Chapter 145: Chapter 74.1

the wooden door creaked open.

nobody must have used it for a long time, but it didn’t smell as old as she thought.

however, the cabin was dark without a single fire it felt spooky somehow.

“this cabin is used for emergency purposes. i usually stay here when i can’t go to the barracks. well, it’s been a while since anyone had used it because there isn’t any emergency yet, but i still clean it regularly.”

cassian passed by yernia, who was standing still and moved busily here and there.

yernia stared blankly at him as he fumbled in the dark and when he lit the candle he found, their surroundings brightened up.

the cabin was neat.

she had no idea when it was cleaned, but it must have been done recently.

yernia was lucky to lie on a clean sheet.

“i should have brought you here earlier. i forgot because i didn’t manage it.”

“yes. it’s warmer here compared to the barracks.”

“shall we stay here from now on?”

“can we? oh, no. i prefer to sleep in the barracks.”

yernia, who had taken off her outerwear and lied down, was intrigued at first but quickly shook her head when she thought of something.

the horrifying monster from earlier suddenly came to mind.

even if it was cold and uncomfortable, the barracks were still better than here.

“it’s inconvenient for you to come and go, too.”

“i can tolerate that much inconvenience.”

“what are you talking about? let’s just sleep here just for tonight.”

she felt warm and relaxed so she easily fell asleep.

suddenly, cassian sat down with his knees bent in front of yernia as he grabbed one leg.

next, he took off her boots and gently brushed her bare knees.

only then did she realize that her knees were injured.

“oh, it hurts!”

as the snow on her knees dropped to the floor, they all melted and turned into water.

cassian traced the water trickling down her calves with his fingertips, but the more he did, the more he made her injuries ache.

then, cassian and her eyes met.

he kept his intense gaze on her so that yernia couldn’t look away.

she gulped, feeling thirsty somehow.

as he kept giving her strange looks, he spoke. “does it hurt a lot?”

“why are you asking the obvious? hahaha.”

cassian’s thumb lazily swept down her knee.

she said she was hurt but he couldn’t figure out why she was being nervous.

yernia bit her lip from the unbearable pain that even her shoulders trembled.

the atmosphere between them was kind of weird right now.

cassian’s eyes seemed feverish but the words coming out of her mouth were even weirder.

eventually, yernia pushed his hand away and jumped up.

“i want to——i want to wash up.”

“yes. your knees need to be treated as well.”

she didn’t know why but she knew cassian wouldn’t back down.

contrary to expectations, cassian boiled some water and filled the bathtub.

as she listened to the gurgling sound, yernia calmed her pounding heart and waited.

she jumped up and rushed to the bathroom as soon as cassian came out.

suddenly, she remembered what had happened in the forest.

‘did cassian and i just cross paths?’

cassian’s bruises bothered her.

it appeared like he was alright at the fact that she was waiting for him alone but he was furious when he found out that she didn’t stay in the barracks.

yernia went into the bathtub and the water warmed her up.

with her mind at ease, she suddenly raised her head when a question she hadn’t asked before popped up.

yernia had no idea what kind of punishment habin had received for harming her.

still, even if he was punished for his wrongdoings, it was irrational for captain reward to take revenge on yernia when she was, in fact, the victim.

blinded by her guide’s punishment, captain reward must have put yernia in trouble as her revenge against cassian since it was he who punished habin.

“was he too much?”

negative thoughts continued to swell.

in the end, yernia concluded that captain reward must have tried to kill cassian’s fated guide to get back at him.

yernia began emptying her mind when she felt a headache coming.

it was just an idea since everything seemed unclear yet but there was a good chance that it wasn’t.

“come and sit down.”

after yernia finished washing up, cassian opened a first aid kit that she had no idea where he found.

while washing up earlier, she dismissed the strange tension between them as an illusion.

even so, yernia timidly approached him despite the unexplainable mood.

maybe, it was because they were only the two of them here.

holding yernia’s wrist gently, cassian pulled her toward him.

she sat down on the bed, and cassian sat on his bent knees again.

“…….”

cassian started the treatment without saying a word.

he was only patting around the wound before but now he seemed to focus more on treating it.

yernia bit her lip when the hand, applying a moist plaster to her bleeding knee, brushed against it.

“why are you looking at me like that? make yourself comfortable.”

it was cassian who broke the tension first.

“huh? oh, yes! i’m very comfortable here. it’s like our house.”

yernia felt like she was the only one who was conscious of it, so she stretched out on the bed.

cassian went into the bathroom, chuckling, and then she heard the sound of water.

‘what was i thinking?’

trying to recover her senses, yernia busily searched through the cabin to find something to eat.