she'll be looking at a child's body so it didn't bother her much but it does to Alexjin as he's a teenager growing up and having a girl saying to remove his clothes meant something else.

Geraldine prepared the medicine and the towel then gives it to Alexjin, "I see that you can handle yourself, here's the medicine and go treat yourself, we'll be going home tomorrow, so rest well," she gave him the towel and the medicine before turning her back to let Alexjin breathe.

"Thank you, master. I'll be going now. Goodnight," Alexjin hurriedly went out of his master's room and shut the door softly.

Geraldine facepalmed at how stup*d she was for not noticing it earlier and now, she's afraid that they will be awkward to each other.

Looking back, she saw that he left his medal on the table, she went and grabbed it, "Ugh, it's heavy," she said while weighing it in her hand. She remembered how her older brother used to come home with the same medal in hand and how their father smiled proudly.

"Now what?" She murmured as she set it back carefully on the table. Her mind wandered that since Alexjin won the competition, there will be reporters who will spy on him to get something to report since there are no documents of Alexjin's origin.

Then she's also worried if the town would want to celebrate Alexjin's victory and acknowledge his presence especially the nobles.

"What should I do?" She said while massaging her temples, she hasn't thought about it as she really expects him to fail but now that he won, another problem stack up.

Geraldine remembered that when her older brother won the competition, he has been invited to events and parties before the main competition starts. It's also a way for nobles to stabilize alliance and perhaps a way to offer a hand in marriage.

And she also makes herself known to Baron Guansa that she's the master of Alexjin. Even though her face is covered, Alexjin's face has been seen by the public so he will be easy to spot which will caused danger over her hidden identity.

"We will see what's gonna happened next," She murmured and went to her bed as she didn't want to think about it anymore. She closed her eyes and let sleep invades her.

The next morning came, Geraldine is already awake as she didn't sleep well last night especially when she remembered that it was the year when her brother won the competition.

Knowing the skills of her brother, she became worried about Alexjin because the fight for the next competition is intense and gruesome. There will only be four fighters from the North, South, East, West of the Rakkaegia Empire and the winner from the four will receive anything he wishes.

She packed her bags and went out of the room to go to the counter to pay for their stay when she saw Alexjin talking to the owner while having a cup of coffee.

She immediately turned her back as she doesn't have others to see her near him especially when she didn't have her fan to cover her face.

"Master!" Alexjin called out cheerfully when he saw Geraldine's back.

Geraldine slowly turned around and laugh nervously, "Oh, you're here."

"Good morning master, have some coffee, it's delicious."

Geraldine didn't have a choice and went to their table, the owner immediately went to get her a cup of hot coffee. Looking around, there's no one nearby so it makes Geraldine relax a bit.

"Do you realize that your face will be known from now on since you're the winner of the competition," Geraldine whispered while looking back at the owner who came back with her cup of coffee.

"Here you go, have a nice morning," The owner smiled and went away, giving them space.

"Master, I don't think that they will take interest in me," he said innocently while scratching the back of his head.

"What the--" She exclaimed in disbelief, "You are the winner and the representative from the South portion of the Empire who will be fighting for the grand prize! Do you think they won't take interest in you and your origins, your family and other information's regarding your status and life?" Geraldine has been stressing out all night and seeing how innocent Alexjin is, it added to her stress even more.

"I'm not afraid to let the whole world know that you're my master, I will scream your name as the person who leads me to my victory!"