Chapter 20

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Chapter 20

“I have to wash up first. Can you find a lake or river, anywhere there is water?”

Holly patted Cahill on the shoulder and exclaimed.

Anyway, trying to leave secretly was frustrating. A few times, she was caught by the sensitive Cahill, and a few times, she fell for his temptation and missed the timing.

The moment she saw him trying to put a poisonous mushroom in his mouth between a few glances away from him, she completely put her mind down. She seemed to have to at least leave him among those who could feed him.

‘Someday, I’ll have a chance.’

So, while he was around, she was going to use him faithfully.

Thanks to that, Holly could take care of the meals, which was a good thing for her. Dried food brought from home was emergency food, so it was good to save as much as possible in case food was not available.

“I wish there was a lake.”

“Why?”

“I don’t think it will hurt if we do it there.”

Cahill’s eyes scanned her lower body.

‘Even though he seems to be worried, he seems to have an ulterior motive….’

Holly sighed and opened her mouth.

“I’m not going to do that?”

“It’s something you can do while you’re there.”

He grinned before grabbing her bag. Holly rolled her eyes and followed him. It was annoying that only he had a relaxed smile.

“As you go, watch for anything hanging from the tree.”

Holly grunted in a faked voice, pretending nothing had happened. She didn’t go hungry because they had hunted a wild boar, although she couldn’t eat only meat at every meal. There was no guarantee that no matter how strong he was, he wouldn’t be in danger every time he hunted.

“Ack!”

As she was walking, looking up at the tree in search of fruit, something tripped her, and only her body leaned forward. Holly soon closed her eyes as she saw the ground approaching.

However, the pain she had been waiting for did not come.

As she carefully opened her eyes, the rough-looking dirt ground filled her vision. Feeling something catching her, she looked down and saw an arm wrapped around her waist. Holly grabbed her chest, gasping in surprise, and glanced back at him.

Cahill was looking at her, blinking his eyes.

“Shall I give you a piggyback ride?”

She was so startled that her heart was pounding like it was right next to her ear. In the meantime, a languid voice was clearly heard between it.

“…No, it’s okay.”

It was dangerous to get too used to leaning on someone. Holly shook her head after a moment’s hesitation.

Then, Cahill held out his hand.

“What?”

“Because you can’t fall again.”

Not knowing what he meant, he reached out and grabbed her hand instead, who could only stare blankly. A cold energy was transmitted through the palm of her hand.

‘Is it like the characteristics of his race or something like that…?’

She stared at her clasped hands. She thought he was very cold, but for some reason, he was not cold even when she held his cold hand.

“Holly, what is that? It smells sweet.”

They walked for a while.

Cahill stopped his steps and pointed somewhere above his head. Holly raised her head after him. His fingertips were pointing to a bunch of tiny hexagons intertwined together.

Small bees flew around it.

“It’s a beehive.”

Holly remembered that one day the boss had picked up a hive to make honey wine. Nevertheless, it was the first time she had ever seen it hanging from a tree.

A small hexagon filled with yellow honey.

“Hive…?”

Hearing the hive of bees, Cahill looked blatantly disappointed. A smile broke out from Holly’s mouth as he looked like a child.

“You can eat it.”

She had no intention of picking it up, though. Even if it were Cahill, if he got stung by a bee, it would hurt.

However, when she said that it was edible, a red flash appeared on Cahill’s face. In the blink of an eye, he was already standing under the beehive with his hands outstretched. Holly could see the bees flying around the hive, gathering at him.

“Cahill…!”

She called out his name in a scream.

Holly, who had been screaming unknowingly, hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand. She was worried that her voice would provoke the bees and made them attack Cahill.

Seeing her pale, he smiled in reassurance.

Meanwhile, she couldn’t do anything but stand still and stare at him, holding her breath. A bee that was flying threateningly to protect its hive ran into Cahill. At that moment, he slapped his cheek — the sound rang loud.

Holly closed her eyes, startled by the loud sound as if the air were being ripped apart.

“Ah, it stings.”

It was a calm voice for a bee sting.

Holly stared at him with wide eyes. There was a crushed bee in the palm of his hand, removed from his cheek.

Cahill shook his hand as if he was not bothered by the bee sting, then stretched his arm out over the tree again. The buzzing of the wings grew louder and louder. Knowing they couldn’t do it alone, the bees rushed in swarms towards the intruder attacking the house.

“Cahill, run away…!”

Holly, who was holding her breath, shouted at the end. Even where she was standing was not a safe place. Still, she couldn’t move as if her foot had been nailed.

No, it was right that she shouldn’t move. Perhaps, she would unwittingly turn the swarm’s gaze on her.

A swarm of bees spun around like a tornado, encircling Cahill’s face in an instant. It was a familiar sight. But, unlike the blizzard, the swarm of bees was a threat to him. Unable to watch it, she set off to grab him.

Drop.

Then, there was the sound of something breaking.

“Is this enough for dessert?”

Cahill was approaching her, smiling brightly. In his hand was a fragmented beehive. She gazed at him blankly as if in a dream. The bees with their wings broken all at once fell to the ground.

“How…”

Her white lips trembled.

She then remembered that he was a man capable of creating cold, sharp winds and that he had the ability to freeze rivers.

“Holly?”

Holly’s eyes heated as she watched Cahill approaching her. His eyelids and cheeks were red and swollen from the bee stings. She never knew that his handsome face could be so ruined.

“This Ice God…”

She felt unfair because he had the ability to kill a swarm of bees without a single wound, though it seemed like he was deliberately trying to make her worry.

“We haven’t even eaten yet. What kind of dessert is this?”

Holly couldn’t help but cry. She was terrified. It seemed that she got too attached to him as her eyes got wet because of him like this.

Cahill’s eyes widened in surprise to see her tearing up.

“Are you hurt?”

In the blink of an eye, Cahill, who reached his hand out, grabbed her.

Result.

Then, suddenly, a roar was heard followed by the sound of splitting through the bushes.

The two of them hurriedly turned their heads at the same time at the sound that could not be ignored. From where the sound was heard, a bear with its front paws raised was roaring and boasting its presence.

“…A wild boar last time, but a bear today?”

He could help but laugh mischievously.

The bear’s eyes, full of anger, turned to Cahill’s hand holding the beehive. Perhaps, the bear was aiming for the same thing as him. The bear looked very angry.

“Can you eat that, too?”

Even in the face of the bear, one of the top predators, he was still bright. Holly nodded her head with a frown.

‘I don’t know about it, but it’s meat, so I think I can eat it.’

…Was her thoughts influenced by Cahill?

Holly was embarrassed by her carefree thinking, but thought it was not bad.

“Then, we will eat that and eat dessert. How about that?”

Cahill spoke in an exhilarating voice and loosened his fingers. Meanwhile, Holly was glancing around, looking for a hole to save herself. She had just realized once again that it was useless to worry about him.

That was then, arrows from somewhere pierced the bear’s body.

While the bewildered Holly stiffened, Cahill lifted his head and looked somewhere. Surprised by the cold, subdued eyes, she turned her head to follow his gaze.

In a tree not far from where they were, there was a man with a large bow.

Thud!

The sound of a huge body crashing to the ground behind Holly echoed through the earth.

But, Holly couldn’t take her eyes off the man’s coppery skin. She was like a stone figure sticking out from the crowd of white-skinned people with her fair skin. She was not discriminated against because of it, but many nights she was troubled thinking why she was the only one different.

However, when she met someone with quite a similar color to her in such an unfamiliar place, she felt a sense of intimacy.

“That’s our meat.”

Meanwhile, Cahill raised his eyebrows in resentment that his prey had been taken away and spoke bluntly.

“I thought you were in danger.”

The man who came down from the tree couldn’t hide his embarrassment at his aggressive attitude. He was glancing at Cahill’s face, which had been messed up by bee stings. He seemed to have misunderstood that he had been attacked by a bear.

Behind the man’s back, several strong men approached. They each had a large bow on their back. Holly swallowed a gulp as she saw one of them clutching a dagger handle on his thigh.

“Your Highness.”

—

Thank you so much for always supporting the novels I work on, even if you don’t buy me a coffee, I really do appreciate it a lot. ❤︎

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