episode_0075

‘… … .’

Ariel, unaware of how hot her own face was, looked at the campfire with a bewildered and shy face, unable to believe the warmth surrounding her.

The cold that had been viciously biting my flesh just a moment ago had disappeared, and I felt warmth caressing the bitten area.

It feels like the harsh winter has passed and early spring has arrived.

It was a strange, unfamiliar warmth, a warmth that seemed like it could melt even the eternal snow.

My heart is beating fast.

It was the first time I felt such a strong heartbeat.

Scarily so.

It felt like it was running at least ten times faster than when I read the ending of [The Epilogue of the Hero Alpherion], the best novel in my life.

It was a jump for no apparent reason.

A similar yet different kind of jumping that you get when reading a novel.

Thrilled? Emotional? Excited? Thrilled?

It was a difficult leap to pick just one, so Ariel was left to stare blankly, unable to say or react.

The shivering caused by extreme cold gradually subsides.

The vibrations that were so intense that they made my muscles ache gradually decreased, and a new tremor took over the empty space.

If up until now it had been a tremor caused by external stimuli, now it seemed like a tremor caused by internal stimuli.

It wasn’t a painful shiver that made my skin feel like it was freezing, but rather a shiver that felt like soft wing feathers were tickling my insides.

I was embarrassed and nervous.

Is this what a man’s embrace feels like?

It felt completely different from being in my father’s arms.

If my father’s embrace was simply a solid and warm feeling, Elden’s embrace felt more like floating on clouds, with a feeling of excitement and excitement.

The moment I relaxed, I felt like I was going to burst into laughter and feel like I was going to catch a glimpse of that feeling.

It was really strange that she had the thought that she shouldn’t get caught, not knowing what that feeling was, and she even thought that maybe it would be better to get caught, but Ariel was the only one who couldn’t let go of her tension, wanting to feel this unfamiliar sensation for the first time in her life.

Even breathing, even blinking, even wiggling your fingers.

I couldn’t tell how unnatural that reaction was, and therefore how innocent and virginal it was.

What should I say?

I hesitated to say thank you because I was afraid that something I had hidden would be revealed, and I was already too deep in his arms to say sorry.

A pounding heart.

The heat is gradually getting hotter.

Ariel, who had been feeling each and every one of the heterogeneous yet pleasant throbbing and heat, opened her mouth with difficulty.

“… Aren’t you cold?”

“Rather warm?”

“Me, really?”

“Yeah.”

I once heard a survival story while traveling the northern part of the country for six months.

A story of survival of a couple who were isolated during a white storm that lasted an unusually long week.

This is a story of survival, enduring the deadly cold for a week without food or thick clothing.

And I also heard how the lover was able to survive.

The method in which they took off everything they wore, laid it on the floor, covered their bodies with everything they had to block out the cold, and then hugged each other naked.

I remembered the way we shared body heat, touching each other’s insides and secrets.

Hot!

Ariel, who had imagined that scene without realizing it, closed her eyes tightly.

It was absurd.

I was embarrassed.

I felt ashamed of myself for having such strange fantasies just from holding her in my arms, and I almost shiver from embarrassment at the thought of our skin touching each other.

“… … .”

“… .”

A cave filled only with the sound of crackling fire.

Even though it seemed like the night was deepening, the wind was still howling outside, and everything was pure white.

Fortunately, while I was lost in the swamp of delusion, the sound of the wind and the white smoke reached their peak and then gradually weakened and faded away.

Going over the hump.

Maybe it was because it was in Elden’s arms, but the inside of the cave seemed to have become somewhat warmer, and there was still enough kindling left for the campfire, so it seemed like it would be no longer necessary to borrow Elden’s arms.

Of course, this embrace was so warm and cozy, like a hot spring found after a long march through the bitter cold, that she didn’t want to leave, but Ariel, who didn’t want to make Elden suffer because of her greed, moved her lips that had been hesitating.

“I…Elden? I think it’s time to stop hugging you.”

Ariel hummed like that, knowing that it would be difficult to sit still and hold someone else.

But instead of the answer I was expecting, I was startled by something leaning on my shoulder.

I was startled when the breath that I had felt close to me suddenly clung to me like the story of that lover’s survival.

A hot, moist wind blows and licks the back of my neck.

My lower back was stiff and my whole body was tense from the sticky, damp feeling.

My head felt so hot it felt like it was melting and even the hairs on my head stood on end.

I also felt a strange feeling inside my body.

A tingling sensation, as if something is sinking.

I almost screamed, and sweat broke out on my back.

Even in the midst of all this, Elden’s breath blew on my neck as if tickling it, causing me to shrink back.

Ariel opened her mouth, her face as red as a beet, struggling like a poor prey about to have its throat bitten off by a predator.

“Eh, Elden… . I ah, I’m not ready yet… … Uh, isn’t it too early for us to be like this… Ah, not yet…? No. I, I’m not saying I don’t like it… … . You, are so, sudden, s, awkward… … . T, This is my, first time doing something like this… .”

Babble babble.

Ariel speaks at length, even though she stutters.

A hug that suddenly embraced him, a breath that suddenly warmed his neck.

A man and a woman are stuck in a burning cave.

A man and a woman sharing each other’s body heat in a secret place where no one can see or stop them.

I had never read a novel or held a man in my arms, but this was a clear omen(?) and my virgin intuition(?) was telling me strongly.

soon.

That something hot(?) might happen.

“That, and something, this is our wife, the first? Isn’t it a little bit too much to remember as that…? I want to start in that kind of place, where it suits me a little bit, the first time… .”

My already melted head didn’t notice anything strange, so I sent everything that came to my lips, and my already twisted lips let those thoughts out without filtering them.

As if my master would take responsibility for the regrets that would follow.

It didn’t take long for Ariel, who had been spouting off such nonsense, to realize that the virgin’s intuition was just a wild dream.

“… … .”

“… El… den?”

Ariel turned her head, creaking like a rusty hinge, at the answer that was not coming for the time being, and saw Elden’s face leaning against her shoulder, sleeping.

At that moment, my heart, which had been sinking, dug a hole of its own and dived underground, and my spirit, which had melted in the heat, cooled down.

Only then does the head begin to do its job, sorting out the situation, and the lips filter and spit out what has been sorted out.

“… … … huh?”

The fuss he made alone is ridiculous.

The delusions I committed alone were absurd.

I was embarrassed by my self-importance and wanted to hide in a hole, but I couldn’t move.

Ariel doesn’t want to wake up Elden, who is sleeping. She’s afraid that Elden might open his eyes and laugh at her fuss, so she doesn’t move as if nothing happened.

‘… I think I’m crazy.’

So, while she was internally whipping herself and feeling ashamed of the delusional drama she had created alone, she was just happy that she could stay locked up in this cozy embrace a little longer.

**

“I got lost while looking for red mandragora. You seem to be a snowman, so if you’ve collected any, would you mind selling me a single root? I’ll pay you 5 silver coins.”

“You’re here, so go away.”

The cave in the clear morning.

I fell into a deep sleep, not knowing that I was in the snowman’s front yard, and when I opened my eyes, I was faced with the snowman who was blankly staring at us.

Ariel bought him a red mandragora root for a good price, and was chased out of the cave by a snowman who was quite sensitive(?) as the herbalist had said.

“It’s definitely chilly. I think I understand why the herbalist was cautious.”

“Still, I’m glad I was able to get the red mandragora root.”

Ariel responded to the needless grumbling by wrapping the red mandragora root carefully in a blanket.

We started to descend quickly.

The world was clear, clean, and calm, as if the White Storm had made landfall.

As I was walking down that road, Ariel spoke to me.

“I…Elden?”

“Huh?”

“Oh, yesterday… .”

“Ah. I’m sorry about yesterday. I fell asleep without realizing it, so it was uncomfortable, right?”

“Ah, no! Good…! Ah, no! Huh, did you hear something in your sleep… You don’t remember anything… ?”

I actually fell asleep without realizing it.

I fell asleep without realizing it, thanks to the fragrant scent of Ariel’s hair and the warmth of holding a doll.

But, I don’t hear or remember anything.

I had to ask again, worried, wondering if I had made a mistake.

“Why? What… happened…?”

The tension flowing in the moment.

I wonder if my original bad boy nature came out while I was sleeping.

Did he mutter something to himself that would make Ariel uncomfortable?

All sorts of imaginations ran wild, and at that moment, I was about to break out in a cold sweat as Ariel looked into my eyes and remained silent.

Hehe, Ariel laughed as she walked past me.

“No. There was nothing.”

… … It seemed like something was going on to anyone, but I thought it would be better not to bring it up, so I followed Ariel silently.

So I was able to return to my accommodations after just one full day.

“Ugh…! I wonder if something big has happened to Confucius, so I, a small person, have been losing sleep at night!”

After smoothly passing through the tearful reunion ceremony of Mr. Rendler, who seemed to be anxiously waiting for his family who had gone on deployment.

Rachel’s sharp eyes, as if waiting for a family member who had an accident, greeted us.

“I thought you were safe.”

“You really have strong faith in this disciple?”

“I hope everything is fine?”

Rachel, who was looking back and forth between Ariel and me, asked that question, and I shrugged my shoulders and answered quickly on behalf of Ariel, who was standing there blankly.

As far as I remember, nothing much happened.

“Nothing happened?”

“… Is that so? Then get ready.”

“Huh? What?”

“There is an empty lot behind the accommodation. Let’s take some time to review what we learned by competing with bare hands after a long time.”

After finishing his speech calmly, the teacher heads to the empty lot.

In the midst of the White Storm, he ordered his disciple, who had just returned, to practice bare-handed combat.

Hmm.

I guess it’s an illusion that you’re angry…?

“Then I’ll boil some red mandragora roots and bring them to the Grand Duchess!”