"It is unlike you to hesitate like this. Usually, you just barge into my office and do whatever you want. Is something bothering you?"

Rin asked as he approached Reina, watching her jump slightly before clutching her racing heart.

"Hey, don’t sneak up on me like that when I’m thinking about something. You made me forget what I was thinking about."

Reina complained as she slowly calmed herself down.

Rin gestured apologetically and opened the door wider as an invitation for her to come inside.

"Shall we discuss why you’re here in my office? I’m sure you don’t want to keep standing in the hallway much longer."

Reina accepted his invitation, and Rin closed the door behind her. He was about to sit back down when he felt Reina grab his arm and tug him closer.

The sudden touch made him freeze, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked at his equally surprised companion.

’Did Reina accidentally pull me back? This isn’t normal behaviour for her.’

Rin grew more and more worried about Reina by the second. But she addressed him before he could call her out on her behaviour.

"I came here to check up on you. It has been a while since I checked your health, and I wanted to make sure everything was going fine."

Reina confessed, but Rin had a feeling that was not the real reason she was here.

Still, since she used that as her reason for coming, he allowed Reina to examine him. He felt her hands move over his arm in a slightly suggestive manner, but they were gone before he could call her out on it.

Reina continued her examination without saying much, but her eyes looked calm after finishing her scan.

"So, what did you find?"

Rin asked once Reina finished checking him over.

"You are as healthy as you can be...maybe a little sleep-deprived, but that’s to be expected in times like these. You’ve been taking good care of yourself."

Reina commented, and Rin let out a small laugh.

"Well, I have a lot of people taking care of me and reminding me to eat and rest on time. I think I’m healthier now than I was before the apocalypse started."

Rin tried to laugh to ease the tension, but Reina did not follow along. The mood grew awkward, and he could tell that Reina still had not told him the real reason she came here.

In the end, she never told him before leaving, and Rin did not ask either. He felt it would be better to let Reina come to terms with whatever she was dealing with instead of prying into her business.

...

Rin did not leave his office until dinner time. But what surprised him was that no one came to bother him during that entire period.

Usually, either Shelly or Collin would visit to remind him to eat. Albus was also a frequent visitor to his office—though less often than the other two—and constantly nagged him about working out.

So the fact that he had been left alone after Reina left felt a little suspicious.

When dinner time arrived and no one came to fetch him, Rin decided to head downstairs and check the situation himself.

As he neared the dining room, he heard loud voices coming from inside, and one of them sounded like Teressa.

"-how dare you do that? Do you think I’m going to forgive you-"

"I don’t need your forgiveness. I told you not to touch me. You’re the one who misunderstood and decided to take it out on me."

The voices grew louder and louder by the second. More people joined in as well, trying to break up the fight.

But it was useless. The argument only continued to escalate. Rin even heard the sound of something breaking.

He quickly forced the door open to see what was happening, and his eyes immediately landed on Teressa facing a man he did not recognize.

The unfamiliar man looked furious, his face flushed red. He even had his hand raised as if he intended to slap Teressa, but he seemed unable to move because of her powers.

"You bitch-! You seduced me first."

"All I did was help you once. You’re the one who decided to read meaning into something that wasn’t even there. How is that my fault?"

Teressa asked, causing the man to growl in frustration. The tension in the room felt suffocating.

Rin decided it was time to break up the fight. Through their bond, he could feel Teressa’s frustration steadily rising.

That feeling made him step in front of her to block her line of sight.

No one noticed his sudden appearance until he stood before Teressa and looked back at the startled soldier behind him.

"Is there something going on here? Do you need something from my familiar?"

Rin asked in a calm yet firm voice. His presence startled the man arguing with Teressa, causing him to quickly take a step back.

"I-It was nothing."

The possessive tone in Rin’s voice did not go unnoticed. He was making it clear that Teressa belonged to him and was therefore under his protection.

Anyone who tried to mess with her would also be messing with him, and that was unacceptable.

People slowly realized what he was doing and began returning to their posts. Rin remained standing in front of Teressa until the dining room cleared out before turning toward her.

"Teressa, would you like to talk about what happened?"

The woman in question opened her mouth to speak, but Shelly arrived before she could.

Shelly walked over to Rin and linked her arm with his while wearing a cheerful smile.

"Rin, it’s dinner time. Did you eat already? If not, then can I suggest something? You need to gain weight, so I asked the kitchen to prepare something-"

"Shelly, can you wait a moment? I was talking with Teressa-"

"Teressa can wait. It’s not like she’s going anywhere. But you need to eat before you collapse from exhaustion and hunger. I’m sure Teressa agrees with me."