Chapter 87
Chapter 87
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: The Princess's Bedside Vigil (5)
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“Haa….”
Leah deeply inhaled the scent of Veil’s sweat-soaked dress shirt through her veil.
But as her own scent began to mingle and dilute it, she snapped back to her senses.
She glanced down at her own disheveled clothes.
“To think I was like this in front of a man….”
Her shirt was drenched from both their sweat, making her bra completely visible underneath.
The princess carefully pulled the blanket up to cover her chest.
Then she scanned the room for something suitable to wear over her body.
“Veil, do you have any spare clothes I could change into?”
Her question brought a reply from across the room.
“Would you like to check the wardrobe?”
Leah gently opened the wardrobe near the bed.
A thick, masculine scent wafted out, making her blue eyes flicker.
“…”
She swallowed hard.
As she rummaged through the hangers,
a familiar uniform shirt caught her eye.
The same model she herself wore.
Drawn by that familiarity, the princess took it out and held it against her body.
“It’s huge….”
She felt the difference in their builds.
Tentatively, she slipped her arm into the sleeve.
The fabric was so large it covered her hands.
It hung down to her thighs like a dress.
The princess brought the fluttering sleeve to her lips.
She closed her eyes tightly and savored the scent.
The manly aroma enveloping her entire body.
Was this the mysterious feeling described in novels?
Leah seemed satisfied with this newfound knowledge as she softly opened her eyes.
At that moment.
“What… are you doing?”
While she was lost in strange emotions wearing his shirt,
I had approached the doorway.
“I checked the tailor of the clothes I’d be wearing in advance.”
Leah hurriedly composed a regal expression.
“Ah… yes, does the size work? It looks quite big.”
“It’s fine. It feels comfortable, like pajamas.”
The princess rolled up the fluttering sleeves.
Then she strode confidently into the kitchen as if nothing had happened.
“Is the tea ready?”
“Yes, it’s on the table there.”
Veil watched Leah’s back as she headed to the table.
She looked striking in his shirt.
But on her feminine figure, it seemed oversized.
It made it look like she wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
All that was visible were her damp stockings and thighs.
“Mint tea.”
Oblivious to his gaze, the princess sat at the table.
She looked approvingly at Veil, who had brewed her favorite tea.
“Your wardrobe really makes it seem like you live alone. It was completely empty.”
“I don’t particularly like decorating. And there’s no one else living here.”
I returned to the kitchen with a blank expression.
Only one cup of tea sat alone on the table.
‘Feels a bit sparse.’
Serving the Empire’s princess just a cheap cup of tea felt a tad rude.
So I tied on an apron and fetched a few eggs and some green onions from the balcony.
It was about dinnertime anyway.
I lit the stove with mana.
Lightly coated it with oil, then poured in the eggs.
Sizzle—.
The savory aroma rose, and the princess looked up.
She watched me frying the eggs with interest.
“You know how to cook too?”
“Yes, I manage since I live alone.”
Leah adjusted the shirt slipping off her shoulder.
She watched intently to see what I was making.
“…!”
When I smashed the perfectly fried eggs,
the princess’s eyes widened.
“Why smash the nicely fried eggs?”
It was a cultural shock for her.
She had only ever eaten eggs with intact yolks in perfect shapes.
“Looks like it’s your first time seeing scrambled eggs.”
But I paid no mind.
I chopped green onions into the smashed eggs and added pinches of salt and pepper.
Then I stir-fried it deftly.
After transferring the cooked eggs, I splashed some boiled tomato soup in the corner.
Soon, the scrambled egg dish was set before the princess.
“Here, give it a try. It’s better than it looks.”
I sat across from Leah.
She looked up at me steadily.
“If it’s not to your taste, nothing to be done. My place doesn’t have fancy vegetables or meat.”
“No. It’s just… seeing you in an apron is surprising.”
In the morning, he’d battled the knight captain for his life.
In the afternoon, he was tying on an apron to make cute little egg dishes.
Leah chuckled at the sight.
She picked up her fork.
“…”
She brushed her tousled hair to the side.
With mature eyes, she took a bite of the egg.
I watched her for a moment, lost in thought.
Why hadn’t the Conqueror King visited more often, having such a refined daughter?
At first, the princess cautiously nibbled at the egg.
But it must have suited her taste.
Soon she was dipping it in the tomato soup and eating heartily.
Her plate was nearly empty.
Leah looked up at me steadily and said,
“You’re better than expected.”
“You flatter me.”
I bowed my head in respect.
As I lifted my face,
a faint tomato stain caught my eye on the princess’s lips.
“Your Highness?”
“What?”
Leah heard me and adopted a charismatic, sovereign expression again.
Soup still on her lips.
“You have some soup here.”
Hearing that, she touched the opposite side of her mouth with her hand.
“No, not there—here.”
I reached out my hand.
And…
wiped the soup from the Empire’s First Imperial Princess’s lips.
“…!”
The princess froze at the touch of skin.
She stared blankly at me, unfazed by touching her face.
“Why are you like that?”
Back in childhood.
At the orphanage, Mago and I had always wiped food from each other’s faces while eating.
So it felt natural to me.
But the princess hesitated at this unprecedented situation.
“Such brazen behavior, done so shamelessly.”
She cleared her throat, trying to maintain her dignity.
Yet her fingers trembled faintly from the shock.
“Ah, sorry. It’s a habit from the orphanage….”
Orphan.
Hearing that, Leah was at a loss for words.
She could sort of understand the behavior…
But it felt like he was cleverly using his lowly origins.
“Fine. Most people are ashamed of their backgrounds. You’re awfully bold.”
“Origins don’t matter as long as one’s abilities stand out.”
I shrugged.
As I cleared her empty plate, I added,
“Besides, rising this far from such humble beginnings deserves praise, doesn’t it?”
Leah was exasperated by my audacity.
Yet everything he said rang true.
Orphanage background.
No famous academy, no notable patrons.
Yet wielding white mana of a Grand Master.
Feeling something off, the princess furrowed her fine brows.
She lifted her golden eyelids like a lion and asked me.
“Fine, I’ll praise you. But you’ll have to reveal the secret to reaching Grand Master level right before my eyes.”
She must have seen the white mana dwelling in my body while I slept.
But it had been just a faint trace…
“Don’t try to dodge. I can hear your brain gears turning from here.”
Hiding power from a mage was no easy feat.
“White mana is a power only the Conqueror King, like my father, can wield.”
Leah eyed me suspiciously, wondering if I was his hidden son.
I shook my head firmly.
“The Grand Master realm isn’t inherited by blood.”
I advised the tactician to think broader.
“Anyone can become a Sword Master with effort. Grand Master is the same.”
I pointed alternately to the mana in her chest and mine.
My gaze flinched momentarily at her undergarments peeking through my baggy shirt.
“Ahem… Anyway, the Conqueror King surpassed Sword Master by fighting in more wars against stronger foes than others.”
Leah tilted her head at my words.
Then, with the cool gaze of a scholar, she countered.
“So you’re saying you’ve fought to the death against foes as strong as my father?”
I couldn’t mention regression, so I averted her eyes.
I went to the kitchen to do the dishes.
“As far as I know, your record only shows activity on the northern front as a trainee.”
“You’ve looked into me already?”
I glanced back at Leah.
She smiled maturely, as if it were obvious.
“The Empire has no secrets from me.”
I set down the washed plate.
Turning to the princess, I gave a relaxed smile.
“Not quite His Majesty the Emperor, but I’ve fought swordmasters of comparable skill in battles for my life.”
Leah glanced at my forearms visible under my short-sleeved shirt.
Countless scars and healed marks.
“So I’ve grown that strong too.”
Most would accept it upon seeing those wounds.
But the clever princess chuckled, pretending to buy it for now.
“Alright, I’ll believe you for the moment.”
She had long assessed the northern front enemies’ strength.
She knew there were no foes strong enough to forge me to Conqueror King level.
‘Feels like she’s prying forcibly.’
I sat across the table again.
Time to change the subject.
“But is it alright for you, Your Highness, to wander alone like this?”
I asked, and the princess chuckled.
Sipping her after-dinner tea, she replied.
“A ruler must scout positions themselves. This is a test of my subordinates’ abilities.”
Her bold demeanor naturally lifted the corners of my mouth.
“Truly bold, like His Majesty the Emperor.”
“Only you?”
The princess snorted at me.
Then we both burst into chuckles.
“…”
But after laughing together briefly,
the silence brought an awkward air.
“So, what brings you to my home?”
“Ah….”
With the main topic raised, the princess pondered briefly.
She covered her mouth with her fist and cleared her throat.
“I… came for the book.”
Book?
Ah, that.
“The uncensored version?”
I grinned and asked.
She slammed the table and pointed at me.
“You don’t have to say it out loud!”
“Understood.”
The princess looked frustrated at losing control again.
But when she saw the novel I brought, her lips curved faintly.
“Still, it’s fun how Your Highness gets so expressive whenever this novel comes up.”
“Fun…? You dare seek amusement through me?”
She stared at me in disbelief.
“Better than the awkwardness from before.”
I handed her the book.
She cradled it preciously in both hands and spun around.
“You didn’t read it, did you?”
In that moment, she looked like a literature girl.
“A little?”
Honesty made Leah flare up.
“Hah, you thieving fox! Reading someone else’s book so shamelessly!”
Leah glared at me like a book-eating fox.
She hurriedly checked how far I’d read.
“Not even reading it’s allowed?”
I peeked at her book on tiptoes.
But the princess ignored my gaze.
Skimming pages expertly for my traces…
She stopped abruptly at a marked scene.
And that scene was…
a risqué moment where the slave knight and grand duchess entwined on the bed.
Uncannily like what she’d just experienced.
“You… you…”
Leah’s under-eyes twitched.
She looked at me, jumping to all sorts of misunderstandings.
“No way you pretended to faint earlier and…!”
“Yes?”
I furrowed my brow.
Realizing her meaning, I tilted my head innocently.
“What happened while I was out?”
Leah slammed the book shut.
Her lips twitched as if demanding I explain what happened between us.
But…
“Ah, no. Never mind!”
Too embarrassed to describe the scene aloud, she clamped her lips shut.
She rose from the table and said.
“Are you leaving?”
I looked up at the princess, clad only in my shirt over her slender frame.
Leah glanced down at me and replied.
“No, not yet… I have to wait for my clothes to dry.”
Hiding her flushed face, she turned her head away.
She scanned the room, wondering what to do until then.
“Shall I get you dessert while you wait?”
“Dessert…?”
“Yes, there’s ice cream outside.”
The princess gave a puzzled look at the idea of ice cream in this shabby home.
“Please wait a moment.”
I went to the balcony and fetched the wooden box.
Peering inside,
“Ah….”
The ice cream had melted from the humid weather.
The princess sidled up close to me.
Arms behind her back, she chuckled knowingly.
“I was shocked you’d have ice cream in this weather.”
“Sorry. If it’s alright, I’ll go out and buy fresh.”
Leah shook her head, saying it was fine.
“No, not in this weather.”
The princess rolled up the baggy shirt sleeves.
She picked up the melted ice cream box with both hands.
“I’ll make something this time.”
“You’ll cook yourself, Your Highness?”
I’d assumed the First Imperial Princess had only ever worn uniforms, never aprons.
Surprised by her offer, I stared.
Leah smiled maturely.
“I know how to make dessert too.”
I was suddenly seated at the table.
In this bizarre situation of imperial royalty cooking for me.
I stared fixedly at Leah in the kitchen, wearing my baggy shirt, tying up her hair.
As she raised her arms, the inside of the shirt peeked slightly.
Revealing her hourglass curves, sensually alluring.
I’d thought her only a cold strategist skilled in court intrigues.
Blinking at her unexpectedly feminine side.
‘Coming back to the past, I see all sorts of things.’