‘It’s cold…….’

Lina was dizzy due to her continuously shivering body. Moreover, she unknowingly sought warmth, burrowing into it because of the cold that seemed to freeze her flesh.

The refreshing scent of grass and the heavy smell of flesh through her nostrils. Lina slowly opened her eyes to a fragrance that seemed familiar, yet she couldn’t place it.

Wondering if it was a dream, Lina, who blinked her eyes, soon realized the reality upon the touch of an unfamiliar person’s skin.

‘Duke?’

Why is a man she shouldn’t see in front of her eyes? And that, while embracing her.

Lina’s face turned pale at the sight of herself in Duke Valige’s arms, in a position as if a princess was leaning on him.

Startled, Lina moved her body as if she were having a spasm, the arm that was holding her relaxed, and he carefully set her down.

As soon as she set foot on the ground, Lina, who was far from the man, looked around. Raindrops continued to fall between the towering trees.

“Where is this…….”

“I don’t know either. I ended up here, carried by the river.”

Lina, who thought she would wake up alone on a strange riverbank, couldn’t hide her bewilderment at the unexpected appearance of the Duke.

“The temperature will drop more when it gets darker. We need to find a place to warm up before then.”

“Yes? Ah.”

She was baffled by the whole situation, but she became calm without realizing it, following the Duke’s composed attitude.

Moreover, they were both soaked at the moment, and if they continued to be hit by the rain like this, they might get sick from nowhere. Lina soon nodded her head quietly.

How long had they walked? Leading the way so as not to get lost in the forest and marking the trees, the Duke seemed to have discovered something.

‘A cabin?’

What briefly appeared between the bushes was a small cabin. It looked quite old, as if no one had been living there for a while.

‘A cabin in the middle of this forest.’

But the existence of the cabin meant that a village was not far away.

Lina’s face relaxed upon realizing this. The Duke also seemed to have the same thought, and he let out a sigh of relief and said,

“Let’s rest there for tonight and look for the village when it gets light.”

She wanted to go to the village right now, but Lina, whose whole body felt like it had been battered, agreed to his words.

As they stepped through the door that opened with a creak, old dust irritated her nose.

“Cough[Dash]. Cough[Dash].”

A cough burst out of Lina’s mouth, unable to be suppressed. Valige closed a door so decrepit that it was embarrassing even to call it a door, and an oppressive silence soon swirled.

The sudden quietness was enough to create the illusion that they were cut off from the world, alone with the Duke.

Trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere, Lina wrung her wet clothes and slowly looked around the cabin.

It seemed that someone had lived there, as there were old beds, tables, and pieces of wood that had been used for firewood.

‘It’s too cold…….’

Lina shrank, sticking her elbows tightly to her sides.

Then Valige, with practiced movement, picked up a few dry pieces of wood, struck the flint a few times, and lit a fire in the fireplace.

Soon, the crackling sound and the red glow began to quietly rise. As time passed, the once chilly air inside the cabin gradually warmed.

‘Has he been on the battlefield for so long? He looks skilled.’

Lina, watching the Duke with curious eyes, was soon forced to catch her breath.

“What, what are you doing?”

Startled by the unexpected exposure of the man’s upper body, she stumbled over her words without warning. But the Duke quietly undressed his wet clothes and hung them on a chair.

“You should take off your clothes too. You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that.”

His words were right. If she stayed in wet clothes, her body temperature would only drop.

“I’m, I’m fine.”

She couldn’t possibly change her clothes in front of the Duke. But despite her bravado, her body was shivering pitifully like a frozen tree.
Lina, who was quietly looking at Valige, rummaged through the cabin and found an old blanket to hand to her.

“Stop being stubborn and cover yourself with this. There’s no doctor to treat you if you catch a cold right now.”

Lina, who had been hesitating for a moment as she looked at the blanket he handed her, seemed to have made up her mind and accepted the blanket. Then she went to a corner far from the Duke.

‘It’s okay because I can just cover myself with the blanket.’

She could no longer be stubborn due to the freezing air. Just as Lina was about to take off her clothes with her trembling hands from the cold, the moment she raised her arm.

“Ugh.”

She had to stop her action due to a pain as if something was pricking her shoulder.

‘Could I be injured?’

Lina examined her right arm. Looking at her swollen arm, it seemed at first glance that something was wrong with the bone. It seemed to be injured from the shock of falling into the river.

‘I’ve injured my right arm again.’