"I-I didn't th-th-think that lit-little hamster would di-directly frrreeze me," I stammered, my teeth chattering from the cold.

After a moment, she came out with her wet hair tied into a bun, while the strands at the front lay freely, kissing her cheeks.

"So you're already free?" she murmured. "I was worried for nothing."

"Heck you were! Who do you think froze me in this cold night, knowing clearly that I'm already half-naked?"

"I only punished you lightly for your impertinence," she argued. "If you said that to some other lady in the outside world, you'd be met with far worse punishment."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I scoffed and went inside.

"Umm, can you let me go while I bathe?" I asked, patting Ume's head.

I tried to remove her from my chest, but she neither woke up nor moved an inch.

"Forget it," I sighed, removed my pants, and jumped into the Amrita water.

I made sure not to splash water on her since I didn't want to wake her up while being buck naked, so I only soaked myself up to my belly and rubbed the remaining parts by wetting my hands.

After a long, relaxing bath of thirty minutes, I came out and called the squad inside.

"You can sleep on the futon tonight," Nymeria said, still feeling guilty.

"Why am I getting this special treatment?" I asked teasingly.

"It's because Gumiho is sleeping while clutching you, so I don't want her to catch a cold," she blurted, pushing me inside the tree room.

"My conscience wouldn't let me make the lady sleep outside," I argued.

"I am totally fine with it, so don't worry."

"Umm, you can sleep with me if you want," I offered.

As soon as the words left my lips, Jambavan gave an exaggerated gasp, Vyaghra's lips parted, Ruru's face blushed, while the lady in question, Nymeria herself, was standing completely stunned.

"This kid doesn't know how to love his damn life," Jambavan tsked.

Another one of Nymeria's attacks was about to come for me, but I spoke again, clearing the misunderstanding, "I didn't mean it that way. There's more than enough space for the two of us to sleep side by side on the futon, and I promise I won't touch you."

"The kid's right. It's just a damn sleep. There ain't no way that a mature lady like her would think of it the wrong way," Jambavan added in my support.

"But don't a male and female only sleep for mate—"

A sharp antler attack landed on Vyaghra's gut as Ruru stopped him from speaking any further.

"Jambavan is right, pretty lady," I nodded in agreement.

"But it's-it's a bit inappropriate," Nymeria stammered, her face puffing like a pufferfish.

"Inappropriate? Haven't we already slept together? And did you forget? We were also nake—"

In the blink of an eye, her hand landed on my mouth, clutching it tightly. "You imbecile, do you want the whole world to know?" she whispered, her ears blushing bright red.

"Fine, let's sleep together," she declared and grabbed me by the wrist, dragging me inside.

I had offered her to sleep with me only to tease her, but Jambavan's comment escalated my little joke further, and Nymeria also agreed in the heat of the moment.

But now that we were actually inside, both of us were nervous as hell. We stood there like statues for a whole minute before I finally spoke up.

"My-my hand," I said, pointing to my wrist being clutched in her cold, soft hands.

She freed my hand in a flash and blurted, "When did I say it's mine?"

"Let me unwrap the futon."

I took quick steps toward the corner of the room, grabbed the futon, and placed it at the center.

"After you," I said, stepping back.

"So it's really happening," she whispered, and after taking a long breath, quickly moved inside the blanket.

I lay beside her, placing the blanket over me, making sure Ume could breathe comfortably.

The entrance of the room suddenly closed with an opaque seal, trapping us inside.

"What just happened?" Nymeria asked nervously.

"Ruru must have done it so we could rest properly," I reassured her. However, it was already obvious to me what Ruru and Jambavan were scheming.

Was I nervous? Yeah.

Was I bothered by their schemes? Hell no!

I was actually enjoying every bit of it.

But still, I was aware of my limits and knew where to stop. It wasn't time for my lust to take over my instincts.

"Raj?"

"Hmm?"

"Where will you go after leaving the forest?"

"I haven't thought of it yet. I don't know anything about the outside world, so I'm not sure."

"Aren't you going to return to your family?"

"I want to, but I don't know the way."

"Would you like to come with me until you find the way to return? I'll show you how beautiful Vyoman really is," she asked, turning her face toward me.

"The world can never be beautiful in itself. It's the presence of our precious ones that makes it beautiful. So if it's you who'll be showing it, I'll love seeing this world's beauty."

"How do you manage to say something so embarrassing with a straight face," she sighed, raising her head and resting her face on her palm. "It's a promise then."

"Yeah sure, why not," I replied, and then after a brief pause, I asked, "I also wanted to ask you something. What did you see in the illusions cast by Gumiho?"

She immediately got flustered hearing my question. "Don't take anything I blurted back then seriously, and don't talk to me about that."

"But—"

"No buts," she replied firmly, so I gave up and changed the topic.

"Do your hands always remain cold?"

"Not just my hands, the snow attribute has turned my whole body cold."

"So doesn't it feel uncomfortable"

"It does. But I have gotten used to it."

"Would you like to hold my hand," I offered. "Don't take it in the wrong way. My body remains very warm, so I just—"

I was still clarifying, but she had already grabbed my hand between both of hers and whispered, "Good night."

Her hands were clearly cold, yet there was a warmth in that coldness that I had never felt before. It was quite relaxing and comfortable holding her hands.

"G-good night," I replied, obviously flustered.

---

"Why is my body feeling so heavy?" I thought inwardly, still half-asleep. "And why do I have this soft cushion in my hand?"

I slowly opened my eyes, and what I found was terrifyingly arousing.

Ume was sleeping on top of me in her human form, but the worst—or best—part was that she was completely naked, and the thing I was squeezing in my hand was none other than her ass cheeks.

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