"Because I lied. There are no vines around here at all."Kisa stiffened in place. She shook her head stiffly and giggled. "Stop kidding. You just clearly said you didn't lie to me.""But I really lied to you." Gilbert stood on the stone and looked up at her expressionlessly. He did not look like he was joking. Kisa's heart sank, and she kept shaking her head. "What do you mean? You said you would come up, and there were vines around here. You said you wouldn't lie to me. Gilbert, why are you always like this? You never keep your word. I really hate you. I hate you so much." Kisa's eyes reddened, her voice choked with grief and aggrievement.Gilbert quietly looked at her sad face and suddenly chuckled. "If I didn't lie to you, would you be willing to get up there? Weren't you afraid I would die here and couldn't take you out of here? Now you are out of this cave. Follow the direction where you rolled down earlier, and you can find the way back. So, you shouldn't be crying. You should
"When we return, we will investigate and find the perpetrator together. The main thing now is to bring you up." Kisa stood up. "I will follow the direction from where I fell. If I see vines, I will come back for you. If I don't see any, I will speed up to get help.""Listen to me—go now and don't look for any vines," Gilbert spoke in a low voice, sounding sad and powerless as if he had suddenly lost any hope.Kisa frowned at him. "Why, Gilbert? Don't you want to come up?""I do, but... Even if I go up, I won't survive. So, don't waste your energy. Go back by yourself." The headache was getting increasingly intense. His body was getting sorer and weaker. Gilbert even had difficulty speaking. He almost exhausted all his strength when he helped her escape the cave. Mustering all his remaining strength, he looked up at Kisa just to see her for one last time. He saw her eyes wide open, her pale face, her lips shivering as she repeatedly shook her head as if she could not believe somethin
Kisa went to the huge tree and clenched a bundle of vines. The tree trunk was so thick even an adult could not wrap his hands around it. The countless vines, growing from the branches to the treetop, stacking on top of each other, were strong and sturdy.Kisa tried hard to pull the vines off the tree until they hurt her hands, but none were torn off. Satisfied with the sturdiness of the strong vines, which could carry a lot of weight, Kisa grabbed the vines tighter and started to climb up the tree with the help of the vines.The vines on the upper part of the tree were less thick than the ones at the bottom.After climbing up toward those vines, Kisa balanced herself, clenching onto the vines single-handedly while stepping on them. She grabbed a bunch of ten vines with her other hand and started biting on them. Biting off the vines, one at a time, Kisa slowly unraveled them from the tree. Finishing the task, she free-falls into the thick and soft snow underneath her, exhausted, crea
Gilbert's body felt so cold that Kisa flustered after feeling his body temperature. She grabbed Gilbert's hand and said, trembling, "Gilbert, wake up. I found the vines. I'll get you out of here now. You're going to be just fine. Can you open your eyes and look at me? I beg you, Gilbert, please open your eyes."Kisa kept talking to Gilbert, but he would not wake up. Still panicking, she wiped her tears off and said in a determined yet choked voice, "You're not going to die. I haven't gotten you back for how you treated me previously. It's unfair to me if you die like this. Gilbert, I'm not going to let you die. I'm going to save you no matter what."As she said that, she grabbed the rope on the ground hurriedly, tied the rope around Gilbert three times, and ascended out of the cave. Climbing up the rope was harder than descending as Kisa's arms were swollen and numb, feeling a burning sensation in her palms. Kisa took her time to climb out of the cave, grabbing the rope and trying to
Afraid that it was just her hallucination, Kisa did not even dare to blink. "Gilbert..." She called out to Gilbert in a trembling voice, sounding weak and listless as if she would pass out anytime. Finally, Gilbert slowly opened his eyes, which got Kisa so agitated she almost stopped breathing."Y-You're awake?" She cried with happy tears, and her messy face looked a little hilarious though Gilbert thought she looked very beautiful in that way. He arduously lifted his hand and touched Kisa's choppy hair that was dampened by the snow, saying softly, "You really got me out of there."Kisa nodded hard, "I'm pretty impressive, huh?" Her lips were cracked and colorless, matching her pale, ghastly face as she smiled. Gilbert's heart broke at the sight of her chapped lips. He mumbled, "Yes. You're the best."A joyous smile appeared on Kisa's face as she snuggled into his arms weakly, not feeling like moving at all. Gilbert held her tight in his arms but hastily lifted and looked straight a
Davian went to look for them with Kohen after the snowstorm was over.Peter ordered the rescue team to look in another direction.The time they spent waiting was very tormenting. Eylul was keeping the three children company upstairs. She looked at that misty white hill far away and could not help but feel heartbroken.Andrew and Ada were the saddest as they wiped their tears silently while leaning on the window.They knew that their father and Kisa had gone missing, and everyone was searching for them. So, they did not dare to ask too many questions as they patiently waited for the updates.Blake had been keeping himself composed since the incident happened. He sat before the window without saying anything. There was not any expression on his delicate face. Nobody knew what was going on in his head. However, this kid, who was the calmest, hid in the corner and cried the hardest after Gilbert and Kisa came back.The cold wind shrieked, and it stung their faces.Kisa struggled and
"How did your hands get hurt?" Jensen asked her a question instead of answering her. His voice was deep.Kisa looked away. "It was an accident." Then, she asked again, "Where's Gilbert? Tell me now."Jensen smiled and said, "You only hurt your hands because you tried to save Gilbert, right?""He only fell into the cave with me because he tried to save me. So, there was no way I'd leave him alone in there." She shifted her gaze back at Jensen, looking stern.Jensen bowed her head down and smiled without saying anything.Kisa got anxious. After all, Gilbert ate a poisonous fruit.Then, she asked worriedly, "Jensen, how's Gilbert now?""He left.""Left?" Kisa furrowed her brows. She did not dare to think negatively as she asked blankly again, "What do you mean by that?""Gilbert was very close to dying when he got here. The medical facilities here are limited, so Davian brought him and his family back overnight.""C-Close to dying?" Kisa spoke in her feeble voice, sounding tense
The panting and the wide, warm back she heard and felt in her daze were real. It was really Gilbert who carried her back.'He said before he would not let me die with him around, and he actually did it.' Yet, she still could not figure out why a man who hated her to the bones would so desperately try to save her. What he had done was far from his so-called hatred for her. She looked blankly at her meticulously bandaged hand. The scene where she pulled that man out of the cave with vines felt like a dream.If it were in the past, she would never have dared to imagine it at all. 'Gilbert, you've accomplished what you've promised me, and so did I." She muttered to herself as she looked out the window. It seemed to be snowing outside. The snow was very fine, and Kisa could not see them without looking closely. She recalled what Gilbert said when he helped her out of that cave.Suddenly, she wanted to see that man so much. 'How are you doing now?' She muttered to herself, and little by l