Chapter 25 - Acquiring Knowledge
"Th-thank you..."
Embarrassed, Sophia turned her face slightly so she could finish drying her tears—unintentionally pulling away Noah's hand—while he, realizing that his offer of help had been refused, withdrew once more.
He didn't understand why he'd done that, and in his mind, he was actually grateful that she had turned him down—after all, they didn't even really know each other.
However, Sophia soon reconsidered her decision after realizing her mistake. Taking a cloth, she did the same, using it to help dry his tears. Then, smiling, she thanked him once again for everything—even for his offer of help, which to her had just been empty words, spouted by Noah merely because of the situation.
"And I'm sorry... I guess now you won't be able to keep eating that," she said, placing the ceramic bowl onto the wooden tray in her lap.
Noah was confused—he wasn't sure what that meant—whether she had accepted it or not was uncertain. It's impossible to read someone's thoughts, and he couldn't really ask Sophia about it—in truth, he preferred not to know, and with that in mind, he resolved to follow his own decision on whether to help her further.
"...Are you going to come back?" he asked.
Sophia stopped near the door, hesitant—having just said something like that to him, at least for now she wanted to keep her distance. She then turned with a gentle smile:
— Of course... I'll be right back.
Her answer was given.
As soon as she left, Noah quickly shifted his focus: