Sylvia closed her eyes, leaning back against the seat, trying to relax and distract herself from the uncomfortable silence that filled the carriage.
The ride was long and the road was dark. It was a while before the carriage came to a halt and when it did Sylvia was surprised to see it standing amidst a lush thick forest.
Both Leol and Theo did not show any signs of moving, while Mikel opened the carriage door on his side and hopped out without a word.
Sylvia stepped down to follow him as the man carried on walking ahead of her, cutting through the trees and the thorny brambles, with his sword brandished.
He did not even look back once to check if Sylvia was alright which made her feel a bit weird. She could tell that he was still upset, but she couldn't quite understand why.
She had been obedient and followed all of his instructions to the very last detail and yet he was upset? Sylvia was not pleased and found her temper rising as well.
She had suffered so much thanks to him and his jealous girlfriend, the least he could do was help her walk through this mess of a jungle.
However, that didn't happen and the two continued walking, one behind the other for a few minutes, after which Mikel came to a stop in front of a clearing.
The forest had thinned out and the hill had suddenly become way steeper. Mikel threw a glance at the woman behind him before starting to climb the hill with his bare hands.
Huh? Sylvia stared at him wide-eyed. Was she also supposed to climb this now? What the hell?
She gulped and hesitated for a moment but the man kept climbing upwards without looking back. Not wanting to be left behind, she had no other option but to mimic the devil.
She bit her lips and tried to hold the nooks and crevices on the rocks. Once she felt that her hold was certain enough, she pushed herself up slowly and steadily.
And lo and behold, she found herself swinging back and forth and actually climbing the steep hill, following the devil's actions.
Ah~ Sylvia found herself surprised by her own actions. She really did not think that she could do something like this.
Just a few days ago, she had failed in climbing a mere tree and now she was scaling a mountain?
She felt a wave of exhilaration sweep past her and the wind that tousled her hair made it feel even better.
As she climbed higher and higher, she felt more confident and scoffed smugly at having beaten the man's scheme, that is… if there was one.
Perhaps he had intended for her to cry and beg for his help to climb this mountain, but she hadn't given him that satisfaction and she was glad for it.
The two of them continued climbing the mountain and after a while, Sylvia could see that they were closer to a stretch of flattened land before the steep rocks once again resumed.
There was even a small cave ahead located on the side of the mountain.
Sylvia followed Mikel as he climbed into the cave and paused when he did. She could see that the cave was wider inside than it looked from outside.
She excitedly looked around, touching the cool and refreshing musty walls of the cave, and followed Mikel as he went further inside the cave.
"Ignis." She muttered lightly, producing a few sparks of flame on her hand as the path inside was quite dark.
However, as they went deeper into the cave and took another sharp turn, Sylvia quickly put away the sparks on her hand.
There was no more need for them as sprawled out ahead of her was a rather large cavern with a small pool of water at the center akin to a pond.
Moonlight flickered into this cavern from an opening on the cave ceiling, illuminating the entire place, dancing on the waters, and making them seem even more magical than they were.
Sylvia stared at the sight in front of her completely mesmerized. Not to mention the thick strands of mana swirling in the air around her.
She could feel the mana saturating her with each breath that she took and her heart pounded faster with each beat.
The water, the moonlight, the mana… She could feel a peculiar feeling surging inside her.
Did he bring me here because of this? Is this where... As her thoughts trailed away, she blinked and turned to look at Mikel who was looking at her.
He still wore the same angry expression on his face. "This is it." He said, breaking the silence and startling her.
"Strip and get into the pool." He bluntly added and turned around to start unbuttoning his shirt.
"Ah... Umm..." Sylvia bit her lips in hesitation.
She thought that she had already made peace with this decision, but now when she actually had to do it, she just couldn't get to it so casually.
Especially now... when he seemed to be so angry with her...
While she hesitated, Mikel brashly tore away his shirt and couldn't help but glance at the woman from the corner of his eye.
He saw her standing still and his frown further deepened. "Hmm?" He turned around and glared at her.
"Are you suddenly unwilling now that you have a better offer?" He smirked at her with a visible hostility and a cruel glint in his eyes.
"Better offer?" Sylvia muttered with her face pale. She knew that he was trying to provoke her.
In fact, he had been doing that ever since they had shared that experience that night, but she didn't understand why he was so angry today.
She tore her eyes away from his and gazed down, wondering how she was going to appease the angry devil.
But the man didn't wait for her and walked closer to her, gripping her shoulders tightly.
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