“Shouldn’t we go too?”

“Is there anyone who can ride a horse?”

The servants gathered in front of the villa courtyard were having a conversation with worried faces.

Clatter, clatter.

Then the faint sound of horse hooves was heard from the darkness.

“Huh? Is that the soldier?”

Though it was still a sound heard from far away, Kelly and the servants looked into the darkness with anxious faces.

“Huh?”

“Your Grace?”

Shortly after, the servants all bowed their heads in unison to the man who appeared on horseback.

“Why is everyone gathered?”

Dain, who jumped down from his horse, asked with a puzzled expression. He had ridden his horse without rest for a full day because he missed Liana and had just arrived in Rozella.

“Your Grace, the lady went up Mount Rope but hasn’t returned yet.”

Kelly reported to him with a tearful face.

“When did she go up?”

Dain’s expression became fierce. His originally white face became even paler. Even his voice was trembling.

“She left after having breakfast this morning and said she’d return before sunset, but she hasn’t come yet. The coachman and soldier who went to pick up the lady haven’t returned either.”

“First, call for a physician. I’ll go scout myself.”

“Yes, understood.”

If Liana was injured, a physician would be needed. After giving the order, Dain mounted his horse again and headed toward Mount Rope.

I should have warned her…… But how did she go up?

Since he had set up a barrier on the mountain, he naturally thought she wouldn’t be able to go up. Rozella had many things to see like glaciers, lakes, and hot springs, and there was also a large hot spring in the villa’s backyard, so there was no need to climb the mountain.

‘Why on earth did she go up there? Liana.’

Various questions arose, but finding Liana was the urgent priority. Dain raced toward the entrance of Mount Rope at high speed.

“Your Grace.”

“Your Grace, have you come?”

The coachman and soldier were fretting at the mountain entrance, unable to enter the mountain because of the barrier. They breathed sighs of relief seeing the duke who suddenly appeared.

“I was about to go inform the duke’s castle.”

The soldier bowed his head and reported. Only the duke could release the barrier on Mount Rope.

“Now that I’m here, it’s fine. Wait at the base of the mountain with the coachman.”

Dain ordered.

“Yes, understood.”

Dain, who jumped down from his horse, began climbing the mountain at high speed.

He instantly released the barrier he had set up and transformed into a large python, crawling up the mountain path at high speed. The python flicked its forked tongue, searching for where Liana was.

Soon his tongue detected another snake’s pheromones. The detected pheromones were calling for fellow snakes. He crawled to where the pheromones were calling in the blink of an eye.

「What should we do with the woman? She’ll freeze to death if we leave her like this.」

「Kian will come looking for her. Let’s move her to the den.」

「What if Kian doesn’t come?」

「We’ll have to take her to the duke’s castle.」

The snake den was underground beneath rocks, so it wasn’t suitable for keeping a human for long. Since they had finished hibernating, they planned to transform into humans and take the woman to the duke’s castle if Kian didn’t come looking for her.

「Oh? Kian has come.」

When the white snake, namely Dain, appeared, the snakes slithered aside to make way.

「Billy, you’ve done well.」

The white snake said.

Billy was the python who first discovered the unconscious Liana.

He was the leader of the snakes living on Mount Rope and Dain’s subordinate. He had participated in the battle with the Kingdom of Lavinia alongside Dain and was taking a brief rest on Mount Rope after obtaining leave following their victorious return.

「The woman fell from the cliff.」

Billy reported.

「Where is she injured?」

「Fortunately, she fell where snow and fallen leaves had accumulated, so she’s not injured, but her body temperature is low. She also fainted after seeing the wolves and us.」

「Of course she fainted with so many of you gathered!」

Dain shouted while looking around at the snakes. The snakes hung their heads with dejected expressions at his scolding.

「Everyone go back!」

「Yes!」

Following the white snake’s command, the horde of giant snakes began crawling up the snowfield in perfect order, returning to their underground dens.

They were snake clan soldiers who stayed on Mount Rope and participated in battles alongside Dain whenever the army was needed.

「What should I do?」

Billy, who was beside the white snake, asked hesitantly.

「You go back too!」

「Yes, understood.」

When Dain shouted, the spotted python bowed its head and then disappeared into the darkness.

The white snake approached the fallen Liana. When he pressed his body against Liana’s body, her skin was colder than usual. Since his own body temperature was low, he couldn’t raise her body temperature by pressing bare skin together like ordinary humans.

‘She’ll die of hypothermia if I leave her like this.’

The giant white snake, whose length exceeded ten times the height of a grown man and whose body thickness was like a centuries-old tree stump, pushed his body under Liana who was lying prone on the snowfield.

Liana ended up in a position where she was lying flat on the snake’s back, being carried.

Slither—

The giant white snake carrying the woman began sliding smoothly down the snowfield. Her body on his back was ice-cold.

‘Just endure a little. I’ll warm you up soon.’

He wished his body could be warm like a human’s in times like this. If that were the case, he could move her to a cave, light a fire, and embrace her body to quickly raise her temperature. The snake clan couldn’t do that.

He had never been dissatisfied with being part of the snake clan until now and had actually lived with confidence because he was born with superior abilities compared to others. But today, he felt powerless for the first time in his life.

He wanted to save Liana but couldn’t do anything.

* * *

Liana had a dream. In the dream, she was riding on the back of a white python, sliding down the snowfield like on a sled.

“Wow.”

She kept exclaiming in the dream. Her lips moved slightly while her eyes remained closed.

“This is amazing.”

She loved the smooth ride without any shaking, the fast speed, and above all, the sense of security that felt so comforting.

“Thank you, Leomi.”

Even while unconscious, Liana instinctively recognized that the white snake was Leomi. She murmured quietly in gratitude for giving her a sled ride.

That moment, the sound of wind brushing past her ears was followed by the sound of horse hooves galloping at high speed.

* * *

A full day later, dawn broke and Liana opened her eyes.

‘Hmm…… Am I alive?’

She looked around with her light blue eyes.

‘This seems familiar……’

The place where she was lying was the villa’s bedroom.

I fell from the cliff, met wolves, and snakes swarmed around me.

Right. It was snakes.

Liana shuddered. But thanks to the snakes, she was safe without being bitten by wolves. She had fainted from shock, but thinking about it again, she was grateful to the snakes.

There were even multiple snakes, not just one. It was like all the snakes on Mount Rope had come out.

‘But how did I get here? The snakes couldn’t have moved me.’

Liana couldn’t understand how her unconscious self ended up lying in the villa’s bed.

While looking left and right, she saw a man sitting in front of the fireplace.

“……Dain?”

Dain was sitting in a chair, asleep. His face looked somewhat gaunt for some reason. When he didn’t wake up, Liana didn’t call him anymore and continued watching him.

Did Dain bring me? Did he come all the way to the mountain to find me?

Suddenly her heart began pounding.

While she continued watching him, Dain opened his eyes at some point. His red eyes, white hair, and snow-white skin glowed mysteriously like they weren’t of this world.

“Come up to the bed. Why are you sitting there?”

Liana said in a weak voice. Her voice didn’t come out clearly, probably because she had been unconscious for a long time.

The bed was large enough for three or four grown men to lie down, so she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t lying down but sitting in a chair. But Dain didn’t move at all.

“Did Your Grace bring me here?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know I was there?”

“I heard from the maid. She said you went up the mountain. I heard wolf sounds so I went in that direction.”

“Right. Wolves! I almost got bitten by wolves. If the snakes hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t be alive.”

Liana shouted excitedly when he mentioned wolves.

“You seem to remember.”

When she talked about snakes, one side of Dain’s chest twinged. He still had no intention of telling Liana that he was part of the snake clan.

The reason was that he had no intention of continuing a long relationship with her, but in fact, a completely different premise lay beneath. He was afraid that if Liana knew he was part of the snake clan, she would hate him.

‘She’s a woman who fainted twice after seeing snakes. If she finds out I’m part of the snake clan, she’ll obviously try not to deal with me.’

No matter how unavoidable it was for her to spend nights with him because of her biological father’s debt, if she rejected him after finding out he was part of the snake clan, there would be nothing he could do. He couldn’t force himself on her.

“Come up. You’ll get sick if you sit there all night.”