Chapter 30
“Ah, I tend to drink it with plenty of both sugar and milk. I don’t know if my taste will match yours, sir.”
“Then I’ll try it once as well.”
The ripple of sincerity lasted only a moment, and Bjorn soon felt a worried gaze watching him as he reached toward the teapot.
‘Did I… do something wrong?’
While he paused in puzzlement, Leila suddenly pulled her chair close beside him without warning, and Bjorn nearly smacked the teapot off the table.
“Miss Leila, why is the seat…”
The distance, close enough that their sides almost touched like affectionate couples at other tables, flustered him greatly. A faint lily of the valley fragrance and fresh grassy scent surrounded him.
Whether because of that scent or the body heat felt right beside his shoulder, his heart began racing for no reason.
Leila even leaned slightly toward him, then explained why she had come close enough that he could pull her into his arms with just a reach.
“Tea etiquette is less strict than dining etiquette, but I thought it would be better if I helped you…”
Her low voice, soft enough that only Bjorn could hear, warmed his ear with her breath. The sensation tingling through his entire ear and the back of his neck almost made him cover his ears with both hands, and he barely regained his senses.
What Leila was whispering now was not sweet affection…
“First, I’ll demonstrate the first cup.”
It was a sort of warning meant to prevent his disgrace beforehand.
She was probably worried he might gulp down tea and sweets like a starving bear cub again as last time.
Shame troubled him once more, but Bjorn maintained composure. He had no intention of embarrassing Leila or ruining his own reputation in such a public place.
“If you simply follow me, it won’t be difficult.”
Besides, what bothered him now was not such trivial schemes but the still-troubling closeness between them.
Her whispering voice clung softly to his ear, and goosebumps rose along the back of his neck again.
It did not end there. The sensation that ran down his spine unbelievably gathered at his waist and even made his lower body tense.
And he quite literally froze.
‘…Is this possible.’
His center had risen. Completely.
‘Why now of all times?’
A part of his body that had never asserted its presence even during the holy war or before suddenly began asserting itself. It was a terribly embarrassing situation.
Surely… it must be a mistake…
However, he himself felt best that his bodily reaction was not a mistake.
In embarrassment he had never experienced before, Bjorn instinctively recited a prayer, but it had little effect. The unexpected development was extremely awkward and even made him feel pathetic.
In front of none other than Leila Bailey. To react to her voice and become aroused below? The body running wild, unable to distinguish the person or the time, was not a good sign.
‘I must be insane.’
Suspecting his own mind had lost a few screws, Bjorn adjusted his posture so the other person would not notice anything strange.
“Sir? Are you listening?”
Meanwhile Leila, moving even closer when he did not answer, truly did not help.
“I’m listening, Miss Leila. I will certainly follow how to pour tea. But… isn’t this distance too close?”
Yet she only reddened like an apple and did not retreat, as if unaware.
“Looking at other tables, this is rather modest. Please don’t worry too much.”
Leila seemed to think Bjorn was concerned about reputation and dignity as a paladin and reassured him.
However, if this continued his dignity as a man—no, as a regular human being—would collapse.
It was true he wanted to leave her with a bad impression and be firmly rejected, but not in such a perverted manner. Besides, he was someone who would become a monk, and it made no sense that he couldn’t control even this base desire.
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