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“It’s okay. It’s all so thick you won’t be able to see any of my skin…”
Originally, whether or not Kalcion was reluctant, if she wanted to take it off, she’d take it off regardless. So, even if she could clearly see what was going on in his mind, Selina would ignore it.
Still, she couldn't ignore it.
Seeing Kalcion's reluctance, running in an underskirt was about to feel like a big deal.
‘There were times when we slept tangled up in my see-through pajamas, but now I'm reminded of it.’
Though she thought about it in her head, she was willing to take off the dress, but she could not take out her hands. Selina was embarrassed by her body and mind not being able to move at her will. It felt like her limbs were moving on their own.
At that moment, Kalcion suddenly began to take off his coat.
As his cloak fell to the floor, his coat fell on top of it. He then took off the scarf that was tightly wrapped underneath and took off his shirt as well.
In an instant, he finished undressing his upper body.
“This would be enough to wear and run it.”
Saying so, he held out the shirt he had taken off. A shirt tailored to his massive body would become a one-piece for her. There was an underskirt and underpants underneath, so there would be no problem.
When Selina nodded and took the shirt, Kalcion again put his coat over his bare body.
Wearing a suit with splendid embroidery, flamboyant decorations, and decorative tassels loosely over the bare body gave off a different, disheveled feeling than usual.
Was it because of the unfamiliar feeling? It was awkward, like standing in front of a man she was meeting for the first time. To dispel the awkwardness, she deliberately confidently turned his back and pretended nothing had happened.
“Just loosen the ribbon on my back, please.”
“This one?”
“Yes, that.”
Kalcion stood behind Selina's back. Although she had dressed disheveled in front of him, he had never touched her clothes.
Selina stopped her breath, which she inhaled, the moment Kalcion's hand caught her ribbon. She could feel the tension in his hand on her back. His fingers, which had always moved smoothly and gracefully, creaked. Correspondingly, her breath was cut off as well.
The windless fields were calm.
Occasionally, there was only the small sound of blades of grass brushing against each other, and even the sound of each other's breathing was so quiet that it rang in their ears. The sound of the fingertips brushing against the ribbon was stark.
All the nerves in her back became sensitive as if they had become ears.
She brushed it off again.
The more Kalcion's fingers plucked the ribbon, the more her breathing became easier. The sensitive nerves that were on edge also subsided.
“…It’s done.”
Only then did a long sigh escape from Kalcion's mouth, who untied all the ribbons and took a step back. He hadn't even been able to breathe properly. Even with the ribbon at her back untied, the dress was knotted here and there. Selina stood and looked around and began to untie the knot herself.
“Wait.”
All of a sudden, he blocked Selina's hand and lifted his cloak.
Because to keep their guard up, he couldn't order the guards to look elsewhere, so some of the eyes were looking this way. There were a lot of clothes tucked under anyway, so it didn't matter, but he didn't even have to show it.
A simple dressing room was completed as Kalcion stretched out his arms in a circle, like holding Selina, unfolding his cloak.
“…Thank you."
Selina whispered softly and bowed his head.
She felt strange as she tried to take off her clothes while facing Kalcion in his arms. Even if she was wearing something underneath, there was a nuance that the act of ‘taking off her clothes’ itself gave.
She undressed herself in front of Kalcion…
Even her own heart seemed to be falling apart. Even though she had nothing to hide, she thought, she kept wanting to hide something.
Just like that, her head kept moving downwards.
Meanwhile, Kalcion’s chin, raised towards the sky, also hardened. As Selina pulled her arm out of her sleeve, her fingertips brushed his bare chest. His twitching eyes try to look down, then back to the sky.
Startled, she glanced up at his face and saw that his neckline moved greatly.
The tension was contagious and doubled.
It was easy to take off compared to the struggle to put on her. All she had to do was untangle the knot here and there and pull it down. She even took off the wide petticoat to make her dress puffy and her body felt cool.
The wind brushing her bare shoulders refreshed her, and she sighed and put on the shirt.
Selina took a step back.
Naturally, Kalcion's arm came and the emergency dressing room collapsed. As she slipped out of his arms, her breath, which had been tight, became free like a body freed from the shackles of the dress. Even after buttoning up the buttons, he was staring at the sky the whole time.
“I’m done.”
He listened to Selina's words before lowering his head. Still, he couldn't look at her.
A look of hesitation, a fretful attitude…
At first, he was a fearsome person who even threatened to leave her in a mountain range teeming with witches.
A person who was so hard had changed like this.
Although his face was equally expressionless, the nervousness beneath it was clear in Selina's eyes.
Now she was going to go back soon, and her role as his lover would be over. What if he kept spilling sincerity like this? If something touched her back and she looked back, there was a sincere heart… who wouldn't mind seeing that?
The affection warmed her heart.
“Let’s go now.”
Kalcion turned his eyes to her.
This time, it was Selina who couldn't keep eye contact with him.
She hurriedly turned her body to her horse with her back feeling warm. Heat seemed to pour from all over her body as her body temperature rose, like a little girl encountering her first love.
Originally, she was supposed to be acting as a lover, but she was confused as to how far she was acting.
‘…Until the curtain falls.'
The play was bound to end at any moment, and the actress, who was intoxicated with their acting, would soon come to her senses and be able to return to her daily routine.
Selina never cared about her own mind.
A lot of love acted that she had acted so far. There was never a time when she couldn't get out of it, no matter how attractive her co-star was.
That was what she believed.
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14. Love.
As she threw off the uncomfortable clothes, she moved much faster. They ran until they came out of town almost without stopping, except for a few quick bites in between.
The group stopped at the entrance of the village, looked at the movement, and slowly entered the village. It was a small town. It was so small that they wondered if there was a place to stay, but fortunately, the guards who ran ahead came back with good news.
“There is an accommodation where the advance party stayed. Accommodation seems to be settled there.”
“Tell the advance team not to stop and come back.”
“Yes.”
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the guards looped his finger and blew a long whistle.
From somewhere, a chirping bird flew in, similar to a whistling sound.
It was much larger than the bird she had seen before. Having seated the bird on his shoulder, the guardsman wrote a short note in charcoal while sitting on his horse, put it in the bird’s ankle, and flew the bird again.
“The accommodation is over there.”
It was a building that was not very different from the lodging they had stopped by before.
A shabby two-story house was similar to other houses in the neighborhood. A wooden sign hanging above the door was the only thing distinguishing it as a lodging.
Since the whereabouts of the two had to be hidden as much as possible, they did not rush to inform them of the Duke's visit in advance. Therefore, there was no such thing as a village representative's reception.
Even if he didn't reveal his identity, the owner of the inn seemed to think it was a visit from a passing nobleman, so he bent down until his nose touched the ground.
“Prepare the bath water and meal right away.”
Kalcion naturally commanded as he entered the room.
Usually, these commands don't have an answer other than ‘yes.’ However, this was not Renbird’s castle, nor was it the mansion. There was no Mrs. Janet to arrange in advance.
“Meal is possible, but bath water is difficult, Master.”
“Why?”
Even though he just asked why, the inn owner's waist was bent even deeper.
“It's not winter now, so I don't have a lot of firewood… I will bring firewood, light a fire, fetch water and boil it, but it won’t be ready in the middle of the night.”
The owner of the accommodation was embarrassed.
“Just prepare a towel and water, please.”
She couldn’t ask for a perfect routine while on the go. Selina understood the situation and politely asked for something else.
“Of-of course! I will prepare it right away!”
When the noble lady, who he had been expecting to be the most picky, understood it without being nervous, the owner of the accommodation became brighter like someone who had struggled with murderous energy.
Immediately there was food and water to wash hands. Nonetheless, because of the lack of appetite, there was no speed in bringing in food.
Even if she breathed, the dust fell from their our body, so she couldn't tell if she was eating food or dust.
Selina finally gave up and put her hands down.
“I can’t stand it without washing.”
“Should I prepare the bath water right now?”
“No, that’s too much. I think it will be better if I go to the well and wash my hair.”
He didn't express it, but Kalcion took a towel and went out together as if he felt uncomfortable as well.
While they were eating dinner, the sun was already going down. It was a very sparsely populated village, so few people came and went. As she was looking for someone to talk to, Selina saw a man carrying a water pitcher from the other side.
“Are you going to the well? We only dug the well in the middle of the village because the creek is close, but the creek is closer here.”
If the creek was close, that was better.
“You can go all the way this way.”
The guide ended by pointing to one side of the field with the hand not holding the water jug. However, in an open field, that was enough. She went a little in the direction he pointed, and soon she heard the sound of water.
“Wow!”
She felt refreshed just by hearing the sound of the water.
As she ran to the water's edge and dipped her hand in the running water, immediately, a refreshing sensation permeated from her fingertips to her shoulders. The air wasn't very cold, perhaps because she hadn't gone to the Sinedart Mountains yet, so the water temperature was good enough for her to enter.
Selina glanced around quickly.
The sun had already set, and the night sky was black.
In addition, there was no way anyone would come to draw water in the middle of the night, and it was not a street corner where people were passing by. A little further up, she found some overgrown areas.
While she originally thought to wash her hair only, she thought she could take a bath with this.
“Can I just go into the water and wash it?”
Kalcion, who looked at the water, picked up a stone and threw it into the water. It let out a light pop as the stone fell into the water.
“The depth of the water seems shallow, and the flow doesn’t seem high, so I think it’s okay.”
His permission was also granted.
Selina hesitated as she tried to throw off Kalcion's shirt that she was wearing excitedly. As she glanced back, her eyes met Kalcion's.
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This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦