Chapter 48
She didn’t know how much they did it.
It was already dawn when she woke up exhausted. Tarhan wiped away Enya’s motionless body as if it had melted away, then laid down with her, holding her tight again.
As soon as Enya woke up, she faced his body.
After she had calmed down for a while, she seemed to be able to face the situation with an almost sober mind. Lost in her thoughts, she stroked Tarhan’s stomach, covered with muscles like a habit. He, too, continued to caress her all over the body, like he was annoyed that he was apart from her even a bit.
‘I’ve never seen Servia making that expression before.’
Lying in bed with Tarhan, Enya thought about it constantly.
Servia’s horrors, Avisak’s madness, and Gernan’s weakness played over and over again in her mind.
Among them, what pierced her heart the most was his image, who was given no choice but to kneel down surrounded by soldiers. Recalling the memory of that time, the pain as if someone was piercing her heart with a dagger came again, too.
That wasn’t the only thing she thought of.
Piache’s testimony, the hopeful faces of the people of Nervana Forest, who were looking at her. Kiyan’s kind eyes and the word ‘daughter of the forest’ seemed to erase the useless thoughts from her head and create a new path.
How long had she been in his arms?
Enya finally lowered her arm, which had been groping his chest, and slowly raised her body. Reflexively, the manly bare body, full of scars, stood up alongside her.
“Enya…?”
The man’s low voice, having taken a little break, called her name anxiously.
Enya patted the man’s face that was in front of her.
The man who had rushed through dozens of men, as strong as molten bronze, and thrust a flaming torch into their leader’s neck was nowhere to be found. In front of her eyes, there was only a man who looked very tired and somehow exhausted.
As she wiped his dark eyelids, it seemed that her heart was breaking down again.
“This filthy Cartantina’s wild dog…!”
It reminded her of what the Aquilea man, who nearly had his arm cut off by Tarhan, had said one day.
Looking back, he was always like that. He was like a wild dog.
Once bitten, he did not let go, even if it meant breaking his jawbone and losing his teeth. There was only one thing that this wild dog would guard by rolling over in the mud that its entire body would become dirty, and its fur would be covered in blood.
Her.
Enya looked down at Tarhan, her own man, who had dedicated his all to giving his life to Aquilea, which was nothing short of his enemy, only for that one thing.
There were three months left until the decisive battle with Argon.
The man who put everything down and looked at that one thing was now heading to the battlefield, where he may have to lay down his life sooner or later. At the same time, a new possibility that had flowed into her ears through Avisak’s lips was nesting within her.
“This is a unique opportunity to secure the power of the Skull Spider, a catastrophic monster in Nervana Forest!”
The thought that she had never thought of. She thought she was so weak and useless that it was not worth even thinking about, the news suddenly came like a thunderbolt, and her whole body trembled.
She wanted to fight back now.
It was an unreasonable thought. What was wrong with her?
However, the seed that had once sprouted grew rapidly and took root in a corner of her heart before she knew it. Perhaps, she could protect him this time. It was as if that fact had changed something within her that remained unchanged in her, even though it was very small.
After she had been silent for a long time, Tarhan’s expression frowned as he sensed something was wrong. He lifted his hand and ran a wide sweep through her forehead, which was still slightly sweaty, with a fine wrinkle between his brows.
“Are you okay? D*mn, was it too much?”
Enya didn’t want to be at a loss for words anymore at this amazing man who immediately regretted lusting after her body. As he lifted his arms and pulled her into a hug, he gently embraced her small body.
“…Enya?”
She relaxed her arms and slowly raised herself up.
In the dark, she saw him slowly pulling himself up along with her. When she lit a small candle, the light instantly lit up in the dark room. She had to blink several times as the light scattered and shattered along his muscular, curved body.
Enya swallowed a gulp as she looked at him anxiously. Eventually, she overcame her nervousness and opened her mouth.
“Tarhan. Perhaps…”
He gave an answer without even giving her a chance to finish properly.
“No. I don’t want to hear it.”
Her eyes widened at this indiscriminate answer, which was the first time he had done it. Blinking her eyes a few times to overcome her shock, she gazed at Tarhan with a serious face, thinking that she set up a trap for him.
Enya bit her lip and spoke again.
“Listen, listen to me. In the war against the Argon Desert using the Skull Spider that Avisak of Perugia said earlier…”
“No way! It’s enough. Stop talking!”
Again, Tarhan cut he words off before he could hear her fully. Then, cornered, he frowned and caressed his brows nervously.
Before long, the man who lifted his head spoke with wide eyes.
“I know what you want to say, but no, never. Don’t even think about it.”
Enya suddenly felt her neck stiffen at the almost purring, angry tone.
There was something common when he acted this way and when he rarely got angry at her… he was concerned about her safety. She had wholeheartedly agreed with his opinion at every such moment so far. For her safety, she knew deep in her bones that Tarhan’s judgment was always better than hers.
But now, it was different.
What was at stake now was Tarhan’s safety, not hers. And when it came to him, Enya was confident enough to be stubborn not to lose to him.
As she widened her eyes just like him and raised her voice, albeit in a trembling voice, she grabbed him and spoke clearly again.
“Tarhan. Think again about the way Avisak said did before, using me to power the Skull Spider…!”
She didn’t know what power was oozing from within her at that moment that made her scream out loud at him.
Right after she finished, Tarhan burst out. Perhaps, he was trying to calm his temper, he paced nervously and swept his face until, finally, he let out groans and yelled at her like someone who was choked up.
“You… are you insane now? Are you crazy?”
His screaming voice trembled relentlessly, like someone facing something frightening.
Enya shuddered in surprise at the same time he shouted.
Tarhan, who had shouted at her like that, flinched slightly, finding it startling himself. He let out a sigh like a sigh and grabbed his hair. The expression on his face was twisted mercilessly, remembering something that had happened earlier.
He then knelt down in front of her, begging with a moan coming from the depths of his throat.
He spoke pleadingly.
“Hoo, Enya. You are very tired right now. That d*mned beastly b*stard tried to harm you earlier, and everything about your mother and origins was unwillingly exposed by the entire tribe. That alone is already enough trouble for you. Don’t bother anymore. Just think about such useless things later.”
Upon hearing her words, Enya felt something unbearable rise up within her.
“What, what does that mean… how can this be useless? From my point of view, there is nothing more important than this in the current situation. The Argon war will begin in three months. We do not have time. In order to find even a little better strategy, it’s imminent that we take countermeasures from now on…”
At her words, Tarhan flinched and raised his voice once more. He held her hand and stopped her from speaking.
“Stop, stop…! I don’t want to hear any more talk of strategy or war! You don’t even know what you’re talking about. I’m so tired and surprised that you’re saying such nonsense.”
Coming over and putting his hands on her soft shoulders, he made her face him as his eyes wide opened in surprise. Tarhan spoke one letter after another.
“Listen. To this day and in the future, I will never compromise when it comes to your comfort and safety. I’ll take care of this whole d*mn situation right now. I’ll never let you go to that battlefield. Unless I die, that will never happen!”
When he replied so steadfastly, Enya was almost stunned, her mouth gaping open.
The insensitive comment, which seemed to have no regard for the fact that she was for him as much as he was for her, finally angered her.
“Wh-what? You’re going to take care of everything…? Why, why would you have to? Up until now, you’ve worked hard alone. I finally have something I can do, so why won’t you let me do it…? I’m not asking you to put me at the forefront of the battlefield. Just…just try to convince the Argon troops by spreading rumors about Aguilea’s daughter of the forest. It will be enough to scare them away! It’s not something I can just ignore just because you’re taking responsibility alone like this!”
Her eyes were blurry, and she couldn’t speak properly.
Enya couldn’t remember how long it’d been since she had been so angry with him. Tarhan, too, seemed very surprised by the fact and looked at her confusedly. But soon, he raised his eyebrows again and shouted loudly.
“But never…! I don’t know why you’re acting this way all of a sudden, but I will never accept anything that has the slightest chance of putting you in danger!”
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