23. Blooming (3)

"Your Highness, please try to sit up for a moment."

"Mmmgh····."

Supported by Sir Evernoir, I leaned my back against the cave wall as I struggled to lift my heavy body.

"Hoo, huu, where is·····this place?"

Had I fainted back then?

My memory went blank after vomiting in the stream.

"While walking aimlessly along the stream, I found this cave hidden behind the waterfall."

Since it wasn't an obvious cave but rather concealed behind a waterfall, it felt relatively safe.

That's probably why Sir Evernoir decided we should stay here temporarily.

"Well, done. Haa, haa."

I tried to face her and offer praise, but my physical condition wouldn't cooperate.

"Your Highness, your body·····it's like a burning ember."

"Haa, haa, sorry, my apologies."

I must be lying here completely naked.

There was no blanket covering me, nothing but some leaves scattered on the ground beneath me.

So why did I feel hot rather than cold?

Sweat was already dripping from my entire body.

"Huu, ughghgh."

My teeth chattered uncontrollably.

"Your Highness, you must be very cold, but you should drink some water first."

"Mmh···."

—Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Guided by Sir Evernoir's hand, I closed my eyes and opened my mouth like a baby bird being fed by its mother.

Hearing her words, I realized I actually was cold.

The heat was just from the fever raging through my body.

In reality, my limbs were trembling slightly from the cold.

"Si, Sir·····."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"If, by any chance. We're discovered····, abandon. Me and go·····."

"··········."

After those words, the princess seemed to lose consciousness, curling up and shivering from the cold.

"Ha."

After mustering all her strength right before fainting, her final words were just to sacrifice herself.

Evernoi carefully embraced the princess from the front.

No clothes, nothing to cover ourselves with.

If we spent the night like this, she would surely develop hypothermia.

So they had no choice but to maintain body heat through skin-to-skin contact.

Naturally, there were no ulterior motives.

"—I will never abandon you and leave."

She wrapped her arms tightly around the princess from chest to thighs to maximize contact area.

The princess's body felt like a burning ember.

Extremely hot with cold sweat continuously dripping.

But that didn't mean her body temperature was warm.

Rather, her temperature was dropping, which was causing the severe fever.

"Huu, huu."

The princess's breathing grew progressively weaker.

In response, Evernoir held her even tighter.

'··········She's beautiful.'

The softness of a woman that she herself didn't possess.

Unlike her own rough skin from years of training, the princess was softness incarnate.

Holding her like this, why did her gaze keep drifting to the princess's lips?

Was it because they had forcibly kissed earlier to deceive the Succubus Queen?

'No, it wasn't forced·····, Hah! Wh, what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠am I thinking-!'

Perhaps recalling that memory was a mistake.

Suddenly, holding the princess like this, their chests pressed together - everything began to feel conscious.

She kept trying to forget that memory, but the more she tried, the more it surfaced.

Just then,

—Crackcrackcrack!

"Hahh-?!"

—Crunch, crunch.

"Kahak-! Ugh! Wh, what···!"

Suddenly, a bone-shattering pain began from her lower body.

But Evernoir desperately endured it.

Because she hated the thought of letting go of the princess and causing her permanent disability even more.

"Kheup, hheup eup!"

Each time Evernoir endured the pain, she held the princess even tighter.

While the princess borrowed warmth from Evernoir, Evernoir also relied on the princess to somehow endure.

####

'·····Warm.'

What was so warm?

My skin felt hot enough to kill me, but my insides felt cold enough to freeze.

What kept me going was this warmth I felt against my stomach.

"Kyeeeeek!"

"Kurururuk!"

"—?!!"

That sound right now-!

Snatch!

Hearing the goblins' cries, I urgently tried to grab my sword and rise, but someone held me down preventing me from getting up.

"Shh. If you make noise, they'll find us."

"·····Ah."

Fortunately, the person holding me was Sir Evernoir.

Had she been holding me like this all night?

Thanks to that, my fever had subsided somewhat.

And I could think a bit more clearly.

"··········."

"·····Your Highness?"

Were Sir Evernoir's shoulders always this reliable?

She was taller than me, but the difference ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't that significant before.

But being held like this, I realized how small and weakened my body had become.

"Sir, did you get any sleep?"

"·····No. I'm embarrassed to say I couldn't sleep a wink."

That's what it looked like.

She must have stayed up all night nursing me while I was unconscious with fever.

Especially since we never knew when goblins might storm this place.

Splashsplash!

"··········."

Had the Succubus Queen ordered a thorough search?

The sound of goblins stepping into the stream reached us from quite nearby.

We looked into each other's eyes and firmly closed our mouths.

Afraid that even my breathing might leak out, I covered my mouth completely with both hands.

At the same time, I held my breath.

I was terrified they might even detect the lingering scent of semen that might still be in my mouth.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the footsteps and cries faded completely into the distance.

Even then, we waited another five minutes before finally exhaling the breaths we'd been holding.

"Haaa."

"·····Fortunately so. If we'd hidden halfway in some tree roots, we would have been discovered····."

Thank goodness.

It was all thanks to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sir Evernoir finding this place.

If not for here, we would have certainly been caught.

"··········."

I couldn't even imagine the future if we'd been captured.

I genuinely couldn't fathom what would have happened.

"Why don't you rest a bit too, Sir."

I said while gently pulling Sir Evernoir into an embrace.

Because I felt so sorry.

Since she had protected me until now, it was my turn to protect her.

I desperately hoped she would rest, but

"·····No. Please don't worry about me—"

"Hey now."

"·····?"

I grabbed and pulled down the resisting knight, holding her as we lay down.

"Then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let's sleep together fairly."

"Please sleep first, I'll stay by your side."

As we argued about protecting each other, we eventually fell asleep while holding each other.

Because it hadn't even been a day since being raped by the goblins, and we were both still utterly exhausted.

####

"·····Ngh."

Hot·····.

I want to sleep more.

I'm still too tired to open my eyes.

But the heat I felt against my stomach made it impossible to sleep any longer.

Nor could I pull away.

Sir Evernoir was holding me so tightly that my lower back was completely wrapped in her arms.

"·····Mmm."

I finally woke up.

I was still nestled in Sir Evernoir's reliable embrace.

If it were my original body, my shoulders would have been about twice as broad as this.

I'd always been taught to be the one embracing women in romantic situations, so being held like this felt somewhat strange.

"Y, Your, Your Highness·····."

"·····Mmm?"

When I woke up and opened my eyes, Sir Evernoir was already awake and looking down at me.

"·····What is it, if you woke first you should have roused me promptly."

My fever had properly subsided now.

My body, which had felt like it had the flu, had improved.

By now, the goblins searching for us had probably moved sufficiently far away.

So I tried to sit up, but

"Ugh? Why aren't you releasing me?"

"Y, Your Highness. It's, it's, it's not that·····"

Sir Evernoir still wouldn't let go of my body.

Far from releasing me, she actually pulled me tighter—

—Scorching!

"Hahh, hot···!"

For a moment I thought my lower abdomen had been burned.

What kind of heat was this?

As I startled and tried to sit up, Sir Evernoir had no choice but to release the arms wrapped around my waist.

And when I faced her directly,

"Ngh, ugh, uuugh·····."

Sir Evernoir covered her face with one hand and her crotch with the other.

Of course, it didn't hide anything.

"Ah, aah, pl, please don't look, Your Highness·····."

"··········."

I was speechless.

I couldn't help but be.

Because, why did such a monstrous thing—

When the goblins gang raped me, it was shoved inside my pussy, rubbed against my breasts, forced into my mouth.

It was just a lump of flesh with a different skin color.

Moreover, it was even slightly thicker and longer than the goblins'.

"Si, Sir·····? What is that·····."

"·····Ah, aah."

Was that the source of the heat that had been against my stomach?

Then the warmth I felt all night was from that—

"I, I apologize. Your Highness····."

Amidst these thoughts, Sir Evernoir knelt before me and offered her apology.

"·····Why are you apologizing?"

Obviously, she couldn't have been hiding that.

We'd already seen each other naked during the rape anyway.

But she seemed worried about me.

Simply because the male genitalia that had raped her was now attached to her own body.

It was the first time I'd seen Sir Evernoir's vulnerable side.

She seemed to be begging, please don't look at me with disgust.

The most likely cause was probably that strange beam the Succubus Queen had hit her with.

That seemed the most plausible reason for this.

"Ac, actually, isn't this my fault····."

Because she took that hit for me when I couldn't avoid it.

If I had been hit by that beam·····, would something like that have grown on me too?

Along with unnecessary curiosity, I couldn't take my eyes off the prominent veins on her member.