THCF 09

Chapter 9

Carion’s blurred vision caught the sight of green, sparkling eyes trembling.

He clearly knew who those green eyes belonged to, but he could not remember.

Right now, he could not think of anything.

Only the desperate thought that he must not let go of the person in his arms consumed him.

“Carion?”

He wrapped an arm around the back of her neck and pulled her closer, swallowing the lips that called his name.

He wanted to touch her more, to go deeper.

Only one thought dominated Carion’s mind.

Instinctively, he realized that this contact was his lifeline.

He tilted his head so that their lips met more deeply.

He pushed his tongue inside and intertwined it with her soft tongue.

‘What is this?’

The moment their tongues became entangled, Lea felt the energy surging violently through his body.

If this was the power of the spirit he possessed, it went against everything she knew.

Spirits were beings of nature with strong wills. She had heard that they would rather disappear than waver.

She tried to push him away, but he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her even more tightly.

Following his instinct to survive, he continued the desperate kiss.

She had never experienced such a deep kiss before.

Their fluids mixed, and the warmth of their bodies where their membranes touched gradually became similar.

The unfamiliar, chilling sensation of not knowing whether she liked it or hated it left her confused.

‘Help me.’

She asked the spirit to help her separate this man from her.

But for some reason, the wind only circled around her. It seemed to be giggling.

‘Are you really going to do this?’

The spirit of wind sometimes acted like a kind mother who embraced everything, but at other times, it played mischievous tricks.

“Hm.”

When he strongly sucked on her tongue, her fingertips flinched.

‘Ah…… Somehow…….’

His energy, which had been rising and falling in waves, seemed to gradually calm down.

She decided to wait a little longer.

Carion, who had clung to Lea for survival, began to regain his reason as the terrible pain tearing through his body subsided.

He remembered who the owner of those green eyes was.

‘The princess.’

Even so, he could not let her go.

Was a woman’s body always like this?

He liked the feeling of her slender, soft body fitting perfectly into his arms.

Even though he knew he had made a huge mistake and should let her go, he could not give up this intoxicating sense of fullness.

He thought he could understand a little how people felt when they became addicted to alcohol or drugs for pleasure.

When Lea felt that his energy had almost calmed down, she pushed him away again.

Carion slowly pulled his lips away.

Unable to let go of her until the very end, he sucked on her lower lip before finally releasing it.

Their eyes met at a distance where the tips of their noses were almost touching.

Without saying anything or moving, they simply stared at each other.

CRACK, THUD!

Part of the roof of the burning cabin collapsed with a loud noise.

Startled, Lea pushed him away with both hands.

Carion obediently relaxed his arms.

He stood up, took several deep breaths, and clenched and opened his hands.

‘Crazy.’

Unlike his mental state, his body was perfectly fine.

Whenever he had an attack, he felt as though his body would not return to normal until a full day after the attack subsided. But now, he felt completely refreshed.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Lea.

What had just happened could not have been a simple coincidence.

Just what was this woman?

What did she know about this curse?

Was that why she had approached him?

She took a step toward him and spoke.

“Why were you here alone?”

Carion did not like her first question.

He had been prepared to receive a few slaps, yet her expression was calm, as though nothing had happened.

Her lips were so red, yet she acted as though nothing had happened.

“I came because I thought a child might have been left alone.”

He spoke bluntly, then immediately regretted it.

“Did you find the child?”

There was no displeasure in her voice as she asked back.

Embarrassed by his own childish spite, Carion avoided her gaze and shook his head.

“We cannot waste any more time. Let us leave before our escape route is blocked.”

The cabin where the fire had first started was burning fiercely, and the flames had begun spreading to the surrounding grass.

“Wait a moment.”

Lea slowly looked around and moved her hand slightly.

She sent out a small breeze that quickly swept through the entire village.

“There are no children nearby. We should leave quickly too.”

Carion looked at her strangely as she spoke with confidence.

“How did you know the way here? Why did you come?”

Lea did not answer, and Carion did not ask again.

The fire was spreading rapidly.

The two of them left the burning village behind and entered the forest.

As they went along, Carion spoke to Lea, who kept looking back several times.

“The wind stopped earlier. You do not need to worry about the wildfire catching up to us.”

Lea only gave a small smile without saying anything.

She was trying to call the wind to stop the flames in the village.

Just as she had seen from the watchtower earlier, the wind was not moving according to her will.

It was a phenomenon that occurred when the powers of spirits collided with each other.

In her previous life, Lea had met only one person besides herself who could control a spirit.

That person was the King of Nortia.

Then the owner of the power that was clashing with the spirit of wind nearby had to be Carion.

Just because Carion was beside her did not mean Lea’s power was completely restrained.

She simply could not summon strong winds. She could still freely summon small breezes.

Only after the two of them had moved a fair distance away from the village did the wind inside the village begin to move.

‘Please. Hold the flames back so they cannot spread.’

The main force of the wildfire would be put out through a backfire operation, but the fire that had spread to the village was a separate source.

If they left this fire alone, it would eventually grow into another large-scale wildfire.

So Lea blocked the area around the village with a wall of wind.

The fire would burn inside the barrier, consume the entire village, and naturally go out once it ran out of fuel.

“Wait a moment.”

Lea stopped while they were walking.

She looked around the dark forest, then pulled one side of her lips and let out a sharp whistle.

Soon, a horse without reins or a saddle appeared from inside the forest.

It approached Lea and pushed its head against her, acting affectionately.

“You waited nicely. Good job.”

Carion watched with interest.

“Smart horse. Have you been training it for a long time?”

“No. It is His Highness’s horse.”

“……My horse?”

“It is a horse managed by the garrison, so isn’t it His Highness’s horse?”

Lea confidently walked ahead.

Watching her back, Carion opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then closed it again.

There were so many things he wanted to ask that he did not even know what to ask first.

Lea finished her bath while listening to Penny’s storm of nagging.

“Good night, Princess.”

“Yeah, you sleep well too.”

“You really are going to sleep peacefully, right? Should I guard your bedroom?”

Penny stood with both hands on her waist, looking exactly like her nanny—Penny’s mother—when she was angry.

“I’ll sleep quietly without moving until tomorrow morning.”

Lea spoke with a slightly nervous expression.

“It’s a relief that the flames have died down and won’t reach here. Once morning comes, things should more or less settle down.”

“Exactly. Don’t worry and get some good sleep.”

After Penny left, looking back several times, Lea closed her eyes.

But she could not fall asleep.

Lea touched her lips with her hand.

Her first kiss had been hot and long.

‘Who did he mistake me for?’

It had been a desperate kiss. It seemed like the kind of kiss a person could only give after having some experience.

‘He said he doesn’t have a lover…… But that means he doesn’t have one now. He could have had someone before.’

Not only had he mistaken her for someone else, but it had also been her first kiss without her consent.

The worst.

If it had been the twenty-one-year-old Lea before she returned to the past, she would not have been able to contain her anger.

She might even have jumped around and cried.

But surprisingly, she was fine now.

A kiss was nothing compared to the countless hardships she had experienced.

Rather, she felt that she had become worn out and calculating when she found herself thinking, ‘Could this be a good card to use when bringing up the subject of marriage?’

‘You were supposed to help me. But you’re just watching?’

Lea complained to the spirit in a sulky voice.

A soft breeze gently tapped her cheek as if trying to soothe her.

‘I’m disappointed. I’m really angry.’

When she turned her head away with a huff, the wind brushed against her skin as though it were nervously trying to appease her.

As the gentle breeze continued caressing her skin, Lea found herself smiling before she knew it.

‘He has the power of a spirit too, doesn’t he?’

The spirit touched her cheek as if answering her.

‘His Majesty never mentioned anything like that…….’

Even when she was running toward the forest, she had thought, ‘No way. That can’t be.’

‘There was no reason to hide it. He didn’t know either. His spirit must be fire, just like His Majesty’s, right? When did it awaken……?’

Lea suddenly sat upright.

‘Fire!’

Could it have awakened because of the wildfire today?