Chapter 135: Thawing
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 135: Thawing
Streams of water cascaded down broad shoulders that suddenly eclipsed the moonlight.
Splatter.
Droplets sprayed in every direction.
Familiar black hair, firm, broad pectorals, and below them, clearly defined abs...!
With a flustered expression, Loik swept back his dripping black hair.
"Annette, why are you...!"
His dark eyes wavered as violently as my own.
Even in his confusion, droplets of water trailed down his sharp jawline and slid over his thick chest. Those droplets followed the deep hollows of his obliques, heading further down...!
Noticing the direction of my gaze, Loik hurriedly gripped the knot of the towel tied around his waist.
"I felt Annette’s presence here...! No, I mean, I absolutely didn't come here to look on purpose...!"
I also hurriedly raised my hands to the towel wrapped around my chest.
"It... it seems the two sides are connected."
Loik’s gaze flickered from my face toward my chest for a split second before he abruptly turned his head away.
"I... I see."
We stood there, neither of us able to find our voices. It was then—
Splash!
The sound of someone jumping into the water echoed from a distance.
"Whoa! It's way bigger than I thought!"
"A hot spring in Pogen? What a luxury!"
"The temperature is perfect, too."
The voices of the knights rang clearly in my ears. Loik’s face hardened.
"Huh? Didn't the Captain come in first? Where is he?"
It was Leon’s voice.
"Captain! Are you over there?"
Splash, splash.
I could feel the presence of people approaching from beyond the overhanging trees.
In that instant, Loik took a large step forward and pulled me into his arms, as if to hide me.
"Get out!"
Loik squared his shoulders and shouted toward the area behind him.
Confused voices drew closer, almost within reach.
"I said get out! Didn't you hear me? Leave the spring this instant!"
The knights fell silent.
"L-let's just go for now."
The flustered knights could be heard awkwardly wading through the water to leave.
As if determined not to let even a single inch of me be seen, Loik held my body with his thick arms, his large hands firmly shielding my shoulders.
The sensation of our wet skin touching was scorching.
Along with the searing heat, a surging wave of mana washed over me, warming my entire body with a ticklish sensation.
I feel... strange.
I tried my best to steady my ragged breathing.
The sounds eventually faded as the knights climbed out of the water and moved away. Loik, who had been gauging their presence, finally loosened the strength in his arms.
As he glanced back with a damp face, the masculine lines stretching from his neck to his collarbone stood out prominently. Then, his eyes met mine as I looked up at him blankly, and his pupils shook violently.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hold you so tightly..."
His Adam's apple bobbed heavily as he pulled his head back slightly.
"I was just worried those bastards might see you."
Cold droplets of water fell from Loik’s hair onto my collarbone. I flinched at the chilly sensation.
As my body shivered, Loik’s gaze naturally drifted downward.
The pale skin peeking out from above the towel wrapped around Annette’s body was glistening with moisture. The water that had fallen from his own face traced a smooth curve down her collarbone.
The moment he saw the water pooling in the cleavage of her breasts, a bursting heat surged below his waist.
"Ugh."
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"It's... nothing."
Sight, sound, touch... if he didn't shut out at least one of them, he felt like he was going to lose control.
Loik squeezed his eyes shut.
No, wait. Because he couldn't see, the sensation of her skin against his became even more vivid. When her damp, soft flesh brushed against his rough hands, a tremor ran from his head to his toes.
Ultimately, Loik snapped his eyes open and pulled his body away from her.
"I... I will stand guard outside while you finish your bath."
"What? There's no need for that."
"No. We don't know if someone else might come, so it's better if I stand watch."
Loik spoke firmly and turned around.
"I won't look, so please, make yourself comfortable."
Annette’s delicate voice, murmuring that he didn't have to go that far, crumbled away.
"If it makes you uncomfortable, I'll move further back."
As Loik started to move away, Annette’s chilled hand suddenly caught his arm. It wasn't a strong grip on his thick wrist, but a faint, brushing restraint. Yet, Loik stopped in his tracks immediately.
"Can't you just stay with me?"
His ears burned at her sweet voice. Annette whispered softly that it was a bit scary being alone since it was so dark.
The words 'I am a far greater danger to you than anything else nearby' rose to the tip of his tongue, but Loik kept his mouth shut.
"Then... I suppose I have no choice."
He followed the lead of her small hand and sat on a flat rock where the water reached his waist. He sat close enough to Annette that their shoulders almost touched.
The sound of him swallowing felt excessively loud.
How can she be so white?
Loik recalled the glimpse of Annette’s tender skin from moments ago. That flesh, which had pressed softly against his firm chest like milk pudding...
It would surely be incredibly soft.
Just imagining what it would feel like if his lips touched her made his breathing grow heavy.
As Loik’s chest heaved while he desperately tried to banish his lewd thoughts, a sharp gasp escaped Annette’s lips.
"What happened here?"
She pointed to a long, linear scar on his side.
Loik realized his mistake and quickly covered his waist with his large hand. There were many scars—tears and cuts—all over his side and back. Among knights, these were treated like medals of honor, but to Annette, they would surely look hideous.
"It's just a scar. You don't need to worry about it."
He was about to dismiss it as nothing.
"It must have hurt so much."
At her sorrowful voice, the strength naturally left the hand covering his waist. She slowly traced the scar.
"Did you get this from a monster?"
"It's nothing special."
The long scar stretching from his lower back to his obliques was a claw mark from a monster, sustained shortly after he had first gone out on campaign. It was a wound he barely remembered now.
"My parents had passed away not long before that... I was young and lacked experience..."
Now, it was a trivial monster he could slay without any effort, but there had been a time when everything felt terrifying and overwhelming.
"And this one?"
Annette pointed to a wide scar above it.
"That... happened when my mana first overloaded. My skin literally burst...!"
Seeing the shock in Annette’s eyes, Loik quickly added more.
"That was back when Enolius wasn't around. Scars like this don't happen anymore."
At Annette’s prompting, Loik explained his scars one by one. This one was from a fall while killing a flying monster; this one was from shielding Norton when he was almost stabbed to death; this one was from a fight when an assassin guild launched a surprise attack...
As he spoke, they felt like nothing.
Truly.
They were wounds that had once left him tattered, but now that Annette was by his side, they didn't matter. It was no longer important how much those injuries had tormented him in the past.
Because Annette was here, her heart aching just by looking at his old scars.
Loik had wished for this all along.
He wanted Annette to pity him more. He wanted her to give him the attention she might have given to others, even if just once more. He wanted those gazes to pile up until they finally held her fast.
So that, in the end, she would be unable to leave him.
To think she would have such a pained expression.
Does she have any idea how much that satisfies me?
Loik hid his dark inner thoughts and smiled gently at Annette.
Suddenly, her small body leaned into him, wrapping around him deeply. Though flustered by the sudden contact, every cell in his body screamed with joy.
Annette offered a vague apology, though it was unclear if she was sorry for bringing it up or if she felt bad for his pain.
"Why are you sorry? It all happened because I was... lacking."
The word 'lacking' was the alternative he chose. He couldn't bring himself to tell Annette that he was a cursed, incomplete man, far more deficient than ordinary people.
Annette tightened her embrace.
"You aren't lacking, Loik."
"Is that so?"
Just as the corners of his mouth began to lift at her characteristic, gentle comfort—
"I mean it."
Annette pulled back slightly and looked him straight in the eye, her voice firm.
"You are perfect, Loik."
In her blue eyes, a clear starlight shone brightly like a guide.
"At least to me, Loik, you are a perfect person."
The moment those words reached his heart, something inside him crackled and melted away.