chapter892

Connor stared at Damien, clearly puzzled. "What's wrong with it being all picked clean?"

Damien looked lost. "Wait, you mean... that's a good thing?"

Connor glanced over at Lydia with a soft, fond look, then shot Damien a little smirk. If Lydia clears out all the herbs, you finally get to go back home, don't you?"

Damien blinked, trying to process what he just heard.

Connor leaned in, his voice teasing. "Honestly, you should be thanking Lydia. You should be hoping she comes by every day and picks as much as she can."

Damien was speechless, his expression frozen.

Connor kept going, his tone half-joking, half-serious. "If she doesn't, then it'll be your son, maybe even your grandson, stuck here guarding this mountain of rare herbs. Think about that."

Damien almost wanted to drop to his knees right there. "Boss, I get it now. I promise

I won't complain anymore," he said quickly. Please, just spare my future

generations, he thought.

A little while later, Lydia came back with another basket of herbs. She noticed

Damien, who had been sulking before, suddenly spring to life and hurry over to help her.

Let me get that for you. Do you need any more? I know where most of the herbs grow around here. Just say the word."

Lydia arched an eyebrow, a bit surprised by his sudden enthusiasm.

Damien gave a sheepish grin. "Really, Lydia, I just want to help you finish gathering everything as soon as possible."

She couldn't help but laugh. It'a alright. This is enough."

She understood his worry. A lot of these herbs were nearly impossible to find back home.

Connor came over too. "Are you sure that's all you need?"

"Yeah, this should be enough." Lydia nodded. The situation at the border wasn't out of control yet. With these, she should be able to manage it.

"So when are we heading out?" Connor asked.

Lydia thought for a second. "I'll need to process these into pills first. That way they'll be easy to carry, and the medicine will stay potent. Once we arrive, we can give them out right away."

Connor nodded. "Sounds good."

He bent down and started gathering

up the bundles of herbs to take down the mountain. Damien also quickly crouched to help. Lydia watched them, her lips curving into a gentle smile. She felt a little tug at her heart. Connor wasn't much of a Etalker, but no matter what she dicher he was always there, quietly supporting her every step of the way. He really was the best fianc she could ask for.

When they got back down the mountain, Lydia buried herself in the lab, picking up right where she'd left off last time and working hard.

Conno stood outside the dooral ne

watching her through the glass, his eyes filled with concern and affection. Ever since he'd met ! he'd often wished he knew something about medicine. If he did, maybe he could help her when she was working so late and getting exhausted. But now, all he could do was stand outside, helplessly watching her pour her heart into her work.

Damien stood next to Connor, watching his boss stare at Lydia like she was the only person in the

world. He couldn't help but sigh net

Before Lydia came along, he never imagined their boss could be like this completely whipped by a girl. From now on Damien promised himself he could never afford to get on Lydia's bad side. Not unless he wanted his family stuck guarding this mountain forever. The thought was horrifying.

Lydia didn't finish until ten that night, and that was only because Connor insisted she stop. Otherwise, she definitely would have kept working until two or three in the morning again.

After they had some food, Lydia suddenly noticed the night was especially clear. She tugged Connor out to the balcony to look at the stars. In truth, she wanted to see how well his vision had recovered.

The night sky stretched above them, dark and endless, like a velvet ocean scattered with shining jewels. Lydia tilted her head back and pointed. "Can you see that one?"

After his injury, Connor had never really been able to enjoy the stars he simply couldn't see them. But now, thanks to her treatment, he could make out the brightest star in the sky, shining clear as day.

It's beautiful, he said quietly. Almost as beautiful as your eyes.