“It’s okay. I said I’ll become stronger, didn’t I?”

As Cahill uttered as he stroked her downcast head, Holly’s face flushed at the affectionate gaze. His pupils sank deeply, causing her stomach to flutter under his intense gaze.

Licking her dry lips, she placed her hand on his chest.

Despite his calm demeanor, the intense thumping of his heart made her happy.

“We might have to wait until someone comes to confirm what’s beyond this.”

A subtle whisper tickled his ear.

When Holly, who was leaning against Cahill’s chest, gazed up, she could see heat was flickering in his dark brown eyes.

Gulp.

His neck bobbed up and down heavily.

“Then, should we do something else to pass the time?”

When she nodded at his suggestion, Holly’s back pressed against the wall.

Cahill, holding her slender waist, pressed his lower body against hers. As excited as he was, his tongue movements were aggressive as he explored her wet mouth thoroughly, sucking on her tongue. His hand groped her chest over her clothes.

His rough actions caused heat to rise in her body.

Gasping, Holly ran her hands around his waist and then slipped her hand into his pants. Her fingertips brushed against the coarse hair.

“Touch me, haa…”

Cahill said in an impatient voice. Holly looked up and examined his face as she slid her hand downward. Holly gently stroked the growing shaft beneath her palm.

“Ku-uht, yes….”

The ferocious pillar wriggled incessantly under her palm.

Encouraged by the immediate response, Holly moved her hand faster. In the meanwhile, while sucking on Holly’s neck, Cahill breathed heavily. He resisted the urge to release, wanting to feel more of the sensations from her palm.

His hips moved on its own.

“No…”

“We can.”

Cahill growled as he exhaled sharply.

“I want to c*m inside you.”

Whispering desperately, he licked her neck roughly.

“You’re almost there, right?”

His fingers lifted Holly’s skirt and trailed down her hip bones. The hand that was stroking her inner thighs lightly grazed her secret place.

“Ha, ah…”

Holly gasped and urgently undid Cahill’s pants buckle.

It was at that moment…

“This is my bedroom, Holly.”

A voice mixed with a sigh came from beyond the wall.

It was Chase.

Her body, about to pull out the trapped pillar from Cahill’s tight underwear, stiffened in shock. On the other hand, Cahill’s face contorted as the act was interrupted at the perfect time. He held her waist, signaling her not to stop.

However, in that moment of surprise, her entire body heat seemed to dissipate like she had been washed by a bucket of cold water. She pushed his swollen flesh into his underwear, ignoring the tightening underwear and buckled it up.

Even though he groaned and looked at her desperately, Holly took the fallen bag from the floor and turned away.

“Ah!”

His face flushed as he watched her pause and turn back, though her gaze wasn’t directed at him.

“Let’s take this with us.”

Holly crouched down, spread the handkerchief on the ground, scooped up some sand, and tied it up. As she stood up, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, a thought flashing through her mind.

“But how did Chase know it was us that’s here?”

* * *

The parchment was filled with tightly packed illustrations, all intertwined. Holly had initially thought that it would be easier to explain to Laila with pictures, but now she felt less confident.

“I think we’ve found almost everything, right?”

She muttered as she rolled up the parchment. Exhausted from walking and crawling through the dark, indiscernible underground, Holly had lost the strength and will to explore further.

“Let’s just check the end of this corridor and then go back to the room.”

Without sunlight, it was difficult to estimate the time or how many days had passed. While Badin might enjoy doing nothing, Adam might be getting restless, wanting to leave Lauriue by now.

Tired from walking the dark, lengthy corridor, Holly thought.

“Weren’t we supposed to go to Geonin after Lauriwe?”

With no fixed schedule, she decided to follow Adam’s plan. To get from Lauriue to Geonin, they would have to pass through Centria. As she thought about Centria, memories of the Torimas gang, who had been following her, came back to her mind.

“Centria is smaller than I thought. Henri probably stopped chasing me, thinking I was dead, but if we happen to run into Torimas gang there, they’ll start chasing us again.”

Holly shuddered with a look of disgust.

“I can handle it this time, too.”

With a firm voice, Cahill held Holly, his arms embracing her as she looked frightened. Feeling the familiar warmth, a smile graced her lips.

“I trust you, but I don’t like seeing you in danger either.”

Her hand, which had been caressing his cheek, moved to his ear, then to the back of his neck, gently playing with his hair. At that moment, an idea seemed to strike her, and her eyes sparkled.

“What if we disguise ourselves?”

She asked in an excited voice, but he gave her a disapproving look.

“Why? Doesn’t it seem like a great idea?”

Disappointed by his reaction, Holly’s lips pouted in response to Cahill’s explanation.

“So, you just like my face, not my body?”

“I enjoy both seeing and touching Holly.”

He nodded, his words confident and unwavering.

At that moment, a shadow appeared ahead and Cahill quickly moved her behind him.

“It’s me!”

The figure in the shadow exclaimed urgently, seeing his warning gesture.

“Seems familiar….”

Holly narrowed her eyes at the voice as if she had heard it somewhere before. The shadow soon reached out towards the wall.

Crack, crack…

After a few knocks, a flame ignited in the darkness.

“Seria?”

Holly’s eyes widened at the face illuminated by the fire.

“The Elder wishes to see you.”

Seria glanced at Cahill with twinkling eyes.

In response, Holly stepped forward, attempting to shield Cahill from Seria’s gaze. Nonetheless, it was impossible to hide the much larger Cahill completely, so she turned slightly to confirm this and then returned her displeased gaze to Seria.

“Seria, how did you know there was a candle there?”

The spark of suspicion in her mind grew as she observed Seria’s hesitation. Meanwhile, Cahill looked at Holly, who was sharpening her words, with a subtle, almost amused expression.

“Isn’t it a grave offense for an elf to light a fire?”

Since there was also a candle next to the bed that they had discovered earlier, Holly assumed that the intruder was not an elf but an outsider.

Flustered, she looked at Seria, who couldn’t seem to get a word out, and continued.

“How did you know we were here? No, the fact that you’re here in this space at all is suspicious.”

“Wha, what’s so suspicious…”

“No one, not even Lyla, knows about the existence of this secret passage. Even if you happened to discover this space, you should have informed the owner, Lyla, shouldn’t you?”

As Holly continued to pour out her words, Seria couldn’t even offer an excuse. Sending a suspicious glare, Holly reached out her arm toward Seria and exclaimed.

“Cahill, get her!”

Without questioning or hesitating at her words, Cahill went to Seria’s side and twisted her arms behind her.

“Kyak! Why, why are you doing this…!”

Although Seria was astonished, she was unable to look away from the approaching Cahill. She frantically squirmed.

“Say whatever you need to in front of Lyla.”

Holly spoke calmly and took the lead.

__