Chapter 10
**【Refuge】**
There was a cave nearby. Lansil, carrying Ji-woo, almost ran into the cave and immediately lit a fire to dry their wet clothes.
“Lansil.”
“Yes?”
At the sound of his name, Lansil immediately turned around.
“Come closer…”
When Lansil approached without suspicion, Ji-woo quickly touched his ear. She had already drawn blood on her fingertip.
“Ugh…!”
At her touch, Lansil flinched and groaned. It seemed their ears were quite sensitive organs.
With Akarna’s blood on him, the healing that had failed before finally took effect. The ear that had been half cut off regenerated in an instant.
“Ah…”
Lansil felt his now intact ears and quickly realized the truth. His face flushed with shame.
“I, I had a big misunderstanding from the start.”
His face bright red, his gaze wandering unable to settle anywhere, he eventually couldn’t bear the awkward atmosphere and stood up.
“I’ll go outside and get something to eat.”
“Lansil.”
Ji-woo grabbed him. It was a small, weak grasp, barely catching the hem of his clothes. A tiny movement that could have easily been overlooked. But Lansil stopped dead as if caught by a great claw.
Since it was the first time Ji-woo had initiated contact, he looked at her with concern, as if he had never been awkward.
“Why? Is somewhere still hurting…?”
He had sharp ears; he must have noticed even this small movement. Such a small thing. And yet, that small thing made Ji-woo’s heart lurch.
*The Crown Prince can give his body and heart to someone else. Why do I have to only look at that man? Why do I have to be grateful for the position he throws at me like charity, even as I tremble with betrayal?*
*Is that my only option?*
Ji-woo bit her lip.
“What if it wasn’t a misunderstanding?”
“What?”
“What if… what if it’s really what I want…?”
The expression on Ji-woo’s face as she spoke had neither the shyness of someone confessing love nor the confidence of a seductress. It wasn’t even the friendliness of someone striking up a conversation with a person they liked. The emotion clearly visible on her face was something else entirely.
It was a face that seemed to be holding back tears, yet also looked somehow desperate, almost terrified. With a complexion resembling that of the dead, as if she might crumble at a touch, Akarna was speaking a falsehood.
It resembled the desperate expression she had when saving Lansil, who was being consumed by mana.
Lansil took the hand extended to him.
“I told you. My life belongs to you from now on.”
It didn’t matter. Whatever it was, that very emotion had clearly saved him.
* * *
Outside the cave, the rain was still pouring. Ji-woo closed her eyes and focused on the sound of the rain.
Despite being the one to initiate, Ji-woo couldn’t easily hide her anxiety. She was essentially using Lansil in an attempt to forget the Crown Prince. He seemed to have noticed, and she felt terribly sorry, but he showed no complaint; rather, he seemed happy.
Instead, he only spent a long time carefully stroking the sniffling Ji-woo.
The sound of the pouring rain gradually subsided. The faint sounds of insects, silenced by the rain, awakening and chirping could be heard. Until the night deepened and the crackling of the campfire became clearer, Lansil focused solely on soothing Ji-woo.
“Mmm. Mmhm.”
Lansil’s kisses became a little more intense than before. And more daring.
When she touched his ear in the open forest, he had been flustered, but now that they were in a private place like a cave, his actions seemed to have become bolder.
His forehead, cheeks, lips, even her nape. There was no place his lips didn’t touch. It seemed he intended to kiss her entire body.
Finally, after a deep kiss, he parted and pulled Ji-woo’s arm. Her upper body leaned toward him. A scent of some unknown wild grass wafted from him. Whether it was a seductive fragrance or not, the scent grew stronger the more excited he became.
“Is this okay?”
Since the carriage accident, Akarna’s recovery had slowed. The reddish scars still remained on her arm. Lansil pressed his lips to the scar. Her body flinched sensitively, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
While kissing her arm for a long time, Lansil stroked the back of her hand with his large, firm hand.
She swallowed. Her own saliva had become as sweet as sugar because of Lansil’s earlier probing.
“It’ll heal quickly anyway.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
Even though she said it would heal quickly, Lansil licked the scar like an animal licking a wound.
“Ugh…”
That was the start. While touching her arm, Lansil parted her collar, and when her shoulder was exposed, he pressed his lips there. Resting his forehead against hers, he slowly laid her down on the ground.
The cloak Lansil had spread for her had no unpleasant smell. It had a refreshing wild grass scent. As she lay there feeling like she was in a field of flowers, a flower-like person climbed on top of her.
A low, husky voice echoed in the cave.
“Like a peach. Beautiful.”
“Y, you don’t have to say things like that.”
“Why? I just stated a fact.”
Saying this, Lansil stroked Ji-woo’s slender waist.
His palm was rougher than it looked, and Ji-woo flinched.
“Ugh.”
“So soft. May I touch more?”
“Uh, yeah…”
As Ji-woo gave permission, Lansil’s hands grew bolder. Her body, which had cooled briefly from exposure to the cold air, melted under his hot touch.
But sharing body heat was difficult due to their rain-soaked clothes, so Lansil took off his own. Though somewhat hasty, his smooth body was soon revealed.
“Wow…”
Glancing at his body, Ji-woo unconsciously gasped.
Once Lansil was completely undressed, his reddened, firm muscles were revealed. His shoulders were wide enough to fully embrace Ji-woo, but his waist was slim. And every curve was rippling with packed muscle. His stomach was so sculpted along clear lines that shadows formed in the hollows.
When he was wearing clothes, she thought he had a slender build, but that wasn’t the case. She must have been mistaken because of his appearance, which was closer to pretty than handsome. Seeing his sturdy physique together with his face made him look wild, fitting for a race that freely roamed the forests.
And everywhere she looked, there were scars, large and small. They didn’t detract from his appearance. Like scars left on an old tree, they made his well-built body look even more wondrous.
Ji-woo was blankly admiring his physique when her gaze drifted lower, and she was shocked.
“Th, that, wait…”
Furthermore, as befitting such a beautiful body, even that didn’t seem grotesque. It was like looking at a perfect sculpture.
However, the size was the problem.
“It seems… impossible.”
Yet, even as she said that, Ji-woo couldn’t take her eyes off it.
In truth, Ji-woo had struggled even with the Crown Prince’s.
She knew Lansil wasn’t human, but she hadn’t thought that *that* would also be beyond human norms.
Ji-woo unconsciously pushed against his chest, trying to create distance. Of course, Lansil didn’t budge an inch from that weak resistance. Rather, he closed the small distance Ji-woo had managed to create and held her closer. She could feel their warm, ticklish breath mingling between them.
But Lansil didn’t realize that Ji-woo was shocked by ‘*that thing*’.
“Why… is it too repulsive?”
“It’s not that, but…”
Lansil laid his long ears flat and looked dejected.
Ji-woo answered honestly.
“It’s not that… but it seems too big.”
“I won’t overdo it.”
“That’s not the problem. I don’t think it’ll fit…”
Lansil whispered, unable to take his eyes off Ji-woo in his arms.
“Then I’ll try until it seems like it will. As long as I’m not too repulsive to you.”
As he pulled her lightly, their bodies pressed together. She could feel his hot body heat through her thin clothes.
Lansil whispered, unable to take his eyes off Ji-woo in his arms.
“It’s okay to back out anytime.”
Lansil rubbed his forehead and nose against her nape as if being affectionate. Just a moment ago, she thought he seemed dejected by her reaction.
Having only dealt with the Crown Prince, who was always confident in his looks and status, Ji-woo couldn’t understand Lansil’s reaction—having such a face and body, yet seeming so insecure.
