Chapter 134
‘If it’s about the imperial palace… could the 2nd Prince be making a move?’
Royal schedules are rarely set suddenly. Especially for official visits like this. So he would have secured time to stay for a week before coming.
The fact that he’s leaving despite that suggests nothing but the 2nd Prince summoning him back. If he had planned something behind the 1st Prince’s back, he would have done it undetectably.
‘Seems like he deliberately leaked information.’
Since it wouldn’t be pure goodwill, the ledger was likely the cause. While it would have been better if he’d prevented the 1st Prince from coming at all, perhaps he judged that obtaining the ledger would be impossible if one couldn’t endure even a few days.
“Young master, please eat quickly.”
“Ugh, with both of you pressuring me, I can’t do this. I’m done eating.”
Alteo stood up abruptly. Having already emptied two plates completely, he was pretending to be considerate. What an annoying guy.
Still, thanks to Alteo’s departure, I could spend a sweet, intimate time with Luwen.
Well, I appreciated that, but his tricks won’t work on me. I made breakfast-lunch, and Luwen made dinner. After forcing Alteo, who had sneakily entered the room without doing anything, to clean up, I took Luwen upstairs.
* * *
The first night spent with Luwen passed more naturally than I expected. Thanks to the pat-pat that worked like a sleeping spell for me, I quickly fell asleep, and when I opened my eyes, I was alone again.
After that, thanks to diligent Luwen, I spent an uneventful day. Because of this, I was completely at ease today too.
‘My face and arms have almost subsided.’
Though faint red marks remained, looking at this state, it seemed they would heal well without scars.
The problem was my back. I turned my head to look at my back in the mirror. Half was healing well, while the other half still had ugly rashes. It seemed to be because of summer heat causing poor ventilation and sweat buildup. Another reason would be that I couldn’t apply the ointment as meticulously as on other parts.
‘Did I apply it too crudely?’
I had no choice since it would be strange if only my back was fine. It seemed like scars might remain on my back. Fortunately, it was in a location I couldn’t see.
This time too, I slathered ointment on my palm, wiped it across my back, rubbed it in, and then put on my shirt.
Creak—
Right after fastening the first button, I heard the door opening.
Since it was time for Luwen to return from bathing, I turned my head while fastening the second button, and all thought stopped. Water droplets rolled down his cheek because he hadn’t properly dried his hair, pooling at the tip of his chin. Though I didn’t want to lower my gaze, unfortunately, the droplet fell.
Unconsciously, my eyes landed on Luwen’s chest. Just today of all days, he hadn’t buttoned his shirt at all, and a water droplet fell on his elastic chest exposed between the open shirt. The droplet slid down, passing over breathtakingly beautiful abs before being absorbed into his pants and disappearing.
Gulp.
The sound of swallowing saliva seemed as loud as thunder. Thanks to that, I snapped back to reality.
‘I… I shouldn’t act awkward.’
I needed to act as naturally as possible. First, I should button up…
Click, click.
Something I could normally do easily with one hand wasn’t working. My trembling hand kept missing.
This would look strange. That shouldn’t happen. Should I just laugh it off? That might be better.
“For some reason today—”
My mouth felt dry, so I swallowed once before speaking again.
“The buttons aren’t fastening well.”
Am I smiling properly? Do I look normal? Please don’t notice anything.
If my feelings were discovered, one of two things would happen: either distance would form between us, or Luwen would accommodate me. I didn’t want either.
‘You need to act normal, Fei Vinter. What are you doing, you idiot?’
Why am I so flustered just from seeing a bare body? If I’d actually touched his skin, I couldn’t even speak. How can just looking make me like this?
“Young master, excuse me for a moment.”
“Uh, yes?”
I stepped back, startled when Luwen extended his hand. Though he might find it strange, he calmly closed the distance I had retreated.
‘His chest…!’
Blood rushed to my head, making me feel dizzy. Unlike me, with an earthquake in my mind, Luwen touched my shirt hem with his usual peaceful face.
‘Is he going to button it for me?’
But the next moment, I had no choice but to grab Luwen’s wrist in alarm. It was because he had unbuttoned all of my shirt buttons that I had just fastened.
“Lu-Luwen!”
I hurriedly grabbed the front of my shirt with my other hand.
“Yes?”
Despite trying to naturally undress me, he innocently asks back.
“Why, why did you unbutton it? What are you trying to do? Why are you doing this?”
“Show me your back.”
“But why?”
“If I explain, will you show me?”
“I-I’ll hear you out first.”
Only I was stuttering in confusion. I was curious about the reason, but also uncomfortable about undressing in front of Luwen, so I tried to back out subtly.
Fortunately, Luwen didn’t seem intent on forcing me to undress, as he lowered his hands and stepped back with a sigh.
“Seeing you grabbing your shirt, it seemed like you were hiding pain. You also appeared bothered by your back while sleeping at dawn.”
Had I scratched my back in my sleep?
It was possible, since my back occasionally itched. Thanks to that, Luwen had misunderstood perfectly, making the slow recovery fortunate. If I went along with his misunderstanding, it seemed I could awkwardly pass over my strange behavior.
“Then you should say so. Why try to undress me suddenly? You scared me.”
“I thought if I asked, you’d say you’re fine and not show me… but I failed.”
A strangely disappointed look was directed over my shoulder. There was a mirror reflecting my back there. He was staring so persistently that I wondered if Luwen had X-ray vision.
‘Come to think of it, there was a similar incident before.’
It was when I was caught with bruises on my wrist left by a pervert from the Fencing Department whose name I can’t even remember now.
‘Young master always hides your pain from me. Show me. I need to check.’
‘Where?’
‘Everything.’
‘You don’t mean completely undress?’
‘Yes.’
How confidently he demanded it. I felt like I was the strange one for being embarrassed.
Look at him now. He doesn’t seem to realize at all what he did wrong. He just wants to check my back.
‘Not a hint of personal desire.’
Once again, without fail…
That’s how it should be, and it’s right for it to be that way. But I don’t know why I feel so irritated and displeased. Am I that unattractive? Someone who’s trying to casually undress another person shouldn’t be so bland about it.
If Luwen were a doctor, I wouldn’t say anything. If a doctor became sexually conscious every time they examined a patient, that bastard should have their license revoked.
‘But Luwen is a swordsman.’
So shouldn’t he be a little conscious of me?
‘No matter how long we’ve been together since childhood, he says I’m pretty. Beautiful. Was that all lies? Just lip service to make me feel good?’
Emotions overflowed beyond control. Forced question marks kept appearing. The funnier thing is that I knew the answers to refute myself. Luwen has never lied to me. Yet I was still angry. Strangely so.
“If you want to undress me, you can.”
That’s why I said it. It was essentially a provocation said in anger.
‘Anyway, no matter what I do, Luwen won’t be affected.’
I thought that now that he had permission, he would immediately undress me, check my back, and apply ointment.
But… Luwen’s eyes wavered. He was visibly flustered. He even suddenly cleared his throat and looked down at the floor. I heard a “gulp” from him as he rubbed his bright red ears. Just like I had done earlier.
‘This reaction… what is it? How should I interpret it?’
It was an attitude that anyone would recognize as being completely conscious of me. He became like this because of my words permitting him to undress me.
‘Could it be, could it be that Luwen likes me? In the same way I do?’
Or am I misunderstanding again? Or am I misinterpreting because I want it to be so?
Maybe it’s completely different from what I’m thinking, and I’m just assuming he’s conscious of me as I wish. So I had to confirm. If he is conscious of me, if he recognizes me as “Fei” not just as “young master,” if he wants me, then…
Slip—
I took off my shirt and let it drop at Luwen’s feet. He stepped back as if he’d touched hot lava. A moment ago, I was the one who ran away in surprise, but now Luwen was doing the same.
‘He said he wanted to see my back, but he can’t even look.’
He’s trying. Lifting his head then lowering it. Trying to look at me again then lowering it.
Yes, Luwen was sufficiently conscious of me. Definitely, even beyond my concerns.
Satisfaction welled up inside me.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
YEEEESS FEIIII , we cheered !!