Chapter 72.

“Uh, Mister, are you mad with me right now?”

Out of the blue, without any prior warning, Adele suddenly posed a question to me.

I was too tired to open my mouth and respond, so I simply shook my head slightly.

“You are upset with me after all, right? It’s all my fault. I had no idea when I asked you to carry me that we were so deep in the woods. If you were by yourself, you’d surely have made it out of the forest by now instead of being stuck out in the middle of nowhere with me in a situation where your own safety is uncertain.”

“... if I’m a bother, you should just leave me behind. I’ll find a way to leave the forest on my own. Look, my legs are starting to feel a bit better and I can stand on my own now.”

She put on a forced smile, hiding the pain, she stood up from the log I’d set her down on. She really did her best to not let me see her trembling legs by wrapping her jacket around her waist.

Initially, I’d intended to set up some shelter here so we could hold out until daybreak before we continued; but seeing her act like that, despite the irrationalism of it, I made a decision contrary to the logical one in my head. I had a good idea of how far we were from my car based upon the numbers I engraved along with the directional markers I left on the trees on my way here. We were only about two hours away.

I got up, walked over to her, and stood directly in front of her before I bent over and calmly said, “just this one time, I’ll play the role of your so-called Prince Charming.”

“What are you doing?! Wait! This is embarrassing!”

I whisked her off her feet and carried her in my arms like a boss. I’d suddenly turned into a true man with testosterone oozing from every pore of his body body. My muscles were bulging to the point the veins threatened to explode from the immense high octane, nut and balls pressure applied to them. Okay, we all know that sure as hell wasn’t happening, but a beansprout can always dream, right? Maybe it was the pheromones she gave off that made me act like such a moron, but it actually didn’t feel too bad in spite of how corny my words and actions were.

“Put me down already! It’s already dark, you’re going to hurt yourself! It’s already hard to see at night, if you carry me like this, your vision will be more obstructed than when I’m on your back. You won’t be able to tell what you're stepping on at all. Besides, you even said it... I’m heavy, right? Carrying me like this is just going to tire you out even more.”

“Just be quiet, we’re almost there anyways. It’s not much further.”

“What do you mean? There’s not a single thing in sight that looks like the edge of the forest. You can’t even see in front of you, so how would you know we’re almost out? If you’re careless and get injured, both of us will die stranded out in the woods you know.”

“Yeah I know, but dying with a beauty in my arms like this wouldn’t be so bad, would it? Wouldn’t it even be a bit romantic?”

“Are you just an idiot after all? It would be the worst most senseless death in the world to die with a woman you hate in your arms!”

She curled herself up a bit and appeared slightly embarrassed. It was hard to see it in this darkness, but I was certain if it were daylight, there would be a glaring pinkish hue plastered on her cheeks.

Of course, that didn’t mean I was a nice guy, so I responded to her worries the only way I could, “no, I mean, it’s really not so bad. I get to see a woman I hate as she suffers a slow painful death out in the woods in my arms, what’s senseless about that?”

“Are you actually just a psychopath?”

“Haha! No, you‘re really the only psycho here.”

“Says the sicko who wants to watch me slowly die a painful death in your arms, in the dark of night, deep within the woods, and far away from civilization. Do you mind explaining to me how exactly I’m the psychopath here”

I didn’t bother to respond to her again as it’d already taken a huge toll on me to try and ease her mind with that little bit of dialogue. Despite all the sweat outside my body, the inside of my mouth was like a desert while my lips were dry and cracked up. My throat was sore from breathing in the cold air. It really hurt by this point to keep forcing myself to say anything to her. I was light headed and seriously wanted to collapse, but I couldn’t allow myself to.

As we traversed the maze-like forest, my eyes were drawn to her face as it sporadically flickered in and out of sight. I couldn’t help but smile when looking at that barely visible face hidden amid the dark of night from this angle. I’d never seen her in such a fragile state before, and it was a completely foreign territory to me.

The only reason I’d occasionally be privileged enough to see the face of the beauty in my arms was thanks to the slight illumination given off by the moonlight occasionally peeking through the densely packed thicket of trees towering overhead. Though, I was only provided with short fleeting opportunities to peer upon this natural wonder reflected beneath the moonlight, leaving much to be desired. Whenever I was humbled enough to gaze upon her visage, no matter how short lived the period of time, I was left completely winded. In my eyes, her face was that of a pristine unblemished mirror.

Her reflective white hair was like a small flickering light at the end of a tunnel that gave one small hope that the end was in sight. That small hope alone pushed me forward despite my inability to see forward as we moved throughout the chilly night. Her eyes were reminiscent of crystal clear glass balls that seemingly displayed a reflection of my soul, looking into them left me in a strange sort of trance.

Step after step, despite the difficulty, I continued on with only the sound of her breathing guiding my way forward. It wasn’t all smooth sailing as I stumbled quite a few times, but I still avoided completely falling and breaking any bones. Unfortunately for me, I did secretly sprain my ankle on the way, but I sucked in a deep breath and acted like everything was okay. Two hours passed by before I knew it and I was sweating buckets, I was really at my breaking point and just about ready to collapse.

I knew we had to be close, but my body started to rebel. I’d done well to hide it to this point, but she eventually caught onto my condition and pleaded with me to let her down so I could rest a bit. If I was in a normal state of mind, I’d definitely listen to her as I knew my own limits well. I’d long gone past the length of time I could continue for, now I was simply running on adrenaline and doing things in the heat of the moment without any thought towards the repercussions or consequences of my actions.

However, this was the first time Adele had ever really relied on me. The normal her wasn’t a weak willed woman, she was far from some useless wallflower who needed a man to do anything for her; but in her weakened state right now, this was the first, and only chance I’d ever had since we met to show her any sort of manly side I had.

I felt embarrassed out of my mind like I was a child when I realized how stupid it sounded, but even though I knew it was childish and idiotic, I didn’t want to quit like this.

“Why?”

“...”

“Why are you going this far for no reason?”

“...”

“Are you just an idiot?”

“...”

“Answer me!”

Sorry, I’m too tired to talk. Even a single word response might make me collapse right now.

“We’re just strangers, aren’t we?”

“...”

“You’re not going to suddenly tell me you were serious when you said you loved me or something, right?”

“...”