The Camellia Tattoo - Chapter 94
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
this book is completely translated on luna kofi (advanced chapters for the website will follow)
Amber pondered the meaning of Igmeyer’s words for a long time.
Fortunately, the journey to Mount Cyprus was long and treacherous. It gave her time to think.
‘Igmeyer has definitely changed, but I can’t pinpoint what it is.’
More than friends or colleagues?
Of course, friends or colleagues don’t share physical intimacy. She was well aware that their physical connection was very strong.
When she saw Igmeyer’s muscular thighs, his lean stomach, and his back, she too felt a stirring within her.
I want to be held by him.
Just the thought of it, yes.
‘We’re not just friends.’
It was a sudden realization. Perhaps because she had never before desired to be more than friends with him.
But that didn’t mean she didn’t want it. It was more like it was too much to hope for.
‘Could our relationship become… more?’
Amber looked up at the man steering the horse while holding her.
His angular jaw and the sharp tendons that stood out were the first things she noticed. His appearance might seem cold and stern at first.
But a closer look would reveal that his fierce eyes softened when they turned her way.
Unlike with others, his demeanor softened, and his voice became gentler when he was with her.
She couldn’t recognize those things if she merely feared him. They were subtle, only noticeable after careful observation.
Crucially, he always paid close attention to her when they were together.
If she showed the slightest discomfort, he would adjust his position to make her more comfortable. At every sneeze, he would cast a worried glance. When she was ill, he visited daily, staying by her side as much as he could.
So, in this life, Amber had not spent a single day feeling lonely or suffering from solitude.
That alone was enough to feel grateful for…
“Amber?”
As she was lost in her thoughts and gazing up at him, Igmeyer momentarily lowered his gaze to meet her eyes.
As she gazed into his vibrant red eyes, full of life like a dancing flame spirit, Amber quietly reached out and cupped his cheek.
“I can’t believe I’m riding on the same horse with you, heading somewhere.”
“Is that so?”
“We really have grown close. Really close…”
I don’t dislike being with you.
Being this close, where I can hear not just your breathing but also the beating of your heart, and feeling no discomfort.
Instead, Amber felt enveloped in a great sense of security.
“…Honey.”
Her soft lips parted and the special term slipped out, making Igmeyer abruptly halt the horse.
“Igmeyer?”
When he froze for a long moment without moving, Amber tilted her head in curiosity.
“…No, that word. It’s nice to hear.”
“Honey?”
“Yes, that. It sounds good.”
Igmeyer coughed awkwardly a few times before he gathered himself and spurred the horse forward again. Amber quietly closed her lips and rested her head against his chest.
Thump, thump.
Thump.
The sound of the man’s heart permeated her ears.
What was astonishing was that her own heart was beating just as hard.
“About Jason. Does he really have the gift of foresight, hmm… Should we check after the prince and his party leave?”
“That sounds good.”
Amber, feeling awkward, tried to lighten the mood.
It was strange. The fact that both of their hearts were beating like this.
This isn’t something you feel for just a friend or colleague. And it doesn’t seem like something one would feel for a spouse who was merely a political arrangement either.
Her heart, once filled with hate and disgust, was now moving with a different kind of emotion.
Yet Amber couldn’t quite believe it.
‘That I could…love Igmeyer?’
That seems unlikely.
Of course, she now knows he’s a good person. She enjoys his embrace, his kisses, holding his hand… but still.
The emotion she was contemplating couldn’t be the one she was thinking of.
It probably isn’t.
There’s no reason it shouldn’t be, but somehow…
Amber was a little scared of the prospect of falling in love with this man.
On a quiet stretch of the road, Igmeyer finally broke the silence with a question.
“Before coming to Niflheim, did you have someone you were involved with?”
Amber simply nodded. Her movement was faint but enough for him to sense it against his chest.
“I see.”
“And you?”
“I haven’t… That’s why these feelings are unfamiliar to me.”
He furrowed his brow, as if he was wearing clothes that were pleasant but somehow didn’t fit right.
“Everything you give me feels strange, like it’s not really mine. Yet, at the same time, I feel as if I’ve been waiting for this all my life.”
He sincerely let his deep feelings flow quietly. Amber listened silently, finding his voice mixed with the clopping of horse hooves strangely sweet.
“From the moment I first saw you, I felt like this. I had this odd feeling that we had met before… It was impossible, but I missed you. It felt like I had found something I had lost.”
“…!”
“I’ve had recurring dreams of losing you. They were absurd nightmares.”
At that moment, Amber almost bit her tongue.
What was he saying?
What kind of dreams were those?
“…Is that why you have trouble sleeping?”
