The Wind Calms the Fire - Chapter 9

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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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Chapter 9
In Carrion’s unfocused gaze, emerald eyes glimmered and wavered.
He knew precisely who owned those green eyes, yet the name wouldn’t come.
He couldn’t think of anything else now.
Only a desperate certainty seized him: he could not let go of this person in his arms.
“Carrion?”
He drew her nape closer, swallowing the sound of his name on her lips.
Deeper. He wanted more. Deeper still.
A single thought consumed him entirely.
Instinctively, he understood: this contact was his lifeline.
He tilted his head to deepen the seal of their mouths.
His tongue pushed forward, wrapping around the soft warmth of hers.
‘What is this?’
When their tongues tangled, Lea felt a force thrumming through his body.
If this was the Spirit Power he possessed, it defied everything she thought she knew.
Spirits were said to be natural beings of absolute will—they might scatter and cease, but never waver.
She tried to push him away, but he wound his arms around her waist and held her tighter still.
Driven by instinct to survive, he pressed his hungry kiss deeper.
She had never experienced a kiss so profound.
Their fluids mingled; the heat of their joined flesh drew closer and closer to equilibrium.
The sensation was strange—pleasant or unpleasant, she couldn’t say—and left her bewildered.
‘Help me.’
She called silently to the Spirit, begging it to pull this man away from her.
But the wind only circled around her, seeming to laugh—a soft, mischievous giggle.
‘Are you serious?’
The Wind Spirit played the role of a compassionate mother who embraced all things, yet sometimes indulged in impish pranks.
“Mmph.”
When he sucked hard on his own tongue, her fingertips flinched.
‘Ah… somehow…’
His power, which had been oscillating in wild crescendos, seemed to be ebbing gradually.
She decided to wait a little longer.
Carrion, who had clung to her for survival as his body wracked with unbearable agony, felt reason slowly returning as the terrible pain subsided.
He remembered who owned those green eyes.
‘The Princess.’
Yet he still couldn’t let go.
Was a woman’s body always like this?
Her slender, soft form fit so perfectly against him—it felt deeply satisfying.
Even as he realized he’d made a terrible mistake and knew he should release her, he couldn’t surrender this exquisite fullness.
He was beginning to understand why people lost themselves to wine and drugs for pleasure.
When Lea felt his power had nearly subsided, she pushed him away again.
Carrion slowly released her lips.
Unable to let go until the very end, he drew her lower lip between his own one last time before finally setting her free.
Their noses nearly touched, and their eyes met at point-blank distance.
Without a word, without moving, they simply gazed at each other.
Crack! Thump!
Part of the burning cabin’s roof collapsed with a deafening crash.
Lea jumped in alarm and shoved him away with both hands.
Carrion released his grip without resistance.
He rose to his feet, drew several deep breaths, and clenched and unclenched his fists.
‘I’ve lost my mind.’
Despite the state of his mind, his body felt perfect.
When a fit struck before, it would subside but leave him depleted for a full day. Now, though, he felt utterly refreshed.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Lea.
What had just happened couldn’t be mere chance.
What was this woman, really?
What did she know about this Curse?
Was that why she’d approached him?
She took a step closer and spoke.
“Why were you alone here?”
Carrion found her opening question displeasing.
She’d braced herself for a slap or two, but her expression remained composed, as though nothing had happened at all.
Her lips were so red, yet she wore that same untroubled face.
“I came because the child might be left alone.”
The words came out sharp, and immediately he regretted them.
“Did you find her?”
There was no displeasure in her voice when she asked.
Carrion felt ashamed of his own petulant behavior and looked away, shaking his head.
“We cannot afford to lose more time. We must leave before our escape route is cut off.”
The cabin where the fire had first caught was now roaring with terrifying intensity, and the flames were beginning to spread into the surrounding grassland.
“Wait a moment.”
Lea turned slowly, surveying the area as she made a subtle gesture with her hand.
She sent a gentle breeze sweeping swiftly across the entire village.
“There’s no child nearby. We should go, quickly.”
Carrion studied her with an odd expression as she spoke with such certainty.
“How did you know the way here? Why did you come?”
Lea did not answer, and Carrion did not press further.
The fire was spreading rapidly.
The two of them turned their backs to the burning village and entered the forest.
* * *
As they made their way through, Carrion spoke to her, noting how she kept glancing back.
“The wind has ceased since we left. You needn’t worry about the wildfire catching up to us.”
Lea merely smiled faintly in response.
She was attempting to call forth the wind to contain the flames in that village.
Just as it had been at the watchtower earlier, the wind refused to obey her will.
This was what happened when the powers of two Spirits collided with each other.
In her past life, Lea had met only one other person who could command a Spirit.
That person had been the king of Northia.
Which meant the source of the power colliding with the Wind Spirit here could only be Carrion.
Lea’s strength was not completely sealed merely because Carrion was near.
She could not summon a powerful wind, but gentler breezes remained within her command.
Only after the two of them had put some distance between themselves and the village did the wind within it begin to move.
‘Please. Hold the flames in place so they cannot spread.’
The primary force of the wildfire would be extinguished by the Backfire Strategy, but the flames that had caught on in this village were a separate matter.
If left unchecked, they would develop into another large-scale wildfire.
So Lea erected a wall of wind around the village perimeter.
Within the barrier of wind, the fire would burn through the village, consume its fuel, and extinguish itself naturally.
“Hold on.”
Lea stopped in her tracks as they walked.
She peered into the darkness of the forest, then brought a hand to her lips and whistled—a sharp, clear note that cut through the air.
Presently, a horse with neither bridle nor saddle emerged from within the forest, approached her, and nuzzled her head affectionately.
“Good girl, waiting so patiently. You did well.”
Carrion watched with interest and spoke.
“Clever creature. Have you had her trained for a long time?”
“No. She belongs to the garrison.”
“……My horse?”
“The garrison maintains her, so isn’t she yours?”
Lea strode forward with brisk confidence.
Watching her retreating form, Carrion opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.
There was so much he wanted to ask that he didn’t know where to begin.
* * *
Lea finished her bath while enduring Peni’s relentless chatter.
“Sleep well, my lady.”
“You too, get some rest.”
“You will sleep, yes? Should I stand guard at your door?”
Peni stood with her hands on her hips in a way that was identical to how her mother—Lea’s old nursemaid—looked when angry.
“I’ll sleep soundly and stay put until morning.”
Lea spoke with a sheepish expression.
“It’s a relief that the flames won’t reach us, or so they say. Once daylight breaks tomorrow, things should sort themselves out soon enough.”
“That’s right. Don’t worry and get some proper sleep.”
After Peni finally left, turning back several times, Lea closed her eyes.
But sleep would not come.
Lea touched her lips with her fingertips.
Her first kiss had been burning and long.
‘Who did he mistake me for?’
It was a kiss clinging with longing. A kiss like that—it seemed you’d need experience to pull it off.
‘He said he had no beloved. But that means he doesn’t have one now. He could have had one before.’
First, he’d mistaken her for someone else. Second, he’d kissed her without permission. It was a disaster on both counts.
The twenty-one-year-old version of herself, before she came back, would never have stood for it.
She might have wept, bouncing on her toes in fury.
Now, strangely enough, she felt nothing.
A kiss was nothing compared to the countless hardships she had endured.
Instead, she found herself thinking ‘Could this become a good card to play when I bring up marriage?’—and that thought made her feel worn, worn down to nothing.
‘I asked you for help. And you’re just standing there watching?’
Lea challenged the Spirit, her voice sharp with petulance.
A gentle breeze, as if coaxing her, tapped softly against her cheeks.
‘I’m disappointed. I’m really angry.’
She huffed and turned her head sharply, and the breeze seemed to hesitate, brushing nervously against her skin.
As the soft wind continued to caress her skin, Lea found herself laughing.
‘He has Spirit Power too, doesn’t he?’
The Spirit answered by touching her cheek.
‘Your Majesty never said anything like that…….’
Even when she ran toward the forest, she’d thought, ‘Surely not. It can’t be.’
‘There’s no reason to hide it. He didn’t know himself. His Spirit would be fire, like him, wouldn’t it? When did he awaken…….’
Lea sat bolt upright.
‘Fire!’
Could he have awakened his Spirit because of today’s wildfire?

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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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