An Unlikely Pair: Hyunwoo and Adelia (1)
It must be your misunderstanding. I have never harbored any killing intent toward you. And if I truly meant to kill you, why would I have saved you from that monster moments ago? Does that not strike you as contradictory? How utterly ridiculous.
I turned the accusation back on her without shame. Bold as brass. “Does your esteemed family repay kindness with enmity like this? Moreover, without so much as a word of thanks, you slap me and point a sword at my throat. Is that what passes for chivalry among knights? Hmm?”
I asked the question in a calm, measured voice. The female knight’s lips parted and closed without producing a sound. Though she tried to hide it, the slight hesitation in her stance told me she had finally realized the humiliating truth: she had been rescued by a mere bandit. That’s right. I’m your savior. So put the damn sword away.
“Very well. I shall overlook what just happened as a simple misunderstanding. However, there is one other matter I cannot let slide.”
“What other matter?”
“You really don’t know? Strip.”
For a second I thought I had misheard her. Strip? Take what off?
“What are you talking about?”
“Must I repeat myself? I told you to remove every last piece of clothing you’re wearing.”
I frowned. “Why should I?”
“It is unfair that only I stand exposed. You have seen my naked body, therefore I must see yours. Only then will we be even. Now disrobe.”
I thought she was joking. When I stared at her in utter disbelief, she continued grumbling impatiently, demanding I hurry up. She even threatened to run me through with her blade if I refused.
“If you do not wish to pay with your life for the crime of stealing a glance at my naked form, then strip at once!”
Did she even realize how childish she sounded? This was behavior beneath even a grade-schooler. Did she truly harbor some inferiority complex toward me? Even so, the logic of “you saw mine so I get to see yours” was extreme. Honestly, I hadn’t even gotten a proper look at her nipples—I’d only caught a glimpse of the golden pubic hair on her lower body. I might have noticed how slim her waist was, how smoothly her hips and buttocks curved, and yes, I may have swallowed hard at the sight of those honey thighs, thinking how beautiful her legs were…
Wait. When exactly had I studied her so thoroughly?
It was like spring sunlight slipping through clouds—just a fleeting glance, yet every detail remained burned into my memory. Apparently my powers of observation were sharper than I gave myself credit for.
At any rate, I stripped. When a woman is waving a sword and throwing a tantrum, compliance is the only option. I peeled off my shirt, then my pants, and finally my underwear.
When her eyes landed on my shrunken member, they flew wide open.
“H-how can this be…! How grotesque and monstrous!”
Covering her mouth in shock, she looked genuinely flustered. I gave my cock a couple of playful slaps with my palm and grinned, unable to resist teasing her.
“What? First time seeing a man’s dick?”
“D-don’t laugh! Cover it immediately! What could you possibly be proud of that you keep touching something so repulsive and hideous!”
So this really was her first time seeing a naked man.
I covered myself with one hand and straightened my posture. For several long seconds I stood there feeling like a nude model in an art class.
“There. Satisfied now?”
“Wait. Do not turn around yet.”
“What now?”
I heard rustling behind me, then her voice: “It is done.”
When I turned, Adelia had already slipped into my shabby t-shirt. The hem reached halfway down her thighs, making it look like a faded gray dress. I narrowed my eyes.
“Why are you wearing that?”
“I have no clothes of my own.”
She said it with such brazen confidence I almost laughed.
“Then what about me?”
“You may simply wear your trousers. You are a man, after all.”
“You want to wear clothes borrowed from a bandit? Doesn’t that make your skin crawl?”
“The thought makes me feel as though I might break out in hives, but it is still far preferable to showing my naked body to my subordinates.”
What a troublesome woman. I clicked my tongue, pulled on my underwear, and then my pants. While I dressed, Adelia retrieved her scattered light armor from the ground and strapped it over the t-shirt. The combination of a makeshift dress and plate armor created a strangely fitting, almost surreal image.
“It is strange. Every time I encounter you, nothing goes according to plan. I cannot display my true ability.”
“I’d like to return those words. Meeting you has only brought me trouble. I’d rather not.”
We bickered back and forth as we began walking back toward our original location. I led the way with the dog collar still fastened around my neck, while Adelia followed behind, gripping the long rope like a leash. We looked exactly like a dog and its master. The fact that I was the dog irritated me more than a little.
“If you make me angry I might turn around and bite, so be careful.”
“If you wish to have your throat slit, by all means. I look forward to it.”
The sound of a blade being drawn whispered behind me. So she was walking with her sword out, ready. The back of my neck itched; I rubbed it absently.
As we retraced the path the old-tree monster had dragged us down, I spoke again.
“Why aren’t you killing me? From what I hear, you’ve shown countless bandits no mercy and executed them without hesitation.”
“So you’re asking me to kill you quickly?”
“I’m just curious. That’s all. I wondered if maybe you were treating me differently for some reason.”
She had thrown me from a carriage, dumped paprika powder on me, collared me like a slave, and now she had even seen me completely naked. At this point I had done more than enough to deserve execution. Just as Marcus had said, it was a miracle I was still breathing.
Adelia responded in a voice thick with irritation.
“Special treatment? Hmph! Do not spout such nonsense. There is only one reason I am keeping you alive.”
She ground her teeth.
“I intend to drag you to the torture chamber and whip you mercilessly while remembering every humiliation you have inflicted upon me. Begging for mercy will be useless. I will torment you every single day—just enough to keep you alive—until my anger is fully spent. I will abuse you until I am satisfied.”
“…What about my human rights?”
“Human rights? What human rights does a bandit possess?”
She had a point. This was a world where torturing prisoners was considered perfectly normal.
“I have been eagerly awaiting the day I can take my revenge in the most brutal manner possible. The moment we leave this forest and reach the Lion Heart headquarters, consider yourself in hell.”
Damn it.
“I’m so overjoyed I don’t know what to do with myself.”
“You should feel honored. It is not just anyone who receives torture from a daughter of one of this kingdom’s most prestigious families. I do not torture common criminals. I have only ever tortured nobles who have committed grave offenses.”
What utter bullshit. I felt a strong urge to flip her the middle finger while looking her dead in the eye.
After that I kept my mouth shut, silently searching for a way to escape her grasp while we walked. Then I suddenly stopped.
I stood still, scanning our surroundings. A heavy silence blanketed the ashen forest, thick with darkness. It wasn’t pitch black—more like the faint bluish light of early dawn.
“This is strange. It didn’t feel like we traveled very far when the monster dragged us here, yet we’ve come this deep?”
We had walked for quite a while, but the wagon was nowhere in sight. If we had disappeared, the others should have been searching for us, yet not a single sound came from anywhere around us.
Adelia, too, looked around with a worried expression.
“It seems we are trapped within the forest’s maze.”
“So we’ve become lost children…”
I let my words trail off and glanced back at her, a mischievous smile tugging at my lips.
“Looks like your dream of torturing me might vanish into thin air. We could both die out here.”
Adelia snorted as if the very idea was ridiculous.
“A person of noble blood like myself is protected by the heavens. A lowly creature living in the filth like you might perish here, but I, who am watched over by divine favor, will never die.”
Well, well. Where did all that confidence come from?