Familiar

Right then, Briar came back with the ointment. He crouched down slightly and whispered, “It might sting a little—hang in there.”

He gently lifted Raina’s hand, careful not to touch her skin, and with a medical cotton swab dabbed the ointment on her burned hand with extreme care.

The ointment was a secret family formula from the Willow family, cooling as it was applied.

Snapping out of her daze, Raina saw Briar applying the ointment and twitched her mouth. “Willow ointment? That’s a Willow family secret! What a waste! Okay, stop. Senior, put it away.”

The ointment was priceless, a secret family recipe. Her hand was only lightly burned—no pain at all. Why waste it here?

Briar lowered his eyes, clearly annoyed. “Don’t move.”

Raina was speechless.

Briar’s attitude was definitely off, and Raina didn’t want to push it. She scratched her nose, smiled faintly, and said, “Teacher, did you see? Senior’s temper is getting worse—he even dares to snap at me now. Not bad, not bad. Haha.”

She deliberately changed the subject, trying to keep things light.

Elias caught on and shook his head with a bit of disdain. “With his mild personality, when would he dare snap at you? Hmph! He’s just dumb.”

Raina smiled, propping her chin on her hand. “Teacher still loves me more. See? Senior, Teacher just scolded you again! Hahaha!”

Briar finished applying the ointment carefully, then handed Raina the little blue-and-white bottle, his tone a bit cold. “Remember to apply this regularly. I’ve got things to do, so I’m leaving.”

Without another word, he didn’t even look at her, as if sulking, and left the hall.

Elias saw this and understood perfectly—Briar clearly cared about Raina but was sulking inside, bottling it all up. It was driving him crazy.

And that old guy had to be here for this!

Elias was about to say something when Raina’s phone rang.

Elias: “…”

What a coincidence.

Raina glanced at the caller ID, then answered. “Mr. Vexley, what’s up?”

After a pause, Leif said, “Gale doesn’t seem to be feeling well. Can you come back and check on him?”

Raina’s eyes widened slightly. “I’m on my way.”

“Okay,” Leif replied.

After hanging up, Raina picked up the ointment bottle. “Teacher, I’ve got something to take care of. I’ll head out today and come visit you another time.”

“Go ahead,” Elias said.

…

A few minutes later.

Raina, out of breath, kicked open the door to the private room. Her eyes immediately landed on Gale.

At this moment, Leif had settled Gale on a long chair. His complexion looked fine, but the poison they called “Velvet Mercy” was unusual, so Raina wasn’t taking any chances.

She quickly went over and checked Gale’s pulse. “What happened?”

But she didn’t notice that from the moment she entered, Leif’s gaze was locked on her burned hand—never wavering.

He stared at her hand for a long moment, then said quietly, “You only left for a little while.”

Raina blinked, looked up at Leif, and suddenly noticed something was off. His deep eyes were bloodshot, and his eyelids red-rimmed.

He must be worried about Gale.

She’d only been gone for a short time, and Gale wasn’t feeling well. No father in the world wouldn’t worry about his child—even Leif was no exception.

Luckily, she’d just checked Gale’s pulse—it was steady, no problems. The Velvet Mercy poison hadn’t flared up again. He was probably just tired.

Just then, a hand reached out and grabbed her wrist. The person repeated slowly, word by word, “You only left for a little while… and you hurt yourself.”

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but the hand holding her wrist trembled slightly.

Raina pressed her fingers to her forehead, trying to act casual. “I just accidentally burned it. It’s nothing. Besides, I’ve already put some ointment on it. If you don’t believe me, take a look!”

To prove she really had applied it, she hurriedly pulled out the small blue-and-white porcelain bottle, smiling faintly. “This is the Willow’s exclusive formula—the Willow ointment. It’s amazing for burns, scalds, and abrasions.”

Leif responded coldly, “Is that so?”

After saying that, his hand finally relaxed and he let go of Raina’s wrist. He took out his phone, tapped a few times on the screen, then set it down.

Raina shook the ointment bottle in her hand and explained, “Of course, look, the burn isn’t even very red anymore, and it doesn’t hurt.”

Leif asked, “It doesn’t hurt?”

Of course it hurt.

She was just a normal person—who wouldn’t be afraid of pain? But maybe because she’d once experienced the most intense, excruciating pain in the world, she’d become numb to it. That’s why she always smiled so easily, acting like it didn’t matter.

Still, injuries hurt.

Her gaze finally settled on Leif, and for a moment her heart fluttered slightly. All the nonsense she’d just babbled suddenly felt a little embarrassing.

After a brief pause, she smiled and said, “Really, it doesn’t hurt anymore, Mr. Vexley. This ointment is really—”

Before she could finish, Leif lifted his hand and took the ointment from her. The little blue-and-white porcelain bottle was unmarked; when he opened the lid, a faint, pleasant cool fragrance drifted out.

The Willows’ exclusive Willow ointment was priceless and extremely rare—a genuine top-tier medicinal balm.

Thud—

That rare, precious ointment was tossed straight into the trash by Leif.

Raina: “???”

Leif calmly said, “It’s a third-rate product, useless. I’ve already sent someone to get proper medicine. As for this hand…”

Raina quietly pulled her hand back and said, “This hand is mine.”

Leif: “...”

Raina hid her hand away, feeling a bit guilty. “Don’t throw it away.”

Leif stared at her and said, “Do I seem like such a boring person?”

‘You just threw away the ointment!’

Raina protested with her eyes, but Leif ignored her and extended his right hand. “Give me your hand.”

She hesitated, looked down at her hand, then finally handed it over.

Leif gently lifted her hand. Maybe it was her imagination, but it seemed like he was deliberately avoiding touching her skin. Instead, his fingertips carefully held a part of her sleeve. The gesture was so careful it gave off a sense of cautiousness.

Suddenly, something flashed through Raina’s mind, but before she could grasp it, it disappeared.

Leif carefully held her hand and took a tissue from nearby. He moistened it with warm water and gently wiped off the Willow ointment on her hand with slow, delicate movements.

Raina: “...”

‘This was the priceless, nearly impossible-to-get Willow ointment!’

She could have easily explained this to Leif, but for some reason, she felt afraid of this side of him. And somehow, she didn’t know why, but the scene before her felt strangely familiar.

Impossible.

She had never met Leif before, never been through anything like this with him. How could it feel so familiar?

***