I Became a Guide For My Childhood Friend - Chapter 70-1

When she opened her eyes, she suddenly got a fur coat.

Before she came here, she had never seen such a thing.

The Southern Capital didn’t need fur coats because of the spring’s warmth.

‘Did he hunt?’

Very few animals survived in the winter forest.

As the soldiers passed through the barracks, she once heard them say that the animals living in the forest had fled due to severe cold and the sudden appearance of monsters.

That was why she complained about the lack of meat.

“Where did you get this?”

She wondered what it had to do with this when Cassian decided to provide her more warmth, but she suddenly became curious.

When she asked Cassian, who entered the tent while holding two mugs, he looked at Yernia, who was tightly wrapped in the animal’s fur.

Cassian smiled slightly, thinking she looked like a human-headed baby beast from afar.

Yernia, who had no idea why he laughed, blinked her round eyes in bewilderment.

“Drink the cocoa.”

“There is cocoa on the battlefield?”

Cassian approached Yernia and held out the warm mug.

She watched the steam rise.

“There are marshmallows, too.”

“Marshmallow?”

Yernia’s hand peeped out of her fur coat and accepted the mug.

The mug’s color was similar to Cassian’s and she felt strange for some reason.

Both mugs appeared like ‘couple items’.

Cassian winked as if urging her to peek inside the mug and only did Yernia glance down.

Indeed, marshmallows were floating on the cocoa.

“What? Why are there marshmallows in here?”

It wasn’t her first time seeing marshmallows floating on cocoa, but this didn’t seem like a proper snack on the battlefield.

“People live in this place, too. When I don’t have work, I go to a nearby village and buy it.”

“Aha.”

Indeed, Cassian hadn’t been on the battlefield these days to care for Yernia.

Their meeting about battle tactics seemed to go at the minimum.

Their unit must have stayed in the village to rest.

She didn’t even think about it since she thought she couldn’t get out of the barracks at all just because she wasn’t part of the army.

It was possible that the monster hadn’t invaded here yet.

“Are you allowed to stay with me and miss the meeting?”

Yernia sipped the cocoa and turned her eyes toward Cassian sitting next to her.

The warmth seemed to spread to her chest and she felt quite good from eating something sweet.

She thought Cassian was drinking cocoa as well but he drank coffee, instead.

“Why? Do you want me to hurry up and go?”

“No. I’m afraid you’re avoiding meetings because of me.”

“It’s alright. I’m sending other people to do some reconnaissance for me. In addition to that, defeating evil monsters doesn’t end that quickly. I have to rest before attacking again so that we only have to deal with minimal casualties.”

She wondered if Cassian said something nice on purpose so that she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

Yernia was grateful but her heart was still heavy.

At least, his gentle words caused the heaviness to subside a little.

“Everyone in the royal militia likes it. It has been a while since they last took a break. They must have had no time to rest because they kept fighting before we arrived.”

“That’s a relief, but——”

“Don’t worry too much. I’ll take care of everything so just get well soon.”

Yernia felt so reassured these days because of her husband.

Even if what he said could just be a lie, she always assumed that he would be able to take care of it.

Snow fell outside the tent.

Well, they would be able to do anything once the snow stopped.

Unfortunately, snow had fallen heavily on the following days.

Yernia would be fine if she just rested inside the barracks but the current weather must have made life harder for the soldiers.

It wasn’t a bad choice to rest now that the monsters weren’t in their midst.

She felt apologetic towards Cassian and the soldiers but she still tried her best to put her burden down even just for a moment.

Despite reflecting on Cassian’s words, she still wouldn’t stop noticing these things due to personal discomfort.

As Yernia peeked through the gap of a slightly open tent in the capital, she suddenly asked, “It’s hard to see snow unless it’s——”

This particular scene suddenly reminded her of Cassian’s birthday.

“Your birthday is in the winter season, right? I hope we’ll be in the capital at that time.”

“If this battle doesn’t take long, we will be there.”

“What should we do on your birthday?”

Yernia, who was sipping cocoa while constantly looking at him, leaned her head against Cassian’s shoulder.

Her heart pounded.

She planned to utter an excuse that she was feeling sleepy when Cassian was about to whisper something in her ear.

Contrary to her expectations, Cassian didn’t say anything.

Well, didn’t she often lean on his shoulder since they were childhood friends?

Therefore, Cassian should have no problems with it.

She didn’t romantically like Cassian, either, but——

Her heart ached when he didn’t respond, but this shouldn’t have anything to do with Cassian.

There won’t be.

There shouldn’t be.

Yernia murmured, brainwashing herself.

“My birthday? Well, is there anything you want to do?”

“Well…”

Cassian’s birthday was spent inside the mansion every single time due to the snow.

Even if Yernia asked to go out on his birthday, Cassian still insisted for some reason.

However, Yernia, who wanted to spend it differently than before, came across a most important fact.

It was something she almost forgot.

Herena.