HPV 67

As soon as they were rescued, the two sat down in front of the stove and devoured their meal.
They had been stranded for almost a whole day.
Having eaten nothing in the freezing cold, they must have suffered greatly.

Yet both of them, in their own way, looked relatively well—color in their cheeks, no signs of severe hardship.
Paronai felt a momentary doubt.

‘Banwes, sure… but Ria is handling this more maturely than I expected.’

A first-class priest of the temple wouldn’t have much experience with starvation.
It was curious, but he soon let it go.

Paronai loitered awkwardly near the two as they ate, fumbling with his hair before he cautiously spoke.

“I said you might need some time alone, but… I didn’t mean ‘this kind’ of alone time. I’m sorry. If only I hadn’t suggested we leave you behind, maybe none of this would have happened.”

Riarun, watching him with one eye half-closed, gulped down a piece of bread.

“If you have time for nonsense, get me more soup.”

At his words, Paronai immediately and dutifully scooped more soup from the pot.

“Uh, here.”

“Not for me. Give it to the one behind me.”

Paronai looked confused for a moment but obediently handed the soup bowl to the man.
Banwes glanced at it briefly and ignored it.

Riarun sighed heavily, snatched the bowl from Paronai, took a sip himself first, and then handed it to Banwes.

“Now it’s fine, right?”

Banwes took the bowl and drained it in one go.
Paronai rolled his eyes and retreated.

Other than Bzhan, who stuck close to Riarun, silently patting his back repeatedly, the rest of the group stood a bit farther away.

Riarun and Banwes had spent a full day alone together.

To survive long in a cold place without even a fire, they could not have stayed far apart.

When they had been rescued, the two were found sitting very close together, dressed in dry clothes.
Even that sight had made everyone widen their eyes.

Whether they liked it or not, if they had been forced to spend time together, there were only two possibilities:
either they had opened their hearts through a long conversation, or things had worsened beyond repair.

Yurichen tried to read the mood between the two.
But having spent his life serving as a high priest, he could glean nothing.

‘They are just as they were before. That is all.’

Were they close? Or estranged?
It seemed both, and yet neither.
Human affairs confused Yurichen more and more these days.
There were many things he still did not understand.

—I kissed you because I wanted to.

In the end, he never did hear an explanation about that remark.
It was between the two of them, and he had no right to ask.

Yurichen let out a sigh and decided on his own conclusion.
Since it was the gods who had brought them together, he would support them no matter what became of them.

Whether Riarun became a priest later, or Banwes remained a half-beast, who would dare object if a High Priest himself approved?

‘The royal laws do not recognize same-sex marriage… but it’s quietly accepted in the frontier.
Maybe this could be an opportunity to set a legal precedent in the capital too?’

He was getting far ahead of himself.

***

After spending a day in the now-empty hut, they moved again the next morning.

While me and Banwes had been stranded, the others had driven out the wrongdoers and destroyed the monsters nest, making it possible to cross the mountains.

The descent was extremely rough.
Every step seemed to snag at our ankles, trying to make us fall.

I hesitated for a moment when faced with a steep slope.
Just a moment. Truly, only briefly.

Banwes turned his back to me at once and bent his knees.

“Get on.”

“So you won’t even let me walk anymore?”

Feeling a little stung at seeming weak, I nonetheless obediently climbed onto his back.

Though we had descended the mountain, the northern terrain was so rugged that there were no real flatlands.
The barren and dry wastelands were mostly uphill.

‘I’m going to slip backward.’

As we continued to climb the high plateau, I felt like I might slide right off Banwes’ arms.
Anxious, I tightened my grip around his neck.
Even just being carried was exhausting.

Suddenly, the man let out a long breath through his nose—a sound much like a sigh.

His arms, which had been supporting me, shifted.
I was startled—he had grabbed my thighs with his hands.

‘…Oh. He’s just securing me so I don’t fall.’

I knew it wasn’t anything improper, and it didn’t feel that way either, yet it made me feel strange nonetheless.
Like—how should I put it—like I was tensing up, as if he might suddenly squeeze or grope me.
Though, of course, he wouldn’t.

That strange train of thought was broken when the High Priest, who had been silently climbing the plateau, suddenly collapsed without so much as a cry.

Paronai yelped in alarm and made a fuss, but Penzey quickly laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

Penzey approached, dropped to one knee, and carefully lifted the High Priest’s veil.

He confirmed that Yurichen’s pale, sweat-soaked face was still breathing, albeit rapidly, and silently waited for him to catch his breath.

“Can you walk any farther?”

“Yes… I’m all right.”

Though he said he was fine, Yurichen remained sitting for quite a while, unable to get back on his feet.

It was impressive enough that the High Priest, who had spent his whole life in the capital, had managed to walk this far. Most grown men would have collapsed long ago, yet he, with his slender frame, endured purely by willpower.

“It’ll stay like this until we reach Gerenique Castle.”

Gerenique Castle was the first line of defense against the monsters driven down from the Black Dragon’s Nest. Royal knights, knights of Gerenique, and soldiers dispatched by noble families had banded together to form a defensive line there.

It was the final fortress before our ultimate destination, the Black Dragon’s Nest.

The journey to reach it would not be easy. Though we took breaks more often, monster attacks forced us to rise hastily each time.

I didn’t leave Banwes’s back to conserve my strength. To be honest, even if I had wanted to climb down, I wouldn’t have been able to, since he had a firm grip on my thighs.

Bzhan, too, occasionally let out long breaths, his face growing paler. He had given up hiding and was simply walking now. That alone meant the situation was not to be taken lightly.

“We need to find a place to camp…”

Everyone heard the High Priest’s murmured words of concern. For him to show his unease so openly, the situation must have been dire. If they kept on like this, they might not escape the barren wasteland even after nightfall and would be unable to make a fire.

Had they walked any further, Bzhan might have had to accept Paronai’s offer to carry him, and Yurichen might have collapsed, forcing Penzey to carry him.

The sudden appearance of a mansion hidden deep within the dense forest was like a ray of light piercing the darkness.

“The master of the house says you may stay for the night. If you are willing, I will guide you in.”

The guard at the gate was unusually welcoming to travelers.

Though both Penzey and Yurichen were wary, I, without any tension, simply thought, ‘Finally, a place to stretch my legs and rest.’ (Though all I had done was bend my knees while being carried by Banwes…)

Since this place appeared in the original story as well, there was no need to worry about any villains or hidden enemies.

“Are there nobles who keep estates in the north?”

“The master of the house is a refugee from a neighboring kingdom. His homeland was so cold that he found the southern lands too hot to live in.”

The owner had cleverly hidden the mansion within the forest and had a number of well-trained knights under his command. He also had one daughter.

The young lady of the mansion, ten years old this year, supposedly had many playmates, but whenever a new face appeared, she would abandon her friends and rush over. As we were led to the mansion, she peeked out from behind the knights, wide-eyed and unafraid.

During the break, Yurichen prayed in his room, Penzey visited the mansion’s library, Bzhan hid himself away somewhere to sleep, and Paronai chatted with the knights.

I wandered around the mansion’s garden.

The flowers that bloomed in winter had tough stems and deep green leaves, but they were all the more beautiful for it.

The winter roses were so dazzling that I stood in a daze, staring, when the young lady approached from behind.

“They’re pretty. Here, take this.”

The girl, her cheeks flushed bright red, held out a flower crown to me.

Not knowing how to refuse, I accepted it, and she smiled brightly. Complimenting my hair, she asked if she could braid it.

“I’m a man, though…”

There was no strict rule, but it felt a bit odd for a man to have his hair braided.

The girl just smiled even wider and grabbed my hair firmly. Having no real choice, I bent my knees and sat down.

Her small, nimble fingers moved behind me as if knitting. As I felt my hair being tugged and woven, a sudden realization hit me.

‘Pigtails?’

Was this really all right? I was already twenty years old—wouldn’t it look ridiculous?

But seeing how much joy it brought the young lady, I couldn’t bring myself to undo it in front of her.

Once she was done braiding, her hands left my hair.

As I raised my eyes, I caught sight of a man crouching like a hidden animal among the bushes.

I had intended to speak to the girl, but something seemed to catch in my throat, and I, too, fell silent.

I stared at him as if bewitched, but compared to the dazed look in his eyes, I thought myself still fairly composed.

Since when had those eyes, once like a beast cornered on a prison floor, changed into such a gentle, subdued red, incapable of bringing me any harm?

Whether I found that comforting or bittersweet, I couldn’t tell.

Still gazing at him, I slowly placed the flower crown atop my head.