Chapter 115
Cahill bit his lip when he realized belatedly that it was his fault she had been drenched. He then lifted Holly up as if riding down the sled was nothing, and with a single leap, he was atop the cliff.
‘It would have been better to jump down in Cahill’s arms from the start…’
Holly thought as she burrowed into Cahill’s arm to escape from the biting cold.
“So, so… what should we do first?”
She watched him, still in his arms, as he looked bewildered. Although her thoughts were somewhat at ease, her physical condition was quite serious. She found it difficult to move freely, and her teeth were chattering.
“Take off your clothes right now! You might get frostbite.”
Adam, who had followed belatedly, reached out to Holly. However, Cahill pushed him away and hugged her even tighter. His hands busily felt her cheeks and any other exposed skin.
“Uht…!”
Holly involuntarily shivered as the ice-cold tips of his fingers touched her skin. Cahill was also wet from the ice water, which wasn’t much help.
Seeing her shiver, he hesitated with his hand in mid-air.
“Come on, do something…”
Adam hovered nearby, urging him on.
“…Quickly, start a fire.”
Cahill, with his face twisted in agony, commanded him. Adam, seeing Holly’s lips turn blue, panicked.
“Ah, ah… yes!”
He then broke up the sled he had painstakingly carved all night. Soon enough, Badin had started a fire. His hands moved so quickly that he could have been mistaken for a fire mage.
In the meanwhile, Cahill reached out to Holly before he hesitated and pulled back, shaking his head. Noticing this, she grabbed his hand and placed his palm on her cheek.
Cahill looked at her in surprise.
“We’ll scout the area while you warm up.”
Badin, who noticed the two, quickly grabbed Adam by the nape and spoke as he dragged him beyond the bushes.
After the two of them had disappeared, Cahill slumped his shoulders and spoke.
“Is it my fault again?”
He spoke somberly as he took off Holly’s clothes. His movements were swift as usual, but unlike usual, there was no sexual undertone. Soon, the warm energy radiating from the campfire enveloped her body.
“If only my body temperature could warm you up more…”
He muttered gloomily. Holly looked up at his face, observing his face.
“You can’t blame yourself. I intended to get hit by the waterfall from the start.”
Despite her reassurance, Cahill’s expression remained troubled. She smiled gently and rubbed the hand she was holding.
“They say if lovers get hit by the waterfall together, they’ll never part.”
At Holly’s words, he gazed at her with wide eyes, surprise written all over his face. Soon, a blush crept up his pale cheeks.
“Did you want to get hit by the waterfall with me because you didn’t want us to part?”
Hope colored Cahill’s face as he asked Holly. She nodded with a slight smile.
“When I heard that legend, I knew I had to experience it.”
Holly didn’t know if her birth parents had abandoned her or lost her. Fortunately, she was raised by her adoptive parents, though she always felt a sense of loneliness between the loving couple. That was why she longed to have ‘someone who would never leave her.’
“So, Cahill.”
Cahill looked at her curiously.
“Thank you for getting hit by the waterfall with me.”
Holly lifted the hand she was holding and pressed a kiss to the finger that had worn the ring made of grass. Sadly, the makeshift ring hadn’t survived their vigorous activities.
Cahill felt her warm and soft lips on his finger and swallowed hard. Unable to contain himself, he blurted out.
“Even if we hadn’t gotten hit by the waterfall, I would have loved you forever.”
His voice trembled.
Holly, lifting her head, took his cold cheek in her hand and leaned in to kiss him.
* * *
After the commotion had settled, the group discussed their plans over breakfast on how to travel to their next destination, Diamant.
“Are you suggesting we climb the cliff?”
Holly asked, looking at Badin, who talked about his plan. He nodded in agreement.
“There’s no need to go back when it’s right in front of us.”
Cahill could freeze the entire waterfall, bridging the gap between the cliffs. Jumping across cliffs was as simple for him as eating cold soup.
“We can’t freeze the whole waterfall.”
Badin quickly shook his head as if reading Holly’s mind.
“Why not?”
“Just freeze the parts where we need to step. Can you do that?”
He turned to Cahill rather than Holly with the question.
“I’ve been practicing controlling my abilities.”
As Holly looked curiously between the two of them, Cahill responded, “It’s been a while since I started practicing, and you didn’t even notice.”
Following his gentle reply, Adam teased.
“How could you have such a commendable thought?”
Ignoring Adam’s remark, Holly looked at Cahill with sparkling eyes.
“I want to become a flawless king.”
She was taken aback by his response. After all, he had always acted as if he had no interest in the throne.
‘He’s making an effort to become king?’
Holly looked at Cahill with a curious expression.
“But Holly is a foreigner, she’s already at a disadvantage. And a commoner…”
The words Adam had once spoken to Cahill floated back into her mind.
‘…It’s because of me.’
Realizing that Cahill was attempting something he never had before because of her, Holly felt a sour taste in her mouth.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
Although mastering his powers was necessary for Cahill himself, she also wanted to contribute in any way if it was inevitable.
At her words, Badin looked pleased.
“Holly, you should stand up as well.”
Confused by Badin’s brief instruction, she looked up at Cahill, who appeared just as puzzled and tilted his head in confusion.
“Just like this.”
Badin drew a circle on the ground around where Cahill was standing.
“You will walk across this ice together with Holly.”
Cahill’s brow furrowed as he listened to Badin’s explanation, clearly puzzled by the specific condition.
“It’s ice that’s been thawed and refrozen. If you fall in, I might not worry about you, but Holly could even suffer a heart attack.”
Cahill’s face contorted with worry at Badin’s explanation, the memory of a frozen Holly from just a few hours earlier sending a chill through him.
“What if we freeze it more broadly?”
Holly, trying to intervene, grabbed Cahill’s arm and asked Badin. Badin, who had been staring unwaveringly at Cahill, turned to her.
“Try it.”
Badin’s curt response made Holly swallow dryly. His face was usually unreadable, but now it strangely conveyed an air of tension.
* * *
After the meal, Holly stood beside Cahill at the base of the cliff. Badin watched them from behind with the face of an experimenter.
Cahill glared at Badin, grinding his teeth.
No matter that it was for his practice, he disliked putting Holly in any potential danger.
“There’s no need to do this.”
He turned to Holly with a worried expression. It was a rare sight from the usually confident man. Holly felt a mix of unfamiliarity and excitement as she shook her head.
“I agreed to help.”
At Holly’s firm response, Cahill opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again.
“I’ll go first, then follow me.”
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