The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 68

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 68
Rhea was drawn by Peni’s hand to stand before the mirror.
In the glass, she caught her own flushed expression.
When Peni’s gaze shifted away from adjusting her dress, she let slip a small smile.
‘I thought I’d only see myself like this on the day of the Engagement Ceremony.’
Descending to the first floor, she found Livia waiting.
“My husband attended a gathering today and brought back His Highness the Prince as a guest. He’s in the Reception Room.”
Carrion sat across from the master of the house on the Reception Room sofa, engaged in meaningless pleasantries about when the residence was built.
At the sound of the door opening, he turned—and rose from his seat without thinking.
Thump-thump. His heart hammered in his chest.
The woman who appeared in his dreams every night was, in reality, nothing but fantasy compared to this.
Was she really this beautiful?
Of course he’d known she was beautiful, but how could she be even more so than he remembered?
As if in sympathy with his emotion, a warm current bloomed in his belly, stretching like a waking creature, then rippled through him.
The Spirit spoke with impish humor: ‘Shall I lend a hand?’
It was less like human language and more like an intuitive impulse arriving directly in his mind.
His communication with Pomess—once limited to mere affirmation or denial—had developed by leaps and bounds.
‘Pomess. Behave yourself. If you pull anything reckless, I won’t be lenient.’
The Spirit clicked its tongue and fell silent.
Carrion walked slowly and stood before her.
“I… hope you’ve been well.”
He’d grown confident in his eloquence from attending several gatherings recently, yet his mind went blank.
He despised himself for being able to manage only such meager words.
“Yes……”
Rhea lowered her gaze slightly.
Meeting his eyes felt so strange she could barely endure it.
Was it because it had been so long? Why was her heart racing like this?
Unlike before, when she’d stepped back and regarded him like an art connoisseur—’Oh, what a handsome man’—she found herself unable to maintain that distance now.
Watching from behind, Peni clasped her own hands tightly together.
She’d witnessed the two of them together many times over these months, and they’d always seemed comfortably at ease.
So why were they suddenly so aware of each other?
‘What’s gotten into them?’
Just watching made her body twist with anticipation.
‘The princess is being shy!’
Livia observed with quiet satisfaction for a moment, then spoke.
“Your Highness. Since we’ve had to receive a guest on such short notice, there’s much to prepare. Would you allow me to show His Highness around the residence instead?”
“Yes, madam.”
As the two of them left the Reception Room, Peni moved to follow, only to have her arm caught by Livia.
Livia shook her head, and Peni nodded in understanding.
Peni thought to herself.
‘Well, stranger things have happened.’
Watching those two fumble about, it seemed like a miracle if they so much as held hands.
Peni stepped outside the Reception Room and noticed someone move.
She spotted a man trying to slip after the Prince and the princess as they climbed the stairs, and she called out to stop him.
“Where are you going, sir knight?”
Luke started and turned his head.
“Well, I’m tasked with escorting His Highness the Prince.”
“Escorting him inside the residence? The second floor is empty right now.”
“All the more reason I should follow and keep watch.”
Luke’s words, barely more than a mumble, escaped Peni’s hearing.
Peni planted her hands on her hips.
“Don’t interfere. Stay right here. The Engagement Ceremony is practically upon us—those two already look awkward enough. If they’re like this at the wedding, it’ll be a disaster.”
‘As if. Those two are just being coy. If she knew the truth, it’d be quite the shock, maid girl.’
Luke was an eyewitness—he’d observed firsthand the princess crawling up to her Bedroom on the second floor in the dead of night.
Part of him found it amusing to be the only one who knew.
It seemed unlikely he’d manage to slip upstairs while evading the maid’s watch.
He clicked his tongue and could only savor his disappointment.
* * *
The Barrel Residence was built in an old-fashioned style.
Within its solid rectangular structure, the corridors were narrow and the rooms numerous.
As they climbed to the second floor, Rhea spoke.
“Thank you for the gifts you sent.”
Carrion’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.
“I was truly grateful to receive them. I am grateful, but the gift was so extravagant that….”
He had no idea what she meant, so he improvised a response.
“It was not excessive.”
“It was. The tailor brought so many things they filled the entire reception room. Did you perhaps misunderstand when I asked you to summon the tailor?”
At last, Carrion’s memory returned.
“I was not mistaken. And that was not a gift. What must naturally be given is not called a gift.”
“What must naturally be given?”
Carrion smiled faintly as he spoke.
“Because we are allied.”
Rhea remembered words she had once spoken to him.
She turned her gaze forward.
It had been said with a feeling much like extending a hand and saying “let’s get along” to a new colleague in her past life.
How strange and unsettling those words felt now.
“Today, Her Majesty the Empress sent a messenger. The date and location of your Engagement Ceremony have been set.”
“Yes, I heard as well. Graciously, Her Majesty sent me an Engagement Ceremony Dress.”
“How are you finding your stay here?”
“I couldn’t ask for more. Everyone in the Barrel Family is kind, and they attend to my comfort in every way.”
“I’m relieved to hear it.”
“That’s Clarisse’s room over there. She’s the youngest lady of the Barrel Family. Very sweet and lovely. She’s away at the moment—she went to her grandparents’ house a few days ago.”
“I understood the head of the Barrel Family does not reside in the Capital.”
“That’s right. His eldest son, the heir, stays in the Capital and handles most of the family head’s duties.”
Though they spoke of those around them, both knew the truth.
Neither truly cared about the conversation at hand.
“How have you been? I hear you’ve been attending many gatherings lately.”
“Yes. There are many places that summon me. If I refuse their invitations, they won’t invite me again.”
“But you’re not someone obligated to accept every summons. Aren’t you overextending yourself?”
“There is a misunderstanding you harbor.”
“Is there?”
“I actually get along with people better than one might think. Everyone laughs at everything I say, clutching their sides.”
Well, of course they would laugh—a prince’s joke, no matter how dull, demands laughter.
When Rhea let out a small laugh, Carrion added,
“Precisely like that.”
Rhea burst into laughter.
Carrion took pleasure in making her laugh.
The awkwardness that had lingered dissolved gently into the warmth of shared amusement.
“How is your Spirit faring these days?”
“Ah, I have something to show you regarding that.”
He withdrew the Silver Flint Box from his coat and glanced around cautiously.
“Come this way.”
Rhea led him to the Reception Room adjoining her Bedroom, mindful of prying eyes.
“There doesn’t seem to be anyone on this floor at the moment, but one never knows. What is this?”
“A flint striker.”
Carrion wound the mechanism and brought his fingertip to the spark that flew forth.
When he drew his hand back, a pea-sized ember burned at the tip of his index finger.
Rhea stared with widened eyes, then covered her mouth with both hands.
“Good heavens…. It’s a Spirit. Spirit Power. Isn’t it?”
As Carrion moved his finger up and down, the ember moved with it.
He opened his palm and flicked his finger, causing the ember to drift onto his open hand.
A small flame wavered there, hovering just above his skin.
He closed his fist and opened it again; the ember vanished.
“But the true demonstration is this.”
He flicked his finger.
An ember appeared on his fingertip once more—this time far larger than before.
“At first the flint was necessary, but now it is not. Still, this is merely a trifle.”
“You are truly remarkable.”
Rhea’s emotions surged.
In her past life, he had never even known of his awakening.
He had accepted the Spirit and succeeded in drawing out the Spirit Power within him.
“It’s all thanks to you, Your Highness.”
“I only told you of the Spirit’s existence. You awakened to it and discovered everything yourself. That’s truly remarkable!”
Rhea opened her arms as if to embrace him the way she did with Peni, then hesitated.
Carrion seized the moment and quickly pulled her into his arms.
“Is that praise?”
He whispered it while tensing, half-afraid she might push him away.
When he felt her rigid body soften against him, he exhaled in relief.
“Yes. I’ll praise you.”
Her voice, threaded with laughter, wrapped sweetly around his ears.
Feeling her hand patting his back in gentle rhythm, he stifled a soft chuckle.
He tightened his hold, drawing her closer.
The sensation of her soft body pressed against his was exquisite.
In dreams, he could only gasp and writhe alone with his desire—he could never feel her like this.
It was satisfying in a way entirely separate from physical pleasure.
He thought he could be content holding her like this through the night. Not that he had any intention of letting go, of course.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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