Ice God and The Lady - Chapter 41
Chapter 41
Holly replied, pulling Cahill, who stood still by the hand. The middle-aged man walked ahead with a smile of relief. His steps headed for a narrow alleyway.
‘Does he have another ulterior motive…?’
Thinking so, she clung to Cahill’s arm and rolled her eyes anxiously. Seeing Holly clinging to his chest, he hugged her.
As soon as she was held in his firm arms, her heart was relieved.
It wasn’t long before a residential area appeared with similarly sized houses close to each other. Unlike the buildings on the main street, it was shabby, but it had intact walls and roofs.
The middle-aged man approached a house with lights on among them. When he knocked on the door, a middle-aged woman who appeared to be his wife came out from inside and was delighted to see Holly and Cahill, welcoming them as guests.
Upon entering through the front door, she saw a space for cooking and a long table that could seat about six people. As the middle-aged man said, it looked more like an ordinary family home than an inn.
“What would you like to eat?”
The middle-aged man spoke in a cautious voice.
At that, the wife turned to the kitchen behind her with a puzzled look. It was late in the evening, so there was no smell of food.
“Is there any food I can eat right now?”
“There are no guests today, so there are only leftovers from my family’s dinner…”
“That’s fine, too.”
Holly didn’t have the energy to insist on eating at a restaurant to save a few bucks.
“I want to eat something simple, can you bring it to my room?”
When she handed her the coins she had taken from the previous inn, the wife’s face bloomed as she received the coins in her hand.
“I will prepare it right away. Honey, show them to their room.”
The middle-aged man led the two to a corner room on the second floor. Inside the room was a bed with short legs and a wardrobe. Fortunately, it was wide enough for two people to lie down. Holly collapsed on the bed, exhausted.
Soon after, the wife entered the room carrying a tray before uttering with an apologetic face.
“I just heated up the leftovers. Are you really okay? If you wait a little bit, I will light a fire right now.”
“This is enough.”
Holly waved her hand with sincerity. They were late, without a reservation, and even asked for food, so it was natural to pay extra.
“If it weren’t for you two, we would have spent the night without a roof and starving.”
While answering, Holly’s eyes did not leave the plate. Two slices of bread the size of a fist, a large piece of meat, and stir-fried vegetables were all there was, but her starving stomach begged her to put them in as soon as possible.
“Then, enjoy your meal.”
The wife, seeing where Holly’s eyes were directed, said with a thin smile. It seemed to have made her feel more at ease.
“Yes. I’ll put the empty bowl in the hallway.”
There was no table in the room, so she had to eat with a tray on her lap. Holly was about to start eating and then stopped the owner, who was about to leave as if she suddenly remembered something.
“Ah! Is there anywhere to wash?”
While there seemed to be no space in the room since it was called an inn, she thought there would be at least a shared bathroom. However, the warm-looking wife scratched the nape of her neck with an embarrassed face.
“There are no bathrooms in our inn.”
“Then, can I simply wash up in my room?”
“Sure. I will visit you again when the meal is over.”
The owner nodded her head with a happy face. Even though Holly had been disturbing her sleep earlier, ut since she could pay extra, it wouldn’t be bad from the owner’s point of view.
Holly, who turned her head after sending the owner away with a smile, flinched when seeing Cahill.
“Why are you eating that?”
Perhaps the wife was sorry for the poor food compared to the money she received, so she decorated it. Cahill was pulling the grass that was supposed to be the garnish with his teeth.
“Isn’t it something to eat? Was it on the plate?”
Cahill tilted his head as he chewed on the bitter grass. Then perhaps he couldn’t stand it, he took the whole chunk of meat and took a bite off it.
“Isn’t it better to cut it and eat?”
The nobles Holly had seen would cut the meat into small enough pieces to fit in a bite. If they accidentally got sauce on their mouth, they kept wiping their mouth, even if it was a big deal. However, Cahill, who was said to be the Prince of a country, did not seem to mind even though his lips were shiny with oil.
“The handmaids cut it and put it on a plate, but since there is no one to attend while traveling, I just eat it.”
She was confused as to whether Cahill was authoritative or easy-going.
“Give it to me.”
She sighed and took Cahill’s plate, and began cutting it into bite-size pieces.
“Ah.”
While she raised her head reflexively at the voice coming from close by, he forced her lips apart with the meat on his fork.
Juice ran down her chin.
“You have to eat properly.”
Cahill spoke bluntly and licked her chin with his tongue. Meanwhile, Holly glanced at the napkin lying to the side, but she didn’t stop him.
Knock, knock.
Holly, who was being licked absent-mindedly by him, was startled by the knock and turned to the door. As she hurriedly pushed Cahill away and replied, the owner opened the door.
“Are you satisfied with your meal? Do you need anything else…”
Holly put down her fork. Seeing that most of the dishes were empty, the owner had a satisfied smile on her face and pretended not to see the empty plate.
“Get me some water for washing. It’s possible in the room, right?”
Cahill gave the order familiarly while putting out his purse. Since they were a big customer after a while, the owner could not hide her heart and smiled very wide. It was a pity for the puffy-looking money bag though Holly tried to suppress her heart.
“What temperature would be good?”
Fearing that he might take it back, the owner hurriedly gathered the money bag and asked. Cahill turned to Holly with an expressionless face.
“Just keep it warm, please.”
He didn’t have a lot of heat in his body, so she didn’t think too hot water would suit him. The owner went out of the room after telling them to wait for a while.
As if it was an inn run by a family, after a while, two men who resembled the owner came into the room. The sons put a thick cloth on one side of the room to keep the floor from getting wet and put a round bucket on top of it.
While the owner was clearing the dishes, the sons carried small water buckets and went back and forth from the room several times to fill them.
“Please, clean it up in the morning.”
When the owner left with a benevolent smile several times more than when she first saw her, Cahill took off his clothes immediately. Holly brought a towel to dry herself and a change of clothes.
“What are you doing not coming in?”
Cahill, who had entered the bathtub, beckoned her.
“Do you want to wash together?”
“I will wash you, too.”
It seemed that the fact that the maids washed Holly’s body in Sharif Kingdom was quite memorable to him.
“Are you still not over it yet?”
Holly said in a weary voice, fiddling with her dress. She wanted to wash her body covered in sweat and bodily fluids. Even though she had been naked with him a lot of times, she never thought it would be so embarrassing just to take off her clothes.
“Close your eyes.”
Cahill closed his eyes while looking puzzled. The bridge of his nose twitched as he heard the rustling of fabric. In the round barrel, the only place she could sit was between his legs.
When Holly lowered herself slowly, his narrow, bent legs wrapped around her like a fence.
“You can open your eyes now.”
Her shoulders, exposed above the water, trembled.
“Cold? Shall I ask them to heat the water?”
Holly shook her head at the kind question. Originally, she would wash her body with water that was colder than this since even the firewood used to heat the water costed money.
“How about this?”
Saying so, Cahill poured water into his hand and splashed it on Holly’s shoulder. Warm water dripped down in a line. Perhaps that wasn’t enough, he gently stroked her skin with the palm of his hand.
“I’m feeling a little better.”
Holly let out a small breath.
Cahill, excitedly, continued carrying water with his palm. He then gently cupped her voluptuous breasts with his wet hands.
“The maids didn’t go this far…”
Holly’s face flushed red as she was embarrassed by the hand rubbing her n*pple though Cahill didn’t care as he used his fingernails and scratched the tips of her peaks.
“I am a prince, not a maid.”
He responded with a natural tone and kissed her round shoulder.
‘Isn’t it strange that the Prince washes you?’
His lips moved from end to end of her shoulder, creating a feverish glow. The strength gradually drained from her body.
Holly finally leaned her back on Cahill’s chest.
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