Ice God and The Lady - Chapter 2
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Chapter 2
Mont Glasica, a continent with one side crumpled like a bite-sized pie.
Centria, located in the center of the continent, naturally developed a market and a lodging industry. It was because of the fast flow rate, deep rivers, and rugged mountain ranges. So, to move from one country to another, people had no choice but to go through Centria.
Holly was a fifteen-year-old employee of Halidem, the most famous inn in Centria.
She glanced at the bed, straightening her back, which had been bent while cleaning the table. The guest had been sleeping since broad daylight with a blanket over his face.
Bright silver hair was scattered over the pillow made of expensive cotton. Sheed wondered if he was a noble master of a kingdom who ran away. Some people were working from before sunrise until the moon comes up, though this one was taking a nap.
Holly sighed in envy.
Still, she was very fortunate to be able to work for Halidem. She could hear interesting stories from various people and eat delicious dishes prepared by a skilled chef. Most of all, she liked her boss because her weekly pay was never skipped.
Then, she looked around to see if there was anything that was lacking.
She didn’t have anything to organize except for the clothes hanging on the wall. Realizing that she had nothing more to do, Holly lifted her heels so that her guest wouldn’t wake up and crept past the bedside.
‘What…?’
Loud footsteps were heard outside. She wondered if a group guest had come, so she felt rushed. Aside from her impatient mind, the hand that opened the door, conscious of the sleeping guest, was slow and careful.
Holly peeked out through the crack in the open door. The face of a man who was just going up the stairs caught her eye. The blood drained from her face, who was smiling at the thought of welcoming a new guest.
“Hurry up and find it!”
The man who gave the command out loud in the front was Henri, the captain of Torimas.
Torimas.
They were a group that lent money with valuables or houses as collateral and received interest. Gambling was also popular in Centria, so there were a lot of people playing with money. However, the Torimas was the worst of the worst.
The interest rates were exorbitantly high, and it was not uncommon for people to pay it back with their bodies if they did not repay the money by the promised deadline.
‘What are they doing?’
Holly leaned against the open door and glanced outside so that she could only see half of their faces. At the command of the captain, the two men jumped up at once and opened the door of the room closest to the stairs.
A voice filled with dissatisfaction erupted from the inside at the sudden intrusion.
‘Who of the guests borrowed money?’
It had happened a few times before.
Some people only saw Centria as a passage, but most of them came to trade or gamble. She saw several people who visited with curiosity that they might become those lucky ones though had their fortunes stolen and worked like slaves.
In the meantime, the Torimas and their crew did not stop their rude behavior. Repeatedly opening the door, looking inside, and closing it again.
‘It’s strange.’
Blindly opening the door and searching for people was the perfect act to be dragged into the police force for business obstruction. It was common to just find out the room where the target was staying and went only there.
‘No way…’
Holly took a step back unknowingly in the anxiety that swept over her back.
‘No.’
Holly’s parents, who were addicted to gambling, had a knack for getting into debt. And, the one and only child, Holly, was paying off their debts.
However, the debtors had never come to her work. Because if she got cut here, the way to get the money would be lost. Besides, it was only a few months ago that she paid off the debt to Henri, who was aiming for her from time to time.
“What…?”
Leo, an employee, could be heard as he was cleaning the room on the same floor. Holly pricked up her ears.
“It was nice to meet you. Where is Holly?”
Holly flinched when her name was mentioned. They did come to find her.
Her heart sank.
“Why, why Holly? I know she paid off all her debts…”
“Ah, you know. Her parents.”
Henri sarcastically said in an excited voice.
Leo sighed as he thought of the two shameless people. Now, even the loan sharks took pity on her and stopped lending them money. The only corner they would have trouble with will be Torimas, who has no pity.
The worst thugs.
‘It’s like that.’
Tears welled up at the tragic reality.
Though she quickly clenched her fist. She couldn’t let herself just fall into their hands. Her parents’ grace that allowed her to eat and sleep in a house with a roof had been fully repaid so far. When she got home, Holly thought she was going to have to negotiate somehow.
Rather than drowning in despair, she decided to find a way out. The room she was in right now was at the end of the hallway, in the opposite direction to the stairway that Torimas and the others were guarding.
So, to go downstairs, she had to go through them.
“Now, if they knew, they should have told them where I was.”
She could see the thugs approaching Leo with a threatening force and carefully shut the door silently. Leo was obviously a good person who cared for her, but she didn’t know how long he would hide her.
Holly looked around, looking for a place to hide. The only furniture in the simple room was a bed and a table. She then glided and hung on the window sill to find a way out. The new lord put gravel in the stone floor to make a clean road. If she jumped off the third floor, her legs or arms would break easily.
“What kind of act is this!”
At that moment, the boss’s voice resounded from outside.
“Leave this! This is a disruption of business.”
It seemed that the despicable Torimas and the crew had detained the boss. They wouldn’t harm the boss, anyway.
Holly was busy finding her own way, leaving her guilt behind.
“What the hell is wrong with that kid for you to be so cruel?”
Naturally, there was not a single mouse hole in this historic luxury inn. She looked around in nervousness.
“I must open this door before the police arrive.”
Just a short distance away, she could hear an excited voice as if they had already got what they wanted. There was no place to hide, no place to run anymore.
‘But, if I get caught…’
A piece of cloth that could cover her face appeared in her eyes, who had only chewed her lips with a terrible imagination. Holly jumped into bed right away before it was too late. The blanket covered her whole body, so naturally, the owner of the bed woke up.
Smiling awkwardly, she was startled by the touch of her palm. It was because of direct contact with the cold skin without a single thin piece of cloth.
“I don’t think I ever ordered a woman.”
The man muttered in a calm voice as if he had just woken up. He didn’t hesitate to pull in her skirt and came in.
Holly whispered quickly, pushing his wriggling hand under her skirt.
“I’m sorry. I’ll apologize properly later, so please hide me for a little while.”
The man blinked with a face that he did not understand. Holly held her breath without realizing it. The face was too innocent under the fluttering eyelashes. She had never seen a person so white in her life.
‘…Like a fairy.’
As she was thinking so absurdly, her vision turned in an instant. When she realized it, she found herself lying under the man’s body.
“Why me?”
The man asked as though he was really curious.
Holly, who was crushed by the man with bare skin, struggled hard. However, her wrists were grabbed by the man and stuck to the bed, to no avail.
“It’s a nuisance to the guest…”
“As the woman who jumped into the bed…”
The door opened, the boss’s voice was heard, and the man’s mouth opened almost simultaneously. With one hand she barely pulled out, Holly grabbed the man’s hair, which was shining in the dark, and pulled it straight.
She covered the man’s lips with her own lips.
The man paused for a moment at the sudden contact, before shoving his tongue into her lip.
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