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‘Then, what if he hurt his hand?’
Holly remembered his hand, which was beautiful without a single scar, in accordance with his precious status.
If there was even a scratch on that pretty finger, she thought it would hurt her. As she glared at him with a piercing eye, Cahill scratched the stem a couple more times with his fingernails, then hid his hand behind his back.
“Cahill. Can you just freeze the stems?”
As he stopped mistreating his nails, Holly asked in a softer voice. She recalled the memories of spending the night in the cave with him. She then saw that snow that had covered the entrance melted into water, and the water froze and fell to the floor, breaking apart.
“Wouldn’t it break if you hit it hard after freezing? You are very strong.”
She feared that Ahmed might get too impatient to attack him, so she glanced at him and whispered softly that only Cahill could hear her.
“I’ll try.”
It was different from his usual way of speaking, which was always confident. Still, there was no other way, so Holly nodded her head with a trembling face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Keep talking.”
Holly turned to Ahmed again and smiled softly, telling him to keep talking. She had to drag the time while Cahill cut off the stem.
Ahmed looked at her with an uncomfortable look and then spoke again.
“With the Magic Stone and you, we can live proudly in the desert again.”
Hearing his words, Holly narrowed her brow.
“What can I do?”
She was not sure if she was from the same desert as them, but what was clear was that she was abandoned by her parents at a very young age. How could she change their lives when she didn’t come from a good background and didn’t have any special abilities…?
“…You just need to be by my side as my bride. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Holly read a moment’s hesitation from him.
It was nice that she didn’t have to do anything since it was such a delightful notion. However, she had seen a number of people who fell for the pleasant words and ruined their life.
“It really is. Can’t you see the people who are happy just with your existence?”
Ahmed, who felt an aura moving against her in her suspicious eyes, quickly beckoned to his back. The next moment, she saw a maid who looked at Holly with eager eyes.
It was Mona who served Holly during her stay in Sharif.
“There has never been a moment when I didn’t have sincerity in serving Miss Holly. I’m not asking you to understand, but everyone likes you…”
“I don’t know why it’s me, but didn’t Mona treat me well because you needed me in the end?”
She slightly shifted her gaze away from Mona’s eyes, which were staring intently at her.
“It’s not that it’s bad. It’s just that I’m not obligated to respond because I didn’t want to.”
It was difficult for her to speak cold words as she looked straight at the person who had been on her hands and feet for three days. So, Holly looked into Ahmed’s eyes instead.
“You have already made up your mind to leave us.”
Ahmed smiled bitterly as if abandoned by his lover.
At that moment, Holly’sbody slid down. It was because Cahill cut off the stem that was holding both of her legs.
“I don’t know what he said, but it’s not all true. Doesn’t Holly know that he’s been wary of me since the first time I met him?”
Ahmed said urgently as if he had sensed the end. His face hardened, imagining that Cahill was where Holly’s eyes turned.
“Of course, if he has a beautiful and attractive woman like Holly on his side, it’s only obvious. Anyone who knows you will fall at your feet, longing for even a speck of affection.”
Holly wanted to hug his creeped-up body as soon as her arms were free. However, she took a bite of the flesh in her mouth and then released it.
“Cahill didn’t say anything about you.”
Ahmed, who had been smiling the whole time trying to win her heart, finally frowned. Then Cahill, who rose from the ground, hugged Holly’s body. At the same time, he cut off the stem holding her left arm.
“Ugh!”
“Holly!”
Holly’s body leaned back like it was falling. Seeing her terrified face, Cahill pulled her arm and looped it around his neck, so she was leaning against his tight chest and sighed in relief.
Cahill grabbed the last stem while holding her in his arms.
A tough stem that even a knife couldn’t cut shattered in the palm of his hand. Finally, her body was free. Holly’s eyes twinkled. Cahill held her in his arms and lowered her lightly to the floor.
“Let’s go there.”
Holly pointed to the left side of the flowers. Plants were clustered together on the farthest side from the castle entrance. A bud like a duck’s snout hung over the thin stem.
“When stimulated, it spits out something like a very hard stone.”
Compared to the others, the stems were thin and there were no petals, so the surrounding ground looked sparse, but in fact, thin threads like roots were widely and closely intertwined in the shallow ground. Even with a slight step, all plants with connected roots would attack the target.
“Step on the bud, not the ground.”
It was the bud that spat out the aggressive seeds. If they stepped on the bud instead of the ground where the roots were spread out, they only had to deal with that plant. It was quite possible because it was a tall tree that was three times her own height and Cahill’s, who ran well through the trees.
“Get them right now!”
“But, Your Highness! Beyond this is the garden!”
“Whether we cross this wall now or not, the result will be the same.”
Foreshadowing the two of them escaping, there was a commotion beyond the wall. Ahmed’s voice urging the soldiers was cold as never before.
‘Maybe, that’s the real thing.’
It was not for nothing the nobles were wary of him. Holly, biting her tongue, made eye contact with a man over Cahill’s shoulder. He was a soldier who was pushed up the wall by Ahmed’s menacing orders.
“Hurry!”
She clung to Cahill’s body as she came out. As he changed his stance, the soldier’s legs were already draped over the wall.
“It doesn’t matter if they get hurt a little, so be sure to bring them!”
She was startled by the sound coming through the wall.
“Aren’t we supposed to be alive in some way?”
“Are they going to kill us?”
Cahill, who held Holly’s butt, spit out. The first soldier completely climbed up the wall, and new soldiers joined from both sides.
“No, run!”
With Holly’s urgent cry, he jumped off. On the wall, Ahmed’s soldiers pointed their bows, while Cahill stepped on a bud that looked like a duck’s snout. Then the bud opened and something shot out from within.
“Uwak!”
The scream was followed by the sound of something heavy falling to the floor. Holly, who was hanging from Cahill’s shoulder, looked at the empty spot with round eyes. The soldier on the wall disappeared in an instant. A seed from the bud that Cahill stepped on seemed to have flown towards the soldier and attacked him.
“Well done!”
Cahill, who actually had no intention of doing anything, tilted his head at Holly’s sudden praise. Realizing it, with a smile on his face, he stepped on the bud harder.
“Aack!”
“He’s attacking the plant! Be careful!”
The soldiers who were repeatedly attacked by the plants lost consciousness.
“The attack power is great.”
Holly’s voice was excited by the unexpected turn of events. She was worried about getting small attacks from it, but on the contrary, it was able to threaten their pursuers.
“Come on, chase them! If you fall down, you can just step on it and run!”
Ahmed, who had only his face exposed over the high wall, shouted, pointing to the soldier who had fallen over the flowers. The other soldiers, who were hesitant because they did not know what to do, stepped on their fellow soldiers and ran. The soldier, who was paralyzed and collapsed, uttered curses under the ruthless pressure, then vomited blood and fainted.
“Uwack! What’s grabbing me!”
There seemed to be a soldier caught somewhere by the stem. Screams erupted from everywhere.
“This is kind of fun. I want to do more…….”
Cahill let out a sad voice as he watched the garden move further away. No matter what, it was quite exciting.
“Shall we go back there again?”
Cahill, in an excited voice, pointed to the end of the road where the soldiers had been struggling. Ahmed caught Holly’s eyes. He was ferociously twisting his face that had been protruding over the wall.
“As soon as we return, the arrows will pierce our body.”