[LUCIELLE’S POV — MISTY MOUNTAIN — SOMEWHERE...BUT STILL ALIVE]
For approximately three seconds, I thought I was dead, not metaphorically and not the usual way my life is a disaster and my dignity died three Chapters ago, kind of dead.
I mean... Actually dead.
I couldn’t feel the ground. I couldn’t feel my feet. I couldn’t even tell which direction was up anymore; for fuck’s sake, I had just fallen off a mountain.
A MOUNTAIN.
Who was supposed to survive that?! And then—SPLASH!!!
Hot water swallowed me whole; my eyes flew open beneath the water. I tried to scream. Which, in hindsight, was incredibly stupid; water doesn’t care about my emotional distress.
I flailed, I kicked, and I threw my arms around desperately, trying to find something...anything...that could tell me where the surface was, but all I could see was blue. Dark blue and glowing blue, and above me, daylight and the surface. I reached for it. My lungs burned as I tried to move upward, but nothing.
My body didn’t know what to do because there was one tiny problem I had apparently forgotten to mention to myself:
I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SWIM.
My panic multiplied instantly.
No...no, no, no, no.
I kicked harder; water rushed into my ears as my chest tightened and my lungs screamed. The light above me seemed farther away, and suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about mana stones. I wasn’t thinking about the Crown Prince.
I wasn’t thinking about Lily. I wasn’t even thinking about Cassian. I was thinking about something much simpler.
I wanted to live.
I wanted to breathe, I wanted to wake up tomorrow, and I wanted to complain about breakfast. I wanted to walk through Ashcroft Manor. I wanted to hold those ridiculous white fox cubs. I wanted to wear Cassian’s absurdly expensive fur coats.
I wanted to discover what those blue tails really meant. I wanted to see the elves. I wanted to see what this world looked like beyond the pages of the novel.
I wanted...more time.
My eyes burned because, not again. As Minato, I had died quietly in my sleep, no warning, no dramatic farewell, and... I had no chance to say goodbye to my family.
As Lucielle, after finally deciding that maybe...just maybe... I could actually build a life here... Was this really how it ended? In a fucking pool?
My chest convulsed. I couldn’t breathe.
’Is this the end? Is this where Minato and Lucielle disappear together?’
I thought about everything I had been doing since arriving in this world. I had treated this body like a temporary vessel, something I was borrowing, something that belonged to Lucielle and something I only needed to keep alive long enough to escape the novel’s original ending.
But somewhere along the way...this body had stopped feeling borrowed.
This life had stopped feeling temporary; the laughter had become mine, the fear had become mine, and the strange happiness I’d felt riding beside Cassian had become mine.
The fox cubs I’d held—mine.
Ashcroft—Mine.
And Cassian...my heart clenched. I didn’t want to leave him. The thought hit me harder than the cold water ever could. I do not even know if I die right now, I will return back as Minato. I do not know anything... I just want to live.
I didn’t want to die.
Not like this, not again. I reached toward the surface; my fingers trembled and my vision blurred.
Please.
I didn’t care about being the heroine. I didn’t care about following the original plot. I didn’t care about becoming powerful.
I just wanted to live.
Just once.
I wanted a second chance that actually lasted; my lungs were burning now. I couldn’t hold my breath anymore; everything began fading around the edges.
And then—CRASHHHH!!!!
Something crashed into the water.
SPLASH!!!
A dark shape plunged straight toward me; for a second, I thought I was hallucinating, then I saw him, silver hair drifting through the glowing water, blue ocean eyes wide with panic.
Cassian.
He had jumped straight after me. His coat billowed behind him as he fought against the water, moving toward me with desperate, almost frantic strokes, and then...
GRAB!!!!
His hand seized my wrist, and his other arm wrapped around my waist; he pulled me against his chest, and for the first time since I’d met him... I saw genuine terror on Cassian’s face, not the cold terror he inspired in other people, not the terrifying Grand Duke, not the Grim Reaper.
Just a husband who had almost lost his wife.
His lips moved; no sound reached me through the water, but I knew what he was saying.
Lucielle.
He pulled me upward; my head broke through the surface. I gasped violently.
"COUGH---! COUGH—!"
I coughed several more times, because apparently my lungs had decided they were filing a formal complaint against me.
Before I could even understand what was happening, Cassian dragged me toward the edge of the pool, one arm locked around my waist so tightly as his voice cracked.
"Beloved!"
I had never heard Cassian sound like that, never. His voice was usually deep, calm, and irritatingly composed, the sort of voice that could probably order an execution, negotiate a war treaty, or tell a servant that breakfast was late without changing expression.
But now? He sounded terrified, absolutely, genuinely terrified. He hauled me onto the rocky edge and climbed out after me, collapsing beside me.
For a moment, neither of us moved; water streamed from his hair, dripping steadily onto the stone. His chest rose and fell violently, his shoulders heaving as he struggled to catch his breath.
And his hands...they were still gripping me, tightly, almost desperately.
Our gaze was locked, yellow meeting the warm blue. His eyes searched my face, moving over me with worry; his voice was so gentle it almost broke something inside me. He whispered, "Are you... all right, beloved?"
I opened my mouth; nothing came out. My throat hurt, my chest hurt, and my entire body was trembling.
And then I looked at him properly, at the fear still lingering in his eyes and at the way his hands were shaking.
And something inside me simply...broke.
My lowered lips trembled as I threw my arms around his neck. "Waaahhhhh!"
Cassian stiffened as my voice came out embarrassingly high-pitched. "I—I was scared! I was so scared, Cassian! I thought I was going to die!"
I clung to him harder.
"I should’ve listened to you! I should’ve listened! You told me not to go to the edge of the cliff! You specifically told me! And what did I do?"
I sniffled.
"I jumped in like an idiot!" Cassian’s arms slowly came around me as I repeated miserly. "I was scared, I was really, really scared..."
His grip tightened, then his voice was so soft that my crying only got worse. "I thought I was going to lose you."
I went completely still. Cassian lowered his face, resting his cheek against the top of my wet hair, and his arms tightened around my waist.
"I thought..." His voice faltered; he stopped, and for several seconds, he said nothing. "I thought I was too late, my love."
My heart clenched. I pulled back slightly, and Cassian looked at me with just fear, raw and unguarded. He lifted one hand and gently brushed the wet strands of hair away from my face.
"You frightened me, my love."
I blinked as he wiped a tear from beneath my eye with his thumb, and I sniffled. "I will never jump like that again."
"I know."
He wiped another tear, then another, and because apparently the dignity of a Grand Duke’s wife was officially dead and buried somewhere beneath the pool, he casually wiped my nose too.
. . .
. . .
I stared at him; he stared at me. I sniffled. "...You don’t have to wipe my nose, you know."
A tiny smile appeared on his lips.
"I am aware."
"Then why did you?"
"Because you were crying."
"That doesn’t explain the nose."
"It was also crying."
I stared at him; he stared back, and for one second, neither of us said anything. Then Cassian chuckled, a quiet, warm sound. Cassian gently brushed his thumb beneath my nose one last time before pulling me closer.
Then his expression changed; the warmth remained, but something more serious settled into his eyes.
"This is the last time I have let you put yourself in danger like this." His hand moved slowly along my back. "I promise you, beloved. There will not be a second time."
I swallowed, as his voice was too gentle, and somehow, that made it more serious. "I cannot always be beside you every second of every day, but if I am there..."
His fingers gently curled around mine.
"I will not allow anything to happen to you."
My eyes stung again. "Will you protect me?"
The question escaped before I could stop it. Cassian’s expression softened; he lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss against my knuckles.
"With all my heart, and this is my duty too as your husband." He looked directly into my eyes. "Is it not?"
I nodded. "Yes."
"Then believe me." His thumb stroked slowly over the back of my hand. "I will protect you from anything I can."
I looked up; I do not know why, somehow, hearing it made the terrifying knot in my chest loosen. I smiled weakly, then leaned forward and rested my forehead against his chest.
"I’ll listen to you from now on."
His arms immediately wrapped around me again and then... Cassian kissed the top of my head; my whole body stiffened, but I didn’t push him away.
He was quiet for a moment, then I felt his chest move and gently tucked a damp strand of hair behind my ear.
"You can be exactly who you are." My heart gave a strange little flutter; his fingers brushed my cheek. "But...stay beside me."
I stared at him. Cassian’s expression was impossibly gentle. "I don’t want you to become someone else because you’re afraid of the world. I only want you safe, and if you insist on getting yourself into trouble...then at least let me be there to drag you out of it."
"You make it sound like I’m some kind of disaster," I said, leaning closer to his chest.
Cassian looked at me; there was a pause, a very suspicious pause.
"...You are."
"Excuse me?"
"A beautiful disaster."
I stared, my face immediately became hot, and I just smiled softly. My heart was beating strangely fast. Which was ridiculous; I had nearly drowned five minutes ago. I should have been traumatized. I should have been thinking about survival. I should be scared that as a man from Soul how can my heart make strange noises for another man?
I buried my face against his chest again; for a while, neither of us spoke. There was only the sound of the water behind us and his heartbeat beneath my ear.
I wasn’t sure whether it was because I had nearly drowned.
Or because I was currently sitting in Cassian Ashcroft’s arms while he looked at me like I was the most precious thing in his entire world.
Honestly? At this point, I wasn’t sure which possibility was more dangerous.
I tightened my arms around him slightly. Cassian’s hand moved gently across my back; the warmth of his body slowly chased away the cold from my soaked clothes.
My breathing settled, my heartbeat calmed, and for a brief moment, everything felt strangely peaceful.
Then—
SPLASH!!!!!!!!
I looked forward, as the cavern ahead of us had opened into something enormous. Steam rolled across the surface of a vast body of water.
Not a pool, not a little spring, but a lake.
A massive underground lake.
Hot water stretched farther than I could see, its surface glowing faintly beneath the blue light of the crystals embedded in the cavern walls. Steam rose into the air, curling through the frozen darkness like clouds.
I stared.
"Cassian..."
"Hmm?"
He looked down at me. "Did I...drown into a hot lake?"
Cassian blinked, then he followed my gaze, and his expression slowly changed. We stared at each other in complete disbelief.
I looked around.
The hidden hot pool, the glowing crystals, the underground lake, the steam, and the natural mana source.
. . .
"Looks like my near-death experience brought us to treasure."
He stared at me, then the corner of his mouth lifted. "Apparently."
And just like that, somewhere beneath this mountain, we had just found something far more valuable than a hidden hot pool, something enormous, something ancient, and something that could change Ashcroft forever.