Marrying the Vampire Prince
chapter 6's

But his calmness and the little energy he had gathered from his rest suddenly evaporated. The path through the Dark Valley was brutal. It is clear that this road is not used often. In fact, it must have been a long time since the last train passed. The vehicle shook and swayed until Evie began to feel nauseous. All the uncomfortable journeys he had experienced in the past few days until dawn were nothing compared to this.

Although the vampire prince was not as miserable as Evie, he also had a slightly tangled appearance. The deep lines on her forehead seemed to have been permanently etched on her beautiful forehead ever since the carriage started bouncing on and on. Obviously he was desperate to leave the carriage and walk or jump or run instead.

But he could not, knowing that his wife would inevitably fall to the floor and hit his head against every wall of the train like a pinball, without him there. Since the carriage had entered the Valley of Darkness, Gavriel had caught it from almost falling on the floor of the carriage twice before she decided to sit beside it and hold its waist.

"Are we going to rest?" he asked her after an hour, but Evie shook her head.

"No, let's continue." even though it looks on his face he's having a hard time.

But after an hour, the vampire prince asked again.

When Evie still shook her head and told her to keep going, a thin grin curved across Gavriel's face.

"I didn't know human women could be this hard. You are obviously having a hard time yet you are not even complaining" he said with a hint of amusement and wonder in his tone.

But Evie couldn't even give a response. Two hours of relentless brutal travel has left her exhausted and her nausea has not subsided since it began. He never experienced anything like this. Back in the South, also when he traveled to Rennox Castle, there were times when the road was bad due to bad weather but they always rested or camped and delayed the trip to the next day. But Evie knew she couldn't do it this time. They had to hurry or the wild beast would catch them.

However, after half an hour, Gavriel spoke again. This time, he did not ask again.

"Let's stop for a bit" he said and surprisingly, Evie nodded very quickly. It seemed like he had finally reached his limit. The train stopped and he quickly helped her out. But as soon as he stepped on the ground and looked around, goosebumps crept under his skin and he instinctively stepped back.

The surrounding scenery made him swallow and goosebumps crawled his skin. Not just because of the piercing cold, mostly because the valley felt so terrifying. In fact, it may still be a horror to describe the place. All of the countless trees were black and leafless as if they were all charred to death. Black crows settled on the tree branches and they all looked like they were staring straight at them. Evie could not see the plant that seemed to be alive.

A thick layer of snow had frozen the ground. The fog was also thick so that even though it was still early in the morning, it already felt like dusk. It was like the darkness was about to subside and he imagined the famous ferocious beast suddenly emerging from the thick fog that surrounded them.

"A-I think we should continue," he stuttered.

Gavriel's head turned to face him.

"But you're clear-"

"I'm fine."

"But you."

Evie meets her gaze and is surprised by what she sees in her moon-like eyes. He saw the worry in it, a very strong anxiety that made Evie pause for a moment. But then he quickly reasoned to himself that this prince must be worried that he would die or something. After all, he was a fragile thing in his eyes, judging from the way he touched her which was too careful and gentle.

"It was cold outside" she muttered and, without waiting for her husband's approval, turned around and climbed back into the carriage alone. He would rather endure the discomfort inside a moving car than stay in a place like this. All he wanted at that moment was to finally cross this valley and reach a safe village. And besides, he had told her the truth the moment his sense of wanting to freeze. He already felt a biting chill that made him shiver from just coming out for a while.

And thus, the journey continued as they rode together in quiet silence. The brutal journey stopped him from thinking and the temperature continued to get colder and colder as they walked deeper and deeper into the Valley of Darkness.

Gavriel speechlessly wrapped her in a quilted blanket somewhere along the way after realizing that she was beginning to shiver. But it's not enough. Evie was from the Southern Empire, which was usually warm and bright. He was not used to being in extreme cold temperatures. He had actually never experienced this level of coldness. The blanket was definitely not enough to warm him up.

The extreme cold swallowed Evie's fear and doubt, and she further immersed herself into her husband's coat.

"I'm relieved" he said.

"Hm?"

"It seems you're not afraid of me anymore."

Evie froze in his arms. He was right .. Along the way, his heart stopped pounding from nervousness and fear and he was actually curling closer to him unconditionally now. She's surprised.

"It seems you are also surprising yourself."

He felt his chest move under his ears in what looked like an amused gust that made him glance at his face.

"Let me warm your hands," he offered as soon as their eyes met. Evie felt her cold ears heat up and averted her gaze, but she finally raised her hand slowly.

Without a word, Gavriel grabbed her hand and began rubbing her cold palms and fingers. His hands are strong, soft and warm.

"You. A-are you really a vampire?" He closed his mouth when he realized what he had just said.

Gavriel's hand also stopped and Evie bit her lip nervously. "I'm sorry. I... it's just... I'm just—"

"Yes, Evielyn. There's a reason why my body is warm. But I'm no doubt a vampire."

Evie didn't know what to say. He wanted to talk more but he was afraid of offending her or upsetting her. He didn't want to make her angry. He didn't want to see her eyes turn red or he didn't want to show her fangs. He thought he might not be able to survive this trip if it happened. He probably died of fear and freezing cold.

Sensing Evie's body stiffening, perhaps more because of her comment than the cold, Gavriel again played her hand, surprising her once again.

It seemed like he was not offended and he could not help but sigh in relief. 

He began to fuse their fingers together and then he lightly pressed his thumb against his palm with deliberate gentleness.

 It was so calming that Evie could not help but enjoy it. He never thought he would find himself in this situation and he never thought he would like it and would feel safe in his arms, in the arms of a vampire. He had prepared himself to live in a nightmare but why did this feel like a dream? I don't want him to think he must be dreaming.