Chapter 68
“A lack of self-confidence, perhaps?”
Irene laughed lightly and took off her knee-high black leather boots. It was a pure, harsh critique unbefitting her innocent face. However, she had certainly hit the nail on the head. Idris clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘I can’t even refute it. Trying to create room to escape whenever I misspeak has hardened into a habit of speech, after all.’
“Was my personality like that?”
“Ahaha, that goes without saying.”
A bone could be felt beneath her distinct laughter. Having asked him several times why he demeaned himself so much, she seemed dissatisfied with his attitude. Yet, what was he to do when he truly had no exceptional qualities? In this world, there were bound to be humans whom one could not help but despise as people, and he was one of them.
Though Irene, with her subtly skewed mindset, would likely never understand that.
Having taken off her socks, she stepped onto the ground with bare feet. Because the blue veins were barely visible on both feet, they felt exceptionally paler. She began to pull up the hem of her light brown skirt, which was similar to her hair color. At her gradually exposed slender legs, Idris furrowed his brow.
‘Regardless, isn’t she far too uninhibited about exposure?’
Irene did not seem to care about his gaze or anything else. Her fingers, which looked uniquely thinner today, roughly tucked the hem of her skirt into her waistband. Without hesitation, she dipped her feet into the water one by one. At the pale flesh revealed above the shimmering surface of the water, Idris shut his mouth tightly and barely managed to turn his gaze away.
The lake at dawn kept trying to come to mind. That shocking, pale, dark-blue sight seen once remained like an afterimage and would not disappear. Regardless of what her true identity or internal substance was, that body, which at least on the surface seemed entirely fragile and soft…….
In the end, Idris squeezed his eyes tightly shut. He had no confidence that his eyes would not roll sideways unconsciously.
He brushed a hand over his faintly flushed face.
To think he was alone, fantasizing about her naked body while looking at Irene who was only thinking of crayfish; it was wretched.
Barely suppressing the urge to turn around and flee, Idris rolled up his sleeves. Having finished his preparations in no time, he stepped into the shallow water. Although he desperately wanted to tell her that the water level only came up to mid-calf at most and ask if she would lower her skirt a bit, he could not say a word out of fear that the moment he pointed it out, she would make fun of him.
Because she was bending at the waist, her legs were practically entirely exposed. He did not know where to place his eyes. Lowering his head as much as possible, he stared intently at the blameless water and the sand and pebbles beneath it.
He was now slowly beginning to envy Irene. How convenient it was that, thanks to not even viewing him as a similar species, she did not feel a single shred of shame.
‘If only she had seemed even slightly less human, or rather, if her personality had been just a bit nastier, I wouldn’t be this agitated.’
Completely unaware of Idris’s agony, Irene’s innocent voice could be heard.
“Strange, why can’t I see a single one?”
How many minutes had she even been searching to act like that; she lacked patience.
“How about examining the surroundings or underneath reasonably large stones? Animals are usually hidden, after all.”
“Ah, I really should do that. Thank you, Mr. Idris!”
No sooner had she turned back to flash him a bright smile then Irene hoisted up an enormous boulder with ease. No, he had not meant for her to heedlessly start by lifting the largest one.
However, it felt like explaining it now would be useless. Idris silently bent his body. He opened his eyes wide in search of crayfish.
Having thoroughly searched through the water with his exceptionally sharp eyes in that manner, Idris hastily reached his hand toward a small brown form. The hard exoskeleton of a crustacean was felt within his hand. Watching the creature flailing about, he briefly glanced at Irene with an incredulous gaze.
‘……There really are a lot? I thought she exaggerated just to escape farm work.’
It seemed her claim of it being a field of crayfish had been true.
He thought it was rather fortunate. Since Irene was not cooperative with farming at all and he had no confidence in it either, he needed to take this opportunity to secure a means of survival as much as possible.
He placed the crayfish inside the basket and closed the lid. Bending his body once more, he submerged his hands into the cold water.
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