Episode 4
“…Isn’t it normal not to ask anyone, sick or not, to touch you?”
“Well, I’m not in a position to be picky.”
“Have you ever thought about being picky…?”
“No.”
Ugh… right. This man is a pervert… I mean, his tastes are unusual.
His response came faster and stronger than his apology.
Faced with his resolute answer that left no room for debate, I recalled Enoch’s true identity and shook my head. Suddenly, I heard a rustling sound tickling my ears.
“By the way, what are you doing with that rustling movement since earlier… wow.”
I shifted my eyes to Enoch, and a spontaneous gasp of admiration escaped my mouth without thinking.
What’s this? Does his robe open with a single touch? Why does it open so easily?
I stole a glance at the muscles peeking through the fluttering layers of his robe, then covered my eyes a step too late.
“What, what, what are you doing? Close it quickly!”
“…? Didn’t we agree you’d touch me? Last night, you liked it here, and here. Want to touch the same spots?”
“I, I don’t remember saying anything like that!”
Enoch innocently pointed to his chest and abdominal muscles, and I denied it, flustered. He tilted his head slightly to the left.
“Have you forgotten again?”
“Yes, uh, I don’t remember!”
“Not sick, but she doesn’t remember. And this is about last night specifically.”
“…”
“Hmm…”
Enoch paused as if considering my response, then lifted his red lips in a smile.
“Well, then I should make you remember.”
What…? How are you going to bring back a memory that doesn’t exist?
Faced with his suspicious smile, I leaned back, but his sturdy body closed the distance I’d created.
“Y-you’re not coming closer?”
“I have a friend with severe memory loss. He told me that if he forgets something…”
*Swish.*
In the tense silence, a large hand gently grabbed the end of my platinum hair.
As I stared, captivated, at my hair sliding through his black gloves,
Enoch leaned in until I felt his breath, softly folding his long eyes.
“…it’s enough to repeat what happened before the forgetting. So, Riana, shall we repeat what happened last night to jog your memory?”
Sir, don’t talk as if something big happened!
All that happened last night was the owner of this body groping you while drunk!
While I screamed internally, I swallowed hard at Enoch’s overwhelmingly seductive appearance.
Suddenly,
“Hiu… hiii!”
The girl in my arms burst into tears.
I quickly regained my senses and seized the chance to push his sturdy chest, which had crept closer, with a slight frown.
“Your Majesty keeps taking off your clothes, scaring the girl until she cried. Close your robe properly!”
“What did I do…? And close what?”
“Hiii!”
Enoch muttered in dissatisfaction, but let out a soft sigh at the girl’s loud crying and began covering his body.
After tightly tying the knot, he looked at me with a disgruntled expression.
“I’ve covered everything, so why is she still crying?”
“Really… why is she like this?”
The girl seemed to be gasping, her face red from crying. Confusion gradually appeared on Enoch’s face too.
“Is she hurt somewhere?”
“Strange… she was playing fine until now.”
He didn’t dare touch her, but he looked worried.
Enoch bent down to the girl’s eye level, and her crying quieted slightly.
At this sight, I grabbed his hand unconsciously and shook it.
“Your Majesty, what do we do? Do something!”
“…”
“Quickly, please!”
I wondered why he suddenly went silent, and when I tried to shake his arm again, I realized I was holding him and tried to free my hand.
“Wait.”
But Enoch grabbed my hand, firmly intertwining his fingers with mine, fluttered his eyes slowly, and muttered:
“It seems it doesn’t have to be the body necessarily.”
“What?”
“Riana, it wasn’t an illusion. Your touch really makes me feel good. My body gets warm too…”
*Thump.*
“…”
Faced with his sudden confession of his strange taste, I raised my held hand and covered his lips, utterly flustered.
‘Madness. Madness! This cursed hand! Why is it covering his mouth?’
It hasn’t even been three seconds—if I remove my hand quickly, he might not notice I covered his mouth, right? As I thought ridiculous thoughts,
Enoch looked at me calmly, then the corner of his eyes curved beautifully.
‘Wow… how can a man be this beautiful?’
Faced with his seductive smile that overshadowed his embarrassing words, I opened my mouth in shock.
The girl, who had been sobbing, looked at Enoch with curiosity.
“Ba!”
“Oh? She stopped crying.”
Amazed by this sight, I removed my hand from Enoch’s face. His gray eyes followed my hand with a resentful look.
I wiped the tears of the girl who stopped crying, and she looked happy, giggling playfully at Enoch.
Even more amazed, I grabbed Enoch’s sleeve and shook it excitedly.
“Your Majesty, the girl is laughing at your face! Do something funny quickly!”
“Me?”
Enoch frowned, flustered by my sudden request, then seemed to remember something and covered his face with his hands.
Then,
“Peek… boo?”
He revealed his face suddenly, in a way so awkward it made the viewer feel embarrassed.
I laughed until I bit my lower lip, and his beautiful ears turned red as if burning.
“Don’t laugh.”
“Yes, *cough*. I didn’t laugh.”
I stifled my laughter with difficulty and looked in surprise at the girl giggling innocently and reaching for Enoch, unable to understand.
“Wow, she’s laughing even after that?”
“That? I put in a lot of effort.”
“Yes, well done. But it’s really amazing. How is she laughing at that? Does she just like handsomeness?”
His shoulders seemed to slump as if upset by my response, but he perked up at my muttering.
The redness spread from his oval ears to his neckline.
“Am I handsome?”
“Yes, objectively.”
Tall stature, balanced strong muscles.
Perfect features like a carefully painted portrait, and mysterious eyes that captivate gazes.
No matter his tastes,
Enoch was, objectively and subjectively, a handsome man hard to look away from.
I stated the truth I saw, but the man before me grew even redder.
“Really? So, in your eyes too…”
“Abu!”
“Ah! Little one, don’t touch!”
The moment the girl’s small hand touched Enoch’s cheek, which he was covering due to the blushing from the compliment,
his large body flinched back as if pricked.
“Are you okay? She’s a child. She did it unintentionally, so don’t get angry…”
Even if he asked me to touch him, Enoch intensely dislikes being touched by others.
Fearing he’d get mad at the girl, I stepped back, but his sudden expression made me rush toward him.
“Your Majesty? What’s wrong?”
Wide eyes in shock, a slightly trembling hand, and prominent veins on his neck.
What Enoch showed wasn’t anger or annoyance. It was…
‘Is he scared?’
Yes, the emotion in his sleepy gray eyes was closer to fear.
“Your Majesty?”
I stopped running toward him, frozen by the cold emanating from him.
Fearing this cold would affect the girl, I placed her on a nearby chair and approached again. I noticed ice crystals glimmering on Enoch’s skin.
“What’s this… Your Majesty, Enoch! Snap out of it!”
He seemed in pain, clutching his chest, so I grabbed his frost-covered hand tightly, and the cold seeped into my body.
“Ah, cold!”
But only for a moment.
The snowflakes blooming on the back of his hand began melting from the point of contact, and life gradually returned to his eyes.
His breathing was still weak, but…
“Are you okay? Your body, it’s so cold.”
I placed my hand on his pale cheek where snowflakes bloomed, and a muffled sound escaped his lips as if he regained his breath.
“Riana…”
“Have you come to? Your temperature dropped suddenly…!”
I wiped my chest in relief at his return to consciousness, but,
before I could stop him, Enoch pulled my intertwined hand and hugged me tightly.
“A little more… just a little…”
Startled by the sudden contact, I tried to push him away, but my hand froze in the air at his trembling body.
‘How can a human body be this cold?’
His temperature was as cold as a corpse, and he clung to me like a lifeline.
In the end, I lowered my hand and patted his broad back. Enoch exhaled exhaustedly.
“Haa…”
He rested his smooth forehead on the curve of my exposed neck, and I felt the cold dissipate quickly.
We stood frozen for a while.
Finally, when the frost on his neck disappeared, I pushed Enoch back slightly.
“Your Majesty, what’s happening now…?”
“…Didn’t I say your touch makes my body warm?”
