I’m Just a Counselor Chapter 109

I instinctively clutched his arms and neck tightly. Jeremiah took a few steps back with me in his arms, but he didn’t stumble or collapse.

With my face buried in his strong arms, I slowly opened my eyes. I could hear his heart pounding and feel his body heat.

‘Jeremiah’s heart was beating fast. I don’t know if it was from surprise or…’

 

“Vanessa, are you okay?”

‘…I wonder if my heart is beating as fast as Jeremiah’s?’

 

“Vanessa?”

“I’m okay, I’m okay!”

 

I yelped, pulling my face away from his embrace. Jeremiah set me down and muttered playfully.

“I thought you were going to choke me.”

“Sin… big, I’m sorry.”

 

The sound of my heart, beating hard and fast, wouldn’t leave my ears, and I cupped my face in my hands, unable to look at Jeremiah properly, my face too hot for the breeze that brushed my cheeks.

 

“First we have to get to where I’ve seen the Northern Lights before, and if we don’t find the Aurora Borealis around there, we can’t do it.”

“…Okay.”

 

Jeremiah tilted his head, puzzled by the beat-late answer, but didn’t ask me why. 

 

He tied his horse to a tree and began to pace slowly. 

 

I followed him, barely able to keep my face cool.

 

As Jeremiah had said, the snow at the bottom of the mountain was mostly melted, but the higher we went, the more unmelted snow we encountered. 

 

The wind was also getting stronger. 

 

However, I was able to climb the mountain with relative ease. 

 

Jeremiah, who was ahead of me, protected me from the wind and cut through the snow and bushes that blocked my path.

 

Still, he looked back at me several times. 

 

‘As if he was worried about me and couldn’t stand it.’

 

I quickly realized why he was acting this way.

 

“Put this on and walk.”

 

I don’t know how much time passed, but suddenly Jeremiah untied the chain of his cloak. I squinted, not understanding his words. He rushed over to give me the cloak.

 

“Why this all of a sudden?”

“You’re shivering, I knew it.”

 

Jeremiah replied nonchalantly and carefully wrapped the cloak around me. 

 

The weight of it resting on my shoulders thawed my frozen body. 

 

True to his word, I was shivering. At Jeremiah’s urging, I put on more clothes, but it wasn’t enough.

 

‘I was cold. And my stamina was slipping. Oh, I was getting slower and slower.’

 

I blinked, trying to stay still. 

 

Jeremiah, who was pulling on his cloak with a serious face, didn’t look as cold as I was, nor did he seem to find the climb as difficult. I couldn’t help but wonder, and asked him.

 

“Did you mean to give me that cloak all along?”

“Yes. Let me know if it gets hard to walk, and I’ll hold your hand.”

“…okay.”

 

I said, fiddling with the hem of my cloak. Jeremiah brushed my cheek lightly and started walking ahead again. I stared at his jacket-clad back. 

 

‘Somehow, the cloak felt warmer.’

 

After about 15 minutes of walking, we came to a small gazebo that someone had built. 

 

It was probably meant to shelter from sudden downpours of rain or snow. There was a thick layer of snow on the roof. Jeremiah stared at it, then turned to me.

 

“Shall we take a break?”

 

He pointed to a cot under the roof. I nodded and flopped down on the chair. My rapid breathing eased a little.

 

“I think we had one of these when I was a kid. I didn’t realize they still existed.”

 

Jeremiah muttered as he stroked the gazebo’s pillars instead of sitting down. There were many scratches on the posts. As if to say that this gazebo had been standing for a long time.

 

“I guess the people of this land forgot for a moment that this is how they live.”

 

“…….”

“You’re right, the first people who traveled here paved the way.”

 

Jeremiah’s words reminded me of the many landmarks I’d found on my hikes up the mountain. 

 

Ribbons tied to branches and marks left on tree trunks to indicate direction. Until this gazebo. 

 

All were left by those who climbed the mountain first for those who would come after. That’s how everyone here lived. With devotion and kindness for one another, and Jeremiah was no different.

 

I thought of him, wearing a cloak I didn’t need, clearing obstacles from my path. Jeremiah, after all, was very much at home in this land, and perhaps that is why the people loved and followed him.

 

“I think I understand now why the Duke says he loves this land.”

 

“Do you?”

“I was born in the Islands, but I couldn’t help but love this place.”

 

‘A place that welcomed me as a wanderer, a place I could only call home.’

 

“And…”

 

I couldn’t help but love you too.

 

I hesitated, wondering if I dared to say it. 

 

A heavy thud sounded from somewhere. 

 

At the same time, Jeremiah’s momentum suddenly sharpened. It was a change even I couldn’t fail to recognize.

 

“Duke, what is it?”

“Quietly. Vanessa, don’t move for a moment.”

 

He spoke in a whisper and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. 

 

The very next moment there was another thud. It sounded like something was being thrown in the distance. 

 

Sitting up in my chair and rolling my eyes, I froze as I caught sight of a pair of crimson eyes glaring back at me. The thing snorted, revealing itself.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Jeremiah muttered a low curse. It resembled a boar, but its glazed eyes made it clear that this was no ordinary boar. 

 

It was twice the size of a normal boar. Its jagged tusks glinted with a sharp light.

 

“Vanessa, you don’t have to be scared.”

 

Jeremiah said, as if to calm my agitation. 

 

Thrrrr. 

 

With a chilling sound, his sword was drawn. Suddenly, I remembered that I had never seen Jeremiah with a sword before.

 

“It’s okay, I’m with you.”

 

Jeremiah whispered, his voice soothing without ever taking his eyes off the creature’s glazed eyes. 

 

I slowly pursed my lips. 

 

My body relaxed, my mind strangely calming. 

 

I stared straight at his back, the indicator that told me where I should go.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Miss! They say there’s an avalanche on Mount Alliot!”

 

A knight urgently reported to Estella. Estella, who was sitting on her bed reading a book, listened in bewilderment. 

 

‘Normally, there was someone else who should have gotten the news first.’

 

“What did my brother say? Why did you tell me that….?”

 

“Well, His Excellency the Duke is not at the castle, so you are the next person to receive the report.”

“My brother isn’t here? Where did he go?”

 

“I am well…”

 

The knight hesitated, then asked again.

“Miss, if this continues, the snow will fall on private houses, and the damage will be great. What should we do?”

“…….”

 

The knight was right. After Jeremiah, it was Estella who would have to do the job.

 

Estella closed her book and stood up from the bed. She rolled her eyes in confusion.

‘Where the hell was my brother when I needed him so badly?’

 

Avalanches were one of the biggest disasters to hit the North. If not handled properly and in time, it could be catastrophic. 

 

‘I had to give instructions immediately.’

 

But Estella faltered in her panic. She’d never done anything like this before. Estella curled her lip.

 

“Lady!”

 

The knight looked at her, his face burning. Estella stammered, then asked the first question.

 

“What about the demon hunt? No one has left the castle now, have they?”

 

“No, none.”

 

“That’s good. Let’s evacuate the people who live in private houses close to Mount Alliot and…”

 

Mount Alliot is a mountain to the west of Loasen, and it was often haunted by demons. As such, the Duke’s castle often went out hunting for demons. 

 

As is often the case in the northern mountains, there was a lot of snow on Mount Alliot. 

 

However, the ground was hard, so there had never been an avalanche before.

 

However, the evacuation system is well organized due to the presence of beasts… The evacuation will be quick. 

 

Estella shook her head in relief.

 

She was a princess of Oppenheim, an adult in a few days. She couldn’t just stay in her brother’s shadow, so she couldn’t let Jeremiah’s absence falter her.