The Villainess Wants To Retire-Chapter 132: Morning Confessions pt 2

"Why didn’t you stay asleep?" she demanded, changing tactics because acknowledging the punishment comment would mean acknowledging what had happened in the cave.

I answered honestly because lying seemed pointless.

"I noticed your warmth was gone."

Simple. True. The moment my body had registered her absence it had woken me, had sent alarm signals that something was wrong because apparently I’d gotten so used to having her there that her warmth had become baseline, expected, necessary.

She stared at me for a moment.

Something complicated crossing her face. Emotions I couldn’t quite read but that looked like they hurt, like my honesty had hit somewhere vulnerable.

Then she turned without a word.

Moved to the saddlebags, started pulling out the clothes Ryse had sent. Examined them briefly, nodded once in apparent approval, then gathered them against her chest like armor.

"I need to change." She didn’t look at me. "Stay outside till I’m done."

I couldn’t resist.

"What’s the point of hiding?" My voice went deliberately casual, teasing. "We’ve crossed certain boundaries already. Seen quite a lot of each other, if you recall."

The death stare she leveled at me could have melted steel. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Watch your mouth."

Each word sharp. Precise. Promising violence if I pushed further.

"It only happened because of the heat of the moment," she continued, chin lifting in that stubborn way that meant she was trying to convince herself as much as me. "Because the situation was... unusual. Don’t read more into it than necessary."

She stormed off toward the cave.

All righteous indignation and barely contained embarrassment, white hair streaming behind her, wrapped in blanket and chemise and whatever dignity she could salvage.

Threw one final warning over her shoulder:

"Stay. Outside."

Then disappeared through the waterfall like it had personally offended her.

I stood there watching where she’d vanished.

Couldn’t help the smile pulling at my mouth. Couldn’t help the warm feeling in my chest that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with how adorable she was when flustered, when trying to maintain control, when pretending last night hadn’t meant anything while her body language screamed the opposite.

Laughed quietly to myself.

Because loving Eris Igniva apparently meant finding entertainment in being cursed at, threatened, and told to stay outside like a misbehaving dog.

Worth it.

The nymphs had been watching the entire exchange.

Hovering nearby at safe distance, observing with the kind of fascination usually reserved for watching unpredictable weather patterns.

One of them drifted closer.

Brave or curious or both. Chimed softly in that musical language, question clear even without translation.

"She’s so feisty. So sharp. So..." The nymph struggled for words. "...dangerous. What do you see in her?"

The others echoed the question.

All watching me now. Waiting for an answer that made sense. Trying to understand why someone blessed by Aenithra would choose someone who embodied everything ice opposed.

Fire. Heat. Chaos.

I answered immediately.

Didn’t need to think about it. Didn’t need to search for diplomatic words or careful explanations.

"Everything."

The nymphs tilted their heads in unison. Confused.

I continued because apparently I was feeling honest this morning, because Eris wasn’t here to hear it, because these ancient guardians deserved to understand what they were protecting.

"Her fire." I started listing. "Her rage. Her softness when she thinks no one’s looking. The way she threatens people and absolutely means it. How she survived everything that should have broken her and didn’t."

Paused. Thought about the woman who’d woken up from almost being consumed by her own powers, who’d been forced into being a tyrant, who’d been abused and used and turned into a monster by the very people who should have protected her.

"Her strength," I continued. "Her fear that she tries to hide but I can see anyway. The way she pretends not to care while caring so much it’s destroying her. How she looks at me like I might be the exception to every rule she’s learned about people being terrible."

Another pause.

The nymphs waited. Silent now. Actually listening instead of panicking.

"The way she argues with me. The way she fights even when she’s losing. The way she makes soup threats and somehow makes them sound legitimate." I smiled despite myself. "How she just walked away from an empire because she wanted peace more than power. How she chose herself when everyone expected her to choose duty."

Stopped.

Looked toward the waterfall where she’d disappeared. Where she was probably cursing my name while getting dressed, while trying to convince herself that last night meant nothing, that this connection between us was temporary and manageable and definitely not something that would complicate everything.

"All of it," I said quietly. "At once. The fire and the ice. The rage and the softness. The strength and the fear. The queen she was forced to be and the woman she actually is underneath."

Looked back at the nymphs.

"That’s what I see."

They stared at me.

Silent. Processing. Probably trying to reconcile their understanding of fire and ice being opposites, being incompatible, being things that couldn’t coexist.

Finally one of them chimed softly.

Not a question. Just acknowledgment.

The Frostmother chose strange vessels for her blessings. Perhaps she saw something we cannot.

I smiled.

"Perhaps she did."

Or perhaps I’d just fallen for someone who made absolutely no logical sense and didn’t care about logic anymore because Eris was worth every complication, every political nightmare, every consequence that came from choosing her.

The waterfall shimmered.

Eris would emerge soon. Dressed. Composed. Ready to pretend last night hadn’t happened and that I hadn’t just spent the morning being deliberately provocative because her reactions were too good not to chase.

I looked forward to it.

To whatever came next. To two more days in this sacred space with her. To watching her discover cold, discover peace, discover that maybe letting someone in wasn’t the disaster she’d convinced herself it would be.

To building something that would survive the chaos waiting in Nevareth.

Something worth fighting for.

Something worth keeping.