Chapter 15. Life-threatening situation
***
The sudden impact made Trisha groan. She couldn't help but groan at the pain radiating down her back as she was thrown to the ground by Kalos, but more than that, she was terrified by the loud roar that continued to pound into her ears even as her eyes were clenched shut.
Even without opening her eyes, she could see that a massive avalanche was blocking out everything around her, and a terrifyingly large pile of snow was falling very close to her. She felt like she was about to be buried by the falling snow.
She was afraid again. The god Lamu would not do this.
Trisha’s mind was once again caught up in the inexplicable danger.
The thunderous roar and shaking of the earth seemed to never end. Filled with fear, Trisha shuddered and clung to Kalos, who now covered her.
***
An absurd accident occurred.
Even the altar in the center of the clearing had been swept away by the snowdrifts. Only the places where people were standing were spared. Viktor ordered reinforcements and equipment and immediately began digging with his sword.
The remaining snowballs were still rolling down the cliff, but he was in a hurry. Immediately, everyone here began to pierce the snow with swords and shields.
"We don't know where His Majesty is right now, and we can't just abandon this place...."
They could have taken a rock and dug through the snow right now, but instead, one of the men stood beside him, scowling.
"Shut up."
Viktor spat the words out through the tight crack of his teeth and went back to digging in the snow.
He saw it. His Majesty threw himself toward the opposite cliff.
So he must be there. He must be there. He had to be there.
Dalton, white as a sheet, rushed to Viktor's side, digging with all his might.
Once the troops were reinforced, everyone was busy digging with their best, following Viktor's barked orders.
***
After a while.
Thankfully, the earth-shattering roar slowly subsided.
"They are outside trying to save us, so we'll just have to wait."
As if Kalos had read her thoughts, he replied, "Of course. What else can we do in this situation?”
She must have realized how shocking this was, because she said nothing more, just sat there in silence. He was not sure what she was thinking.
As soon as the relief that the Princess and he were alive wore off, the familiar feeling of absurdity returned.
Being with this woman only brought out the most ridiculous things, and this was the worst of them all. He could feel the temperature in this small space dropping steadily. There was no wind, but the chill rising from the rocky back and floor was intense.
Even though he was wrapped in clothes that outweighed his heavy armor and covered with a thick cloak of wool, the cold was penetrating through him. If he was unlucky, he could die. It was a perfect situation to die if rescue was delayed outside.
Haha... Now he was facing a life-threatening situation.
It seemed that this woman was a demon.
They would have to survive in here for a day or two. He was sure the soldiers were trying to save their king with all their might. There was nothing else to do here. No, he shouldn't. Exerting and exhausting his body would only hasten their demise.
The most important thing right now was to keep their bodies temperature down. They couldn’t eat snow instead of water. The freezing cold water would cause their bodies temperature to drop even more rapidly.
"You're lucky I'm with you."
If she were trapped alone, they wouldn’t go to such lengths to save her like they would the king. Besides, it would be reassuring to have someone to rely on instead of being alone and afraid. After all, she could be alone by herself, so it wasn't just a loss for her. It was a gain, too.
Though that would only be meaningful if she survived.
"That’s not necessarily true."
But she wanted to pretend it wasn't true, so she gave a different answer. Yeah. That must be scary. She must have wanted to be alone somewhere else, not in this horrible situation. Like the other princesses.
Now he was stuck with the daughter of his enemy, who's always been a nuisance whether she was in sight or not. Cut off from the rest of the world, trapped together like this.
Stifling a sigh that threatened to escape, Kalos pulled his thick cloak tighter around himself. But when he glanced at her, who was even more scantily clad than he was, there was no stopping the sigh from escaping.
In a time of crisis like this, one must live and let live, regardless of enemies.
Kalos turned to her, reluctant but still seemingly in shock.
"Come here."
Her head slowly turned toward him. She looked like she didn't understand him.
"Unless you want to freeze to death, listen to me."
He urged her on, pulling up one side of his thick cloak.
Trisha stood there, unable to conclude why she'd put herself through this again, but then Kalos came to her side.
There was no way she was going over there without losing her mind.
She was stuck with the one person she wanted to be away from the most right now, and he's asking her to move closer. She didn’t want to bump into him, no matter what. He was the one person she needed to stay away from if she didn’t want her identity to be exposed. But why did she keep bumping into him?
She was comfortable being trapped here alone, so when he said she was lucky to be with him, she replied that it wasn't necessarily true.
And now he wanted her to stay with him in that cloak?
"No thanks."
She made her point, and Kalos's expression changed, as if he were looking at the foolishest woman in the world. It was dark, but she could see it. It would have been better if she couldn't see anything.
But no. Even if she could see nothing, it seemed even more impossible not to feel the presence of that enormous Kalos with the air she breathed, on her skin. She was suddenly out of breath. Not from lack of air, but from the anxiety and fear of being alone with him.
The uncomfortable disaster of Trisha being a woman who was unpleasant to be with, and Kalos being a man who she shouldn't be with, was beginning.
Despite how thickly the snow had fallen, there was no sound outside. It was as if no one was there. It was impossible, but the inability to hear anything made her more anxious and afraid.
For a moment, she could hear Kalos’s ragged breathing, whether angry or irritated. Trisha stood as far away from him as she could, staring straight ahead through the snow. There was nowhere else to look, but she just sat there, knowing that if he reached out his long arm and yanked her, she would be dragged away.
The silence was growing suffocating, not least because it was Kalos next to her. She prayed nonstop that she would be rescued soon.
No, no. Calm down. Trisha took a deep breath and calmed herself.
She had been captured by the fearsome Lamu and survived. So this Kalos wasn’t as scary as that. She kept muttering to herself, as if brainwashing herself.
She didn't know how long they were going to be together, maybe days, but she couldn't stay this nervous and anxious.
"Tell me what happened when you were taken by the Lamu god."
It was a question he had every right to ask, but the abruptness of the question caught Trisha off guard.
"I...I don't really have anything to say."
"Why?"
He asked immediately, almost accusingly.
"Well... I don't remember."
He snorted as if he didn't believe her.
"What are you trying to hide?"
He had a point. It was a good thing it was getting darker and darker in the cave. It was more comfortable that they couldn't see each other's expressions, which meant she was more comfortable.
"What do I have to hide?"
She asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
She didn't.
She did.
***
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