Victor continued holding Grace in his arms for a few more seconds, calmly observing her completely disoriented expression. The surrounding forest remained silent, broken only by the distant sounds of monsters moving among the enormous trees of that region. Small pieces of ice still floated involuntarily near her body, probably a result of the absurd fright she had experienced seconds before.
Grace seemed to have stopped functioning properly.
Her normally cold face was now completely flushed, while her blue eyes avoided direct eye contact with him. Victor honestly didn't know exactly how to react to this. From the beginning of the Ritual, Grace had demonstrated the emotional personality of a frozen tombstone. So seeing her practically short-circuiting from being caught off guard seemed strangely funny.
Still, he let out a small, tired sigh before finally placing her on the ground again.
Grace immediately took two steps back.
Too fast.
Too fast.
