Chapter 10

Thump, thump, thump—the regular beating of a heart made Ellie confused whether it was hers or his.

“Ellie.”

After confirming again that the surroundings were quiet, Cal gently lifted Ellie’s chin. The trembling in her clear green eyes was vivid.

“Ellie. I want to kiss you.”

It was the same phrase as before. But unlike before, this time it was as good as an announcement—he really meant to do it. As Cal’s face and lips slowly drew closer, Ellie couldn’t say no.

His lips, moist and soft, touched hers slowly. Cal licked Ellie’s lips, kissing her, then naturally parted her lips and drew her into a deep kiss. He quickly caught her tongue in her small mouth.

His tongue teased, rubbing the lingual frenulum beneath her tongue, making Ellie groan. Her hips trembled and her knees weakened.

“Mm, hng. Haa, Cal.”

“Yes, Ellie. I’m right here.”

Now, Cal could make Ellie cling to him just with a kiss.

“Th, that’s enough. Haa… mm.”

“Just a little, just a little more.”

Chuup, Cal sucked her wet tongue, as if he would swallow all of Ellie’s saliva.

“…Haa, haa….”

Breathless, Ellie tapped his chest, trying to pull away, but Cal held her face with both hands and kissed her deeply before finally releasing her. He hugged her tightly, resting his cheek atop her head as he caught his breath.

Haa, haa. Their rough breaths collided in the quiet space between the bookshelves.

Cal even wiped Ellie’s wet lips before stepping back. If not for her plump lips, swollen from the deep kiss, and her flushed eyes, it would have seemed as if nothing happened. But Ellie’s legs felt hot and ticklish, and she struggled not to show it.

***

“Ellie, let’s have dinner together.”

Today wasn’t a day to meet at Nyx, and Cal was asking Ellie for a date. Whether Ellie would consider it a date was uncertain.

Before answering, Ellie stared at Cal.

Meeting Cal at work hadn’t been part of Ellie’s plan, but she accepted it as an unavoidable situation. She had drawn a line—private relationships only at Nyx—but since he’d been here, that line had blurred long ago.

She wondered if she needed to redefine their relationship, but to do that would mean Cal was deeply involved in both her public and private life, and that felt too heavy.

‘Well, dinner is something coworkers can do together, right?’

Ellie was now at the point of rationalizing things to herself. But she overlooked the fact that she had never spent time with a coworker after work.

“I’ll choose the restaurant.”

Cal’s bright smile was an answer in itself.

After work, the two left the library together. Since they were the last to leave, there was no need to worry about being seen.

Crossing the busy street with carriages and automobiles, Ellie led Cal to a restaurant she liked.

“I’ve been coming here since my Academy days. The beef stew is really delicious.”

It was a small place with only four tables. Maybe because it was late, there were no other customers. Entering, Ellie exchanged a glance with the lady owner coming from the kitchen.

“The owner here is really good, so other dishes are nice too. The shrimp and scallops sautéed with garlic are tasty, and have you tried rice? I heard it’s not found in the North.”

The southern part of the Kingdom was close to the sea, so seafood dishes were common. And rice, a new ingredient brought by trade with eastern countries, had become a recent trend.

“Anything’s fine. Whatever you like, Ellie.”

Maybe it was the dim lighting, but Cal’s gaze felt especially deep, and Ellie paused. She’d thought his eyes were a dark sky blue at first, but now they seemed like the deep sea. Staring into those eyes, Ellie soon called the owner.

After ordering, the owner went back to the kitchen, leaving the two alone. The silence felt as if it stirred something deep inside her, so Ellie decided to say something.

“Ah, after you finish at the Academy, will you stay here? Or return to the North?”

After asking, Ellie regretted it, but Cal just smiled brightly.

“Why… are you smiling?”

“Do you know? This is the first time you’ve asked about my personal life, Ellie.”

That makes me so happy. Cal overlapped his hands with Ellie’s and gently stroked her hand. He wanted Ellie to be more curious about him.

“For now, I’ll return to the North. I haven’t decided what I’ll do after that.”

“Ah… What’s the North like?”

For some reason, Cal’s mention of returning north left Ellie feeling empty. She tried not to show it, so she asked about the North. Having lived her whole life in the South, the North was a mystery to Ellie.

All she knew was that the North still had strong noble influence and was a cold region with lots of snow. It was less developed than the South, but had its own traditional culture, very different from the South.

“It’s a beautiful place. I want to show it to you, Ellie.”

“The North?”

“Have you ever seen snowflowers, Ellie?”

“No. I’ve never even seen snow.”

For someone from the warm southern regions, snow was like ice falling from the sky. Ice falling from the sky! She wondered if it piled up into something like stone.

“Snow is cold, but also cozy. It can be frightening, enough to swallow a person whole.”

“Is it true the snow blocks the roads?”

“Of course. In winter, snow can isolate you, so you have to prepare in advance.”

But Cal also defended the North’s snow, saying there were things you could only do when there was so much snow.

“There’s a big lake in the city where I grew up, and in midwinter, it freezes solid. In winter, I used to skate on the ice covering the lake.”

“The lake freezes?”

“Of course. If you go to the far north, even the sea freezes.”

Ellie was surprised by the North’s cold, where even the sea froze, but she saw longing on Cal’s face as he talked about the North. She wondered what it was like to love something so much.

While talking about the North, their food arrived: beef stew, seafood stir-fry, salad with fresh vegetables—just as Ellie promised, everything was excellent. The two finished their satisfying meal with a glass of wine each, then left the small restaurant.