14. Melting Point (27)
14. Melting Point (27)
Closing his eyes, he drew a slow breath. Considered calmly, it wasn't really something worth all this anxiety.
Right now, he wasn't the Crown Prince. Even if he were exposed as a man here, he might draw some ridicule, but it wouldn't touch his true standing.
But Wonderstein's presence beside him gnawed at him. Once he undressed, he couldn't muster the nerve to look him in the eye.
As he stood there hesitating, the imperial knight barked at him.
"What are you doing? Go get your swimsuit, now."
"Huh? Swimsuit? Ah......!"
Nika hastily lifted his head and looked around.
Wonderstein and Anais were queued at a desk beside the hot spring entrance. A large sign next to the desk read 'Swimsuit Rental.' Now that he noticed, everyone visible through the windows was wearing swimsuits.
Only then did he recall that the Heavenly Bath was less a bath and more a colossal swimming pool filled with hot spring water.
"Don't be so hard on him. He's only a child."
Wonderstein returned with swimsuits in hand. At his defense of the boy, the knight shot Nika a question.
"A child? How old are you?"
"Fifteen...... sir."
"Not that young, then. A man your age...... is old enough to drink and hold a woman."
The knight glanced again toward the source of another wave of laughter, speaking as if to excuse himself. The Crown Prince carousing over there happened to be fifteen as well.
"Here, Miss Nika. I took the liberty of picking yours up as well."
Wonderstein held out a bundle containing a swimsuit. Nika found the carefree smile of the very person who had thrown his mind into chaos somehow infuriating.
"......How did you know my size?"
"I have a good eye. And, Miss Nika, your chest is flat enough that as long as the height fits......."
"Sh-shut your mouth! You're insufferably rude, do you know that......."
Nika snatched the swimsuit from his hand and dashed into the changing room.
What kind of man talks so openly about a woman's body?
Not that I am a woman, of course...... but if he believes I am, then he ought to treat me accordingly.......
No, what on earth am I thinking?
Shaking his head vigorously, Nika entered the changing room.
He saw no one else. The imperial guards had sealed off the entrance. Only Anais was off in a far corner, changing her clothes alone.
Nika moved as far from her as he could, then turned his back so his body couldn't be seen and flung off his bathrobe. He unwrapped the bundle and pulled out the swimsuit.
But once he held it in his hands, putting it on was no simple matter.
The Golden Palace provided male guests with trunks, and female guests with a high-cut one-piece that left the shoulders, arms, and legs completely bare.
With the bathrobe, simply changing how it was worn had been enough. The swimsuit was far too revealing. Imagining himself standing before others in this thing sent a shiver crawling over his whole body.
Another gale of laughter rolled in from outside.
The people he was about to meet were the young noble rakehells he'd gathered from the last city. He had greeted a few of them at close range, even exchanged passing words with them. The odds they would recognize him were higher than the guards'.
'As long as Koka is here, that won't happen, but.......'
Nika thought of his double outside. The double, too, had no knowledge of Nika's true appearance. But he was the spitting image of Nika's usual look — the padded frame and attached beard. That was why he'd been chosen as the double for this journey.
With him planted so conspicuously out there, there was no risk of his identity being exposed. Nika swallowed hard and cautiously pulled on the swimsuit.
"Hnngh."
But once it was on, the pressure between his legs was severe. Unlike men's clothing, women's garments had no seam allowance to give room there. That area ended up bulging conspicuously.
'Ah, please...... just.......'
He prayed with all his heart for it to subside. It wouldn't obey.
The pressure of the swimsuit stimulated the thing curled up inside, which stirred in response, tightening the fabric further, which increased the stimulation — a vicious cycle kept spiraling.
"Haaah."
The underside of the head kept chafing against the swimsuit lining. Each time, his back arched involuntarily, his mouth fell open, and a moan escaped.
If he went out like this, he'd be branded an outright deviant. He needed to remove the swimsuit and make adjustments — bend the thing between his legs, or something similar.
Just as he was slipping the shoulder straps down, someone called to him from behind.
"Excuse me, miss?"
Startled, Nika hastily bent forward at the waist to hide the protrusion.
"Wh-what is it?"
Seeing Nika turned around, body hunched and eyes wide with fright, Anais offered a sympathetic smile.
No matter how clever, a child is still a child. Though, well, if someone of the Crown Prince's stature summoned you, any ordinary person would be terrified.......
"It's cold outside — you'd better drape this over yourself before you get into the bath."
Anais handed over a towel nearly as tall as a person. It was originally provided to every guest, to be brought along from one's room.
"I work here. I've been here often, so I know the place. I fetched this from the supply room in the corner."
"Ah, th-thank you......."
He hadn't expected such kindness from someone he'd been fighting with mere minutes ago, as if they were mortal enemies.
Though, her card skills...... could she possibly be just some tavern woman?
As he accepted the towel, he studied her figure.
She had a slender build, with barely an ounce of fat to be found. Her neck was slim, her arms and legs long and elegant. Yet she didn't give the impression of being unappealingly gaunt. She was thin, but her muscles were firm and well-defined, drawing pleasing lines that were genuinely beautiful. Above all, the shape of her hands and feet was exceptionally lovely.
"I'll head out first, then. Come out once you're sorted."
"Right......."
He waited until Anais was gone before he straightened his back. Fortunately, while he'd been hunched over, his problem had largely settled.
He quickly readjusted the angle, then wrapped the towel around his body and looked in the mirror. The Crown Prince Nikolai he knew was nowhere in that reflection. What his eyes saw was a short-haired girl in a swimsuit, wrapped in a towel, with fear lingering in her eyes.
A hollow laugh escaped him. Who would look at this and think of the Crown Prince?
The moment he stepped out of the changing room, he came face-to-face with Wonderstein.
A gasp burst from his lips before he could stop it.
A body of perfect proportions, as if carved from marble, stood before his eyes. Muscles, pleasingly firm, were set across the chest, shoulders, and abdomen, rippling before him.
"Now you really do look like a girl, Miss Nika."
He approached, smiling. Driven by an urge to defend his masculinity, Nika reflexively stepped back.
"Wh-what, you thought I was a man all this time?"
"Yes."
Nika's brow furrowed at that answer.
"Excuse me?"
"Heh, a joke. As if such a thing could be true."
Nika shut his mouth tight. Whether the man meant it or was joking, he found it somehow distasteful.
"Right, let's go in."
Escorted by the imperial guards, they passed through a thick double door and stepped outside. Nika had braced for a freezing gust of wind, but contrary to his expectations, the air was nearly still.
The Heavenly Bath had been engineered by architects who performed precise calculations to create a windless zone. The wind merely skimmed along the cliff face and vented outward, never reaching the people above the bath.
Though it was still winter, and the cold was undeniable.
Hundreds of guests clustered in small groups beneath the scattered, dim lights, enjoying the night view of the city spread out below the valley. They murmured among themselves as they watched the armored imperial guards march past.
"What's this? Who are they?"
"Didn't you hear? His Highness the Crown Prince......."
"Really? Then who are the ones being escorted?"
"No idea. Invited nobles, maybe?"
The Heavenly Bath was divided into dozens of zones. Some areas were polished smooth with white marble, others were furnished with natural rocks and plants, and still others were carved from cypress wood.
The place they arrived at was a rock at the very center of the Heavenly Bath. It was the source of the loudest noise in the entire area. About thirty people sat in a circle, immersed in a bath lit by flashing colored lights.
"Your Highness, I have brought the person you mentioned and her party."
"Oh, they're here! Wait just a moment. We've only just finished this round."
So saying, Koka sprang to his feet and bellowed.
"Right! The winner of this round is myself, once again! So then, whom shall I pick as the prize?"
Koka swept his gaze over the young nobles gathered in the bath and the courtesans hanging on their arms, then pointed at one.
"You'll do! Wait! You don't...... have any objections, do you?"
The young man whose courtesan had been singled out by Koka waved his hands in denial.
"Not at all! To think Your Highness shares my eye for women! An honor!"
"Ha ha, that's the spirit! Good!"
The Crown Prince gave a booming laugh and then opened his mouth toward the courtesan.
"What are you waiting for? Present me with the nectar of heaven, at once!"
"As you command, Your Highness."
The courtesan put on a practiced show of coy embarrassment, took a mouthful of liquor, and then crawled toward Koka with a sway of her hips. She pressed her lips to his and pushed the drink into his mouth.
Amid the wet, messy sounds, his hand wormed its way into her swimsuit and kneaded her breast. She let out an equally practiced moan. When the long kiss ended and their lips parted, cheers and applause erupted from all sides.
"Kyaa! As expected, Your Highness is a true hero among men!"
"I am moved to tears!"
Koka wiped the corner of his mouth and looked around at them.
"What, do you lot really enjoy it that much?"
At his question, they vied to heap flattery on him.
"Yes! Splendidly so! To spend such a boisterous time with Your Highness is a joy!"
"Your Highness is a man among men! I bitterly regret never having had the chance to meet you until now!"
"Quite right! Were it not for being summoned under the pretext of welcoming Your Highness, I'd be moldering on my estate right now, dealing with that old fossil— ah, a slip of the tongue......."
One young man pantomimed covering his mouth, but Koka laughed it off as if it were nothing.
"No matter! Your father...... that's right! Viscount Badenwurt is exactly that — a fossil!"
At his declaration, the young man struck a pose of profound humility.
"I am deeply honored!"
"Good, good. Now, gentlemen, a toast to our dear Viscount Fossil-wurt!"
"A toast!"
People raised their glasses high and drank. They were drinking a cocktail of vodka, soda, and fruit. Thanks to the fruit's aroma and sweetness, intoxication crept up more slowly and they drank with gusto.
"Now then, shall we amuse ourselves with this courtesan said to be a master of games?"
At Koka's words, the knight led the three of them forward.
Koka looked at the trio with droopy, half-lidded eyes.
"Hm? What's this? Why three?"
"When I arrived, the finals of a card tournament happened to be in progress. I brought the three who were present."
"Oh, is that so? And the woman I was looking for?"
"The one with green hair here."
The knight indicated Anais. She had gone rigid, taking in the situation.
She should have realized it the moment she was summoned to the hot spring. This wasn't simply a call for a kkakdugi. They wanted a courtesan to toy with for their amusement.
'I'd have to...... get in there......?'
She stared at the courtesans rubbing shoulders with the young nobles, selling their laughter. They were fawning over the men even as hands slipped into their most private areas.
I'm expected to do that?
She couldn't believe the position she was in. No matter how far she'd fallen — to have to sell her body like some common low-born woman.
"Good. Your name was Anya, was it? Come on in."
Koka pointed to the empty spot on his left.
Despair flooded Anais's eyes. Dozens of heavily armed imperial guards surrounded them.
She had no choice but to obey the august Crown Prince's command.
Just then, an absurd question surfaced in her mind.
'Am I truly Anais?'
The question that had been tormenting her for months reared its head again.
It was, in a way, a defense mechanism. Rather than accept that her real self had to offer up her body like a whore, it was easier to assume that the current her wasn't the real one at all.
But that was only a mental escape, incapable of solving the problem directly before her.
"I said, come here!"
The Crown Prince's voice sharpened. She had no choice. If she kept hesitating like this, not only she, but Wonderstein too could come to harm.
Just as she was about to set foot into the bath, Wonderstein stopped her.