Hannah still clutched a section of quilt in her arms, as if she had just had a pleasant dream. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Archer closed the fairytale book and set it aside, lightening his footsteps as he got up and left.

The fireplace in the room was still burning, only the fire had diminished a bit.

Archer added some wood to the fireplace, then got up and walked over to the window, drawing back the curtains.

The world outside was filled with drifting snow, and in the distance, one could only see a small point of light flickering.

It was Hannah’s pumpkin lantern.

Although he couldn’t see the person clearly, Archer could feel their gaze and subconsciously furrowed his brows.

A sense of wariness came over him.

He drew the curtains closed, adding a second layer to ensure nothing outside could be seen.

*

For several days in a row, Archer had stayed not far from the stone house.

He wouldn’t wander too far away, and even when he did, it was to find food.

Food was extremely scarce in the winter, even the few mutated beasts in the north were hibernating.

Life outside became especially tough, sometimes even taking one more step felt like stepping on the blade of a knife; his feet had been frozen to the point of numbness.

When he accidentally bumped the frozen areas, it felt as if his entire body was being torn apart, the pain relentless.

Had it not been for his mental powers, Archer would have fallen long ago.

The cold north wind showed no mercy as it blew.

Archer, with the pumpkin lantern carefully shielded in his arms, continued on despite the candle inside having long been extinguished.

It was his only source of warmth.

Night fell, and the sky graced them with rare, twinkling stars.

Archer found a small cave nearby that could just about accommodate him. The cave was filled with dry leaves and twigs, as if someone had lived there before.

With trembling icy fingers, he tried multiple times until he finally managed to start a fire. He then carefully took out the palm-sized piece of mutated beast meat he had been carrying.

The meat was wrapped in a piece of rag no one else wanted; it was raw, with blood already congealed into ice chips.

Fortunately, it was winter, so the meat had not spoiled.

Nevertheless, even if it had spoiled, Archer would have eaten it all the same.

He was too hungry.

This small piece of mutated beast meat was something he had picked up from a trash bin in the east.

Life in the east was much better than in the refugee area; such mutated beast meat was considered the lowest currency there, but the east was also much more dangerous.

Therefore, Hannah never considered moving there to live.

When Archer made the fire and held the meat in his hand, for some reason, he thought of Hannah’s smiling face.

So beautiful, like the stars this evening.

He tried to stretch his stiff mouth into a smile, as if to show one himself.

But after several attempts, it was immensely awkward and forced.

It was like a green-eyed wolf, baring its fangs with a snarl.

He gave up and placed the meat into the fire to roast.

It was his first time roasting meat before eating, and he didn’t manage the timing well; the outside was charred while the inside remained raw.

Archer didn’t mind, he grabbed the ash-covered "roasted meat" with his hands and ate it all.

Once eaten, there was no worry of it being stolen.

...

Tonight, there was a rare absence of snowfall, and the cold wind blew only for a while, considerably warmer than usual.

Archer moved to the entrance of the cave, leaned against the wall, and looked up at the starlight in the sky.

The moon was big and round, silver like a platter.

Inside the stone house.

Hannah was also gazing at the starlight in the sky.

She unusually didn’t feel sleepy early, and after dinner, she began to sit in front of the window tinkering with her little gadgets.

Archer was making a new pumpkin lantern for Hannah.