After finding the crystal ball at the cabin, Elaine and Ash went down Ghost Mountain. They explored the area a bit more before doing so, but found nothing else of importance. The Specters on the mountain had been swept away by Ash and were nowhere to be found on the way down.
When they reached the bottom of the mountain, they saw several villagers gathered together chatting. The residents, who had been buzzing anxiously, spotted them and came rushing over.
“Hey, hey, guys, what’s going on?”
“We heard something that sounded like a monster…!”
Hundreds of Specters were screaming so loudly that it would have echoed all over the place. It seemed like they heard that sound and came rushing over.
The two summarized the situation to the residents. It wasn’t ghosts, it was Specters, and now that they’ve been dealt with, the villagers could rest easy. Of course, he added that there may be others left, so they needed to be careful and keep an eye out.
They didn’t reveal their identities, so the residents weren’t sure if they should believe them, but they’d realize the truth, over time, when no more people died or went missing on the mountain. The two soon left the residents behind and returned to the inn where they were staying.
“Where have you been!”
As soon as they opened the inn door, a boy with bright red hair came running over.
“Ah, Jody.”
“I was so surprised when I woke up and there was no one here! You didn’t go to Ghost Mountain, did you?”
They had assured Jody they weren’t going. They’d mumbled something about not going, but he didn’t quite believe them. He’d been worried all day because he could hear strange noises outside. You’d never guess that hundreds of Specters had just been wiped out.
“I’m sorry for causing you worry. We had to go somewhere briefly.”
It was clear that he would be even more surprised if he told him what he was doing, so he just covered it up for now. They’d been pelted with snow. Most of the snow had been brushed off, but their clothes were soaked, cold and damp.
“Sir, hurry up. You need to change your clothes…”
Elaine glanced back at Ash as she climbed the stairs, but her words trailed off when she saw his face. At the moment, his face looked a little redder than usual.
Ash froze in place, his brow furrowed. Then he slowly rubbed the corners of his eyes.
“Your Grace? Is there something wrong…”
Elaine quickly reached over and touched his forehead. He flinched slightly but didn’t resist her touch, his jet-black hair brushed against the back of her hand.
“Oh, my God, you have a fever!”
Soon Elaine’s eyes widened; his forehead was hot. She bit her lip nervously.
“I think I have a cold, after all…”
He’d taken off his coat in the mountains during a blizzard. No matter how strong he was, he was still only wearing a thin shirt in the freezing cold snow, it was a natural result. He seemed fine until they made it down the mountain, and he thought it was strange that she was still okay.
Ash said it was no big deal, but just saying that wasn’t enough to convince her. In the end, he couldn’t even take a step out of the room because of Elaine.
“I’m fine, really.”
Ash sighed. He sat up in bed.
“It’s just a mild fever.”
“You should get some rest, though. What if it gets worse?”
Elaine fidgeted in the chair across from him. She held out a steaming cup.
“The inn keeper says they drink it a lot here when they have a cold. It’s good for bringing down a fever, but you have to let it cool slightly before taking a sip.”
Because it was such a small town, she couldn’t call a doctor. Instead, she asked the innkeeper to bring her some medicine. They said this was a folk remedy made by mixing several medicinal herbs and alcohol together.
She looked so anxious that Ash took the glass without saying anything else. While he drank the medicine, she put some firewood into the fireplace and lit it. Thanks to this, the room was quickly filled with warmth.
Elaine stayed by his side the rest of the day, only leaving the room to make some tea when it was pitch black outside.
“Ha…”
Elaine closed the door and took a deep breath. She kept thinking that it was her fault that Ash was sick. She promised to protect him, but she foolishly fell prey to the Specter’s hallucinations… Not only didn’t she help him, she also made him catch a cold.
In comparison, she was extremely healthy. Let alone a cold, she was so healthy that she almost felt sorry for herself. The good news was that his condition was not serious. He was lucky that he ended up with only a slight fever even though he was dressed like that in bone-chilling weather.
Still, she probably wouldn’t feel relieved until he was completely healed. She returned to his room with a cup of warm tea on a tray.
She knocked, but there was no answer. It took a while for the tea to warm up and she guessed he’d fallen asleep in the meantime.
As she slightly opened the door and entered, warm air enveloped her body. The light from the fireplace flickered, illuminating the dark room. Ash was not in bed. Instead, when she turned her head, following the shadows on the floor, she saw him sitting in front of the fireplace.
“Hey…”
Elaine started to call out to him, but stopped. He was leaning back in his chair, his eyes closed. She set the tray down on the nightstand and quietly approached him. The fire crackled in the cozy, silent room.
His lowered eyelids didn’t open as she approached; he’d apparently dozed off in his chair. Elaine was about to shake him awake, urging him to sleep in a comfortable bed instead of the uncomfortable chair, but stopped when she saw his sleeping face.
His aura, that was always sharp like a blade, had disappeared, and the area around his eyes also became softer. Was it because, at the edge of the cold North, all the gazes and threats were far away?
It was hard for her to tear her gaze away from his face, which looked unusually relaxed. His head tilted at an angle, his hair disheveled and unkempt. The flickering firelight cast long shadows across his pale cheeks, and his long lashes fell down. Even asleep, he was picturesque.
She was observing him closely without even realizing it. It wasn’t the time to think about this, but his face looked so captivating that it mesmerized her.
Her gaze slid down the smooth bridge of his nose, over his lips and jawline, to his shoulders and chest. A well-trained body that was unable to be hidden, even when wearing thick clothes. Elaine remembered how strong his arms were.
When she woke up from her hallucination and opened her eyes, these arms held her tightly. At that time, he no longer felt like a child. It was a big, wide embrace…… so firm that she could lean on it and it wouldn’t crumble. She wanted to stay in that embrace forever.
Actually, that wasn’t the only time she’d felt that way. The day she went to the festival with him for the first time, his arm pulling her in close when she almost bumped into someone, the way he’d casually tugged at her collar, the way his body heat had touched hers in the dark tent.
She wanted to touch him. Why? Because he was Ash? Because she loved and cherished him so much?
Her gaze drifted upward again. From his chest, then back to his shoulders and jawline… And then finally his lips. She reached out unconsciously.
There was a little bit of the medicine he drank after dinner on his lip. She wasn’t sure if she was trying to clean it off or if she just wanted to touch it, however, her fingertips gradually got closer, and her hand was caught just before it touched his red lips.
Slowly, his eyelids opened. Purple eyes blinked dazedly for a moment. His hazy gaze looked at her, then down at his hand holding hers, and then back at her again.
“Elaine…?”
She froze in his grasp, unable to move. She held her breath and turned to face him. Her mind went blank, wondering what she was just trying to do and whether he’d seen it.
As she was frozen, not knowing how to react, he tilted his head to looked at her. Her hazy, blinking eyes were drowsy. He stared at Elaine, then called out to her again.
“Elaine.”
To be exact, his voice was close to a murmur. A strange heat seeped into his eyes as he opened his mouth softly, reciting her name as if engraving it. The hand that held hers put a little more strength into it. Tightening his grip, as if he would not let go, pulling her closer.
In that state, bright red lips parted.
“You…”
Hot breath drifted over the back of her hand. His breath played with her nerves, making her body tingle, her hair stood up. The tingle traveled up her forearms to her heart. The heat from her heart spilled over and drowned her reason.
His breath tickling the back of her hand, lips so close that they almost touch her skin. At that moment, Elaine imagined the breath touching some place other than the back of her hand.
For a few seconds, she felt distant, as if time had stopped. Elaine’s face, which had been frozen for a moment, suddenly burned red, on fire.
“Ah…”
‘What am I doing right now?’
Her bewildered gaze fell on the hand being held. Elaine snatched her hand away, as if she’d been burned. Her light green eyes shook. She staggered and faltered, and ran out of the room, running away before even having a chance to think about anything.
‘This is ridiculous.’
Her mind went blank and then confusion washed over her like a tidal wave.
‘How, how could I.’
Fragmented words drifted here and there like parts of a shipwreck swept away by a storm. Unable to believe the feelings she’d realized, but because they were so vivid, she couldn’t even deny them either, she groaned.
“I…”
‘I like him?’
That one sentence took over her mind. If not that, there’s no way she would imagine something like that or feel something like that. The sound of her heart beating like crazy also proved it.
The lid of the box, which had been tightly closed until now, was opened. The identity of the emotions that were rattling around every moment was finally revealed. A feeling so ripe that she didn’t even know when it started to take root. Before she knew it, it was sprouting.
In an instant, the questions she’d thought about before began to flow in. Why did she want to reach out to him? Why did her heart beat every time she touched him? Her heart throbbed at the mention of his fiancé, she’d hoped he would reject any offer to be someone’s partner, and when he did, why was she relieved?
There was only one answer to all these questions.
Because she liked him. Not just as the son of someone she cared about, but as a man.
‘You’re crazy.’
How could she think of Ash in that way? He was Bella’s son. A person who was like family, she could even clearly remember his childhood.
Above all, Bella died because of her. Ash lost his mother because of her. How dare she harbor feelings for him?
Maybe she vaguely knew. The feelings she had for him. However, for her, he was family, this was a feeling she should never have. Maybe she had instinctively pushed it down and turned away.
However, those feelings had built up to the point that she could no longer contain them, and they overflowed. She had no choice but to admit it now.
She frantically ran toward her room but bumped into Jody who was coming up the stairs.
“Oh, how’s he doing…”
Jody, who had been asking about Ash’s condition, suddenly widened his eyes.
“Uh? Your face…”
Jody pointed to her flushed face.
“Your face is bright red. What, did you catch a cold or something?”
Elaine was frozen, in a daze, unable to respond. Jody, sensing her strangeness, asked.
“What’s wrong?”
After asking, she barely managed to shake her head.
“No… Nothing.”
She walked unsteadily and turned the doorknob to her room with difficulty. As the door closed with a thud, the room was plunged into darkness. Elaine collapsed on the floor. She buried her face in her hands.
“Now… How will I look at Ash?”
As the boy said, she hoped it was a cold. How did she end up with this fever that couldn’t be cured? She doesn’t even deserve to like him.
She couldn’t raise her head buried in her hands for a long time.
Aww my poor girl 🙈🙈