Chapter 10

“Wow, you are so strong.”

Oh, I said something stupid again without realizing it. The silly exclamation must not have been like Margaret.

“You better keep your mouth shut, Young Lady.”

As expected, Enoch scolded me.

When I closed my mouth, he sat on one knee in front of me.

He was carefully taking the flat shoes off my feet. It looked a little strange.

Come to think of it. Isn’t it strange that the Crown Prince of the Empire, who despises me, kneels in front of me and takes off my flat shoes?

No, this is……very strange.

Enoch’s hands touched my exposed bare ankle. My slender ankles were caught loosely in his large hands.

‘It tickles.’

I shrugged off my toes. Then, I narrowed my brow to the pain coming from the bottom of my feet.

“Ouch.”

“Hold on.”

Contrary to his cold voice, Enoch carefully looked at my feet as if he was dealing with a glass doll. I had blisters on the soles of my feet and heel.

“I’m in trouble. It’s going to be a problem if the blister bursts.”

At my murmur, Enoch looked up at me with a face that wanted an explanation.

I shrugged and said, “If the blister bursts and the wound festers, there is a risk of infection.”

Enoch looked at me with a ‘How do you know that?’ expression.

“This is common sense.”

“Young Lady is different from ordinary people after all.”

“What? Are you insulting my past for not knowing anything?”

“It looks like there are some punctures,” Enoch ignored my question.

“You thought I wouldn’t understand what you were saying if you spoke so elegantly? You’re ruder than I thought.”

“I only did the rudeness that Young Lady did to me in the past.”

At Enoch’s words, I bit my lip. There is nothing to refute. I’m the only one at a disadvantage if I bring that up more.

I was forced to change the topic, “Anyway, in this case, the skin can form its own protective film by not touching the blister as much as possible. It would be better to wipe it clean and apply an ice pack……”

I let out a sigh.

“There is nothing I can do right now.”

It’s best to go back to the cave, but to do that I have to put my flat shoes back on and move.

Enoch looked at my feet with a worried look. Why are you staring at someone else’s bare feet? This is embarrassing.

It wasn’t long before he put the flat shoes he took off in my hand. Why?

I looked at Enoch out of doubt, but he held me in a hug without warning. It’s like hugging a princess.

I was so startled that I wrapped my arms around his neck with the flat shoes in my hands.

“What?”

“Didn’t Young Lady say that it’s not good to touch the blisters? If you don’t want to fall off, hold on tighter.”

After thinking for a while at Enoch’s words, I couldn’t help but put the flat shoes on my lower stomach and hug him tighter.

Our bodies were tightly attached to each other. I could even feel his heart beating.

I felt strange and a little embarrassed, so I tried to look away.

The expedition around the cave with only blisters on my feet ended like that.

‘Well, I’m going to explore again tomorrow.’

How much time do we have left?

I looked up at the sky quietly while being hugged by Enoch. The sun was setting.

Enoch quietly hugged me and moved. He was really reliable. So I suddenly thought that it would be good if he didn’t change even after meeting the female lead.

If that’s the case, I don’t think it would be bad to stay together with him.

“I have become a very different person. You could say I was born again.”

I brought up such useless words for nothing.

Enoch did not answer for a moment. Maybe he’s ignoring me because I’m making a habit of saying nonsense.

When I was contemplating, Enoch opened his mouth.

“Yeah. At least it’s not as unpleasant as it used to be to talk to Young Lady,” Enoch murmured.

I recalled memories of Margaret’s past. Clearly, Enoch and Margaret in the past were not good conversation partners.

“But there won’t be a case where I’ll have a crush on Young Lady.”

I lifted my head again at Enoch’s words that fell like lightning. And our eyes met. His eyes were calm as the night before a storm.

“It’s just a consideration as a gentleman’s duty to help a young lady. So I hope you don’t have vain expectations.”

Enoch suddenly drew a line.

I understand what he said.

Aside from the fact that the conversation between the two didn’t work well, Margaret’s words to him were quite harsh.

“Honestly, I don’t know why Your Highness is so insistent that you will not marry or engage me. I have what you do not have, Your Highness. I am of pure noble blood.”

Margaret was the type of person who wouldn’t mind saying things like that even though she liked Enoch.

Right. No matter how kind Enoch is to me, I don’t think he will ever like me, considering the sins of the original Margaret committed.

‘As expected, running to the bunker alone is the best choice.’

I turned my head with that thought and noticed something strange.

“Wait a minute, Your Highness. That rock……it’s moving, isn’t it?”

Enoch turned his head in the direction I was pointing.

There was a low hill there, and at the end of the steep cliff of the hill was a large round rock.

I don’t know why such a hard and large rock lies on a cliff that is about to collapse at any moment.

“I don’t know. The rock moved…… Maybe you saw it wrong?”

Is this what a mirage phenomenon is all about? At Enoch’s answer, I wrinkled my face.

Odd. I definitely saw it moving……

However, as Enoch said, even if I looked straight at the rock to see if I was mistaken, it did not move at all. Eventually, I turned my head slightly towards Enoch.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re no longer uncomfortable talking to this annoying woman.”

“There’s a lot to be glad about.”

Are you being sarcastic?

Bewildered, I looked at Enoch’s side face, but he did not change his expression.

kuung-

Suddenly, a loud voice sounded somewhere, and the ground shook slightly.

An ominous feeling swept through my body.

kuung. kuung.

duduk duduk.

Something landed on the ground in succession. Then followed by the sound of footsteps.

I instinctively looked back at the rock on the cliff.

Unfortunately, there was no rock on the cliff, which I had wondered about until a while ago.

When I looked up at the sky, the sun was setting and the dense forest was somewhat dark.

But it’s not as dark as last time……

“Wh-what is that?”

I grabbed Enoch’s collar strongly.

Hugging me, Enoch slowly took a step back. It felt like my blood was running dry. My hands were trembling.

kuung-  duduk duduk duduk.

This time, I heard a sound from the other side. I hurriedly turned my head, but there was nothing in sight.

duk dududuk duk!

duk dududuk duk!

This is the sound I heard from behind. And it has narrowed the distance at a high speed.

The sound of footsteps was not heard in one or two places. In other words, several monsters gathered.

“Your Highness! Run……!”

At the same time, several wolves jumped into the air through the bushes. The scene flowed slowly like a slow-motion video. At this rate, we are both in danger.

As soon as I made up my mind, I pushed Enoch as hard as I could. And I was thrown and rolled roughly on the ground.

“Young Lady!”

Three wolves landed on the spot where we were standing before. Enoch, who was standing on the other side of the wolf, looked at me with a puzzled face.

Then, the wolf opened its huge mouth at me who fell to the ground.