“It’s a chili pepper tree! No wonder it was spicy…”

Holly’s voice was nasally due to her congested nose, leading to a bit of grumbling. Cahill glanced at her with an annoyed expression.

“…Why?”

Feeling his intense gaze, she looked up to meet his eyes and paused momentarily. There was a clear heat in his gaze that made her heart skip.

“Look away.”

Cahill pulled her into his embrace, and when Holly tried to look up at him, he pressed down on the back of her head with his hand to stop her.

“Needlessly se—”

His voice trailed off, becoming inaudible to her.

“Seems to be getting worse, or is it just my imagination?”

Bardin’s complaint suggested he and Aiden caught the gist of his fading remark. Cahill snorted dismissively and held Holly tighter.

* * *

Deep into the night, Cahill led Holly, who was unable to sleep, away from the rest of the group to a secluded spot where their breathing was the only sound.

After walking for a while, he stopped, seemingly satisfied, and gently brushed the tears from her eyes.

“Don’t cry in front of others.”

Her eyes were red and swollen, a look he liked best.

“Cry? Me?”

Holly responded incredulously. She couldn’t remember crying except for a vague memory from her childhood.

‘It seems I’ve become a crybaby recently…’

Recalling the many nights spent in tears, Holly’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Her recent crying was often due to Cahill, who seemed to push her to her limits until she burst into tears.

“You cried earlier.”

Cahill pouted and grumbled.

“That’s because you brought chili pepper branches for firewood!”

Holly laughed in disbelief, exasperated by his reasoning.

“I want to be the only one to see you cry, no matter the reason.”

He complained without a hint of remorse for his actions.

“That’s too suggestive.”

Holly was at a loss for words at his reproachful comment, now fully understanding what he had said earlier.

‘It really is serious.’

She remembered Bardin’s words and shook her head in resignation.

“I couldn’t resist as soon as I saw it.”

In a low murmur, he slowly laid her down on a spread robe on the ground.

“…Are we going to do it here?”

When she glanced in the direction where Bardin and Aiden might be, Cahill grabbed her chin and directed her gaze back to him.

“Now that we’re going to be married, you’ll have to take responsibility for me.”

Holly’s eyes widened in surprise at his words.

“What? When did we make such a promise…?”

Cahill looked at her as if he had been struck on the back of his head, and then slowly, a smirk formed on his lips. His gaze, intensely watching her, was chilling.

“Planning to run away again?”

He spoke as if it was inevitable.

“No, no. I just don’t remember hearing a proposal…”

As Holly stammered out what sounded like an excuse, Cahill’s brows furrowed. It dawned on him then that he hadn’t properly proposed to her.

“I’ll do it properly when we return to Aisen. For now, please accept this .”

He clicked his tongue inside and lifted her hand before he fiddled with her fingers for a while. Holly then felt something strange on her finger. Looking down, she saw him detach his lips from her hand, leaving behind an unfamiliar object.

As she looked at her hand in confusion, she saw a ring made of grass on her finger. Staring blankly at the floral ring, it all felt surreal to her.

Cahill’s gaze was busy reading Holly’s expression.

The grass ring, clumsily made, had gaps like missing teeth between its petals. The grass, worn from being tied and untied multiple times, was frayed. The imperfections were glaringly obvious, causing his eyes to droop in disappointment.

“I’ll make you a proper ring with jewels when we get to Aisen.”

He spoke as if pleading while holding her hand. His cheeks flushed with frustration at his inability to make a perfect proposal. Even though he tried to hide these feelings from Holly, his stiffened gaze gave him away.

“I wanted to finish our journey quickly, so I thought of using this to tie things up for now…”

Creating a ring from a gemstone took a considerable amount of time. Cahill had no interest in his coming-of-age trip, yet he was filled with the sole thought of quickly concluding the journey to take Holly back to Aisen.

“I didn’t prepare anything…”

Holly said, fidgeting with her fingers as their eyes met. Cahill opened his mouth as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“You can make one, too, with this.”

He showed the same type of grass he used to craft her ring and wrapped it around his finger.

“Now, tie it!”

Unintentionally following his instructions, Holly tied the grass around his finger and flinched at the final knot. The grass he offered was connected to her ring.

Noticing her gaze, Cahill smiled broadly with a twinkle in his eye.

“You should know who the owner of the ring is.”

Holly, checking the grass connecting their fingers, let out a laugh of disbelief.

“So now…”

Cahill trailed off, looking at her with an implied gaze. Facing his look, Holly saw him reveal his true intentions with a sly grin.

“Let’s celebrate our engagement with a special night!”

Cahill exclaimed, leaping towards Holly.

“What’s different from usual?”

She asked, tenderly stroking the back of his head as he hugged her. He lifted his torso slightly while pondering seriously. Holly, observing his face, laid her hand on his button.

He looked at her with wide eyes.

Holly, without looking away, slowly began unbuttoning his shirt.

“I wanted to touch you too.”

Her fingers slipped through the opened collar.

Despite wearing clothes, Cahill’s skin was cold. She rubbed his skin with her hand as if trying to transfer her warmth to him. The fact that she touched him first seemed to excite him as he let out a heavy breath.

As she caressed his firm chest, she felt his stiff n*pple. She pinched and rubbed it between her fingers.

A low moan escaped from Cahill’s throat.

“I want you to touch me there, too, Holly.”

He licked around her lips with a whine.

Blinking her eyes, Holly slid her hand lower as he wished and pushed it inside his trousers. Unlike under his shirt, a warm heat radiated from within his pants.

“Hurry, Holly…”

Despite Cahill’s urging, Holly was not rushed. She spread her palm wide, cradling his twitching member. It was hot and soft. She stroked it slowly and delicately as if trying to memorize every bulging vein.

“Ha, I feel like I’m going to explode.”

He looked at her with resentment and shook his hips.

His eagerness satisfied her. As she unbuckled his pants and pulled them down below his hips, his erect member throbbed, asserting its presence. Seeing the liquid at the tip made her suddenly thirsty.

Unknowingly, Holly wet her lips with her tongue.

“Now, you can put it in.”

With the awaited permission, Cahill, who had been eagerly waiting, pushed aside her underwear and entered.

“Uh, uht…”

Holly narrowed her eyebrows and moaned as he pressed and entered her inner walls. Even though she had taken him inside daily, the path had narrowed again.

“Haa, it feels new every day.”

Cahill murmured in a low voice, thrusting his hips. His firm member pierced through the narrow path and plunged in deeply at once.

“Ahk!”

She dug her nails into his clothes, scratching along his arm. Cahil caught a glimpse of her doing so and sighed with regret.

“I want us to be completely naked next time.”

He regretted that his body had no marks from her due to their clothing.

__