"I'm here to eat a delicious dinner, Aurora," Damian smirked with his signature lazy charm. It was a smirk that quickly put people at ease. It gave him an aura of confident indifference—like he was sure in his actions, yet not interested in anything the other party had to offer. "I really must thank you for inviting me."
"That was Tilly…" Aurora grumbled with clear frustration. She quickly shook her head before glaring at him again.
"Well, either way," Damian shrugged calmly. "I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been invited."
"Don't bullshit me!" she hissed softly, careful not to let Tilly hear. "I don't know why you gave us that money or pretended not to want anything in return, but I know it's not true! Everyone always wants something! Every—! Cough cough!"
Suddenly, she descended into another coughing fit. Her face paled and eyes widened in instinctive panic. She put her hand in front of her mouth, but Damian could still sense the drops of blood splattering from her lips. His smirk drooped a little, but he made no effort to help her. He knew she wouldn't want him to.
Fortunately, Tilly was almost immediately with her. "Mom! Here, drink this!" she said worriedly as she pushed a glass of boiled, salty water in her hands. At the same time, she started rubbing her mother's sternum and pushing her forward a little. Clearly, they'd dealt with this before.
Aurora let Tilly work and slowly sipped the water between fits until the coughing stopped a few seconds later. While Aurora panted, Tilly sighed, both seeming relieved. The latter then quickly ran back to the kitchen, and returned with a bowl of boiling water with some powder dispersed in it.
Aurora looked at her daughter gratefully as Tilly put the bowl on the table below her mother's nose. "T— Thank you, Tilly…" she muttered, and quickly started inhaling the steam coming from the bowl.
Tilly hugged her mother from behind. "Take it easy, Mom," she smiled sadly. They stayed like that for a moment, while Damian watched in silence.
Finally, they separated, and Tilly smiled apologetically at him, but didn't mention what just happened. "I'm sorry, I haven't offered you anything to drink yet. Would you like anything?"
"No, that's alright," he smiled and shook his head. "The food smells delicious, though." It really didn't. But he wasn't going to mention that. He doubted even the best chef in Eryndor could make those ingredients work.
"Thank you!" Tilly smiled, oblivious to his thoughts. "It will be ready in thirty minutes!"
With that, she returned to work and left them to continue their conversation. Aurora slowly breathed in the steam while glaring at Damian, but didn't seem willing to continue her earlier rant.
"Do you mind if I ask…?" Damian wondered curiously, but with care.
Aurora sighed bitterly. "It's just the consequences of living in Slagfall all your life…" she glanced at Tilly with worry and sadness. "Tilly already has a scratchy throat…"
Damian nodded slowly, thoughtfully. His hands were resting on the table, but suddenly, he extended one of them and opened it to reveal a small, crimson pill. He put it on the table before her and retracted his hand under Aurora's surprised gaze.
"If you're willing to put a little trust in me, this medicine could help," he said calmly, yet a little louder than before.
Aurora's eyes widened and she glanced down at the small object with desire in her eyes, but then quickly shook her head when suspicion reasserted itself.
She looked back up at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm not taking any pills a stranger offered me! Do you think I was born yesterday?!"
"Absolutely not," Damian shook his head as his lazy, charming smirk returned. "You are far too beautiful for that."
His comment caught her by surprise, and her eyes widened. "D— Don't say idiotic things! You think compliments will get me to swallow whatever you put in front of me?!"
"Hehe, I'm sorry," Damian chuckled apologetically. "It's like a reflex when I'm talking to a woman like you." That wasn't untrue, to be fair. He could even see Aurora had once been quite pretty, until Slagfall slowly stripped that all away. Yet, he knew it was still simmering under the surface.
Despite herself, Aurora couldn't help but find his words calming and pleasant. He said it with so much confidence and charm that it was hard not to believe him.
"Whatever…" she grumbled with some frustration. "I'm still not taking any pills of yours!"
Yet, she didn't give it back. There was a hint of doubt gnawing at her. So far, Damian had been a perfect gentleman, and he really had given them a lot of money with seemingly no strings.
Carefully, she glanced at the pill. She'd been suffering from the effects of her ailing body and lungs for as long as she'd been alive now… Would this really be able to help? She didn't doubt there were medicines capable of helping her, they simply didn't have the money for them.
Damian saw her thinking, and glanced at Tilly with a knowing smile. Since he'd been speaking louder, she could hear them now. "I understand your caution, Aurora, but I really am just trying to help. Would it put you at ease if I took one myself?"
Aurora snorted skeptically, "No." She still refused to believe Damian wanted nothing, and could easily imagine he'd immunized himself somehow… assuming there was something wrong with this so-called medicine.
At that point, her thoughts drifted to her daughter. What if it could help her, too? She glanced behind her, but widened her eyes when she noticed a determined Tilly was already standing behind her.
She parted her lips to ask what was wrong, but before she could do anything, Tilly's hand shot forward, grasped the small crimson pill, and stuffed it in her mouth, immediately followed by a sip of water.
"Tilly!" Aurora exclaimed in a panic, quickly shooting up from her seat. "What did you do?!" She grasped her daughter's shoulders and looked into her clear, determined eyes.
"What did she take?!" she cried out at Damian, panicked fury rising quickly.
"Medicine," Damian smiled calmly. He'd hoped the slightly naive Tilly would take the chance where her mother wouldn't.
"Pah!" Aurora snarled before turning back to Tilly. "Quickly, open your mouth! We can still force your body to spit it out!"
But stubbornly, Tilly pressed her lips tighter and rapidly shook her head.
"Dammit, don't be so stubborn!" Aurora screamed as she shook her daughter's shoulders. "Why would you do something so stupid?!"
"She's trying to prove it's safe," Damian smiled from the sidelines. "I won't deny she's a little naive, but you've clearly raised a good daughter, Aurora. Her bravery, kindness, and love for you are clear."
His comment about her naivety caused Tilly to blush and glare at him, but then she turned back to her mother and nodded with surprising certainty. There didn't appear to be any doubt in her mind about Damian's motives.
Unfortunately, Aurora wouldn't be calmed so easily. Her heart pounded in her chest, dread clawing at her throat as she desperately searched Tilly's face for any signs of harm.
But her focus on Tilly was just what Damian needed. As he tapped his fingers on the table, they became wreathed in shimmering crimson energy.
At the same time, Tilly's eyes widened when a strange warmth started spreading through her body.