Ice God and The Lady

“Is it because you live so long? You have good eyes.”

Cahill glanced at Chase with a satisfied face, probably liking what he said.

Meanwhile, upon hearing that, Chase looked rather complicated, confused as to whether it was a compliment or sarcasm.

“Have a seat.”

Adam pulled out a chair and gave a gesture at Holly, who was standing still. Holly sat down in the chair with a confident gesture, but her eyelids were shaking weakly. She felt strange to be treated as a person of nobility by Adam.

“Are you leaving after dinner?”

As Lyla asked, Adam hurriedly chewed what was in his mouth. Lyla acted as if she had forgotten that the elders had asked her to bring Holly’s party to her mansion.

“No. I want to talk to the elder first.”

Holly, who happened to be drinking, answered before him, and Adam nodded his head with a disapproving but natural face. Meanwhile, Badin twisted his face.

“I’ll ask Albert to guide me.”

Lyla nodded her head calmly.

“Albert must be busy with housework, so I will do it!”

Suddenly, Chase interjected, raising his hand.

“You? Why?”

Lyla tilted her head, looking puzzled.

“It’s only natural that I treat them as Lyla’s guests.”

Chase put his hand on his chest and nodded with a forceful face.

“If you want to do it, do it.”

While Lyla started eating again as if she didn’t care, Holly pressed her teeth against her lips and glanced at her. She couldn’t bring herself to eat.

“By the way, Lyla…”

She took a sip of water and opened her mouth with a determined look. When Lyla’s eyes met hers, her mouth went dry again.

Holly decided to confess with a little lie.

“Well, last night, I accidentally broke the engraving on the head of the bed.”

While talking, there was a sharp sound of scratching a plate. Chase, who gathered his gaze, smiled awkwardly and apologized with his eyes.

“It’s terrible because I think I know what mistake you made and how you made it.”

Adam looked away from Chase and sneered. Unlike him, Lyla nodded her head with a calm face.

“That’s okay. It’s an old item, so it’s easy to break.”

Fortunately, she didn’t seem upset. Holly let out a sigh of relief and continued.

“…Then, the bed opened.”

“Hmm?”

At that, Lyla put her fork down and focused on her.

“Then?”

Holly, who had been talking more easily after confessing to destroying the statue, flinched at Lyla’s persistent gaze.

“That is… the bed was open, so I went to a certain space…”

Then the cup fell to the floor and rolled over. Chase slumped over and reached for the cup.

“So?”

When Lyla glanced at Chase’s place with dark eyes, she nodded at her. As she urged her to say more, Holly wet her lips with her tongue and continued.

“I couldn’t see the way out, and there was a bed, so I just slept there. I guess you need to clean…”

Lyla thought for a moment.

“I heard that among the predecessors, there was someone who made another passage because they hated looking at the employees.”

The monologue-like murmur drew the attention of everyone in the dining room.

‘Could it be a space that even Lyla didn’t know about?’

When Holly looked at him with wide eyes, Cahill shrugged his shoulders and rummaged through the salad with his fork.

“Are you still here?”

Then, Lyla suddenly lifted her head and looked to the side.

“Huh?”

Seria, who didn’t even sit down and was standing blankly next to Lyla, flinched.

“N, no, I’m going now.”

“Why don’t you have a meal while you’re here?”

“No, no. I wasn’t even invited. That’s rude.”

Seria was one step ahead of Adam when it came to sarcasm. She spat out quickly and ran out of the dining room, running away so that no one would catch her.

“What is going on? To even be curious about the child who opens a couple’s bedroom at dawn…”

Lyla muttered as she rested her arm on the table and rested her chin on it.

“A couple’s bedroom?”

As Holly shook her head with a fed-up look, she thought Chase deserved to hate Seria.

* * *

As soon as she got out of Lyla’s mansion and into the center of town, Holly was in trouble.

“Come on, eat it, eat it.”

Children surrounded her and shouted in unison. In her hand was a bunch of fruit that the children had given her. She was confused whether they wanted to send a gift for her and see how she liked it or if they simply wanted to watch ‘humans’ eat fruit.

“Wait.”

Holly held out the fruit she was holding in her arms to Adam.

“What is it?”

“It’s Adam who is in charge of groceries.”

She laughed and half-forced the fruit into his arms, and among them, she picked up the top fruit.

“How do you eat this?”

When she lowered her body and asked, a commotion arose among the children for a moment. A child who had won the competition approached, pressed the fruit with his thumb, and spread it apart.

“Break it like this…”

Juice flowed down Holly’s hands, revealing the pink flesh.

“You can leave the skin on and eat it.”

The child pretended to eat with empty hands as Holly chewed the fruit as the child had taught her. The succulent juice moistened her lips.

“Delicious, thank you.”

Eating half of the fruit, she laughed at the children, who screamed and ran to the other side.

“Do you want some?”

The next moment, she glanced back and asked the three of them.

One of them, Cahill, came quickly and took her hand and swallowed the fruit in one bite. Holly gazed up at him as he licked the fruit as he bent over before raising her head and looking around.

“What?”

“My hands are sticky…”

While she was looking for a river or well where she could wash her hands, Cahill threw what was left to Adam.

Without warning, he extended his tongue and delicately touched her palm. The sensation sent a shiver down her spine, and she couldn’t help but flinch. However, despite the tickling sensation, she resisted the urge to withdraw her hand.

“Thank you, but it’s just as embarrassing.”

Holly raised her hand and smiled awkwardly as Cahill raised his head proudly. Her palms were now covered in saliva.

“If you go to the elder’s house, there will be water for washing. Please go over there.”

Chase, who claimed to be their guide, looked at Cahill with a curious look in her eyes.

“This is it.”

The elder’s house was in the middle of the village. Bewitched by the appearance of a splendid and large mansion that could be called a royal castle, Holly breathed in vain.

“Didn’t they say that lighting a fire was a sin?”

The first thing that caught her eye as soon as she entered was a flame burning in the middle of the living room. Holly, who became guilty because of that, grumbled and asked, and Chase replied with a smile.

“Look closely.”

At that, Holly stared at the fire. A red bird was preening its feathers in the middle of the fire.

“Is it a spirit?”

Chase then nodded his head and moved.

“You can really see it!”

Badin, who had been circling around the fire with curious eyes, lifted his head and looked at Holly.

“What if Holly made a contract with the fire spirit? I think it will be comfortable.”

The fire spirit didn’t even need firewood to breathe fire. So, that would make Badin and Adam less to do.

“I know. Shall we visit the Spirit Forest again on the way?”

Holly replied half-jokingly.

“Unfortunately, here in Lauriue, there are no more fire spirits in their natural state.”

Chase shook his head with a sad face.

“Why?”

“They all left after the red dragon.”

As Holly nodded regretfully, indeed, this wooded area did not seem like a good place for a fire spirit to live.

“The elder will be in the room over there.”

At the end of the conversation, Chase pointed to the door closest to the front door. And now, as if he had finished his work, he retreated.

“I want to wash my hands first.”

Holly spoke quickly before he walked away.

“You can go over there.”

Chase stood there and pointed to the other door. It seems he wouldn’t be guiding her any soon.

“I’ll be back soon.”