Ice God and The Lady - Chapter 21

Holly’s eyes widened at the title the men behind them uttered. Come to think of it, he was the only one wearing a cloak with a splendid ornament on his shoulder, unlike the others.

“My name is Ahmed Abdel Mubarak, the first Prince of the Sharif Kingdom. May I hear your noble name?”

Ahmed gazed at Holly and greeted her with a respectful attitude.

‘…Is this a prince, too?’

Holly looked at Cahill in surprise. To see a prince she had never seen in her twenty-two years of life in a couple of days. Her heart didn’t calm down.

“Hmm.”

The man with sharp eyes coughed from behind Ahmed and gave her a notice in impatience. He was a man with a dagger.

Holly picked up the hem of her skirt and bowed her head hurriedly.

“My, my name is Holly from Centria.”

“…Centria?”

Ahmed glanced at the subordinate standing next to him. There was a hint of trouble as he did not know where ‘Centria’ was. Holly looked at him with a blank face. Not knowing where she lived didn’t make her feel bad.

She herself didn’t even know where the Sharif Kingdom was, and she didn’t even know it existed.

“I know Centria, but I’ve never heard of Sharif.”

Cahill did not hide his discomfort because he was so upset that the meat was taken away. Noticing that, she stabbed him in the side.

“It’s rewarding to know what you didn’t know.”

His blunt attitude made her feel bad, but Prince Ahmed smiled generously and passed it on. Holly let out a small sigh, surprised by it.

Then, Cahill, who was beside her, gently wrapped her arm that had stabbed him in the side. It was only then that she realized that he had not made his introduction to Prince Ahmed.

“Ah! This is Cahill from Aisen.”

After she spoke quickly, she glanced at Cahill, not knowing if it was okay for her to greet him in his stead. Nonetheless, he was just staring into the air with a blank look as if he wasn’t interested.

“Aisen…”

Ahmed murmured lowly.

The men behind him were also a little fussy. While they didn’t know Centria, they seemed to know Aisen. She was just glad that she was about to ask more.

“If it’s okay with you, would you like to go to the kingdom with me? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen an outsider, so I’d like to hear more from the outsiders.”

The Prince fixed his gaze on Holly and made a friendly offer. Meanwhile, Cahill’s eyes narrowed, watching from the side.

“It is a hidden country that is not even on the map. I’m curious.”

The corners of Cahill’s lips twisted. At that, Holly begged the Prince and party for their understanding and pulled the hem of his robe before opening her mouth to him.

“Why are you like this? Did you want to eat bear meat that much…?”

She whispered into Cahill’s ear, who naturally lowered his head. The crooked smile was erased, leaving only his usual sullen expression. Holly let out a sigh unknowingly. It was the first time he was so sullen, so it was odd.

“There are many great cooks in our kingdom. I will treat you.”

They were not far away, so it seemed that he heard their whisper. Her heart also became uncomfortable at the condescending tone of voice.

‘If he had stayed there, Cahill would have caught it.’

Holly was as upset as a child when her father stole the candy the chef gave her. Cahill took a peek at her face and thought she didn’t like Ahmed’s appearance, so his expression improved. Although it was uncomfortable, the Prince offered to treat them himself, so there was no reason to refuse.

As she nodded her head, the Prince’s face brightened.

“I’ll serve you.”

The Prince and one of his men took the lead, followed by Holly and Cahill. The rest of the men surrounded them.

‘This is a little… It looks like we’re being caught.’

Holly glanced around with a puzzled look.

“Holly.”

Turning her head, she saw Cahill’s outstretched hand.

“Come here.”

Even though she was puzzled by his sudden words, Holly gently took his hand. Her arm was pulled, and when she came to her senses, she found her in Cahill’s arms. It didn’t matter if it was just the two of them, but there were other people.

When she turned around in surprise, the Prince and his subordinates were staring intently at the two of them.

“There are traps everywhere.”

Cahill answered her curiosity without even giving them a glance.

“How do you…”

Hearing this, the Prince’s subordinate stared at him with a surprised face. Holly shut her mouth to see if it was a mistake and looked into the Prince’s eyes.

“It is a measure to deter intruders. As long as you follow us, there will be no problem.”

Contrary to his cautious subordinates, the Prince hurried his steps and spoke in an insignificant tone.

“Then, have you not seen anyone other than us here? A middle-aged couple…”

She was going to inquire if her parents went to the Prince’s country, although Holly thought it would be difficult to get there, so she asked.

Ahmed looked at his men again.

“No one has set foot here recently.”

“I see.”

Holly nodded her head sadly at his words.

“Is it someone important to Holly? If you tell me in detail, I will dispatch people and find them.”

“Oh, no. I just asked if we could meet by chance.”

She turned down his offer, having no intention of telling her story to strangers.

At the same time, Ahmed looked at her with a look that wanted to ask more questions and then moved his feet. The ramparts that stretched along the cliffs looked as if they were raising a wall. Holly narrowed her brow at the sound of the waves crashing into the rocks relentlessly.

‘We were going the wrong way.’

In order to get to Lauriue, where she was going in the first place, a deeper jungle had to come out.

“Can I get a map while I’m here?”

At her request, the Prince’s shoulders stiffened for a moment. Holly looked at Ahmed with a worried look on whether she was asking for a difficult request.

“Of course. I’ll give it to you when you leave.”

However, he was smiling softly with a nonchalant face.

‘…Was I mistaken?’

Holly tilted her head, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling.

“This is it.”

She was surrounded by Ahmed and his party, and as they walked, she peered around. The end of the wall could be seen from a spot. In terms of scale, it seemed smaller than Centria, which was only called a city.

“This is Prince Ahmed Abdel Mubarak!”

Before even reaching the castle gate, the man who was closest to the prince raised his voice. The two soldiers, who were guarding the gates with a disorganized posture, swiftly straightened their postures at the shouts that seemed to be angry.

“Greetings, First Prince!”

“Greetings, First Prince!”

The soldiers knelt on one knee on the floor with a thud sound.

Holly was pushed to Ahmed’s side without realizing it, as she did not know what to do with the burden of seeing the soldiers with their heads bowed in front of her.

‘Should I have done that, too?’

That thought came to her mind when she saw Ahmed standing there receiving their greetings casually as usual. When she met the two princes, she began to look back on her attitude.

‘He’s not even the prince of my country, after all.’

But then, Holly shrugged her shoulders and followed Ahmed through the gates. As she had guessed by looking at the wall, the land of Sharif didn’t seem that wide. As soon as they entered, there were several houses of similar size and shape.

When she turned her head to the sound of the children’s laughter, she could see children about six or seven years old kicking a ball on the not-so-wide dirt floor while the grown-ups got together and chatted.

There were also people who put up seats on the floor or put things in carts and sold them. Wherever she looked, they were the people of a peaceful country.

Though that wasn’t what caught Holly’s attention.

‘…Maybe, I’m from here, too.’

Like Ahmed and their men, Sharif’s people also had darker skin. As an excited blush appeared on Holly’s cheek, Cahill looked at her.

Then suddenly, the soldiers passed Ahmed. The people who were occupying the road were pushed by them and turned aside. Even a small child that was going to Holly was bowing down. She hurried her steps with an uncomfortable feeling.

“As you can see, there is no need for trade with other countries because we have food and daily necessities in the castle itself.”

As if ignorant of her feelings, Ahmed spoke in a triumphant voice. His words sounded like excuses for why he didn’t know about Centria.

She turned her head to follow him and saw a field between the houses. Holly nodded her head with an eagerly interested look.

“Be careful.”

Holly’s body, who had been walking only looking ahead, suddenly staggered. Before Ahmed, who was next to her, stepped forward, Cahill wrapped around her waist and supported her.

“Thank you.”

She naturally leaned on his arm and stroked her surprised chest. Seeing that, Cahill gazed at her and smiled.

Neither of them noticed that the Prince’s forehead was wrinkled.