“A date?”
Calix’s eyebrow twitched. He hadn’t expected that word to come out of those lips. Wasn’t this the guy who was always going on about construction, money, and food?
“Why do you look like that? Don’t tell me you don’t want to…”
“No.”
Calix answered immediately. So fast that Elian was caught off guard. Calix cleared his throat and added with a deliberately indifferent air,
“If it’s something you’ve prepared, I’d go even if it’s a dirt floor.”
“Oh, I’m touched. But this time it’s not a dirt floor — it’s a sea of water. No need to bring anything. Just come as you are, Your Highness.”
* * *
A short while later, the mountain behind the domain.
The trail up the snowy mountain was grueling — sinking knee-deep with every step.
“Hah, hah… Your Highness, walk with me a little.”
Elian panted heavily, falling behind. Calix, on the other hand, moved ahead with elegant ease, barely leaving footprints — as if he were walking on clouds rather than snow.
“Your stamina is pathetic. How do you plan to endure the night work like that.”
“Pardon? N-night work?!”
“Road paving. Were you thinking of something else?”
Calix smirked and stopped walking. Elian’s face flushed red. It was something he couldn’t have imagined when they first met, but that man — he had this strangely sly side to him.
“Anyway, is it far?”
“According to the map… it’s just past that ridge over there. But with all this snow, it’ll take some time.”
Elian groaned while checking the System map, and Calix let out a sigh.
“At this rate, the sun will set before we get there.”
Calix strode over.
“Huh? Your Highness?”
Before Elian could even react, his vision spun. Calix had effortlessly scooped him up — in the most perfectly stable princess-carry position, no less.
“Here. Put your arms around my neck.”
“No, why are you carrying me like this — it’s embarrassing! Put me down!”
“Quiet. You’re the pathfinder, aren’t you. Just guide the way.”
Calix ignored Elian’s protests and leaped forward.
Whoosh!
The speed was wind-splitting. Elian screamed and instinctively threw his arms tightly around Calix’s neck.
“Aaah! Your Highness, easy! Safe driving!”
“Noisy. Is it to the right?”
“Yes! Below the cliff on the right!”
His face buried against a firm chest, Elian had to fight to steady his pounding heart. He couldn’t tell anymore whether it was altitude sickness or the scent of this man’s body that was doing it to him.
And why was the ride this smooth? Even leaping off jagged rocks, Calix’s arms didn’t waver in the slightest. The coarse texture of the uniform against his cheek, the shifting weight of solid muscle beneath it. And from below, the sharp line of Calix’s jaw was dangerously clean — Elian swallowed without thinking.
Am I really using someone this high-caliber as a palanquin bearer? I’m going to get divine punishment for this later.
He felt guilty — but Calix’s broad shoulders were shielding him from the biting wind, and they were so warm that the words “put me down” simply refused to come out.
* * *
“This is it!”
At Elian’s words, Calix landed lightly. A deep mountain with no sign of people. A basin blanketed entirely in white snow on all sides. A still, mysterious atmosphere hung in the air.
“You sure about this? It’s just a snowfield.”
Calix looked around with skeptical eyes. But on the System map floating before Elian, a red marker was clearly blinking.
[Ancient Mana Hot Spring Vein: 10 meters underground]
“Positive. Your Highness, would you blast through that rock over there?”
“Digging again.”
“It’s different this time. Don’t dig — just blow it open.”
Calix flicked his hand with an air of mild annoyance.
BOOM!
With a tremendous blast, the thick ice and rock shattered to pieces. And in that moment —
Tsssssss —!
Through the cracked earth, a column of pink-hued steam shot up into the sky. No sulfur smell. Instead, the sweet, fragrant scent of high-density Mana drifted through the air.
“This is…”
Calix’s eyes widened.
As the steam cleared, water began welling up from the earth, filling the hollow. Not clear water — it was a mystical hot spring with a soft, glowing pink hue.
“Found it! The Mana hot spring!”
Elian cheered. The hot spring with its rising pink steam looked like a flower garden blooming in the middle of a snowfield.
“Your Highness, this isn’t ordinary water. It’s a special remedy that stabilizes Mana.”
“…A Mana hot spring.”
Calix moved toward the pool, still looking unconvinced. Even just approaching it, he could feel the sharp fragments of mana that had been raging through his body begin to quiet.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s get in.”
Without hesitation, Elian undid the ties of his thick fur robe.
“Now? Outdoors?”
“An open-air bath is how you’re supposed to enjoy a hot spring. Head cool, body hot! There’s no one watching — what’s the problem?”
Whoosh.
The thick winter clothes fell onto the snow. When he shed even his thin shirt and trousers, Elian’s smooth, bare body was revealed amid the white falling snow.
“…”
Calix’s gaze fixed onto Elian’s body before he could stop himself. An intense visual impact. The snowfield around them was blinding white — but Elian’s skin shone even more translucent and pale than that snow.
The fine hairs raised along his skin from the cold. Faint bluish veins visible beneath the thin skin. Knees and elbows flushed peach-pink from embarrassment and the chill. And beneath the slender frame, taut, lean muscle. He looked as luscious as a freshly peeled fruit.
Elian was completely defenseless. He’d seen this once before, but it felt different this time. A crack formed somewhere in Calix’s reason.
“Ugh, cold! I’m going in first!”
Without noticing Calix’s gaze at all, Elian threw himself into the hot water as if fleeing.
Splash.
The pink water wrapped around his body. Elian, submerged up to his neck, let out a satisfied moan.
“Ahh… I’m melting, I’m melting.”
Through the steam, Elian swept his wet hair back, face flushed rosy from the heat. He poked his head up from the water and urged Calix on.
“Your Highness, what are you doing! Get in!”
Calix swallowed.
In the hazy, dreamlike atmosphere thick with steam, the sight of that defenseless man calling out to him looked dangerous. But compelled by an irresistible pull, Calix shed his clothes and slowly waded into the water. The hot water wrapped around his waist.
“…Ah.”
A deep exhale escaped Calix’s lips.
The sensation of the ice shards that had tormented him all his life melting away all at once. With the physical pain gone, other sensations he’d been suppressing began to awaken with fierce intensity.
Hazy steam clouding his vision. The sweet scent of Mana swirling around his nose. And the warmth of Elian’s body heat carried through the water.
Everything felt hazy, unreal. The Mana-infused spring water tickled his skin like champagne bubbles. Every time Elian moved, the rippling water grazed against Calix’s thighs and abdomen. That sensation felt less like a simple current and more like a viscous temptation laced with Elian’s warmth.
The man before him was smiling brightly as if he had no idea — yet to Calix, that smile was the cruelest torture imaginable, testing every last shred of his patience. The urge to bite down on that pale nape, to leave the marks of his hands on that skin, boiled up inside him.
“How is it? I was right, wasn’t I? Instant effect, I’m telling you.”
Elian smiled brightly and moved closer. He reached through the water and kneaded Calix’s firm shoulders.
“My treat. You’ve been working so hard. Let me scrub your back. Turn aro—”
Splash!
Before the words were even finished, Calix snatched Elian’s wrist. Pulled by that strong force, Elian’s body was yanked flush against Calix’s. In the water, their bare bodies pressed together with no space between them.
“Huh? Y-Your Highness?”
Startled, Elian looked up. Snowflakes were landing on Calix’s wet lashes and melting. His red eyes had lost their usual sharp composure — clouded and heavy with heat.
“Elian.”
Calix’s low voice resonated deeper, soaked with moisture.
“I don’t need anything else.”
“Pardon? What do you mean…”
“You alone are enough for the cure.”
Calix tightened the arm wrapped around Elian’s waist. Elian’s smooth skin was pressed against Calix’s hard body. Being this nakedly aware of another person’s skin — made even more stark by the water — sent Elian’s heart pounding wildly.
The atmosphere was wrong. This man wasn’t enjoying a hot spring bath. Those were the eyes of a predator calculating how to devour the prey right in front of him.
“Your Highness, I… I think we’re a little too close. I can’t quite breathe…”
Elian tried to avert his eyes and pull back, but Calix wouldn’t let go. Instead, one hand cupped Elian’s wet nape and made him look straight ahead.
“Don’t run from me.”
Calix’s hot breath touched Elian’s lips. Whether it was the steam or the heat radiating from this man, his mind was going white.
“You…”
Calix murmured as if entranced. In this moment, Elian lay before him with absolutely no defenses, entirely exposed. This white, burning existence — the only salvation in this bitter winter — he didn’t want to give him to anyone.
Possessiveness. The desire to claim. And an unbearable thirst.
“You are mine.”
Calix’s head tilted. Elian’s eyes went wide. He knew he should push back, but with his nape held fast in Calix’s grip and those intense eyes locking him in place, he couldn’t move a single finger.
In the middle of a snow-covered mountain where soft flakes drifted down — a heat more scorching than the boiling spring water filled the space between the two of them.
And at last, Calix’s lips consumed Elian’s.
