Chapter 29
Chapter 29
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 29
Chapter Title: Secret Rendezvous (1)
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"Which rat was spying on me?"
Camillia emerged from the pool.
As she reached out her hand, the massive Landruin spear resting in the distance flew straight to her.
Wearing nothing but a white dress shirt, she cut an imposing figure holding that enormous spear.
Her clothes were heavy with water, but her body gleamed under the moonlight, reflecting its glow.
Even I, numbed by countless regressions, found myself stunned.
"It's me, Your Highness."
I barely regained my composure and announced myself in a loud voice.
Only then did she lower the spear's tip.
"Not a rat after all, but a snake."
Camillia leaned back against the spear standing tall on its own.
She crossed her arms and beckoned me closer with a gesture.
"How could the warden just waltz into imperial private property like this?"
"My apologies. But wouldn't anyone be curious if a building like this popped up near the prison?"
I slowly stepped into the villa's courtyard.
Thanks to the moonlight reflecting off the pool, my silver hair sparkled.
"Fair point. You're a thorough man, after all."
The princess accepted it surprisingly quickly.
She used to just suspect me endlessly before, but now she seemed merciful to those she'd once acknowledged.
"What do you think of my secret retreat?"
Camillia lightly tugged at the hem of her shirt, which fell to mid-thigh.
As she bent forward, the taut curves of the shirt draped even more beautifully.
"It's beautiful. It suits this lush forest perfectly."
She tossed her long straight hair back over her shoulder, lifting her head again.
Her noble face, infused with moonlight, stood out strikingly.
"The pool is especially impressive."
"I don't particularly like it. But when I'm injured, I soak like this every night to relieve the fatigue."
Swimming to unwind from fatigue.
A method befitting the story's strongest character.
"You've infused the water with holy water. Your injury must have been quite deep."
"It's not that bad, just a bit itchy. Still, it felt unclean, so I was soaking."
The princess sat down on a chair by the pool, brushing it off as nothing.
She pulled at her wet shirt as she did.
"Sit. Since you're here, take a rest before you go."
I sat beside her as she said.
Gazing together at the blue pool.
"......"
The villa's surroundings were incredibly quiet.
The nearest building from here was Berryhill Prison.
This place felt like a secret hideaway where elves cut off from the world might live.
"I think I know why you built this villa."
"Oh? Take a guess, then."
Camillia tilted her head slightly, gazing at my serious eyes.
At the sight of me thinking only businesslike thoughts even while looking at her.
She seemed to quite like that weighty demeanor.
"The empire hasn't had any major wars lately. Yet Your Highness is injured, so either you sparred and got hurt, or......"
I met her eyes steadily.
And spoke with worried green eyes.
"You encountered an assassin."
"......"
"There are hardly any who could injure Your Highness in a spar. So it must be the latter."
"Right. They timed it perfectly when I was alone heading back to the palace from work."
She didn't look visibly wounded.
Internal injuries, perhaps?
If something happened to her, the one suppressing the empire's downfall, that would be trouble.
I wanted to check her wounds even if it meant forcing it, but with her current outfit, saying so might lead to misunderstandings.
Just a plain white shirt draped over her, yet how did it create such rapture?
If this were my first regression, when everything amazed me, I wouldn't have managed my expression.
"You must face such threats often, so you needed a safe place to rest."
The princess nodded quietly.
Transparent droplets clinging to her long eyelashes fell slowly, one by one.
"Yes. This place is definitely safe."
A spot where the night sky was so clear the full moon seemed close.
Far more peaceful than the imperial palace, where I'd desperately fought to prevent downfall.
"If only the palace were as peaceful as this."
Sharing the goal of preventing the empire's fall, perhaps.
Our hollow gazes resembled each other quite a bit.
"The palace matters, but right now, what Your Highness needs most is peace of mind."
"My mind, you say?"
The princess delicately furrowed her fine brows.
In response, I warned her about her unusual physical state.
"Your Highness's mana has always been as solid as rock. Knowing you're important, you've never stopped training."
I pointed to her mana flickering faintly with my finger.
As a veteran of previous regressions fighting the downfall.
"But now, you're not even noticing how badly injured you are, to the point your mana is wavering."
I knew well from experience.
When I failed to stop the empire's fall and despaired.
The depression that hit then lured me to self-destruction.
It made me not want to care for wounds or make any effort.
"That's usually when the mind is troubled."
"An interesting guess. Then, care to guess why my mind is troubled?"
Camillia reclined gracefully on the long chair.
And looked at me with storyteller-like intrigue.
"Your Highness is known as the invincible knight who never gets hurt."
"A childish nickname the world made up."
The 23-year-old princess replied dismissively of such titles.
"What if word spread that you've been wounded for the first time?"
"Everyone would think I've weakened, or my weakness has finally been exposed."
I nodded slowly.
And analyzed in the tone I'd prepared through repeated downfalls.
"Exactly. So you're telling yourself this wound is nothing."
"But I really don't feel much pain?"
The princess countered with proud blue eyes.
I just looked at her fondly, finding it endearing.
"That's because the mana you've trained keeps the 'poison' from spreading for now."
"......"
The princess, caught in the fact she'd hidden.
She must have planned to seek treatment secretly abroad.
"You wanted to hide that a poison attack worked on you. If it got out, assassination attempts with poison would keep coming."
"Right. I even refused treatment from imperial physicians."
A lonely situation where she couldn't even let others know she was hurt.
Unlike the cold gaze when we first met, today she seemed a bit wistful.
"Sharp. You seem familiar with poisoning attempts."
"I have no ambitions worth resorting to such things."
I waved both hands nonchalantly to lighten the mood.
"If I did, I'd have flattered Your Highness long ago."
"Even in this situation, you're quite the sly one."
The princess let out a rare chuckle.
Close to a snicker, but she expressed her feelings honestly regardless.
Emboldened, I carefully opened my mouth.
"If it's alright, might I humbly examine your wound?"
"You have medical knowledge too?"
Camillia eyed me curiously, like a cobra from a wish-granting lamp.
I shook my head lightly to match the mood.
"As you saw with the confession magic before, I was an assassin in my past life. I remember the antidotal techniques I learned then."
"True. Given the skills I saw, you'd have antidotal knowledge too."
The princess lightly rose from the long chair.
And turned to face me.
"Alright, I trust you. Go ahead."
"Understood. Where is the wound?"
A sensuous jade body I couldn't easily touch.
I asked cautiously, considerately.
Please let it be the leg or arm......
Stomach or chest would be quite awkward.
"The thigh."
Phew......
Thigh was less sensitive, at least. Fortunate.
Camillia extended her long leg.
From beneath the pure white shirt emerged a voluptuous thigh.
Smooth and toned enough to withstand wielding Landruin on the battlefield.
"Then, if you'll excuse me."
I knelt and carefully inspected the wound.
The point where the poison was starting to spread.
'I can't see it?'
As I tilted my head, the princess spoke flatly.
"Higher up."
"Got it."
I slid my touch up from the calf little by little.
"Higher."
"Right."
I reached her flawless, smooth knee.
"Higher."
"......?"
Above the knee, a devastating thigh came into view.
And there, a small cut.
"This isn't the leg, though......?"
"Isn't the thigh part of the leg?"
Usually looking up at me due to our height difference, now she looked down.
I froze under that imperious gaze.
"Why aren't you starting the treatment?"
"Well......"
She'd be shocked if I explained the method.
The dark circles under my eyes twitched faintly.
"Don't tell me you had other intentions under the guise of treatment, Derek?"
The princess asked back in a graceful voice laced with jest.
Her golden hair stroked my crown like petting an animal.
"Of course not."
It felt oddly like she had me wrapped around her finger.
I shook off the feeling and countered with a serious expression.
"I'll begin right away."
I placed my hand on her water-beaded, elastic thigh.
And then......
I gently pressed my lips to the wound.
"......!!"
Camillia bristled at the unexpected treatment, her facial hairs standing on end.
For the first time in her life, a man's tongue touched her body.
Her haughty blue eyes flashed.
The blue crescent bloomed into a full moon.
"I-is this really treatment?"
I ignored her words and focused on drawing out the poison.
Feeling the stinging toxin on my tongue tip, I concentrated my mana to suck it out.
"Eut......"
During the detoxification, the princess covered her lips with her hand.
And unconsciously whipped her head away.
"I have to draw out the poison spreading through the meridians. Using the tongue, which allows fine control, is most effective."
After sucking out and spitting the poison once, I explained to her.
But Camillia didn't respond.
"Your Highness, are you alright?"
"I get it, so hurry up and finish......!"
Her voice was a bit softer than before.
Her eyes seemed different from usual.
Previously cold and rigid, now they brimmed with vitality.
'A sign the poison's being removed and her body's recovering?'
Confirming the positive indicator, I kissed her thigh again.
Her leg twitched slightly.
As if learning a sensation she'd never felt before.
Soon, as if habituated to it, her legs parted a little.
Her face flushed with shame.
I felt her skin where I'd kissed grow hotter too.
"Hut......"
But I paid no heed.
The poison she'd been hit with was the top-grade lethal toxin from my days as a dark lord.
A poison that silently intoxicated even strong foes without notice.
Camillia noticing it as mere itchiness was thanks to her prowess.
"Haa......"
A small, ragged breath escaped the princess's lips.
Her body, chilled from the cold water, now burned like fresh from a hot bath.
Looking down at the man devouring her thigh, legs spread.
Seeing his crown move bit by bit, she swallowed unconsciously.
As if awakening to a hunger she hadn't known.
Her hand instinctively went to her pants draped over the chair.
She wanted to undo the belt.
The man kneeling between her legs.
Every time she saw his pale neck, she felt the urge to collar him like a pet.
Because she wanted to keep feeling this strange sensation.
"Your Highness."
"......"
"Your Highness?"
"Huh?"
Light returned to the princess's blue eyes.
She blankly looked up at the warden, who had risen.
"The detoxification is complete."
"......Good. You did well."
I tilted my head and stepped back.
For a moment earlier, chills ran down my neck; she must have been glaring daggers.
She must be furious at my detoxification method.
I hope she doesn't punish me later, calling it a disgrace to the imperial family.
"Derek Minster."
"Yes, Your Highness."
I turned to her cautiously.
Camillia had already returned to her composed expression.
"I enjoyed our talk today. May I call on you like this occasionally?"
Fortunately, she didn't seem angry about my treatment.
As expected of someone who strictly separates work and personal matters.
"Of course. Just summon me, and I'll come here."
I smiled and bowed.
And as I turned to leave......
"Good. I'll look forward to it."
Camillia wore a lascivious gaze she showed no one else.
Fiddling with the belt she'd loosened from her pants like a collar.
"Since you said you'd come."
The first man to look at her without lust, focused solely on treatment.
She wanted to monopolize that precious talent, like it was hers alone.