Chapter 45 She needed to laugh out loud, or wail, to express many of her emotions…
The snow finally stopped, but the wind did not cooperate. A tremendous, beast-like breathing sound came from beneath them, likely the sound of the gale-force winds whipping through the pine trees below.
The campfire crackled, and she turned her head to look at Lucas's profile, softened by the firelight, the tips of his cat ears trembling slightly in the shadows.
Compared to his time in the palace, he looked thinner, more fragile, and even somewhat weathered. His eye sockets were a bit sunken, and his black hair had lost the shine it had received while he was in the palace. It had also grown longer, reaching his neck, and the bangs were still somewhat obstructing his vision, just like before.
Ashlin observed him so closely for the first time: his nose was sharp, but there was still a trace of a scar from his previous fight with the Cerberus on the bridge of his nose; his eyebrows looked like they had been groomed; and there were two moles under his right eye.
He continued to smile lightly, then raised his eyebrows in confusion when their eyes met, his hair streaked with melting snow. His smile erased the marks of wind, snow, and travel on his body, revealing a brighter, more radiant quality.
It was winter, yet a few blue hyacinths bloomed somewhere. The petals drifted past her heart, leaving nothing but a slight itch.
Ashlin stopped smiling.
My good mood vanished like a mouse that had been caught. A heavy stone pressed down on my stomach, slowly rising and choking me.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Lucas tilted his head with concern.
At this moment, his voice sounded a bit annoying to her.
"I'm a little tired." She shook her head and snuggled back into the blanket.
Emotions are fleeting. Ashlin suddenly felt no joy at all; the honey had dried up, the blue flowers had withered, the warmth had burned out, and the laughter from just moments ago felt as unreal as a dream.
For a moment, she wished Lucas wasn't real; things would be so much simpler. Perhaps she would still be in Foxtail Bend, working with Sanova as herbs, running through the woods with Mia.
She closed her eyes and stopped looking at him, but he still appeared in her mind's eye.
This prince, this black cat, this black cat boy. He had frighteningly beautiful deep blue eyes, a vivid face, and messy black hair in the moonlight.
And then there was the boy, even more disheveled. His once magnificent blue cloak was now just as ruined by the rain and the journey, and he had dark circles under his eyes, but he could still manage a calm smile, as if the storm was just a joke.
And his voice—a magnetic voice, the kind that compels you to listen to him finish. His titles for her: "Miss Witch." "Miss Bailey." "Ashlyn." "Ash."
The black cat's purring, the soft black fur to the touch, the ticklish feeling of its whiskers brushing against my cheek.
She chuckled to herself under the blanket, as if the sweet feeling was returning. She had never felt this way before; the novelty was like discovering the most precious treasure, worthy of a grand celebration.
Is this the same as described in the book? Is it the same as what the girls at the parish school gossip about? Is she finally experiencing all the romantic stories that those heroines went through? Suddenly, she couldn't wait to write a letter to Mia.
A few seconds later, the smile disappeared again.
Inside the Dragon Crystal Cave, the blurry bride appeared before her. She arrived at the castle with its golden dome and white walls, gazing at Lucas, who wore a peacock blue cloak with gold trim; an old fairy tale book slowly opened, revealing the most clichéd story: the prince and princess defeat the dragon and the witch, and live happily ever after.
Suddenly she was overwhelmed by the heavy snow and could hardly breathe, but she was clearly in a clean cave, enjoying blankets and a campfire.
She needed to laugh out loud, or wail uncontrollably, or vomit deeply, rushing into the snowy night to perish together with the vast expanse of snow.
If only the cold snowflakes covered her whole body, then no one would know what she had just discovered.
“Ashley,” Lucas’s fingers touched her hair, then recoiled as if burned, “Are you really alright? What did I do wrong?”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” Ashlin buried her head in the blanket, her voice muffled. “I…I just…t…”
Lucas waited patiently.
"I miss home." Hiding part of the truth is not lying.
“Oh.” He was quiet for a moment. “Me too. Half and half. I miss home, but I don’t want the palace. But then again, my home is the palace.”
“I miss Sanova,” Ashlind said, lifting her head to make sure the last tear had dried. “And Mia, and Jerry and Claudia, and the woods by the river bend. I’ve fallen behind on so much parish schoolwork and homework, even though it’s all useless. Father Horton will kill me. I don’t remember a single word of that article about the sun god now, even though I memorized it so many times before I left.”
“We’ll get back to Dias without incident,” Lucas said. “After that, you’ll see all those friends again, and you’ll have countless opportunities to catch up on all that homework. If you want, you can even start reviewing that article now.”
Ashlin felt like she was laughing at his antics again.
"Reviewing lessons in a cave in the snow-capped mountains."
"Thank you, Your Highness. That was so much fun, I feel much better now."
Ashlin shrank back a little, moving further away from Lucas. He noticed her movement and smoothed his hair back.
“If you have any questions… feel free to talk to me anytime,” he said gently. “After all, we’re friends.”
“Yes, that’s the problem,” Ashlin blurted out, realizing too late that she had already said it.
Lucas's eyes widened in shock, and he recoiled as if he had been punched.
Ashlin quickly leaned forward again. "Oh, no, Lucas. That's not what I meant."
Ashlin's heart skipped a beat. Outside the cave, the wind howled, but she could only hear her own heartbeat.
In reality, only her heart was making a sound in the whole world.
"You understand?" She herself didn't even understand, so how could he understand?
Ashlin stared blankly at him. Clearly, he didn't understand anything.
She suppressed the fear, joy, sadness, shame, anxiety, and courage she had just felt; they swirled in her stomach and eventually turned into anger.
She suddenly yelled, "You're such an idiot!"
The word "idiot" had been appearing in their conversations a lot lately, so she changed her wording: "No. Fool."
It still has no lethality.
Ashlin had reached her breaking point.
Lucas stared at her blankly, then laughed incredulously, his tail flaring out.
"Is that really how you see me? I'm your..." The next words seemed difficult for him to utter, "...best friend?"
“If that’s what you think too,” Ashlin said, finally calming down a bit.
Yes. She had to speak up, she absolutely had to.
Although she wasn't sure about anything yet, she had to speak up and discuss it with her best friend. Otherwise, what kind of divine witch, what kind of child of the forest, would she be? The forest was real, primal, not awkward or complicated; and so was she. Besides, the adventure was dangerous; what if they froze to death later? Then she would never have another chance to be honest.
She could sense something different about them. Even if Lucas didn't, it didn't stop her from expressing her feelings. Ultimately, what did her thoughts have to do with Lucas?
That's right. She suddenly felt angry: this four-eared guy wasn't worth her spending so much time overthinking! Her thoughts were her own and had nothing to do with anyone (the cat). She had to kick this person (the cat) out of her mind. She might as well talk about this.
Ashlin took a deep breath, gave herself a thumbs up, and prepared to start a conversation.
Ashlin was initially annoyed at being interrupted, but after a moment of stunned silence, she realized what he meant by "at that time".
The royal physician said he only had one day left, and Queen Gracia mentioned that even doctors from the East were helpless. People even began preparing candles to keep vigil for him.
She had to swallow the words she had been preparing for. Well, this could be discussed another day; perhaps it was indeed too early, as she herself wasn't even sure yet.
You said... lung disease.
“Actually, this is a good thing, except for coughing so hard it feels like my lungs are about to be torn apart.” He smiled. “There has always been a dispute in the palace about my and Elaine’s succession. I think… if I pass away, this matter will be resolved smoothly.”
He didn't look at her.
Ashlin was at a loss for words. What did her pathetic emotions amount to in the face of life and death?
"Oh, Lucas."
“That’s why I threw all my medicine away; they thought no one could cure me.” After a long pause, he spoke quickly again.
Ashley stopped breathing. "What?!"
She looked at him, puzzled.
"You resent me because I... let you live?"
Lucas nodded slowly.
"Then you are incredibly stupid."
He grinned. "Yeah, I've been emphasizing that."
Ashlin wanted to touch his head, his cat ears, and ruffle his black hair, but she refrained. They couldn't get that close yet. Maybe it was okay occasionally before, but it would feel a little strange to do it now.
Some blurry fragments flew past her eyes, but she couldn't catch them.
Did you throw away the medicine you were using to treat your lung disease?
However, what had she seen in the memory sharing... what was it again? The market in the lower city, blue... she couldn't remember. The magic of memory sharing was too weak; if one didn't deliberately try to remember the other's memories, or if the memories were actually shared by both of them (like the Aidan conspiracy she saw from Lucas), they would be forgotten after so much time had passed.
They were silent for a moment.
“There’s one more thing,” Lucas said, his voice even softer and slightly trembling, “How much do you know about lung disease?”
Ashlin frowned slightly. Why was he asking that?
Lucas took a deep breath, as if he was preparing something.
She didn't get a chance to hear what he had to tell her.
Because at that moment, a terrible buzzing sound came from under their buttocks.
Lucas jumped up, and when the time was up, he transformed into the black cat, his fur slightly bristling.
"What's this?"
Ashlinn had to swallow a whole host of emotions and questions. If they were attacked by mysterious snow magic, there was no need to discuss emotions, idiocy, or anything else he wanted to tell her with Lucas.
They hastily stuffed their equipment into their spatial backpacks, rushed out of the cave, and arrived at the foot of the snow slope.
It was still freezing cold outside. Ashlind clutched her cloak and hat tightly, her upper and lower teeth chattering, feeling as if her ears were about to fall off.
The buzzing sound disappeared into the snow and wind, as if it were a hallucination.
“I’ll go up and take another look,” Lucas volunteered.
That makes sense; he's a cat, and he's better at rock climbing than Ashlin.
However, the moment the black cat reached the top of the cave, Ashlin felt a strong sense of unease, and alarm bells went off all over her body.
The entire white cave trembled, almost as if it were about to collapse. A thick layer of snow fell onto Ashlin's hat, heavy as lead.
She fell to the ground, then quickly propped herself up against the pine tree. The earth shook, like the prelude to an earthquake. A pungent smell of cedar mixed with the stench of blood filled her nostrils.
"Lucas! Get down here!"
"I want to too, meow!"
Lucas was almost pressed against the ceiling of the hole, his paws gripping the surface tightly to maintain his balance.
In the vast expanse of white, he was nothing more than an inconspicuous little black dot.
The top of the cave began to rotate, very, very slowly, even with a slight jolt.
It's like...
Ashlin's breathing paused for a moment.
As the "cave" turned, the snow on the two cedar trees on the cave ceiling had completely fallen, finally revealing their original appearance: a pair of long, curved spiral horns. What they had previously thought were blankets left behind by orcs had now turned into white fur from living creatures.
As for the rising and falling sound, Ashlin initially thought she heard the cold wind coming from the bottom of the cave, but now she knows she was terribly wrong.
The footprints in the pine forest weren't from a bear.
They were so cold and hungry that they completely forgot what the dwarf innkeeper at the front of Norsi village had said.
Lucas wasn't standing on the top of the cave.
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