On the second day of vacation, after they were done preparing, Allen instructed the maid and butler to bring them some thick clothing. Ann was puzzled and questioned the purpose of such clothing when it wasn’t even snowing, nor it was quite cold… but Allen didn’t tell her anything, so she could only wait and see with anticipation.
As they moved in the carriage and got closer towards their destination, Ann felt that the air around them got colder. And as the carriage moved forward, the scenery around them changed. White became the major color of the world and—
“Wait what? Why is there snow here in this place? It’s not even at a mountain…?” Ann couldn’t help but ask.
In the modern world, Ann knew that there were some mountain peaks with snow almost all the time, regardless of the season of the area. However, they didn’t climb any mountain nor hill. Yet suddenly, it started to snow…?
Ann’s common sense was questioned again.
Seeing Ann’s expression, Allen was amused and grateful that he kept this a secret.
“Yeah. We’re heading towards the Everlasting Winter Lake. The area near the lake will always be cold and is snowing most of the time, as the name implies,” Allen finally explained.
“Whoa, what caused it?” Ann asked.
“The monsters that inhabit this area are mostly of ice element. Their attribute caused this phenomenon,” Allen answered like a walking encyclopedia.
“Thank you, Googl—I mean, Allen!” Ann smiled after she was satisfied with his explanation.
Allen’s heart thumped a bit upon hearing his name being called by Ann so suddenly in that grateful tone. For some reason, he liked the way his name was called by her. Though it was nothing special… How strange. He completely overlooked the fact that Ann said something odd before saying his name.
The moment they arrived, Ann almost jumped out of the carriage. Her eagerness and speed in climbing down the carriage surprised Allen.
Noticing Ann going out of the carriage, a maid rushed up to her while bringing a thick cloak. She immediately helped Ann put on the cloak since the air was so cold that she feared Ann would catch a cold if she didn’t wear it soon.
Ann who shivered from the cold the moment she stepped out of the carriage was so grateful by the maid’s quick action and thanked her.
The maid liked the current Ann and even blushed a bit, since Ann’s expression was so bright and her smile was too pretty due to her obvious excitement and happiness from being brought to this wondrous place.
Looking at their interaction, Allen had a bad premonition…
Before, when he looked at her interaction with the man from the orphanage, he was feeling bad from the thought of having a male rival… and now, he had to be wary of females as well?!
The woman that was previously hated was now so charming, despite there wasn’t much differences in her appearance… it’s true that what’s inside counts.
Before Allen could instruct anything, Ann already ran around the place.
The monsters that were gathering around the frozen lake were mostly harmless monsters, since this place was already designated to become a tourism spot. Dangerous or aggressive monsters were located quite far from this place, so it was totally safe.
Still, everyone around them was stunned when Ann made an appearance, because she quickly glid on the frozen lake without any trouble.
Nobody but Ann knew that she could do so confidently because she could quickly manipulate the water around the frozen lake to help her glide.
In the modern world, she liked ice skating the most. How could she not quickly jump into action when she could? She never thought that she would be able to go skating again one more time, and with the help of her magic!!!
She could even slide around the snow happily too.
Thank goodness I can manipulate water! Ice and snow are both composed of water, after all.
She was living the dreams.
Contrary to her blissful state, Allen was looking at her with horror written all over his face.
This girl…! How can she be this reckless?!
What if she were to slip and fall down and hit her head?
What… if she hits her head and then… this ‘her’ that he liked would just disappear?
And what if she gets hurt?
Allen chased after Ann as he tried to grab her to slow down, and to prevent her from running then slipping. But the water bender Ann was faster than him, and so the two chased after each other harmoniously. Ann didn’t seem to notice Allen as she was having fun gliding around and sometimes greeting the cute monsters that were wandering around the vicinity.
Just as Allen was about to catch her when she stopped, Ann quickly glid around again. This time, she slightly looked sideways at Allen with a teasing expression as she laughed carefreely.
Birdie that was sitting on top of her shoulder also chirped happily.
This teasing of her—Allen didn’t seem to be irritated by it. His mood was slightly lifted up as he continued to chase after her.
Yes, his mood was lifted up because he now knew that Ann wasn’t ignoring him. She knew, and she liked being chased around like this. Somehow, it was cute. The fact that she hadn’t slipped at all made Allen less worried.
Ann was getting too worked up that she missed her control of the water around her feet that she eventually slipped!!
Thankfully, Allen’s reflex was so fast that he managed to catch her quickly. Thus, Ann didn’t fall and hurt herself.
Allen was half crouching on the ground, trying to balance himself. His arms were holding Ann’s upper half body as he prevented her from falling. His eyes were looking at Ann’s, as he asked, “Are you alright?”
Instead of answering, Ann blinked twice because she still couldn’t process what was happening—when she was about to fall, she had prepared countermeasures so she wouldn’t get hurt. After all, water is her friend here!
But only she knew about it. Anyway, she didn’t need to do that and she was spared from thinking about how she could be unscathed after falling like that.
Looking at her position and Allen’s position, she somehow found it amusing.
Then, she suddenly burst out laughing joyously. This made Allen stunned.
The way she laughed without constraint wasn’t elegant by any means, and it was actually a minus point for a noble lady, but this kind of laugh was so pure that Allen was fascinated by it instead.
He also thought that this reaction of hers was just like a child’s.
And for some reason, Allen also started to laugh, though it was a small laugh, unlike Ann’s.
Still, Allen rarely laughed like this, so the people from his residence were so stunned, yet they were happy.
Seeing Allen laughing, Ann felt strange, so her laugh that started to subside a bit… grew stronger again.
Because of her slipping like that, Allen forbid her from running around again. Ann didn’t object since by this time, she was feeling tired.
Instead, they were walking leisurely around the place as they observed the monsters, plantation, and the surroundings in general.
Tonight, Ann and Allen shared a room again.
But Ann’s high adaptability caused her to just accept this as a matter of fact and didn’t say anything.
Too exhausted, she quickly rested that night.
In the middle of the night, it suddenly started raining and there were loud thunder from time to time.
Perhaps the thunder was too loud that Ann woke up—half of her brain was still in dreamland, however.
Allen also woke up and contrary to Ann whose brain was still half awake only, he was used to getting up and becoming alert quickly. He noticed that Ann seemed to be shivering in… fright? Due to the thunder and the heavy rain. The fact that the wind was quite strong added to the suspense of the night.
Even if she was still half awake, Ann really was afraid of thunder and heavy rain like this the most. Her body subconsciously reacted like that. She looked like a fragile kitten.
Seeing Ann’s condition, Allen’s body moved on its own as he pulled Ann into his warm embrace, his hand trying to calm her down by patting on her back.
Feeling the warmth and the calming tap, Ann slowly stopped shivering as she positioned herself to be more comfortable in his embrace. Not too long after that, her breathing turned calm, which indicated that she had fallen into her deep slumber again.
Allen’s heart melted when he saw this kind of reaction from her.
This kind of pure reaction was just too cute. He became more enamored with her and he was very sure that the girl in his arms right now was a completely different person from the woman he knew from before she hit her head.
As to why that could happen… It was a mystery, and he wasn’t sure if the girl herself knew what was going on… But if she did and she was trying to hide it from him, he hoped that she would open up and tell him who she really was and what had happened.
Looking at her face that was so close and looked innocent, Allen thought that he wanted to do everything to make sure she stayed pure and kind like this, and that he could be happy with her.
