MHHC Chapter 126

Wish

If she could rest just one night in an actual bed where she could stretch out fully, instead of the carriage. If she could soak her body in warm water instead of roughly wiping herself down with damp cloths.

'Or at least eat a proper meal.'

She sat miserably by the stream, imagining hot stew, freshly baked soft bread, preserves made from fresh strawberries.

The physical toll of recent days had stolen her appetite, but something sweet and tart might restore some energy.

"Adele."

She snapped her head up from her crouched position.

She thought she'd misheard, but astonishingly, Valentin was approaching the stream where she sat.

Eyes that had widened with delight slowly narrowed with suspicion. Her mind somewhat dazed, she doubted again whether the person she was seeing was real.

Was this actually happening? Or a hallucination? Her desperate longing for Valentin seemed to have conjured a vision from her weakened heart.

"..."

Valentin, seeing Adelheid's face frozen stiff, scratched the back of his neck as though embarrassed.

"I heard you were here. So I hurried over."

When their eyes met, he smiled, his golden irises narrowing. That mischievous smile convinced her.

Adelheid jumped to her feet and ran toward him. She couldn't even remember the warnings about not touching him for a while, that it would be difficult to endure.

If she didn't embrace him right this instant, she felt she might die first.

"Valentin."

He caught Adelheid's form steadily as she flew at him with arms spread wide.

He stiffened momentarily in apparent surprise, but then wrapped his arms around her slender waist and pulled her firmly into his embrace.

Adelheid buried her face against his chest and breathed in the cool fragrance as much as she wanted.

His embrace always carried the scent of walking through deep forest.

"I missed you."

"I did too. I've just been too busy."

He answered tenderly while smoothing back her disheveled hair. Adelheid hesitated slightly, then confessed honestly:

"Actually, I thought you were deliberately avoiding me."

"That's not—Wait, Adele."

He gently caught her chin and tilted it upward. Having bent his upper body down considerably, their gazes met closely. His golden eyes swept over her features one by one—her eyes, her flushed cheeks, her lips.

"Were you crying?"

In that moment, Adelheid truly felt tears threatening to spill.

Expressionless. Not even human. The rude words Knight Ian had repeated endlessly in her head finally ceased in that instant.

She hadn't even known until now that her expressions rarely changed when dealing with people. Most had no interest in her, and Valentin noticed things like this—before she even spoke...

Valentin's thumb gently brushed Adelheid's eyes, which had twisted minutely.

"Shall I kill him?"

The voice was infinitely tender, but the words spoken were cold as midwinter. He clearly knew about recent events.

He'd left the camp, so how... She deliberately pushed aside the rising questions. That wasn't important right now.

"...Don't do that."

His crooked smile brought to mind the hallucination she'd once heard: Wasn't he a god who tried to kill all humanity just to keep you alive?

"You mustn't kill people carelessly."

Feeling faint unease, she gripped Valentin's forearm.

Her voice carried firm insistence as she repeated the warning. Valentin let out a hollow laugh as though dumbfounded.

His expression suggested many things he wanted to say as his lips twisted, but eventually he smiled smoothly again.

"If that's an order."

"Don't speak in ways that create such distance."

"That's something you're good at, not me, Adele."

While tenderly sweeping her disheveled hair behind her ear, his words dripped with hurt feelings. Adelheid looked up at Valentin, enveloped in bewilderment.

"Wait, could you be..."

Her words caught. What should she say? Are you sulking? That seemed too light. He was the god of the world, a dragon, after all.

I'm sorry? She couldn't call telling him not to kill people carelessly a "mistake."

"Speak. I'm listening."

"No... Um... Just, please lower your head a little."

Valentin smiled crookedly, clearly curious about her intentions, and bent his head down further.

As his breath became tangible above her forehead, Adelheid squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips to his chin.

"..."

When she cautiously opened her eyes, she saw Valentin's eyes had gone round with surprise. She murmured, cheeks flushing:

"It's, it's not an order but a request, so you absolutely have to listen."

Was it a sigh? A curse? Adelheid's eyes went round with shock at the crude word that burst from his mouth.

Or so she thought. But her own face reflected in Valentin's clear golden eyes approached expressionless.

And yet—

"..."

His golden irises, intensifying in an instant, glittered as though emitting light in the darkness.

Adelheid watched half-entranced as his pupils shed their human guise and narrowed like a beast's. When she obediently nestled her cheek into his extended hand, his Adam's apple bobbed sharply.

"Adele. You..."

Started all of this. Hastily swallowing the rest, he finally claimed her lips fiercely.

His large, rough palm enclosed the nape of her neck.

He felt more ravenous than usual, more rough, more slick. And yet relentlessly persistent, as though he wouldn't miss a single breath from her.

"Ah."

He pulled back briefly as if to give her room to breathe, making a sound that could have been groan or sigh. Then immediately sealed their lips together again.

Stimulation crashed over her more overwhelmingly than usual, sending tremors down her spine.

This was... too much. Adelheid gripped the front of Valentin's clothes as though crumpling them and pushed hard against him.

Normally he would have noticed her refusal sensitively, but he didn't pull back at all. Instead, instinctively, he invaded more deeply.

"..."

Her panting grew deeper moment by moment. Pleasure and pain were separated by paper-thin margins. The stimulation that had simmered up now strangled her breath directly.

I might die like this. Or else, I'll be devoured like this.

She put force into her fists and shoved at his shoulder. Only when Adelheid's face had drained to deathly white did Valentin seem to regain his senses.

"God."

When he tore his lips away hastily, her soft skin caught on his sharp teeth and tore. Adelheid gasped for long breaths, unable to even register the pain.

"Adele."

She flinched away from the hand reaching for her again.

At that reflexive rejection, Valentin froze completely. Not even a trace of vitality could be felt from his pallid face.

"I startled you—no... I'm sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen."

His sunken voice carried terrible melancholy and self-reproach. The hand sweeping back his disheveled hair trembled minutely.

"I just... I couldn't... control myself."

As though he'd truly become a beast that had tasted blood.

He muttered with an expression barely enduring self-directed disgust. It was Adelheid who felt shocked by that self-loathing. She grasped his arm in flustered alarm.

"I, I'm fine now. Earlier was just, for a moment. That kind of, thing."

"Your face is still pale, Adele. Your hands are still shaking."

"From surprise. That's all."

"...I didn't come here to push you this way."

He murmured self-deprecatingly while adjusting her disheveled clothing. Adelheid held onto his arm and caught her breath.

"It's fine. Really."

"I had something I wanted to give you."

"What is it?"

His ears and neck had flushed slightly, astonishingly—like a boy who'd only realized his gift was humble after arriving.

With reluctant attitude, he drew from inside his clothes a handkerchief irregularly stained with red. When unfolded, it held a handful of wild strawberries.

"This is—"

"You liked these, didn't you?"

The voice that cut off before she finished carried strange anxiousness.

"You haven't been eating properly lately..."

The wild strawberries had warmed to lukewarm from his body heat.

Adelheid put one of the slightly crushed berries in her mouth and chewed. Sweet-tart juice and bumpy seeds yielded softly on her tongue.

She picked up several more in succession, then smiled at Valentin.

"Thank you. They're really delicious."

Only then did Valentin smile with apparent relief. It was a sensual smile, like that glimpsed moment from the past.

"..."

Whenever dream and reality blurred together now, she only felt sad, and he became that much more precious to her.

Because she understood now that it was proof he'd watched from beside her for such long ages that everything had mixed together.

Noticing Adelheid's subdued mood with keen sensitivity, he picked up the bandages fallen to the ground and said:

"Dawn will break soon. Let's go to the carriage. You should get some sleep."

"Will you be going out on patrol with the knights again today?"

The further north they traveled, the more rampant the monsters became, and even patrols couldn't prevent all of them.

Naturally, the number of injured increased proportionally.

Barely treating one person, two more arrived injured in the afternoon. The soldiers and knights standing watch grew endlessly on edge.

"Until tomorrow. Once we cross one more ridge, we'll be in Ansgar."

At his words, Adelheid felt profound relief flooding through her. Tomorrow. The day after at latest.

If she could just endure that long, they'd finally reach Ansgar. Hope alone that she could escape this wretched burden made energy well up inside her.