Chapter 26 - Sharing Each Other’s Temperature In A Cold Place

Chapter 26 – Sharing Each Other’s Temperature In A Cold Place

She was curious. She couldn’t help but wonder why her life as Renna was so lonely and futile. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it.

“I will tell you everything without hiding anything, so I hope that it won’t create any misunderstandings in the future.”

“…”

His usually sharp eyes were downcast. “I’m waiting. I’m going crazy from curiosity.”

Ashia was smiling bitterly as she bit her lip, and said in a small voice, “Please wait a little more.”

Their conversation would probably be about why Renna and Kaligo’s ending had to be so tragic. They walked in the snow all day and ate little food. It seemed like they couldn’t handle and digest their stories with such weak mental and physical energy.

She knew he wanted to talk. It wasn’t like he wasn’t curious about Ashia either, and from the moment they knew each other’s identities, they knew that a conversation between the two of them was one of the obstacles they had to go through.

‘I don’t mean to run away either.’

She just needed time to get out of there and relax a little bit. She’d be willing to talk about it as long as they were comfortably settled, glasses of milk in hand.

Ten years had already passed. It would probably take a day or two to take all the information in. Time had the power to dull any emotion. Actually, this was a good point in time to face him and have a talk. It also seemed like the resentment she felt towards him had greatly lessened.

“…Yes. I will wait.”

“Thank you.” Ashia got up from her seat, fixing her clothes. “I’ll… go in first.”

“Yes,” he replied, casting his gaze towards the bonfire.

Hesitating for a moment, Ashia slowly walked towards their tent. She decided to give up on inviting him inside. It wasn’t like they should go in and fall asleep together; they weren’t that close.

“…”

Ashia entered the tent and stared down at the four-person bedding on the floor for a moment. After standing for a while thinking about something, she slowly went to her side of the bed. Just so that he could come inside and sleep properly, she left a large space where he could lie down. But Kaligo probably…

‘…won’t come inside the tent.’

Obviously, he would stay up all night outside as he watched the bonfire. Ashia was certain because it was Kaligo. She tucked her body a little deeper into the bed. The Fairy Forest was a place where she often went and slept alone, but the bedding tonight was warm and spacious.

But why? Why couldn’t she feel the warmth just like last night? There was only the cold wind on her cheek instead of the warm bedding.

Ashia tossed and turned for a long time, unable to sleep easily.

On the morning of the second day, sunlight shone inside through the tent. She rubbed her face against the warmth.

‘It’s warm…’

Then she suddenly remembered while half-asleep where this place was.

“Huh…?”

She slowly opened her eyes and carefully lifted her head.

‘Huh?’

It was Kaligo. She thought he wouldn’t come in, but he was suddenly sleeping right there, and in the same bed, and…

‘Why…?’

She was naturally using his arm as a pillow and pulling him close with her own arms. His other arm was also embracing Ashia very naturally.

‘What’s this?’

Even when they were married, they had never had a morning like this. Besides, their relationship now wasn’t even close to being a couple. The quiet man she knew was hugging her. While he must’ve been in a calm state, she wasn’t at all.

‘This is… a little dangerous.’

Blinking quickly, Ashia squirmed as she pulled herself out carefully so as not to wake him up.

“…Just a moment.” The freshly woken up voice was like a low cry of an animal. “Just a little bit…”

“…”

He gently embraced her as he softly rubbed his cheek against her hair, as if taking care of a small bird that might escape. His actions made Ashia even more embarrassed.

“…Kaligo.”

“Yes.”

Judging from his answer, it seemed like they didn’t simply sleep.

“We are now…”

“Yes, we’re hugging.”

“That’s what I’m saying. Why on earth…?”

“Isn’t it natural for survival to share each other’s body temperature in a cold place?”

‘Is it normal for men and women to share their body temperature in this way? I mean, didn’t you say you don’t get cold that easily?’

She wanted to retort, but she quietly swallowed her words. “The bedding is already warm even if you don’t do this…”

Kaligo seemed to be unwilling to let her go no matter what she said. He kissed her head. “I didn’t want to tell you because I was afraid you would be embarrassed.”

“…Yes?”

“It was you who dug into my arms first because it was cold.”

“?!”

She gaped.

“The person who ripped all the buttons off my clothes, and the person who slipped their hands into my clothes, mumbling about warmth.”

“Yes?!”

Ashia hurriedly tried to pull herself away from him, but he was still hugging her tightly.

Either way, Kaligo continued speaking in a voice mixed with laughter, “It was you who rubbed your face against my chest, hugged my waist, and held me tight.”

“What?!”

“Thanks to you, I couldn’t sleep properly.”

“!”

His voice calmed down a little more. “I gave up my body all night like that, so are you going to pretend you didn’t know now?”

“Ka—Kaligo! Let me go first!”

“I am cold now. So, let’s just stay like this for a moment…just a moment.”

“…”

Oh, so that’s why. But you don’t get cold that easily…

But as expected, no complaints came out of Ashia’s mouth.

It seemed that she could vaguely remember what she did last night. When she glanced down, there was evidence that he wasn’t lying.

‘Did he rip his shirt on purpose so he can make fun of how I did that the day he had a seizure?’

His thin, white shirt had more than half the buttons torn off.

‘You’re crazy, Ashia Bliss.’

She carefully removed the hand that was holding him by the waist and covered her burning face, Kaligo’s laughter audible overhead.

At first, he had thought that he just wanted to see Ashia’s sleeping face for a moment. He knew that once Ashia fell asleep, she slept so deeply that no one could wake her up—just as it had been in the past.

Previously, he would reject each of Renna’s requests to sleep together and would head to their bedroom when she was already fast asleep. She wouldn’t wake up even if he touched her. For a not-so-short time, he would keep silent and suddenly leave. He had also thought like that last night until his name came out of her mouth.

– Kaligo… Don’t go…

Ashia’s voice was enough to stimulate him. It was clear that the potion Ventus made for him had exhausted its efficacy. Kaligo turned around unconsciously. He was greedy. Whether she called his name or held his hand, he needed to turn away indifferently in any situation.

But Kaligo didn’t.

“The drug… it’s because the effect was gone. …because of the drug,” Kaligo kept muttering to himself an excuse that no one would hear nor an excuse that no one knew for whom it was. Looking down at her who called for him in her sleep, he cautiously reached out to her.

– Ren(na)…

– You idiot…

She seemed to curse him, but he ignored it. Even if she didn’t, his desire for her was writhing in his heart. As his name came out of her mouth again, he tucked himself in as naturally as a puppy waiting for an order. And as if she was waiting for him, Ashia began to cuddle into his arms in search of warmth.

He was a bit perplexed at first, but Ashia was so restless that he wondered if this was alright. She then ripped off the buttons of his shirt and fumbled over his skin without hesitation.

“Ashia…” With an unknown emotion, he called her name in a very low voice. It was a very, very small voice.

Thanks to this, she did not wake up and did not stop moving.

Kaligo had no intention of stopping Ashia or getting out of bed. It reminded him how she vowed that she wanted him to leave her alone, and let her do whatever she wanted for the rest of her life.

He had to stay up all night, leaving her hand unattended. There was a reason why he couldn’t open his eyes properly even in the morning when it was bright.

She wiggled and murmured, trapped inside his chest. “…It’s cramped.”

“Should I just do what I want?”

“…Huh?”

Carefully looking up at his face, he had erased all the overwhelming and sharp expressions he had.

‘I’ve never seen that man smile so softly.’

No, in the first place, Kaligo had never smiled at Renna. So every time he smiled at her, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him.

‘Why would a person who could smile like this do that back then? Is this also the influence of the main character, Kaligo?’

Or was that the real Kaligo?

Meeting his eyes, Ashia was startled and hurriedly bit her lips.

‘What are you staring at!’

This time, Kaligo’s arms let her go. Ashia quickly got out of bed. “I’ll go out first.”

“…”

She quickly touched her messy hair, put on her robe, rolled up the tent flap, and jumped out. As she stepped out, the cold wind blew past her. Normally, she would shrug her shoulders as she pressed her hood down, saying it was cold.

But there was no need now. On the contrary, the wind that blew past her cheek was even colder. She took a deep breath as she patted her cheek with the back of her hand. Once again—yesterday and today—she couldn’t push him away when he approached her suddenly. No, actually…

‘I didn’t…’

A little cautious and a little slow, Ashia was slowly realizing the own changes in her personality. The difference between ‘I can’t push him away’ and ‘I didn’t push him away’ was clearly there. Aside from her problem that she wasn’t immune to men, the reason she didn’t like him approaching was even deeper.

Even though he was the same Kaligo, he was very different from her ex-husband in many ways. It wasn’t because of Kaligo’s pure change that she was hesitant, but rather the influence brought about by him being the male lead, Kaligo.

“Huu…”

Behind Ashia who breathed in the cold wind and sighed, Kaligo, dressed in torn clothes and cloaked, came out from the tent.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Just like yesterday, Kaligo also took the lead today. Still, he did not forget to turn around and check on her from time to time. When his gaze met hers for a moment, it tickled Ashia’s heart.

Just as the atmosphere on the first day of entering the Fairy Forest was different from yesterday, there was also a different atmosphere today.