Episode 5
“Are you okay now?”
“…Yes.”
I carefully smoothed his disheveled hair, and a muffled sound came from his throat.
He looked exhausted, still resting his head on my shoulder. Enoch raised his eyes, his misty gray gaze reflecting my worried expression.
“By the way, you said my touch makes your body warm…”
“…”
“I didn’t know you meant *that*…”
“What did you think I meant, then?”
Enoch let out a faint laugh, lowering his eyes and gently rubbing his head like a child.
My body tensed slightly as his soft hair brushed against my sensitive skin. His large hand, still clasping mine, tightened its grip.
“…When I touch someone, my body freezes. But when I touch you… my body warms up instead.”
“Only me…? Why?”
“Maybe because…”
I swallowed hard, waiting for him to finish.
Suddenly, I felt something tugging at my skirt. I looked down, and my eyes met a pair of innocent green eyes staring up at me.
“Mwa…”
“What?”
The girl was holding the edge of my skirt with one hand, and with the other, she extended her doll, which she hugged like part of herself, toward Enoch.
“Your Majesty, look at this.”
“Hm?”
I glanced at him, then shook Enoch, who still had his eyes half-closed, leaning against me. He lifted his eyelids with effort.
Seeing his expression, the girl lowered her brows and tried to raise the doll higher with a groan, as if saying, “Take it.”
“…Are you giving it to me?”
“Un!”
Enoch hesitated for a moment, then slowly opened his fist, letting the remaining ice crystals fall from his hand.
After ensuring his hand wouldn’t scare the girl, he carefully took the doll. The girl’s chubby cheeks curved downward.
“Mian…”
With the word that came from her small mouth, Enoch and I exchanged a surprised glance.
“Was that just…”
“It seems she’s apologizing to Your Majesty.”
Did we understand correctly?
The girl sighed sadly and sat on the ground, her eyes drooping.
Surprised, Enoch lifted his head from my shoulder, fiddled with the doll in his hand a few times, then bent down to her eye level.
“Are you apologizing to me?”
“Un…”
“Why?”
“Aya…”
The girl hadn’t mastered speech yet, but she pointed to Enoch’s cheek and frowned, as if realizing her touch had caused him pain.
His sharp eyes softened at this sight.
“No, it’s not because of you. I’m the one who scared you, actually. I’m sorry.”
He didn’t touch her directly, but he held the doll’s soft hand and gently patted her chubby little hand with affection, and her green eyes lit up.
Her happiness returned, and she slipped back into my arms. I adjusted my position to make her comfortable, and at that moment, Dain returned carrying milk and some food.
He stopped abruptly, like a malfunctioning robot, set down the food, and turned to leave quickly.
“I’m, I’m not here. I’ll leave now, so if you need anything, let me know.”
“What? Where are you going? Wait… what’s wrong?”
I scratched my cheek in surprise at his flustered escape, and when I raised my hand, I was startled by strong fingers appearing before my eyes.
“Ah! You startled me. If you’re okay now, can I… free my hand?”
I don’t know when he started holding my hand like this.
Feeling embarrassed, I tried to free my hand, but Enoch lowered his eyes with a resentful look.
“You were touching me just fine earlier… have you already grown tired of my body?”
“Wah! How can you say something like that!”
Is this world incapable of having a pure conversation?
I jumped in panic at his bold tone, which returned after his recovery, and hugged Ariel as a shield.
“Abu! Bu!”
The girl seemed upset by being lifted suddenly, but faced with Enoch’s subtle approach, I hugged Ariel tighter and glared at him.
“I was doing that because your body froze suddenly, so I panicked.”
“Exactly. I’m still very cold. Touch me again.”
I raised my eyes irritably after quickly feeling his body, while he complained without a change in his expression.
“Don’t lie. Your body isn’t just warm—it’s radiating heat now.”
“Caught.”
Enoch shrugged lightly and tilted his head sleepily.
“But, Riana, I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“You said you didn’t think my talk about warmth meant this. So, what did you think?”
“Um… that…”
I couldn’t voice the scandalous thoughts that ran through my mind at his sudden question, so I shut my mouth.
“What? Why’s your face turning red like that?”
His long eyelashes fluttered slowly as he looked at me.
“That… because you’re talking strangely!”
“Me? What did I say?”
“Everything! You ask me to touch you, say you feel hot…”
“I just said what I felt. Was there something bothersome?”
He opened his eyes in surprise, as if genuinely unaware, so I spoke irritably.
“There are other expressions besides these embarrassing words!”
“Like what?”
“Like, you could say my touch makes your body melt… um?”
I quickly shut my mouth, realizing my words sounded stranger than his. My eyes trembled as if an earthquake hit me.
Enoch looked at me, letting out a soft sigh as if realizing something.
“Ah.”
His black lashes fluttered slowly twice, as if organizing his thoughts,
then his red lips rose sleepily.
“Really, what were you thinking with that little mind of yours?”
“No, I didn’t mean it like that!”
Amusement appeared in his voice and handsome face.
Then Enoch raised his hand, which had carefully put its gloves back on, and covered Ariel’s small ears as if blocking the sound.
“I understand your intention, but avoid such expressions. Aren’t they inappropriate for a child to hear?”
“Inappropriate? You know I didn’t mean it like that!”
The situation seemed entertaining to him.
Seeing the amusement in his sparkling gray eyes, I gave up on the losing argument, played with Ariel’s hand, and changed the subject.
“Anyway, don’t use expressions like that again. They cause misunderstandings.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“…But, listen.”
“What?”
“Why… does this happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean… that you freeze when you touch someone.”
“Ah.”
Enoch pointed to his heart nonchalantly.
“When I touch someone, a shard of ice lodged here erupts.”
“What? Why is it there?”
“I put it there.”
His answer came calmly, as if stating a simple fact, but his once-playful eyes grew deep.
“When my body freezes, it doesn’t thaw no matter what I do. There’s nothing I can do but wait days for the eruption to stop…”
He lowered his head, looking at the hand that touched me, and continued.
“Maybe because the Daphne family controls fire, when I touch you, not only does the eruption stop, but my temperature rises quickly.”
“…What?”
Enoch pointed to his heart, and his gray eyes followed my gaze.
“This way, I might be able to melt this annoying ice shard.”
“Wait, wait. Isn’t this a misunderstanding?”
I tilted my head, listening to his explanation calmly.
This can’t be right.
“It’s true the Daphne family controls fire, but I don’t.”
In this world, there are special powers like fire, ice, and wind.
Ice belongs solely to Enoch, and fire belongs to Daphne family members who inherit it.
But the problem is that Riana can’t control fire at all.
Unlike Elisha, the heroine, who displayed the strongest fire power in the empire’s history.
Because of this setup, Riana was born as a villain who drowns herself in alcohol and causes chaos due to her inferiority complex.
Riana controlling fire? There’s definitely a mistake.
I raised a question mark above my head as I recalled the information. Enoch tilted his head to the left.
“Impossible. To suppress my power, your power must be extraordinary.”
“No, I don’t control fire, not even a puff of smoke. The power belongs to Elisha.”
I shook my head confidently. Enoch quietly removed his gloves and raised his hand.
Then,
*Tap.*
“Ah?”
Before I could stop him, he poked Ariel’s chubby cheek with his pale finger.
I was startled by the ice crystals that quickly bloomed from his fingertip, so I grabbed his hand, and a sharp scream escaped my mouth.
“Have you lost your mind? You’re not obsessed with freezing! What are you doing?”
I feared his body would turn frighteningly cold again.
I didn’t want to see his corpse-like appearance again.
I rubbed the ice crystals vigorously as if removing a stain and blew on them to warm them quickly.
Enoch looked at me calmly, then rested his forehead on mine, his throat moving playfully.
“See? It melts well.”
“You could’ve just said that! Why use your body for experiments?”
“Nothing’s more accurate than seeing with your own eyes.”
He nearly turned into an ice statue in a dreamlike world,
but despite my scolding, he seemed amused, laughing as he lightly hugged my waist.
“Riana, it seems I’ve found the cure for this annoying curse.”
