Chapter 81
Chapter 6 – An Indecent Cure
The knights’ steps westward were generally light. Public opinion had shifted favorably, as the Crown Prince intended, largely due to the presence of the three heroes who had defeated the Demon King. With such renowned heroes accompanying them, what threat could a mere High Demon pose?
The journey, which included the Crown Prince to prevent the populace’s faith from leaning too heavily toward the temple, progressed smoothly. Ten days later, they arrived without incident at the western border. Anticipating their arrival at Count Landon Barrett’s castle the following day, the knights were in high spirits. The hope and ambition of earning merits by slaying a High Demon relaxed the atmosphere among them.
Crown Prince Clovis Chamber Rubelon slowly surveyed the boisterous scene of knights chattering excitedly in the field where they had pitched their tents, a slight frown creasing his brow. His aide, aware of the angelically beautiful prince’s surprisingly fastidious nature, cautiously inquired, “The knights seem rather relaxed, Your Highness. Shall I issue a mild warning?”
Clovis maintained his displeased expression but shook his head. “No. They won’t have this leisure tomorrow. Let them be.”
The aide tilted his head, puzzled by the prince’s magnanimous response. If that were the case, why the frown? Then, his eyes followed the Crown Prince’s gaze, which lingered on a particular tent. A gasp of realization escaped his lips before he quickly silenced himself.
The tent the Crown Prince observed was where the young priestess, who had accompanied them as a healer, slept. She had struggled to hide her fatigue throughout the journey, nodding off like a sickly chicken, and each night, she would excuse herself early to her tent, extinguishing the light, claiming exhaustion.
It was no secret among the Crown Prince’s inner circle that he paid particular attention to the young woman. Even as a child, despite feigning indifference, Clovis would find any excuse to visit the princess whenever he heard the priestess had entered the palace.
“Is she very ill?” the aide wondered, noting the elf mage constantly by her side and her increasingly haggard appearance.
“Let’s retire for the night. We would do well to rest early,” Clovis said, his thoughts preoccupied with the priestess.
“Yes, Your Highness,” the aide replied, following the prince. However, his gaze returned to the darkened tent, concern lingering. He hoped the kind priestess, with her gentle demeanor and intelligent eyes, who always greeted him with a warm smile, wasn’t seriously ill.
However, the occupant of the tent, the one Clovis had observed for so long before reluctantly turning away, wasn’t inside.
***
“Ah…hn…yes…” A small, white body trapped beneath a larger one moaned weakly. Seikan cupped the small, sweat-drenched face in his large hand and pressed his lips again to the panting mouth.
“Mmmph.” Adelina, exhausted and overwhelmed, still made an effort to receive Seikan’s kiss. Though the kiss was a mere drop of water to someone parched for months, without it, she felt certain she would wither and die.
Seikan tried to ignore the aching throb in his lower abdomen, focusing on the kiss.
“Nn…mmn…” Adelina’s slender body writhed under Seikan’s touch. Her mind resisted, but her body moved involuntarily, responding to his every caress.
On the first day of their journey, Adelina, with Lumiere’s help, had used magic to deceive the knights guarding her tent and slipped into Seikan’s. The initial disappointment she felt at his seemingly detached manner after their purely functional kiss was short-lived. As days turned into weeks, and weeks into a month, Adelina’s body visibly weakened. Inversely proportional to her thinning frame, her body, without her conscious awareness, clung ever more desperately to Seikan.
While at first, she had desperately tried to adjust her disheveled clothing during their increasingly passionate kisses, now, her hands instinctively pulled at Seikan’s clothes, seeking greater contact. Adelina herself wouldn’t realize her own actions. Because…
“Haa…uhn…”
“Adelina? Adelina.”
By the time her clothes were half-undone, she had already fainted into sleep.
Seikan gently lifted Adelina’s limp body and laid her down. Though it was a temporary tent meant for the duration of their stay at Count Barrett’s castle, Seikan’s high status afforded him a wider and more comfortable cot than the regular knights. It was large enough to accommodate both of them.
Lying beside Adelina, Seikan quietly observed her as she slept. Her now sharper jawline and the long eyelashes fluttering against her pale eyelids. The straight bridge of her nose seemed to reflect her stubborn nature. He gently traced the outline of her lips, still swollen and red from his kisses, then let his gaze drift lower. The sight of her delicate collarbone and the curve of her br3asts, revealed by her disarrayed clothing, sent a throbbing ache through his g***n.
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