As soon as Amber was done healing the man, she felt overwhelmed by mana exhaustion and passed out on the side of the bed.
An hour after being healed, Emperor Gelid opened his eyes, and looked at a silver-haired angel, holding onto his leg. Then he realized the pain that had stuck with him ever since he had turned eighteen, was finally gone. He felt an overwhelming sense of relief and peace wash over him. He wouldn't have to fear freezing solid due to the curse anymore, because the curse on him had finally been removed. For how many years had he been searching for a Mystic to remove his curse?
Six generations ago, his family had angered the Mystics. The Mystic's then cursed his family. Causing one of the sons in each generation to die by freezing solid. Only a Mystic could break a Mystic's curse, but by the time his family discovered that it was too late. They had already taken over the Kingdom of Shadow and had killed all of the Mystic they had found.
He slipped out of bed. Then walked around the bed to stand behind Amber. As soon as he climbed out of the bed, Zen was standing next to him, to make sure that his footsteps didn't falter.
"I'm fine, Zen," he said quietly. "Move her onto the bed for me and then you may leave."
"Are you sure? She's already served her purpose. I could get rid of her for you if you want," Zen said.
"Not yet, I want to have a few words with her first," said the Ice Emperor.
"As you wish," said Zen before gently picking Amber up and setting her on top of the bed. After Zen had positioned Amber onto one side of the bed, he turned into a puff of orange smoke and floated out of the room.
Emperor Gelid climbed back into bed next to Amber and stared at her for a couple of hours while she was sleeping. Every once in a while, he would reach out, and stroke either her arm or her long silver hair. She was a stunning specimen.
Amber woke after a while, feeling like she had recently been in a horrible accident. Then she looked into the eyes of the man she had healed. He was lying on the bed next to her, leaning in, and staring. That was awkward. She could feel her face heat up while looking into his light blue eyes.
Gelid stared at her with a small crease between his eyebrows. Why weren't her eyes purple? He knew that she was a Mystic, but her eyes appeared to be blue-gray.
"Hi?" Said Amber while leaning back from him and wrapping her arms around herself.
He reached out and momentarily touched her arm. "Thank you for helping me. I've had that illness for quite a long time and have been searching for a cure," he said with a gentle smile.
"You're welcome," she said while hugging her knees to her chest. "What were you doing out here, in a cave, at night?"
"Ah, I'm from the UGA. I came to this country on a Blue Working Permit," said the Ice Emperor while pushing his long black hair out of his eyes and tucking it behind his ear.
Amber smiled. "Oh, nice! What kind of work do you do?" Amber said while relaxing slightly and crossing her legs. "I haven't been to that country yet. I'd like to learn more about it."
"I'm in a merchant guild. I travel around to different countries while looking for new items to sell," he said and then grinned. "I enjoy it a lot. Traveling all over the planet. There's always a new adventure, always more to see. I suppose I have a bit of wanderlust," he said.
Gelid leaned in, looking deep into Amber's eyes. "Thank you for healing me. At least, I think that was you. Although, I didn't know that women could be healers." He said.
Amber looked down at her hands which she had stopped hugging herself with and had started clasping together. "Yeah, that was me."
"Really?" He said.
"Yeah, where I'm from, it's...not all that uncommon for women to be healers," she said.
"Really?" He said with an interested tone of voice.
Amber smiled sadly. "Yeah, I was going to be a surgeon. I went to medical school for quite a few years."
"You were going to be a surgeon and already went to medical school? That's amazing! I bet it was hard to date anybody though," he said.
"I've been on dates before," Amber said while frowning.
"I'm sure that you have. You're quite beautiful," he said while staring into her eyes.
Amber's cheeks became slightly pink, but she didn't say anything and just turned her eyes away.
"Could I see your hands?" He said.
Amber looked back at him and frowned. "Why do you want to see my hands?"
"I would like to see the hands of the woman who saved my life," he said.
Amber's face reddened further and her eyes widened at the sincerity that he was projecting from his eyes. She unclasped her hands and slowly held them out to him.
He gently took her hands into his own and lightly rubbed his thumbs onto her wrists. "You have lovely hands. All of that knowledge and grace in such delicate fingers," he softly said while rubbing his thumb over her fingers.
"Thank you," Amber squeaked and then cleared her throat in embarrassment.
He continued to hold her hands while he talked, lightly massaging her fingers. "You have such pretty silver hair," he said while reaching out one hand to take hold of it. He looked at it while turning it in the light. Then he looked deeply into her eyes, lifted her hair to his lips, and kissed it.
"Is your hair color fake?" he gently asked.
"No, metal is one of my magic elements," she said while lightly pulling her hair back.
"Really? I heard that metal wielding is incredibly rare," he said. "You're not lying to impress me, are you?" He said and then grinned at her.
Amber's heart jumped while looking at that smile of his. "No, I guess that I was lucky," she said.
"You do seem like the lucky type," he gently said while reaching out and tucking some of Amber's hair behind her ear. "I would also feel lucky if I could see you again," he said while trailing his fingers along the side of her face.
Amber leaned back. "That...I suppose I could give you a follow-up appointment at my clinic."
He blinked his eyes and his hands fell back to his lap. "I was thinking more along the lines of having dinner together."
Her eyes widened at his suggestion.
"Unless you don't feel comfortable going on dates," he said.
"I don't have a problem with going on dates," she said.
"Great. Just tell me where to come get you. I'll take you out to dinner at the Marion, next Friday at five. I've heard that the food there is excellent," he said
"I...suppose that dinner would be alright," she said.
"What name may I call this enchanting woman?" he said.
"...Amber."
"It was a great pleasure to meet you, Amber," he said while gently taking hold of both of her hands.
"You may call me Gel," he said.
"Gel?"
"Yeah, everyone who's important to me calls me Gel," he said.
Amber frowned, "I'm important to you?"
"Absolutely, after all, you are the woman who saved my life with your wonderful hands," he said. He gently pulled her hands towards himself. Then he reached up like he had when tucking her hair behind her ear. However, this time he touched the side of her face and caressed her neck with his thumb.
"May I kiss you once, before we're forced to part ways?" He said
Amber nibbled on her lower lip, with a slight frown between her eyebrows. Her heart wildly beat in her chest while she internally debated. In the end, she reached up and removed his hand. She felt stupid and angry with herself for denying him, but she just didn't want to kiss him. Hadn't she wanted to have a real first kiss? Maybe she'd feel differently after their date?
"I'll meet you at the Marion on Friday," Amber said.