Reincarnated into a Snow Griffin-Chapter 78

Time flies by and before we notice two days have already passed since that infamous dinner and we were now moving to our next destination, fast or slow it is hard to say surrounded by clouds and howling wind as we are, and yet I watch it all course below and around us, a sense of belonging relaxing me to watch the skies from the balcony, my wings itching to be set free for a taste of liberty.

And yet such view and logging are a small relive from the twirling thoughts that sprinkle in my mind at the upcoming rescue mission.

Indeed that was an item Lewis Fraser wanted us to retrieve for him... and that is actually his daughter that has been kidnapped by the demons... or so he says.

"She was on a trip south when they got her, and I have had no news ever since." He said and all the greedy cultivators around attentively listed; after having signed up a silent magical pact, of course; until he mentioned the demons, and the location of the mission.

The cursed land, the deadly island, the home of the demons: Rotherhithe Island.

And that’s where we are heading for now, after dumping the too coward to move forward with the mission, waiting for such a long trip to pass and doing so quicker with so many thoughts in my mind, and funny enough this time around most of them had something to do with a certain coky person...

I would be lying if I told you I did not have a clue what Ethan’s actions that morning meant, and I actually caught myself wondering a few times if truly given the opportunity he would have kissed me like it appeared... and wonder if I would have let him as the idea seemed... compelling, making frown at the fuzzy sensation inside.

Then I would shake my head and awake from the crazy thoughts and strange sensation given by remembering his actions, only to bite my lips and make the pain wake me to reality, but even then it could not stop my thoughts from drifting back when I lowered my guard once more.

Plus that reality did not help me get my thoughts away from it since Ethan was always close by and I would scowl while staring at him, studying him as he stayed on the sides, watching the clouds like me from the window of our room or the edge of the balcony, always lost in his own thoughts and making me want to probe the truth out of him, know what bothers such enthusiastic man into silence, enough so that minutes dragged at night and that want would grow to a physical itch.

He has been like that ever since we saw that Lewis Fraser up close, and the way they exchanged words and glances... I was no fool in believing they did not know each other, they definitely had a past, and by the looks of it not a good one.

I don’t know what is worse however, the distant way he has while looking down, lost in thought, or that fact it has bothered me enough to notice in the first place.

When did I have time for anything beyond training and thinking of revenge? Since when had I started worrying about anyone else? Such a distraction he was, and yet...

And yet I looked, I observed, and I... wondered.

To the point of not being able to take the odd silence anymore and ask: "You two know each didn’t you?"

He blinks a few times with the out of nowhere question before looking at me, caught by surprise by having me strike a conversation as I’m usually the one avoiding it. "Excuse me?"

"Lewis, you are acquainted aren’t you?"

He frowns. "And what makes you say that?"

This time I go and hold onto the railings too, being my turn to look at his face intensely, searching for answers there. "Perhaps the way he keeps staring at you when he speaks, or how you stare back, or how you have been sulking here since..."

"I’m not sulking." He says a little too fast and I don’t say anything to that, but my silence says enough and even him knows just how out of character he has been acting since their meeting, so instead of insisting on that he sighs, and with a weak smirk says to me:

"Careful beauty, you worrying about me like this will give me the wrong... no, the right ideas, many ideas."

"I’m not worrying about you." I say, and it is my turn to be stared at, but I am satisfied when I see a smile playing on his lips.

"Well, but I should have guessed that your sharp eyes would not miss a beat I supposed..." He says, giving a weak chuckle. "Just my luck, he is rarely present when an auction is happening, but not only he was when we visit but had this all plan out and... sigh, what a good time it is, seeing his ugly face again."

"Is that so?" I say, thinking that indeed is something unusual to happen, to give out a mission like this out of the blue, plus the prizes... it is an expensive endeavor indeed, but I guess is worth the prize if what he told us is true, plus the money that would come with.

But I guess for some the status of participating or perhaps winning was enough.

"But one thing for sure, do not trust him." Ethan finally says, pointing seriously at me, and eager to know more I lean forward and listen. "We are actually... related you see, long distant family line and all of that, and he is sort of my... uncle." He almost spits the word out. "And we may go at each other’s throats and dislike each other from time to time, however I know one thing for sure: he does not have a kid, and even if he did I doubted he would care as much to go through all this trouble. There is something fishy about this mission..."

I keep quiet with the news, thinking the information he has given me over especially when the mission we were just giving is exactly what it sounds like.

We are to rescue Master’s Fraser daughter from the cursed land where the demons lived, the secluded island deep in the sea where cultivators made parties to explore and pillage at, and train in real combat.

Which only barges the question... who were we rescuing then? And why, what are his interests in saving such kid? Perhaps is an illegitimate child? Wouldn’t be the first to have a heavy conscious late in life, but by the sound of things it did not seem to be the case of growing a conscious now...

Even worse, would I be able to give such child out to him once we rescue her? Perhaps stealing Lily back is still the best option, if not the only option at all... things to worry about later, I supposed.

For now, I wanted to gather as much information as possible, and such surprising detail of being part of the same family just shows how little I know the man beside me.

And how much did I want to know I wonder... I cannot deny that his backstory picked my interest, especially with so many things not said between the lines, of how their relationship came to be like this, for starts.

And yet I know when to probe and when to fall back and wait for another opportunity.

So instead I say:

"Tell me more about the cursed lands."