Chapter 60
“……He dislikes it to that extent?”
Anyone watching would think she had held a knife to him and told him to play.
‘Does he perhaps have a bad memory regarding water?’
It felt subtly plausible. After all, it did not seem likely that he would act that way merely because he saw her body, which was not even human, and stayed close to it.
No, even if she were an ordinary woman in the first place, it did not seem like something to be that frightened about. It is not as if he has only seen a woman’s body once or twice, so why is he behaving like that?
Hmm, but thinking about it again, it did not seem to be a reaction of suffering from trauma or being afraid.
‘I cannot understand it at all.’
Irene, concluding that it was an incomprehensible overreaction, prepared to leave the lake by placing her hands on the ground just as he had.
Splaaash.
Irene pulled her body out of the lake in a single motion. The air touched her body, which was not wearing a single piece of clothing, making it feel cool. Irene moved her steps toward the clothes she had roughly rolled up. Beneath her bare feet, the soft grass was stepped on.
Having put on her undergarments and loose linen dress without difficulty, she fastened the buttons on the front and side of her neck. Irene, who lightly dipped her feet into the lake to wash off the dirt, slid her dripping wet feet into her low shoes. Holding the brown overdress simply in her hand, she walked toward the cabin. A squelching sound came from her feet inside the shoes.
As water seeped into the coarse linen, it gradually clung to her body. Cold water continued to drip steadily from her hair, which had only been wrung out once.
‘They are footprints, are they not? They are incredibly distinct.’
Large, water-soaked footprints stretched all the way toward the cabin. Trying to follow the steps exactly as they were left by Idris, who must have been running frantically, it became a form that was almost like jumping. Whether it was because he ran frantically with his long legs, the distance between one footprint and the next was too far.
Recalling his face, which had been utterly at a loss due to her mischievous prank, a small laugh burst out. Whatever the reason, his reaction of recoiling in disgust truly possessed a flavor worth teasing. Her parents had begged her to please stop playing pranks, but she did not know that her childhood personality would come alive again like this. Having passed through the forest, Irene opened the door of the cabin while harboring a faint smile. A muggy warmth suddenly washed over her face.
‘Why is it so hot inside?’
Irene, who was bewildered by the unseasonal warmth, laughed softly upon discovering Idris sitting in front of the fireplace. He was stoking the fire while covered with a single thin, coarse blanket.
“Are you not hot, warming yourself by the fire in this weather?”
“Not at all.”
Her white feet, from which moisture still emerged, stepped onto the carpet. Idris, whose hair was completely disheveled as if roughly dried, handed a light purple towel to Irene. Along with a brief expression of gratitude, she scanned Idris thoroughly. Whether he had changed all his clothes in the meantime, he was dressed in a simple black top. Except for his face, which was slightly reddened either because of the flames or because of the aftermath from earlier, it was difficult to find any trace of that violent agitation from just a moment ago. It was an expressionless face, though not cold, just as usual.
“Even if you are not cold, dry your body well. Remaining like that makes it perfectly easy to catch a cold.”
‘I cannot catch such a thing.’
Although she objected inwardly, she silently accepted the towel and vigorously shook out her hair. Irene, who sat down heavily beside him, reached her hand out toward the burning flames with the towel draped over her neck.
“Wow, the heat is incredible.”
Watching Irene laugh quite cheerfully, Idris’s face assumed a complex and subtle expression. As soon as she sat beside him, he immediately wrapped the thin blanket he had been covering himself with around Irene. He ignored Irene’s protest.
Unlike usual, when she bundled herself up splendidly, she was wearing only a single layer of a white dress, and due to the moisture, the curves of her body were entirely visible. For him, he absolutely did not wish to leave it as it was.
The shocking spectacle he had witnessed at the lake was far too vivid. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and held his head. It was a visual and tactile stimulation far too excessive for him to endure, whose closest contact with the opposite s*x had been sparring with fellow knights.
‘……Even if I am judged on whether I go to hell or not, I will have no words to say.’
Covering his face with his hands, he bowed his head deeply. No matter how staggeringly beautiful the female form she possessed was, her ominous red eyes were distinct, so how could he ignite his instincts on his own? He could not gather his senses due to a feeling of self-reproach.
On his arm, which was struggling to banish that dizzying sensation from his memory, a sudden soft texture was felt. As he turned around to the side in sudden surprise, Irene was smiling and linking her arm with his.
For him, it was entirely impossible to know why she suddenly clung to him so unreservedly. Originally, she displayed friendliness but did not initiate physical contact, so her condition was strange, as if she had mistakenly eaten something bad. Alternatively, it could be that having teased him once, it was considerably amusing to her.
“Just like earlier, why are you surprised to that extent? Anyone watching would think that, on top of never having been in a relationship, you are someone who has taken a vow of celibacy or even a vow of chastity.”
“……Who takes something like a vow of chastity in today’s world.”
‘That is a relic of an old era that even the bastards of the Holy Empire do not do.’
“Oh, why do you not deny the other statements?”
“…….”
‘That is because those are the truth…….’
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