The moon hung low in the clear night sky. The thick clouds had disappeared somewhere, allowing millions of stars to shine brightly and bathe the forest in silvery light.
Beneath the clear sky, a campfire burned warmly. Two human figures sat side by side around it.
Lizzy gazed at the dancing flames while holding two bamboo skewers pierced through the fish they had caught. Her stomach was already growling with hunger, and her eyelids were growing heavy with sleep.
Beside her, Kael was carefully inspecting a bundle of wild sheep’s wool under the dim firelight.
"The quality is just as good as ordinary domesticated sheep’s wool," Kael murmured with satisfaction, feeling its soft texture between his fingers. "In fact, this feels much finer and thicker."
Kael ran his fingers over the thick sewing thread and large needle he had found yesterday, then neatly arranged several pieces of thick fabric he had prepared beside him. Before building the wooden frame for their bed, Kael had decided to sew and finish the mattress first.
Lizzy shifted a little closer to the campfire. She drew both legs toward herself, pulled her knees against her chest, and rested her chin on them while hugging her legs tightly.
"Kael... We don’t have an iron pot, kettle, or frying pan at all. Wouldn’t it be better if we went to the nearest settlement or town tomorrow or the day after to buy some?" Lizzy asked softly.
Without stopping his skillful hands as he sewed one piece of fabric to another, Kael answered calmly, "Hm? It’s true that we don’t have cooking utensils like those. Making them ourselves is impossible, too, since I don’t have molten iron or proper blacksmithing equipment. But let’s go after I finish this soft mattress, okay, Lizzy?"
The reflection of the campfire danced clearly in Lizzy’s eyes. As she watched the flames flicker, memories of her past gradually surfaced. Back then, she had always been alone. She had survived in the darkness, lit campfires by herself, and never allowed anyone to get close to her.
She had never been able to trust other people.
Tonight, as she gazed at the fire beside the man who had become her husband, her chest tightened with feelings she could hardly put into words.
"I understand..." Lizzy whispered faintly.
Kael, who was sensitive to such things, noticed the change in the atmosphere beside him. Lizzy had suddenly grown very quiet, staring blankly into the fire. Normally, the woman would constantly look for opportunities to cling to him, tease him, or even throw her arms around him.
"What’s wrong, Lizzy? Is there something you want? Why do you look so gloomy?" Kael asked gently.
Lizzy jolted out of her reverie in surprise. Only then did she realize that the fish she was holding had begun to burn slightly. She hurriedly pulled the wooden skewer away from the flames.
"Phew... I guess I’ve been thinking too much about unnecessary things," Lizzy remarked awkwardly.
Kael set his sewing needle aside for a moment. He moved closer, sitting right beside Lizzy.
Lizzy handed him one of the cooked fish skewers, then began chewing her own fish slowly. She let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Huuhf... I really admire you, Kael. You’re so reliable, capable of doing all sorts of things, and you even have fond memories of good friends, even though they’re no longer here..." Lizzy lowered her head, her voice trembling. "But what about me? I can’t even remember anything about my parents. I don’t know why I was trained in such a harsh and cruel assassin organization. The only explanation I can think of is that they might have bought me as a slave or kidnapped me from my family."
Kael’s expression softened instantly. He could feel a wave of genuine, fragile emotions radiating from Lizzy. This was the first time she had reflected on and spoken about her past with such profound emotion.
"Ever since I met you... I’ve started thinking about everything with my heart again," Lizzy continued. Tears began gathering in the corners of her eyes, reflecting the flickering firelight. "I used to know nothing but how to kill people... but now, I’ve finally been able to feel genuine sadness again..." The source of this chapter is novelping dot com.
Warm tears streamed down Lizzy’s cheeks. "I’ve always wondered... Did I have parents back then? Where did they go? Why can’t I remember any of my childhood memories with them? I don’t know if it’s because of trauma or something else... But every time I try to remember, my chest hurts so much..."
Kael remained silent, patiently listening to her. With great tenderness, he wrapped his strong arm around her and pulled her into a tight, warm embrace.
"Could it be... that my own family abandoned me?" Lizzy broke down sobbing against Kael’s chest. "But I’m sure I must have had parents and lived with them at some point. It’s just... my heart aches so terribly, and there’s this faint, terrifying feeling of fear whenever I try to remember. Those memories are as if they’re blocked by a thick, black fog..."
In her husband’s embrace, Lizzy poured out everything in her heart, exposing all her vulnerabilities. She told him how empty, cold, and lonely her life had been before fate brought them together. For decades, taking other people’s lives had been the only way she could experience the twisted satisfaction of filling that emptiness.
Lizzy buried her face in Kael’s chest, hiding her tear-soaked face. Her small hands gently pounded against his chest, venting the overwhelming regret that had built up inside her.
"If only... if only I’d met you sooner, Kael... Maybe my life would have been so much happier... Why weren’t you by my side when I was still ten years old?!" Lizzy sobbed uncontrollably.
Kael stared straight ahead before replying with innocent sincerity, "When you were ten years old... I hadn’t been born yet, Lizzy."
Upon hearing that ridiculous yet utterly honest answer, Lizzy’s sobbing abruptly stopped.
The touching atmosphere was completely destroyed.
Embarrassed and overwhelmed by a mixture of frustration and lingering sadness, Lizzy cried even harder, hiding her face, which had turned bright red. Meanwhile, Kael couldn’t hold back his hearty laughter, finding his wife’s behavior absolutely adorable.
After crying so intensely and releasing all the burdens she had been carrying, Lizzy eventually fell fast asleep in Kael’s arms from sheer exhaustion.
Kael slowly doused the campfire until it went out, then carefully carried Lizzy into their wooden cabin. He laid his wife down on the fabric bedding, gazed at her sleeping face with traces of tears still visible, and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I like seeing you cry like this, Lizzy..." Kael whispered sincerely. "You look so fragile and like you can only rely on me. It’s really adorable."
Kael then stepped outside again to retrieve the pile of fabric and wild sheep’s wool. The forest beyond had grown pitch-black, and an eerie silence suddenly descended upon it.
Kael narrowed his eyes sharply. His well-trained instincts immediately detected a cold gaze from somewhere in the distant darkness of the forest, a gaze he couldn’t see, yet one that continued to follow his every move.
Kael took no chances. He quickly carried all his materials inside the cabin. "Fighting a wild beast or some mysterious enemy in the middle of the night without enough light is too risky. Besides, it seems this creature is only watching me."
He shut the wooden door tightly and secured it with the locking bar.
Kael didn’t go straight to sleep. He sat in a corner of the room near a shaft of moonlight and resumed sewing the fabric and sheep’s wool together. He wanted to finish the mattress as quickly as possible so they could go to town together.
Over the next several days, while he worked on the mattress, their lives continued harmoniously and normally as usual.
Lizzy remained her usual obsessively crazy self. Several times, she would suddenly try to attack Kael’s neck to test her husband’s reflexes, only to turn extremely affectionate and clingy a few seconds later. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Then, on the fifth day, just as Kael was nearing completion of his homemade mattress, a mattress that wasn’t particularly thick but was soft and comfortable enough to sleep on, he began to notice something strange.
Kael stood in front of the cabin door, furrowing his brows. Lizzy had left for the river early that morning to wash their clothes, but she still hadn’t returned, even though it was nearly noon.
"Is she planning to play another prank on me like last time?" Kael muttered, crossing his arms.
Kael recalled the moment when Lizzy had taken advantage of his concern and momentary lapse in attention to press a knife against his neck.
"I’d better go check the river," he decided.
After making sure the cabin door was securely locked, Kael strolled along the path toward the river. However, as he approached the area, he faintly heard Lizzy’s laughter, sounding incredibly cheerful, as though she were happily playing with something.
Kael raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "What is she doing over there?"
When he reached the riverbank, Kael saw Lizzy sitting on a rock with her back toward him, watching something in the water with a delighted expression.
Kael walked closer. "Is there something funny you’re watching, Lizzy?"
Lizzy jolted in surprise before turning around, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "Ah, Kael! Look at this! I accidentally ran into three wild lambs here!"
Kael narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the three woolly creatures by the river.
Something was very strange. One of the lambs in the water seemed to be acting extremely dominant, as though it were treating the other two lambs like a predator herding its own livestock!
The strange lamb in the water suddenly realized it was being watched. It quickly turned its head away, pretending not to notice. Meanwhile, the other two lambs, thoroughly soaked, finally managed to climb out of the water and repeatedly shook their bodies until their white wool puffed up adorably. Each of them was only about the size of a fully grown dog.
Lizzy seemed to adore them, especially the strange lamb with its unusual behavior. "That lamb in the water even managed to dive underwater and catch fish by itself! I never knew sheep ate fish, too. Maybe it’s because they’re a species of wild sheep?"
As the strange lamb in the water slowly climbed onto dry land, it seemed to be doing its best to avoid eye contact with Kael, who had been staring at it intently the entire time.
"Hmm?!"
Kael’s eyes suddenly widened as his gaze caught sight of the underside of the wild lamb’s neck. Beneath its thick wool was a long, healed slash wound that had already dried and scarred over!
Kael’s pupils narrowed sharply. "YOU?!"
The strange wild lamb looked utterly shocked. As though intimidated and overwhelmed by Kael’s sudden, explosive suspicion, the creature quickly scurried away and hid behind Lizzy’s legs!