<Episode 43>

The weather was strange. When Abellard and Eveline arrived at the cabin, the sky had cleared again.

“I’ll go wash up now.”

“Come back before sunset.”

“Okay.”

Abellard wanted to stay with Eveline, but he felt too melancholic to force a smile.

He needed a moment to collect himself to present a better version of himself to her.

Besides, there was hunting to be done.

With these thoughts, he smiled brightly at Eveline.

“Brother.”

“Yes?”

“At least take a knife with you.”

“No, if something scary chases me, I’ll just run. I’m a fast runner.”

“If you need help, shout. I’ll come running.”

“Okay.”

Her words quickly lifted his spirits, making him think he was hopeless. Nonetheless, he couldn’t stop smiling because of her words.

She took all the bamboo he was carrying.

Eveline stood in front of the cabin, hesitating to go inside where Elkais was preparing the meal alone.

She realized she had to go in once Abellard was completely out of sight.

“Why aren’t you coming in?”

Elkais’s voice came from beyond the door.

“I don’t have hands to open the door.”

She made an awkward excuse, and Elkais opened the door from inside.

She shrugged as if to show she couldn’t come in because of the bamboo. Elkais chuckled and took all the cut bamboo she was holding.

“Ah.”

She let out a sound involuntarily when his hand brushed against her arm and shoulder.

“Sorry. I’ll be more careful not to touch you…”

“No, I actually have something to say.”

She spoke quickly, feeling awkward about his behavior and needing to break the tension.

“What is it?”

He spoke gently, holding the bamboo and looking at her.

“I was wondering if you were angry about earlier.”

“I’m not angry.”

“Then how do you feel?”

“I felt sorry because I kept doing things I shouldn’t due to the pheromones.”

She was relieved that he didn’t despise her. But she felt he had no reason to apologize.

“I should be the one apologizing. Even if I wasn’t in my right mind because of the rain, I shouldn’t have acted that way.”

“No, Eveline, you did nothing wrong. No one can be blamed for what they do when they’re not in their right mind.”

Eveline sighed, feeling a bit more at ease. Elkais’s understanding and kindness made her feel better about the whole situation.

“Thank you for understanding, Elkais. It means a lot.”

He smiled warmly at her, making her feel even more reassured. She knew they still had a lot to work through, but at least they were starting to understand each other better.

“But it was your first time, wasn’t it, Elkais?”

“…Yes.”

Eveline felt relieved as he answered, still looking at her with the same expression.

But she still felt sorry.

“First times are important, you know. It would have been better if it had been with someone you liked.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s the first or second time. What matters is with whom it happens.”

“Oh, right. You’re right.”

She thought he was saying this to comfort her. In the original story, Elkais had all his firsts with Abellard and cherished them deeply.

Even though it was just words, she was grateful he said it was okay.

“We can still be on good terms in the future, right?”

“Of course.”

Eveline didn’t want to leave on bad terms with Elkais, even if she had to leave eventually.

“Let’s get to cooking.”

“Sure.”

He smiled slightly and carried the bamboo to the fireplace. Instead of taking the knife Eveline handed him, he used a nearby fork to neatly cut and prepare the bamboo.

“I’ll take care of the debris.”

“That would be helpful, thank you.”

She picked up the bamboo debris he had made and took it outside to dispose of it.

Elkais had washed and sorted the bird eggs he had collected earlier, and they looked pretty with their various colors.

Eveline decided to let him handle the bird eggs and focus on preparing the blackberries.

“This water isn’t purified yet, right?”

“That’s correct.”

Eveline sat by the container of unpurified water and started cleaning the blackberries.

After silently working on the blackberries, she spoke up.

“I’ll go wash these now.”

“Be careful.”

She watched curiously as Elkais cooked the eggs, then suddenly remembered something and went back inside.

“Already back?”

“No, I just remembered something.”

She recalled that this cabin was originally built by liquor smugglers to hide their goods.

“Do you like alcohol?”

“…I do.”

He answered somewhat reluctantly, his cheeks reddening, making it easy to misinterpret his answer.

“I think there’s alcohol here.”

“What do you mean?”

She remembered the green mat covering the floor. She had known about it before but had been distracted by other events.

She removed the dirty green mat that was laid out like a carpet and started feeling around the floor for an uneven spot.

Elkais, seeing her picking at the floor with her nails, brought over the fork and pried at the floor.

Crack!

With a forceful twist, he lifted it up, revealing a hidden compartment with a ‘creak’ sound.

“How did you know?”

He asked, impressed.

“A hunch. On an island like this, liquor smugglers are the most common.”

“That makes sense. It seems the emperor cracked down on smuggling, so they abandoned it.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Seeing how he perfectly grasped the situation without needing further explanation reminded her that Elkais was still a formidable presence. His kindness didn’t change his inherent nature.

“I recall Abellard liking alcohol a lot.”

“That’s… true.”

“Let’s hide it and only take out one bottle at a time.”

Abellard did love drinking, but his problem was he always drank excessively.

She remembered how he would drink until he passed out and then come back.

“Two bottles. One bottle is too little for four people.”

“Alright, let’s take out four bottles then. One bottle wouldn’t be enough for Abellard anyway.”

“If he gets too drunk, we can knock him out.”

“Sure.”

Eveline and Elkais compromised and took out four bottles.

There was still plenty of alcohol inside, all rum.

“Well, let’s save the rest and use these for now,” she said.

“Yes, that sounds good,” Elkais agreed, carefully putting the remaining bottles back into the hidden compartment.

Eveline felt a strange sense of camaraderie with Elkais as they worked together. Even though the situation was far from normal, it felt good to have some semblance of understanding and cooperation.

“Do you like rum?”

“It’s my favorite.”

“That’s a surprisingly old-fashioned taste.”

Elkais chuckled at her comment. Then he closed the floor hatch and tore off a piece of the fork, throwing it on the floor.

Thwack!

He wedged it between the wooden floor and the hatch entrance, bending it with his foot so no one could open it.

“You’re thorough.”

“You haven’t seen Abellard drunk.”

“I have a few times. When he was at the mansion, all he did was whine.”

“On second thought, one bottle might be enough.”

“Why?”

Elkais frowned and sighed at her question.

“When Abellard gets drunk, he bites necks. So, be careful.”

“He used to do that even as an Omega? That’s pretty awful.”

Elkais laughed at her amazed tone. Then he covered the floor again, making it look as if nothing had happened.

“What should we say if they ask where we got it?”

“We’ll say it was in the attic.”

“Okay.”

Eveline had originally planned to mix the rum with blackberries, but now she thought it unnecessary.

The rum seemed too strong to be mixed with fruit, so she washed the blackberries with the unpurified water.

By the time Elkais finished cooking, the sun was setting.

* * *

“Where are you, you bastard?”

Abellard walked with a bow, intending to kill Grand Duke Rubellite Croppers.

Rubellite had said he was going to wash up, but he was nowhere to be found near either of the two lakes. It seemed he had covered his trail with blood, making it impossible to track him by pheromones.

Abellard glanced at the note that had appeared in his hand, frowning.

[D-Day.4

Eliminate Grand Duke Rubellite Croppers.

If you fail to do so within the time frame, the survival of Eveline Williden will be at risk.]

“I know already.”

Frustrated by the urgent note, Abellard threw it to the ground.

Another note appeared.

[The protector of Eveline Williden has been incapacitated.]

“Damn it, why are you telling me this now?”

Abellard yelled, panicking. The protector usually provided Eve with weapons to defend herself.

But without him, she was in danger.

Especially since she was with Elkais.

The note in his crumpling hand changed.

[The time of the goddess Lumeros is approaching.]

Boom!

At that moment, lightning struck in front of Abellard, forming a wall that blocked his path.

“Damn it!”

He transformed his bow into a sword with his divine power and struck at the wall. But it was useless.

Clang! Clang!

The bright wall didn’t even scratch.

“Eveline!”

He screamed her name desperately, but he was already too far from the cabin.

* * *

Back at the cabin, Eveline and Elkais wondered why it wasn’t raining despite the sunset. Abellard and the Grand Duke had not returned either.

“How about we start drinking the rum?”

“Sure. If it doesn’t rain, they’ll both be fine.”

Eveline agreed cheerfully and opened the bottle of rum.

She didn’t notice that Elkais’s eyes had changed from red to a bright gray.

As they poured the rum and settled down to drink, a quiet tension lingered in the air. Despite the strange turn of events and the uncertainty of their companions’ whereabouts, they both tried to relax and enjoy the moment.
TL/N: So the god wants Fl and Elkais to sleep together??