Chapter 22
Sharie lifted herself slightly and pressed a quick kiss to his lips, positioned above hers.
“Um… but what does this have to do with body temperature…?”
She had done as instructed out of concern for his cold body, but it still made no sense.
Like a devout believer receiving the blessing of a saint, Kaisa accepted her lips with his eyes closed—then cracked one open.
“It has nothing to do with it.”
“What?”
She had suspected as much, but then why on earth had he told her to do it?
Kaisa smiled at her wide-eyed, flustered expression.
“I simply wanted to receive your kiss, and you so willingly obliged.”
It was clearly deliberate. She felt foolish for taking him at his word.
This time, Sharie could not help but grumble.
“Do you enjoy teasing people?”
“Just this much? You wound me. I’m always restraining the urge to torment you more, you know.”
Perhaps it was the heat rising from the bathwater, but his voice, clinging to her ear, seemed unusually thick and sticky.
“To be honest, even now…”
Gulp.
A sound like that of a starving hound before its prey fell against her ear.
The comfort she had felt in his arms moments ago evaporated.
With instinctive alarm, Sharie shot up as though she had never melted into his embrace at all.
“I-I’ll be going now!”
“Is that so?”
She tensed, half-expecting him to stop her, but to her relief, Kaisa seemed unconcerned.
“I think I’ll warm myself a bit longer. You may go on ahead.”
She had been about to make her escape, yet now that he wasn’t holding her back, she felt an odd pang of disappointment. She could hardly understand her own heart.
Grabbing a thick towel, she hid her face. She didn’t want him to see any trace of that strange regret.
When she returned to the bed, a servant had already laid out her clothes.
I should’ve come out earlier.
Perhaps from soaking too long in the hot water, a faint dizziness washed over her.
So tired…
After a day spent on her feet, the weight of fatigue pressed her eyelids down.
The plush bed seemed to swallow her whole.
I should wait…
Determined not to sleep alone, she meant to wait for Kaisha to come out—but the moment she closed her eyes, she could no longer lift her heavy lids.
“Are you asleep?”
By the time the man approached without a sound and whispered softly, Sharie was already halfway into slumber.
In the quiet bedroom, the only sound was the gentle crackle of the fire in the hearth.
She felt a warm hand stroke her head.
She didn’t need to see to picture it—long, jointed fingers sliding through her thick, silvery hair.
With that image in her mind, Sharie drifted fully into sleep.
Moisture, not yet wiped away, trailed down the strong line of his jaw.
With a towel draped around his neck, Kaisha stepped out of the bath and looked down at the peacefully sleeping woman.
“Sharie? Are you asleep?”
Not long ago, she had slept with her shoulders hunched in wary tension. Now she sprawled across the wide bed, limbs thrown in every direction.
She looked utterly at ease.
Perhaps, he thought, she was becoming more accustomed to Barhad—more accustomed to him.
“If that’s the case, then good.”
Reaching out carefully, Kaisa traced her cheek. A smile softened his lips.
Knock, knock.
He turned away, ensuring the bed’s canopy concealed her from view.
Creak.
The door opened and hurried footsteps entered the chamber.
“Forgive the intrusion at this late hour, my lord. Urgent news has just arrived.”
Still catching his breath, Edwin paused.
“Wipe that look off your face, my lord. Do you think I wanted to come to someone’s bedchamber in the middle of the night? Heaven knows what I might be interrupting.”
Clearing his throat, Edwin steadied himself.
“If I’ve come at a… busy moment, my sincerest apologies—”
“State your business.”
The cold interruption carried an unfiltered edge of displeasure. Sensing the mood, Edwin straightened sharply.
“Yes, sir. A scouting party near the Cedric Mountains has just sent an urgent report.”
The Cedric range formed Barhad’s rugged frontier, its densely packed peaks serving as a natural bulwark against monster incursions.
Outposts were stationed there, manned with soldiers who regularly sent reports to the capital. This time, something was amiss.
“They’ve found signs that, over the past few days, a large number of monsters have migrated into the central region of the range.”
Monsters that hadn’t set foot near the Cedric Mountains in decades—now moving in large numbers over them.
This was no ordinary matter.
“In rare cases, some communal monster species will relocate under a leader’s direction. But never have so many moved at once. This seems… different.”
If the monsters’ behavioral patterns were changing, it was not welcome news.
Kaisa recalled the past—when a single intelligent gargoyle had led an assault on Barhad. He had personally slain it, but not before dozens of monsters had swarmed a village, leaving heavy casualties in their wake.
“How many?”
“At least thirty. At most…”
Edwin hesitated.
“Hard to say precisely, but certainly over fifty.”
In Barhad’s harsh, frozen land, monsters were a constant plague upon the serpent clan.
Defenses existed, but such numbers could not be taken lightly.
The small village just below the Cedric range had barely a hundred residents.
Against a horde of over fifty monsters, its garrison would stand no chance.
“On the bright side, the tracks match those of trolls.”
Trolls were strong but dull-witted—hardly the most dangerous foes.
Kaisa finally spoke.
“As a precaution, reinforce the city’s defenses. Check the strength of the villages near the range. Send a squad to attempt a subjugation. One unit should suffice.”
Since the troll horde had yet to cross the mountains, a small force could likely handle it.
“True enough. Against trolls, even regular troops will do. Understood.”
Edwin nodded.
“Then, I wish you a peaceful night, my lord.”
“Wait.”
Edwin stopped mid-step.
“Has there been anything unusual with Arceo lately?”
“The High Priest Arceo, my lord?”
Feeling the weight of Kaisa’s sharp gaze, Edwin quickly corrected himself.
“You mean that traitor?”
Arceo had once been High Priest of Barhad and a pillar of the temple’s power.
But when Kaisa took the throne and reformed the temple, he stripped Arceo of his authority—helped along by the man’s many corrupt dealings.
Now, Arceo rotted in prison.
“It seems we have a rat selling our information from within. No one else comes to mind but him.”
“To the rabbit clan, you mean?”
Edwin frowned in thought.
“Would Arceo really sell to rabbits? He’s always been a hardliner—never trusted any race but our own.”
“You never know with a man like him.”
Arceo’s pride was immense, but he was not so foolish as to cling to it when cornered.
Kaisa gave a low, cold chuckle.
The shadows across his sharply cut features only made his expression more dangerous.
“Until now, I’ve spared him for his symbolic value. But that’s over.”
In the early days of temple reform, Arceo still commanded a loyal faction—mostly elders of the clan—who insisted a High Priest, as the god’s voice, must not be treated lightly.
But times had changed.
Now, the temple was filled with younger blood who barely remembered him, and the council of elders had no real power.
The High Priest’s seat had been vacant for years. It was time to fill it.
A glint of resolve flashed in Kaisa’s eyes.
“The time has come. Soon, Arceo will join Gaia.”
Edwin couldn’t quite hide his surprise.
“May I ask something, my lord?”
Corrupt and self-serving though Arceo had been, it was Kaisa’s efforts that had cleansed the temple’s tarnished image.
“Why, my lord…?”
Yet Edwin had always wondered—back when Kaisa was merely heir, Arceo had seemed rather cordial toward him.
