Chapter 256 - Fireplace

The firewood started to crackle as the flames began to engulf them whole. The cold room was already getting warmer than before.

The lady who lighted up the fire looked back at Caspian and then asked him politely, “Sir, if you sit down with your wife in front of the fire then her body will warm up sooner. And when her body gets warm, you might want to tuck her back in the blanket.”

Caspian nodded and then immediately walked toward the bed to wake Anastasia up.

The lady spread a thick rug in front of the fireplace so that the two of them could sit down.

Caspian carried Anastasia in front of the fireplace and put her down on the rug. “Sit here for a while, okay?” he whispered to his wife and then stood behind his wife while maintaining a decent distance between him and the fireplace.

The lady waited for Caspian to sit down as well. But when she didn’t see that he intended to do so, she spoke up again, “Umm… Your wife is still shivering. She will feel the warmth faster if you… disrobe her and sit by her side. The warmth from your body will also be of great help if you could also do the same.”

Caspian kept on staring at that woman as if she had just said something very absurd.

The lady hung her head low and quickly added, “And when you take her back to her bed, make sure to extinguish the fire. Else you two might suffocate.” After saying that, she quickly ran out of the room since her work was done.

Caspian, on the other hand, took a deep breath in disappointment. ‘But my body isn’t warm.’ He was saddened when he recalled what that lady asked of him.

.....

Anastasia slightly turned her head and tried to look at her husband. Although she didn’t see the expression on his face, she knew what was going on in his head. So, she consolingly mumbled, “Caspian, it’s alright. The fire is warm enough.”

Caspian didn’t say anything. He simply stared at his wife’s gorgeous hair and kept on standing right where he was.

Anastasia held out her hands in front of the fireplace so that they would get warm faster. However, her hands got tired before she could even feel the heat of the fire.

‘I think I should sit closer,’ she thought to herself and tried to push herself up with great difficulty.

Caspian quickly came to her aid and asked as he held her by her arms, “Hey, is everything okay? Why are you trying to get up?”

“Umm…” Anastasia grabbed a hold of her husband’s wrists and then said, “I wanted to sit closer to the fireplace.”

“But this is already way too close…” Caspian replied while knitting his brows together.

“My hands are short so...” Anastasia pouted.

“Any closer than this and your hair might accidentally catch on fire,” Caspian protested again. When his wife didn’t reply, he sighed and then asked, “Shall we do as the lady had suggested? Your clothes are thick, and it seems like the warmth from the fire will take time to reach your body.”

Anastasia also knew that it was the fastest way that her temperature would rise back to normal. So, she feebly nodded her head and agreed.

“Okay,” Caspian mumbled and then ran towards the door to lock it from the inside.

He quickly returned to where his wife was, and then stood behind her back. He then helped her take off her hood, loosened the lace of her bodice, and one by one, he helped her take off the pieces of her gown.

When Anastasia stood there in her linen chemise, she looked towards the bed and asked, “Will you get one of the blankets?”

Caspian did as she had asked.

Anastasia then looked at her husband’s palms. Since he had been standing too close to that burning fire, his palms had already turned red. So, she asked him, “Why don’t you go and lie down on the bed? You should also rest while I sit here for a while.”

However, Caspian was against that idea. “What if you doze off in front of the fire? I will stay right here.” He then sat down before Anastasia could, and then held out his palms in front of the fire so as to absorb more heat.

“Caspian! What are you doing?” Anastasia quickly bent down and pushed his hands away.

But Caspian held out his hands again and said, “I am trying to warm myself up so that I can help you.”

“You don’t have to…” Anastasia replied while furrowing her brows.

However, Caspian didn’t move an inch. He kept on enduring that excruciating heat and asked his wife, “Quick. Take off the rest of your clothes and sit by my side. The fire might die down soon. And I don’t know how to light it up again.”

Anastasia didn’t have the energy to keep on arguing with her husband. So, she gave up and quickly took off her sheer chemise as well.

Caspian rubbed his hands together and patted the empty space beside him. “Come. Sit down.”

Anastasia looked at the blanket that was lying beside Caspian. She quickly picked it up and placed it on Caspian’s lap.

Caspian understood what she wanted to do. So, he quickly pulled it up until it covered his chest.

Anastasia then comfortably sat down on her husband’s lap and rested her back on him as if he was the backrest of the chair. She then pulled the blankets from the sides and then tucked them in such a way that Caspian was completely covered from that intense heat.

Caspian smirked when his wife was still thinking about him when she was in that condition. But he popped out his arms from the blanket-prison anyway and took Anastasia’s hands in his. He then started to rub his palms against hers.

Anastasia gently hit her head against Caspian’s chest and protested, “Caspian, you don’t have to. Put them back inside.”

However, Caspian gave a peck on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “I have to. Don’t worry about me.”

Then he continued holding out his palm in front of the fire no matter how much it hurt. And he either rubbed them against her palms or pressed the warm palms on her cheeks and her forehead.

Soon enough, Anastasia’s eyelids started to get heavier and heavier as her body’s temperature began to climb. She comfortably rested her head on her husband’s chest and traveled to her wonderful dreamland.

Caspian, on the other hand, broke free from the blanket-prison and wrapped the blanket around his wife. He put his arms around his wife’s waist and kissed her head.

“Please get better soon, Anna. I can’t bear to see you like this,” he whispered.