If someone who didn’t know him saw their position, it would have seemed quite dangerous.
A strong body loomed over her. Because of the darkness, she could feel his body even more clearly. His thighs brush against her knees. Her heart was beating fast and her face felt hot.
“Oh, that, that…”
At the same time, Ash’s eyes widened in panic as he became aware of their situation. Her body was slender as she lay crushed beneath him. The nape of her neck was white as she looked up, close enough he could feel her breath.
‘What am I doing?’
The nape of his neck flushed as he quickly pulled back and apologized again.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
The voice came out as if his throat was dry. He moved away from her and rubbed his heated face. Even his palms felt hot.
“Oh, no.”
She stammered and shook her head with a bright red face. Then she scrambled to her feet and straightened her posture.
“…”
An awkwardness lingered in the air. Neither of them could meet the other’s gaze.
Elaine tried to calm her racing heart, but the heat she felt on her cheeks would not cool down. She was just trying to wake Ash up because she thought he was having a nightmare… Somehow, the situation had become strange.
Ah… Yes, the nightmare. As soon as she remembered, her pounding heart began to calm down.
She carefully looked ahead again. Breaking the awkward silence, Elaine studied his complexion.
“Um, well… Are you okay? You looked like you were being suffocated…”
Ash nodded. It was a slow, slightly stiff motion.
“Oh, I’m fine. It’s a dream I have often anyway.”
“……Is this the dream you were talking about before?”
A frequent nightmare. She’d heard him mention it once before, the day he’d overslept. Her expression hardened a little.
Not noticing, Ash replied casually.
“Perhaps. It’s been a long time since I’ve dreamed, but I woke up quickly thanks to you, so it’s okay.”
“But… It’s not good to keep having dreams like that. Have you been drinking the tea I gave you before?”
After hearing about his frequent nightmares, Elaine had gotten some tea that helped a person sleep and gifted it to him. She didn’t know if it would help or not, but she was still concerned.
“Yes, Lowell wanted some of it because it was very effective. But weren’t you asleep? Did I wake you?”
Ash’s eyes narrowed as he spoke. Fearing that he might misunderstand that it was his fault, she quickly shook her head.
“No, it’s not that, I just couldn’t sleep and… I happened to overhear you.”
“…I see.”
Then the conversation paused for a moment. The atmosphere wasn’t as awkward as before, but now that she had finished speaking, it was time for her to return to her own tent.
But for some reason, she was unusually quiet. As she remained unmoving, her lips pursed, Ash asked curiously.
“What’s wrong?”
Then she spoke in a tiny whisper.
“Name …”
“What?”
“You called me by my name… earlier.”
“Ah.”
Ash made a small sound. Now that he thought about it, he was so surprised earlier that he’d unknowingly called her by her name, without the ‘Dame’.
“If it made you feel uncomfortable…”
“No, of course not!”
Elaine widened her eyes and waved her hand. She hesitated for a moment, then suddenly lifted her head and smiled brightly.
“Keep… Can you please continue to call me that?”
His eyes widened slightly. He blinked in confusion. By name… She wanted him to call her by name? She had a bright smile on her face.
He couldn’t answer right away and pursed his lips.
“Why all of a sudden…”
“…Do you not like the idea?”
“It’s not like that. It’s not that I don’t like it…”
He reflexively denied it. It was just sudden. Rather, he…
She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
“Does that mean you’ll call me that then?”
“…If you wish.”
He said, looking away. Elaine smiled broadly.
“Then call me now!”
“…Now?”
“Just to practice, since you’re not used to it, okay?”
He wanted to tell her it was unnecessary, but when he saw her eyes sparkle with anticipation, he couldn’t.
He rarely called anyone by their first name, not that he knew many people who did, and the only people he called by their first names were Hilaire and Lowell, whom he’d known for a long time.
As a result, it felt awkward and out of place to suddenly call someone by their name, and it was hard to talk when he was being stared at so intently. He pursed his lips, then finally managed to mumble out.
“…Elaine.”
The sound of his own voice, echoing in the quiet night, pierced deep into his ears. He didn’t see her face go blank for a moment. When he looked up again, all he could see was bright expression, smiling happily.
He couldn’t tear his gaze from her face. His heart seemed to beat faster again. Even though it was just calling a name, a sensation similar to the heat from before seemed to flow through his heart.
“I’ll go now. Go to sleep, Sir.”
“…Okay.”
He slowly answered as she left.
The tent curtain was lifted for a moment, and then closed. The darkness became quiet again. He could hear her entering her own tent.
“…”
Ash, who’d been frozen and unable to move until then, slowly touched the corners of his mouth. His lips had tingled strangely as he called her name. And his heart had as well.
He recalled the feelings from a moment ago. The heat that had risen as he’d pressed against her, the way his heart had raced as he’d pronounced her name.
At this point, unless he was an idiot, he had to know. That he had feelings for her as a member of the opposite sex. To be precise, it was along the lines of a crush.
Suddenly, everything he’d felt before made sense. Why he’d felt nervous around her, why he’d hated talking about a fiancé in front of her, and why he’d rejected Diana’s offer to be his partner.
It was because of her. He was doing it because he liked her. He cared about her. That’s why.
He’d never felt this way about anyone before, that’s why it’d taken him so long to recognize what he was feeling.
The confusion and nervousness were very unfamiliar to him. Ash lazily rubbed his face.
He had a feeling he wouldn’t be getting much sleep that night.
* * *
After that night, they ran for about three more days.
The further north they went, the colder the temperature became. Maltaigne, located at the northern tip, was colder than anywhere else on the continent. There was never a day when the ground, covered in the white snow that fell all year round, would melt.
As they got closer to Maltaigne, a sharp wind blew. Along with it, light flurries of snow began to fall. The green landscape gradually turned white. The trees along the road had shed their leaves, and their bare branches were covered in white. It appeared to be winter, as if the seasons were reversing.
The whole world was white. The curved hills and fields sparkled white as if silver powder had been sprinkled on them.
They continued to run down the white road. Then, finally, a small village was visible beyond the snow. It was Maltaigne.
Arriving at the entrance of the village, the two people checked the signs and then took a quick look around the village. A light layer of snow was piled up on every little house and fence. A cold silence hovered over the snow-covered village.
This was the most remote town in the North.
‘Could there really be any traces of Walter in a place like this?’
Elaine said as she walked down the deserted streets.
“It was at the Stag Inn that we were supposed to meet with our informant, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.”
It was the largest inn in town, so they shouldn’t have trouble finding it. She looked around again.
“Give me that!”
A sharp voice came from somewhere nearby.
“I don’t want to, why would I?”
“I’ll just take it from you then!”
Elaine reflexively looked toward the source of the noise.
A group of village boys surrounded another boy, who was maybe fifteen years old. He was small in stature and had flaming red hair. He waved his arms at the old book the group of boys had taken from him.
“It doesn’t matter. He has no parents!”
“What’s the point of reading this shit when you can’t even go to school?”
“Why don’t you just use it as firewood?”
The red-haired boy said, undeterred by the boys’ teasing.
“Even if you all have parents, you’re still too stupid to read!”
“What? That’s…!”
The boys shouted, roughly pushing the red-haired boy against the wall.
“Don’t act like you’re so smart, you orphan!”
“That’s why you’re an idiot!”
“You’re the idiot for going to Ghost Mountain to hide!”
“Why don’t you go to that mountain anymore? You used to go there all the time!”
“Now there are ghosts, are you scared?”
The boys were giggling and laughing. The red-haired boy gritted his teeth and shouted.
“I’m not scared!”
“No, what else could it be then?”
“The adults said it’s a place that eats people!”
“Shut up!”
“Well, let’s see-!”
The boys’ faces contorted. The largest of them was about to swing his fist at the red-haired boy with excessive force.
“Ack!”
The red-haired boy threw snow-covered dirt at their faces. As they rubbed their faces, the red-haired boy snatched the book away from them and ran off.
“What the hell!”
Angry boys chased after him. The distance between him and the boys gradually narrowed. If he was caught, he would be beaten. Finally, one of the larger boy’s reached out to grab him by the back of the head.
Elaine, who had been watching, suddenly stepped between them, almost colliding head-on with the big boy, who screeched to a halt in surprise.
“W-what is going on?”
Elaine said with a grin.
“Oh, I just wanted to ask for some directions.”
