The Nymph Wants to be Plundered - Chapter 166

Now all sorts of baseless words would spill out endlessly from that child’s open mouth, wouldn’t they? Like birds that had just learned to flap their wings, excitedly flying anywhere without discrimination. She desperately hoped those words would transform into something credible. Since the situation had changed from before, it should match accordingly.

Polyxene leaned against the terrace railing with a strange smile and whispered.

“…Please do me a favor, won’t you? Mel, unlike with Phivi, I’m prepared to show you mercy. Let’s get along well when we meet in the Hall of Glory.”

If plausible rumors were inflated, anyone would lend an ear. So perhaps even that heartless man’s heart—Cassis, who looked like a goddess’s priest just by wearing ceremonial robes—might change as it was tickled by the continuously blowing flower-scented breeze. At the very least, wouldn’t he try to look back at her?

Then…. it would be an easy victory. With her circumstances so clearly changed from before, she ought to receive at least a glance.

Polyxene smiled genuinely.

***

Her throat was parched.

Although the intense heat of midsummer was still far off, Evelyn had been frequently suffering from thirst these days. Even after downing several glasses of drinks cool enough to send chills down her spine, it was only temporary—she panted like a bird exhausted by heat, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

For over a week now, she hadn’t even seen Cassis’s shadow. She knew His Majesty the King was always busy, but she found herself missing those three days spent with him in the log cabin by the stream, that dreamlike picnic and the festival he had personally opened for her.

‘It’s too hot. I have no energy….’

Unable to bear the heat any longer, she took refuge in the shadow cast by a nearby stone building, trying to calm her feverish breathing. But that was impossible even inside the comfortable Hall of Glory. No matter how much water she drank, no matter how much she begged the spirits to make the bathwater ice-cold and soaked her feet, legs, and everything below her waist, no matter how she fled to some corner wanting to reveal her true feelings and shed tears, her heart wouldn’t heal. Just like now.

‘Ah….’

Had she brought a handkerchief? As her eyes grew hot, she was searching through the pockets between her collar when the presence of quite a few people approached and she heard chatter.

“Is that really true?”

“Yes! Polyxene ‘s parents who live outside the castle sent tons of rose saplings to her house. And they’re supposedly coming to the castle soon?”

“Roses. Hmm…. I wonder what business they have.”

“If the rumors are true, well…ahem. We’ll see, won’t we?”

“Polyxene would probably match His Majesty’s looks reasonably well….”

Rumors, rumors, rumors.

The protagonist of the name everyone was openly gossiping about throughout the castle had somehow changed to Polyxene alone.

Combined with the incident during the spring festival when Cassis had threatened not to mistreat Evelyn, these days she didn’t face any particular hardships even when walking alone through the castle. She should have felt at ease, freed from the sharp, piercing gazes and painful shackles of the past, even when walking slowly.

But there was a reason she couldn’t feel that way. Everyone was saying in unison that Cassis and Polyxene might soon change into some kind of relationship! That Polyxene …. would essentially become his fiancée.

Evelyn’s legs lost all strength and she leaned against the wall, but couldn’t hold herself up and soon slumped down.

She had once thought, biting her lower lip painfully, that such a time might come someday. Just recalling the memory of falling for him at first sight because he was so wonderful, it was actually strange that he had been alone until now.

No matter who she asked, the answer would inevitably be the same. Cassis wasn’t just an ordinary elf but the King who ruled over Jupiter. He was far, far too distant from her, who had been human and then became a nymph.

The gorgeous nighttime lovemaking and pleasure he bestowed from time to time weren’t natural. From the beginning, even if he held the means to save her, the decision was solely Cassis’s to make.

The Hall of Glory, those happy days living and breathing in the closest place to him. Though they could sleep together, the perfect morning routine of waking up together was rare, which made those occasional special and precious memories feel all the more valuable. All of that….

‘It’s all over.’

She realized it the moment she happened to witness Polyxene returning triumphantly to the castle.

How could someone be so beautiful? Even if you carefully painted a white statue with powder made from ground gems and prayed for the World Tree’s blessing, you couldn’t complete an elf woman with beauty as perfect as Polyxene ‘s. Even if another elf woman bore the same name as Polyxene in the future, it seemed she couldn’t surpass the current her.

Natural beauty and a figure and gestures that could seduce anyone and more, beauty clearly visible even from behind…. And those two eyes shining like the morning star. Her clean white face without a speck of dust or a single scar resembled someone while creating an exquisite harmony. None other than Cassis.

It wouldn’t be strange if someday, by Cassis’s decision, that nameless star she had seen with him would be named Polyxene .

The two elves in the increasingly solid rumors were said to be a couple forming a perfect pair.