17. Act of confirmation

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The cave echoed a few more times. While all three of them were bewildered, a voice that was not there could be heard.

[ “It’s not me.” ]

Did it think that the earth’s vibrations would make it suspicious? Before Hana could ask, the voice spoke.

“What is it?”

She quietly asked the voice as if speaking to herself.

[ “Well, it’s ‘that.’ I’ll be back soon. I hope you like the comfort before.” ]

The voice finished speaking and cleanly disappeared. Hana felt that there was no emotion in that voice, but for some reason, the recent words had a touch of displeasure.

“I can provide comfort.”

The voice had said that. And indeed, for a moment after getting up, she had received some comfort. It could also be a coincidence, though. She had a feeling that the voice knew everything about her thoughts and the life she had lived.

The voice could probably answer any question she asked.

Soon, the dark cave was filled with light. The faint silvery threads that had barely been visible through the ceiling became much thicker as the cave ceiling was pierced, letting out a much brighter light than the constantly flickering magical flames inside the cave.

With the light, dust billowed into the air.

The three in the cave were momentarily blinded and shielded their faces with one arm due to the excessive brightness. Soon, as their eyes got used to it, they saw the silhouette of a person.

Someone had entered through the hole they had made in the ceiling.

Hana, who had trouble with her legs, remained seated and tried to figure out what was happening. She couldn’t see well due to the excessively bright light.

Calden and the princess, who hadn’t even been introduced yet, stood up. Calden placed his hand on his sword belt, and the princess, somewhere, drew out a long staff and tensed up. Then, after confirming the identity of the silhouette, she kneeled right where she was.

Hana, who was at the back, also recognized the approaching silhouette that was walking steadily. A person of knightly stature with short hair exposed their forehead.

It was Priest Rutis.

And the person standing like stone behind…

“Calden, get up quickly!”

“You, stay calm…”

Ignoring Calden, who looked helpless as if he had no choice, Hana urged him. That was not enough. She tried to get up from the bed but fell to the floor.

Cough, cough.

She coughed a couple of times as dust rose. Her clothes were a mess. Her knees were also scraped, and it hurt quite a bit.

“Hurry! Stand up and get me to that person!”

Even though Calden looked very flustered, she ignored him and urged him again. Soon, he lifted her off the floor, quickly brushed off the dust from her arm and lifted her up.

He had caught sight of Ligna from a distance and stopped walking.

Calden was on high alert, but he was a little relieved that he did not particularly blame him for being unprepared. As he walked more, his whole body’s hair stood on end, facing the reality of shadow, which was a little far away but had no movement.

Golden eyes. Sharp eyes that seemed to glare at them.

That was it.

He couldn’t meet those eyes any longer. He had a feeling of facing something even his wizard’s head couldn’t understand. While he had been nervous when he had seen Ligna from a distance, this was a different dimension.

The arm that held Hana was trembling.

When Calden couldn’t find a place to look and kept his gaze fixed on the floor, it approached them. And as if she was being taken away from his arms, the woman in his embrace moved towards him.

He glanced briefly and saw that Hana was hugged by Weed.

Calden’s body felt so stiff that it seemed to have frozen. Hana didn’t even get a chance to see his face before he kneeled and sat down right on the floor. He couldn’t look at him anymore.

Meanwhile, Weed caressed her cheek and turned her head towards him.

“Hana. Hana. Hana…”

“Weed.”

It was a truly welcome voice. Just that, she didn’t feel any other emotions. Even though they hadn’t been apart for very long, she was extremely glad to see him. The faint throbbing pain she felt in her body when he wasn’t around seemed to disappear the moment she saw him.

‘It’s not some placebo effect or anything…’

Hana laughed to herself. It wasn’t a powerful painkiller, she simply wanted to see Weed. Seeing him standing amidst the golden light pouring from the ceiling, she almost forgot that she couldn’t walk right now.

Weed was smiling happily, running his hands all over her own face as if checking her condition. He had promised to ensure a comfortable life while she was here.

The people here could easily carry her with one arm. Hana put her arm around Weed to make it a little easier on him.

“Why are you here? What happened? I’ve been waiting for you for so long…”

“I’m sorry for suddenly disappearing. I’ll explain when we have some time.”

“When we have some time… Ah, that’s good. Hana.”

Weed swept her hair from her forehead and kissed it before he wiped away the tear marks on her cheek with his hand. After confirming everything, he looked at her with a worried tone.

“What is this mark? Have you been crying? Or is there pain somewhere?”

“No, I’m fine. I didn’t cry.”

Weed closed his lips firmly. His expression was somewhat mixed as if he was happy and unhappy at the same time.

His voice became more anxious.

“Then, are you in pain? You’ve been hurting because I wasn’t with you all this time. Right? Hana…”

Weed seemed worried as he spoke as if he was saying that she should be in pain right now. Hana chuckled. It was amusing to see such a large and robust man look cute like this.

“Yes, Weed, I’m in pain.”

As soon as she spoke, their lips met suddenly. It was so sudden that their teeth clashed. With such a sudden force, it felt like she might suffocate.

His sweet breath penetrated deeply and urgently.

‘But there are so many people around…’

Hana tried to look over her shoulder out of the corner of her eye, but Weed’s hand wrapped around her hair and turned her head. She couldn’t look any further. The dizzying sensation that moved further inside her made her close her eyes.

The sound of their tongues tangling in the cave sounded a bit embarrassing.

He had asked if she was in pain and acted as if he was going to give her medicine. Hana couldn’t swallow any of it. At first, she seemed apologetic for taking the saliva without even realizing it. But now, Weed had his eyes closed and was openly sucking and licking the mixed saliva with delight.

Wet breath and the sound of lips moving quickly. Perhaps it was because of the location, but the sound was much, much louder than it should have been.

As expected, it was too embarrassing.

Hana narrowed her eyes and looked around, trying to gauge the situation. When she signaled him to stop by pushing away his tongue that was moving too eagerly, Weed understood surprisingly quickly and released her lips.

After a moment, he glanced around and walked towards a chair in the cave and gently placed Hana on it.

His large, strong hands reached up to her shoulders and moved upwards slowly. He felt her neck, brushed her earlobe with his gentle fingers, and combed her hair back, making a low growling sound from his throat as he did so.

“Didn’t I tell you? I need you so desperately that I’ll never send you away.”

Before she could say anything while looking up at him, their lips met again.

Now, Weed’s hands held her head. The angle of their lips changed, and the intensity of his sucking grew stronger.

“Ung…”

Was it because of Weed’s voice that seemed to have sunk much lower? Was it because of the tingling sensation from his gentle caresses on her scalp? Because of these sensations, a suppressed moan escaped from her closed lips.

It was just a sensation of soft flesh against soft flesh, something she had experienced many times before, but it sent shivers down from her head to her toe.

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