‘I cannot die here—’

But her eyes soon widened when she grabbed empty air.

She was in the air, falling straight down from that cliff. It was so sudden that when her wits came back, it left her with a bitter smile. She knew that she would die as soon as she hit the ground.

‘Unfair…’

She had just come out from that hellish mountain, and she had barely seen the outside world… but she was going to die already?

She closed her eyes, reluctant to accept her fate of dying, but her mind screamed, ‘I don’t want to die!’

Just as she had that thought, something warm wrapped around her body, and when she opened her eyes, she saw a pair of red eyes staring back at her.

‘It’s him?’

The moment she saw Draven, she momentarily forgot about dying, and was simply startled to see him falling down the cliff with her. The harsh wind was making her ears buzz as the high pressure of wind was making her unable to keep her eyes open for long.

Out of instinct, she grabbed onto him, holding on for her dear life.

Draven could have stopped both of them from falling down at any moment, but he did not, merely continuing to look at the small body in his arms.

Those familiar-looking emerald green eyes, her mahogany hair that was moving along with the rushing wind…

His red eyes wanted to imprint this image in his mind while holding her firmly close to his body, somewhat finding her body weight as light as a feather as it went down along with his.

No, he didn’t think about why he appeared along with her all of a sudden. The only thing that mattered to him at this moment were the emotions in those confused and scared eyes.

Her eyes…those emerald green eyes were too beautiful to have any negative emotions in them.

As Ember was facing the ground while Draven was facing the sky while falling in the air, it was Ember who could see they would soon hit the ground under the cliff. The fear in her eyes intensified.

‘D-Does he want to die?’

Just as she had that thought, their bodies stopped mid-air even before they could touch the crown of the trees. This abrupt stop while falling down at a speed made her head dizzy and her vision unstable, making her close her eyes. Her brows wrinkled in a show of discomfort as her hands clutched his black sleeping robe at his shoulders.

Slowly, Draven turned their bodies in the air in a standing position and made their way down towards the forest floor. As they gently fell in between the large trees, his red eyes remained stuck on her face.

Her face had herb paste applied on top of her burn marks, while the rest were bruised. One could not really see how she exactly looked, but he still found himself unable to move his gaze away from her face.

In his eyes, she was but a tiny delicate creature that needed to be protected, even more fragile than your typical human. Though she exhibited strange abilities, her body was as frail as the rest of her kind.

Just as their feet touched the ground, Ember opened her eyes and held on to him to keep herself steady, though he had already held her thin waist firmly.

One second, five seconds…He still didn’t let her go.

Ember reluctantly met his gaze, wanting to say he should let go of her body, but he simply stared down at her, his arms keeping her unable to move away.

‘Why is he still holding me?’

When she tried to push him away, to her surprise, he let her go as if he wasn’t the one keeping her trapped in his arms. That hesitant push of hers got him back to his senses, finally sparking his curiosity about why he appeared in the air next to her. Was it to save her?

Because she didn’t expect he would simply let go of her, she missed her balance and clumsily fell on her back.

She was in terrible pain as the scratches on her bruised body were stinging, particularly the raw wounds on her hands, but it didn’t matter to him as all he did was to stare at her.

Those eyes were demanding an answer from her. How did she manage to get him to save her? Did she realize he was watching her? Did she use a spell?

It’s not like he would not have saved her when she fell from the cliff, but even before he could act, unknown energy pulled him towards her. He realized it was a familiar scenario—back when he saved her from that burning mountain in Valor, he was also pulled by the same kind of unknown energy.

‘She is indeed the one who summoned me… but how?’

He took a step towards her, only to see her responding by crawling backwards to get away from him, which reminded him of the exact same behaviour she showed when he caught her escaping from the palace.

Though Ember learned it was Draven who saved her, it was near-instinct for her to warily react to the people around her. All her life she had been taught to stay away from strangers as they are dangerous and this doctrine was engraved in her mind, becoming a part of her personality.

Not to mention, this man in front of her was someone she considered scary. Every encounter between them was unpleasant for her, thus her mind was conditioned to think it was best to stay as far away from him as possible.

Seeing her scared, Draven decided to try again. He kneeled in front of her and offered her his hand, expecting her to not repeat that last incident and accept his hand just like how she accepted Leeora’s.

But once again, she moved back, her green eyes looking at him in fear and caution. His patience snapped.

‘This rude thing!’

He pulled his hand back as he gave a grave look at this thing in front of him.

“First,” he said in an unnaturally calm voice, “I hate humans.

“Second, I was forced to save you.

“Third, if you are planning to stay here and die, then I must say it’s a good decision.”

——–

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