Ice God and The Lady

Holly let go of Cahill from following her and walked alone to find water to wash her hands.

‘I thought I would find it soon…’

She quickened her pace, resenting Chase for leaving.

“It would be nice to grab someone and ask…”

Despite the large size of the mansion, no one was visibly working as her eyes were busy looking for anyone passing by. The next moment, her eyes caught a familiar profile. She was happy to meet a face she still knew in an unfamiliar place.

“Seria!”

Holly called Seria and ran in a heartbeat. But the smile on Holly’s face hardened when she saw another elf standing next to her.

The elf checked her face, who had called Seria, as his eyes twinkled.

“Did you two say hello already?”

The elf with Seria was the elder’s son.

It seemed that the elder’s son was pleased by meeting Holly, even though he must have been offended by her refusal towards his rude proposal. However, Holly’s face contorted hearing the voice that made her feel bad just hearing it.

‘If I had known you were with him, I wouldn’t have called…’

Holly clicked her tongue inside. A familiar face came first, and the elder’s son was hidden from view by Seria.

“Ah, that… somehow, I got an opportunity.”

Seria avoided the man’s gaze with a white face. A perplexed look was evident in her quivering eyes. The elder son’s eyes widened as he looked at Seria.

“Come to think of it, Seria, you were close friends with that woman.”

There was a hint of disapproval in his tone. Seria glanced at the elder’s son with a worried expression.

‘That woman… was it Lyla? Is the relationship between the elder’s son and Lyla not so good?’

Holly glanced at Seria and lowered her eyebrows. Holly felt sorry for pretending to know Seria, who was with him, despite not knowing her that much.

“I’d better sort that out first…”

As the elder’s son lowered his eyes and looked at her, Seria’s shoulders twitched at the sight of his subtly pressuring eyes. Seeing that, Holly frowned involuntarily and opened her mouth again.

“Do you need permission from the elder family to make friends?”

At those words, the elder’s son laughed softly before pulling Seria’s waist and hugging her. Instead of shaking off his hand, Seria leaned comfortably on his shoulder. Holly’s eyes widened at the unexpected friendliness.

“Seria is my 17th concubine candidate.”

Holly’s unusual reaction seemed to please the elder’s son.

“Looks like you already have one.”

“Why, are you upset?”

When she responded in an annoyed tone, the elder son said teasingly with a smirk. Holly didn’t want to deal with him, so she kept her mouth shut and said nothing.

“Don’t worry. The sixteenth is reserved for you.”

When the elder’s son spoke freely, Seria glared at Holly with sharp eyes, whether it was because she was out of turn or she was just jealous.

“It will never happen, so fill it up.”

Holly waved her hand hastily. She didn’t want to lose Lyla’s friend because she didn’t like the guy. Still, Seria did not let go of her sharp gaze.

‘I haven’t known you for a long time, but…’

Holly decided to stop trying to calm Seria’s mind.

“And I really don’t like being involved between friends as between spouses!”

She shouted at the elder’s son before she immediately turned back the way she had come. Holly, anxious that the proud man might come after her, sighed in relief when she saw Cahill.

“What happened?”

Approaching her, he looked worriedly at Holly. She had a pale face, similar to when she was being chased by Adam.

“It’s because I saw a face I didn’t want to see.”

Saying so, she shook her head in disgust.

Cahill narrowed his eyebrows and stared at the way she came and let out a small exclamation as he remembered something.

“Ah…! This was the crazy guy’s house.”

At his word,s Holly gazed at her with a perplexed expression. It was because it felt strange to see him label someone as crazy. On the other hand hand, Cahill, unable to discern her thoughts, his countenance grew solemn, indicating a shift in his demeanor.

“Does that b*stard talk nonsense again?”

He fiddled with her ears as if he wanted to wash it clean.

“I’m okay. I’ve been through a lot of tricks like that when I worked at Halidem.”

Holly shook her head and responded indifferently. However, contrary to her expectations, Cahill’s face hardened even more.

“You mean there are not just one or two of them, but that many?”

Before Cahill, Adam vented his anger. Embarrassed because he was rather unexpected, Holly hurriedly brought up his previous matter.

“Adam is also a pervert…”

“It was a misunderstanding!”

Adam’s tearful face contorted in a cry of injustice.

Startled by his cry, Holly looked around before sighing in relief when she saw that there was no one there but them. Despite the commotion, she noticed the absence of any onlookers or passersby.

“It is not right to harass people because they have a pretty face or because they are of a lower status than themselves! It doesn’t mean that you should feel bad for being hit on often!”

Adam shouted with a red face.

“All right. From now on, I will be angry properly.”

Holly responded, bewildered, as Adam looked unexpected. In their first meeting, he was a man hanging on the street, and in the second meeting, she thought he was a molester, so it was more awkward for him to be sensitive towards harassment.

‘If anyone sees it, they think Adam was the one who was hit on…’

Thinking to herself, Holly gasped and covered her mouth. Even though it could be hurtful to Adam, she was lucky she didn’t say it.

“I’ll ask Shiver to blow them up!”

Holly shouted, clenching her fists, determined to break the trauma for Adam’s sake. Then Adam flinched as if he had suddenly woken up from a dream. He then spoke out, wanting to change the subject.

“Come to think of it, Holly has become an Elementalist, right?”

Adam’s cheeks were still red, perhaps he was embarrassed to be angry like it was his own matter.

“Right after the contract, you had no choice but to summon it because the power was consumed so much, but it would be nice to call it often and spend time with it from now on.”

Holly smiled softly and nodded her head, not ignoring his efforts.

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you.”

After staring blankly for a moment, he cleared his throat and turned his head away.

“Let’s go in for now.”

Adam’s ears were red as he took the lead.

“Let’s go.”

Saying so, Holly shook Cahill’s arm, who was standing there. He turned his head and stared into her face.

“I’ll be right back.”

At that gaze, her face was about to heat up though he carefully grabbed her arm and released it.

“Where?”

“Washroom.”

Cahill pointed the way she had been.

It was clear now what he was thinking. Holly flinched as she tried to grab his wrist.

“Oh, I didn’t wash my hands…”

Holly looked at her unwashed hands with an embarrassed face. Then again, her anger towards the elder’s son flared up.

“Just dry it. It will be dirty later anyway.”

Badin grumbled with a face that just wanted to sit somewhere.

“If it bothers you so much, just stay in Aisen. Why did you follow me?”

“Do you think I can sleep well by leaving you alone?”

When Adam spoke annoyedly, Badin looked at him with pitiful eyes. Adam just kept his mouth shut. As he tried to get Holly away from Cahill, he remembered how he had almost left the world.

“I wish both of them hadn’t followed me from the beginning…”

Holly stabbed Cahill in the side as he muttered audibly.

* * *

“You are late.”

Upon opening the door and stepping inside, the elder’s stern gaze fell upon the group of four. Badin, quick to spot a vacant chair, rushed over and claimed it for himself as the rest of the party followed suit.

Finally, it was Adam who spoke up, acting as the spokesperson for the group.

“Please tell me what you want to do.”

Adam’s reaction was not good, perhaps because of the unpleasant treatment. The elder snorted at his barbed reaction.

“The family treasure was stolen. I want you to find it.”