CHAPTER 230: ONE THOUSAND STEPS OF SUFFERING (II)

"Six hundred?!" Primrose almost cried on the spot. Her legs were already trembling with every single step, so how in the world was she supposed to climb six hundred more?

She had thought they had already climbed nearly eight hundred steps, but it turned out, they hadn’t even made it halfway.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, torn between continuing her suffering or just begging her husband to turn back.

"What if we just go back down?" Edmund gently rubbed her back, his eyes filled with worry as he noticed she could barely stand upright anymore. "I think this is really too much for you."

Primrose didn’t answer right away. Her whole body was screaming. Her lungs burned, her knees wobbled with every step, and it felt like even her heartbeat was tired.

She was exhausted, truly exhausted, but when she looked up and saw Edmund’s face, she just couldn’t bring herself to say yes.

Because in his eyes, she saw more than just worry.

She saw longing, hope, a fragile thread of belief holding together a heart that had already lost too much.

Primrose slowly straightened her back, swallowing the lump in her throat. "No," she whispered. "Let’s keep going."

Edmund blinked, surprised. "Are you sure?"

"I’m not sure of anything right now," she said with a weak laugh, "except for one thing."

"What’s that?"

"I know the legends might sound silly, but I truly hope they’re real." She looked up at him, eyes full of determination despite the sweat on her brow. "Husband, I really want to be with you for a long, long time. That’s why, even if I have to crawl to the top, I’ll do it."

Edmund’s throat tightened at her words.

He looked down at his wife, who was clearly struggling, face flushed, breathing uneven, but who still smiled at him like he was the only reason she kept going.

[So, my wife feels the same way I do,] Edmund thought, his chest aching at the realization. [My wife ... she also wants to stay by my side for a very long time.]

"The legend isn’t silly." Edmund gripped her hand a little tighter. "Like you said, since there’s no proof that the legend is real or not, there’s always a chance it could be real as long as we believe in it."

Primrose was still skeptical, to be honest. But after suffering through this ridiculous climb, she found herself wanting the legend to be true as well.

"Alright. Let’s keep going." She took a deep breath and nodded at Edmund, forcing herself to move again.

She had hoped it would get easier after a while, that maybe her body would just get used to it. But no. It only got worse. The last hundred steps were taller and steeper than any of the others.

Seriously, who the hell built these damn stairs?!

"Wife, there are only five stairs left!" Edmund cheered beside her, sounding way too excited, like some sweet concubine cheering on her beloved king during sword practice.

Primrose was practically crawling now. Her legs had officially given up on being useful. She couldn’t even straighten them anymore!

"Shut up ..." she muttered at Edmund, completely fed up with the torment she’d been going through for ... who even knows how long! The sun even was nearly gone!

As soon as she reached the top, Primrose dropped to her knees. She didn’t care anymore. She lowered her head, letting her long hair fall over her face, hiding how red and sweaty she looked.

The soles of her feet felt like they were blistered from walking barefoot across the rough stone surface.

Maybe this was the hardest thing she had ever done in her entire life.

Beside her, Edmund still looked perfectly fine. He wasn’t even sweating. His feet were perfectly fine, like climbing a thousand steps was as easy as taking a stroll through the palace gardens.

Primrose was certain that if Edmund had climbed alone, he probably would have reached the top in less than ten minutes or maybe even faster than that.

"Here, stretch your legs a little," Edmund said gently, helping her sit on the ground.

He carefully lifted her legs and began straightening them, trying to ease the tension. Then, without a word, he began brushing the dust off her feet.

"You don’t have to do that," Primrose muttered, feeling a little embarrassed. "My feet are dirty."

They were so dirty that it actually annoyed her every time her feet touched each other.

"It’s alright," Edmund said, continuing to clean her feet patiently before helping her put her shoes back on. "It doesn’t bother me at all. I’ll make sure you feel better once we’re back at the palace, alright?"

Primrose nodded, then glanced around at the scenery around them, finally taking in the view now that her legs had stopped screaming.

The Moon Goddess Temple stood tall at the peak, glowing under the soft golden light of the setting sun.

It wasn’t grand or covered in ornate decorations like the temples in the royal cities. In fact, the building looked a bit plain because it mostly dominated by white stone.

But still, there was something sacred about it. The temple seemed to glow under the shifting sky, as if the Moon Goddess herself had left a piece of moonlight behind.

Vines with silver-white blossoms wrapped gently around the old columns, swaying softly in the breeze.

Just beside the temple, partially hidden behind flowering trees, was a small spring. The water was so clear it reflected the sky like a perfect mirror.

It bubbled softly from a natural stone basin, and Primrose could see a few beast couples collecting the spring water and drinking from it together.

"That’s the Moon Spring," Edmund said gently, helping Primrose to her feet so she could see it more clearly. "They say the goddess herself blessed this spring. Those who drink from it will have glowing skin, and it can even calm a restless heart."

Primrose’s eyes lit up like she’d just found a treasure chest. "It can make my skin glow?" she gasped. "Then this climb was absolutely worth it!"

Forget the legend. Forget the pain. If this magical spring could give her better skin, then everything suddenly made sense.

"We have to take some of that water later," she said, her voice full of excitement.

Edmund looked at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected her mood to bounce back so quickly. But seeing her smiling like that, it made the entire climb feel a little lighter.