Chapter 94: Please Hold Me
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 94: Please Hold Me
Loik returned to the bedroom late after finishing his work.
By the time he finished washing up and stepped out, it was already close to midnight.
Annette must be asleep by now, right?
Though his body was exhausted, his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, and sleep felt far off. Loik, roughly shaking the moisture from his black hair, had just leaned back against the sofa in the parlor when he heard it.
The sound of small, hurried footsteps pattering down the hallway outside.
Loik, who had been lounging, snapped his head up instantly.
He flung the door open just as Annette was reaching out to knock. She froze mid-motion, her eyes widening like a startled rabbit’s as she looked up at him.
“Have you forgotten that I am a Sword Master?”
Annette gave a small laugh, but her gaze soon drifted toward his chest, and her face flushed a soft crimson. His robe was tied loosely, leaving the front hanging open.
But instead of pulling the robe closed, Loik flexed his pectoral muscles just a bit more.
It was because of what had happened early this morning, when Loik had woken up and stayed in bed, waiting for Annette to stir.
Long after the sun had risen, the covers had rustled, and Annette finally woke.
Loik had instinctively closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Annette seemed startled for a moment, then she fidgeted under the blankets for a long while before…
She poked his chest with her finger.
What on earth is she doing?
While a stunned Loik squeezed his fist tight beneath his head, Annette had whispered to herself.
“Wow… it’s really hard.”
Loik recalled the crude jokes some of the knights used to make at the campsites.
— “Hey, do you know which part of a man women find most attractive?”
— “The forearms, obviously. You should see how they gasp every time they see my biceps.”
— “Please, for a man, it’s all about the lower body. Look at these thighs; they’re about to burst.”
— “You lot know nothing. It’s the chest! The chest!”
— “That’s ridiculous. Why would they care about a chest? They aren’t men.”
— “You idiot. Humans naturally like what they don’t have. Unlike them, we have these rock-hard, muscle-packed chests. They find that attractive.”
— “Are you sure?”
— “I heard the maids talking about it as they walked past the other day. I heard it loud and clear.”
After that, every knight in the camp had started doing push-ups like madmen.
If women like it, then surely Annette…
However, Annette, her face still slightly flushed, reached out and firmly pulled his robe shut.
“I don’t care if it’s summer. You’ll catch a cold like that.”
I guess that wasn’t it.
Embarrassed, Loik’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily.
“More importantly, it’s late. Why are you still awake…?”
His reason finally returning, Loik guided Annette into the parlor and lit the lamps.
Annette was carrying a small box.
“Come here and sit down.”
Annette plopped onto the sofa and patted the spot beside her.
Loik adjusted his robe properly and sat down obediently.
“Give me your hand.”
“My… hand?”
Annette grabbed one of Loik’s hands and pushed back his sleeve. His wrist was covered in red, angry abrasions from where the restraints had chafed him the day before.
“Did Whitley tell you?”
Whitley had seen the wounds on his wrists while he was working in the office and had offered to call a mage, but Loik had waved him off, finding it a nuisance.
He didn’t feel like dealing with Enolius late at night, and as the mage had said before, it was better to let minor scratches like these heal naturally.
When the butler had backed down so easily after Loik refused the medicine, he should have known the man would run straight to Annette to tattle.
The butler has become quite the old fox.
Still, he didn’t find the man’s meddling unpleasant.
Annette shot Loik a quick glare before opening the box and taking out some ointment.
“I’m fine, really…”
Even as he protested, Loik subtly extended his wrist toward her.
Annette applied the ointment and spread it gently. When she carefully blew on the wound to cool it, the tickling sensation made his wrist twitch, causing her to knit her brows.
“Does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Even if it does, there’s nothing for it. Just bear with it,” Annette said tartly. “This is your punishment for leaving it untreated.”
Her red lips were pursed in concentration, looking soft and moist.
I wonder what it would feel like to touch those cherry-like lips.
He imagined they would be incredibly soft, sweet, and pillowy.
It was a strange feeling—as if he already knew the sensation without ever having tried it.
Since she was leaning down, her lips were partially hidden, and Loik tried his best not to stare too hard as he asked another question.
“You seem quite close with your brother.”
“Raphael?”
Annette’s voice rose slightly.
“We are, aren’t we? I didn’t really know… I mean, it was just so good to see him after so long.”
Were they always close?
But he recalled hearing that only the young heir had attended Annette’s wedding, and even then, only briefly…
He didn’t have siblings himself, so he didn’t know for sure, but shouldn’t a family member at least stay for the whole ceremony?
Loik frowned, recalling the reports from the inspectors who had previously censored Annette’s letters.
Unaware of his thoughts, Annette asked with a cute blush on her cheeks, “Isn’t he just so adorable?”
“He is adorable.”
Only after he answered did Loik realize the question was about Raphael.
Regardless, Annette was undeniably adorable as she crinkled her nose when a stray hair tickled it.
As always, Annette was very deft with her hands; she even wrapped his wrist in a bandage and tied a neat knot.
Watching her slowly pack the box away, Loik’s lips parted anxiously.
If I say I want to sleep together like last night… she’ll think I’m a madman, won’t she?
At the very least, he wanted to spend just a little more time with her.
Loik was racking his brain for an excuse to keep her there when Annette, who looked like she was about to stand up, turned slightly back toward him.
Ahem. Annette cleared her throat awkwardly and spoke in a tiny whisper.
“…Should I hold you?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean… you said you don’t feel pain when you’re in con… contact with me. We’ve held hands a lot, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect, so I thought maybe a hug would be better?”
Annette blurted the words out rapidly, then averted her gaze in embarrassment.
Seeing her face flushed with color, fireworks went off in Loik’s head.
Ha.
Words he had never even dared to imagine in his dreams.
But to be so shameless as to use her just to make my own body feel better…
“Please hold me.”
He could say it. He could say it a hundred times.
Annette had gathered such courage for his sake; it would be ridiculous for him to be shy now.
To ensure there was no risk of her mishearing him and causing him the embarrassment of repeating himself, Loik spoke with absolute, ringing clarity.
“My body has felt much better since last night… so I shall take you up on that offer, shameless as it may be.”
Annette looked a bit flustered, perhaps not expecting Loik to agree so readily.
Silence settled around them.
The soft glow of the lamp sparkled in Annette’s eyes.
Slowly pulling her trembling hands into his, Loik leaned toward her as if seeking permission.
Her small, tense shoulders hunched slightly, but she didn’t pull away.
Wrapping his other arm gently around her waist, Loik slowly drew her into his embrace.
The mana stagnant within him instantly surged with life, flowing through his body.
A warm yet passionate sensation swept over him.
Loik suppressed the urge to simply swallow her whole, holding her as delicately as possible so as not to stifle her small frame.
Her stiffened body gradually relaxed.
Annette’s hands, which had been resting against his chest, slid down and softly wrapped around his waist in return.
His entire body tingled at the touch of those small hands, which couldn't even reach all the way around him, lightly gripping his sides.
His own arms could encircle her completely with room to spare.
Loik slowly stroked the soft hair beneath his hand.
Against his chest, a heartbeat—he couldn't tell whose—thumped loudly, echoing in his ears.
His whole body burned with a tingling heat.
I’m happy just being like this with Annette.
What about her?
Did she like him even a little?
In the capital, there must have been many young lords chasing after her.
Even if I’m not her ideal type, I hope I’m at least within the realm of possibility.
Loik thought as he pulled Annette just a little bit closer.
*
“Aren’t you being a bit much?”
“In what way?” I asked with an indifferent face.
The Marchioness and I were sitting in the tea room of the annex, drinking tea.
There were maids in the room, but the Marchioness spoke without restraint, as if she believed there were no prying eyes.
“Telling us not to leave this paltry annex and its garden. How do you expect me to endure such boredom?”
Irritation had been bubbling up inside me for a while now, but I forced a smile to avoid committing an act of filial impiety against my stepmother.
“Oh my, have you actually seen a rat’s tail before?”
“You!”
The Marchioness moved to slam her teacup down irritably, but she caught the eye of Reta standing behind me. She flinched and set the cup down with uncharacteristic care.
“I am in no mood for jokes.”
“Neither am I.”
“Are you… are you actually treating us like hostages?”
“You catch on quick, don’t you?”
The Marchioness’s face turned a mottled shade of red.
“How can you change so much just because you got married? Are you really even Annette?”