Chapter 42
Kartian shook off the lingering sleepiness and opened his eyes. The first thing he did was check for Lia beside him.
But when he reached out, there was nothing. No warmth, nothing. It was as if she had left long ago.
“Lia?!”
Kartian jumped up and called her, but no voice answered.
“Lia… she’s… gone?”
He murmured in despair.
If Kartian had even a little composure, he would have realized she hadn’t disappeared. It was almost impossible for Lia to sneak out of the palace without him noticing.
So, she probably had just stepped out for a short moment. But Kartian couldn’t think that far.
Only the nightmare from last night returned, making his body shake with anxiety. The dream clung to him, squeezing him with lingering tension.
Determined to find her, Kartian moved.
At that moment, he sensed movement in the bathroom attached to the room.
Without thinking, he opened the door and went inside. And there was Lia.
The problem was that she had just finished bathing and was drying herself with a towel.
The sudden sound of the door made Lia, who was about to put on her clothes, look up.
When she saw Kartian, her expression stiffened.
Instinctively, she screamed and threw the towel she was holding.
“You pervert!”
Even when he first possessed this body, she had called him a pervert.
But now it was worse. And the towel-throwing made it even worse.
The towel had at least been covering parts of her body, but throwing it left her completely exposed.
Kartian saw her naked, and his face turned bright red in panic.
“S-Sorry!”
The towel hit Kartian square on the face, and he quickly apologized while backing out of the bathroom.
Even after he left, Lia couldn’t calm herself.
Although the body originally belonged to Riarna, Kartian was inside it, so it was basically his body now.
And now she had been exposed completely naked—not even wearing underwear.
Lia was usually calm and indifferent about such things, but this time was different. She tried to regain composure, but her face flushed in surprise.
What a ridiculous situation.
She couldn’t understand why he had opened the bathroom door even though he knew someone was inside.
Judging by Kartian’s embarrassed reaction, he hadn’t expected this either—but it didn’t excuse it.
It was bad enough that he saw her naked, but the towel he threw had at least covered her, and now that was gone too. She had no way to cover herself.
Meanwhile, Kartian was also extremely embarrassed.
It was an unconscious action.
He had panicked when he realized Lia wasn’t beside him and had opened the bathroom door without thinking.
He had no idea what she might be doing in there.
If he had been calmer, he would have known not to open the door—but he had no time to think.
So he opened it hastily, only to find this situation.
Kartian covered his face with his hands in embarrassment.
What troubled him most was that he couldn’t stop thinking about her pale, naked body.
He had only seen her briefly, but the image was vivid. Her smooth, milky-white skin. The water droplets on it.
He even felt a strange envy of those droplets.
The biggest problem was his own reaction. Despite his earlier anxiety, his lower body responded to her nakedness.
The more he thought about it, the hotter his face became. He tried to erase the image, but it wouldn’t go away.
Meanwhile, Lia had dressed and left the bathroom.
Hearing the sound, Kartian glanced at her, then quickly closed his eyes and hid his face.
“What were you thinking to still have your face so red?!”
Lia shouted sharply at his flushed face.
“I-I didn’t see anything!”
Kartian said urgently, trying to explain.
“If you didn’t see anything, why is your face so red? Were you imagining something?!”
“Ah… n-no.”
His denial wasn’t entirely false, but there was a hint of hesitation in his response.
“Seriously… what is going on this morning?”
Lia plopped down on a chair, looking exasperated.
Kartian peeked at her through his fingers. She gave him a sharp glare, as if asking, What are you looking at?
“S-Sorry.”
“Why did you even open the door?”
“I-I… I got anxious because you weren’t there…”
Kartian bowed his head deeply and mumbled.
“But even if I had disappeared, where would I go? Why did you rush in like that?”
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. At the same time, she was embarrassed.
She had never shown her body to anyone before.
Even with other women, she was shy, and here she had never let the maid help her bathe.
Even back in Korea, she always changed clothes in a dressing room or bathroom. She had never gone to a public bath.
“I… just wanted to check…”
Kartian murmured gloomily.
“Check… my body?”
“N-No! Absolutely not!”
He strongly denied it.
“What you just saw, you must forget. You didn’t see anything. You saw nothing.”
Lia said sharply.
“…Okay.”
Kartian answered obediently, but he didn’t look convincing. His face was still red.
“Also, put your face back to normal right now!”
Even seeing his red face reminded Lia of what happened earlier, and she was truly flustered.
But Kartian couldn’t help it either. If he could control the redness, he would have. The more he tried, the worse it got.
“You’re not thinking about it anymore, are you?”
Lia gave him a suspicious look as his face grew even redder.
Kartian didn’t know what to do. Her slightly wet eyes staring at him seemed… strangely seductive, completely out of place with the situation.
He needed to act like nothing had happened and stay calm—but he couldn’t.
“I really…”
‘I didn’t expect to go through this,’ Lia muttered in disbelief.
Hearing that, Kartian lowered his head like a guilty criminal, looking solemn.
“Sh-Should I gouge out my eyes?”
Kartian’s words made Lia stare at him in disbelief again.
‘Is he serious? Gouge out his eyes?’
Even if he did, the image would remain in his mind. And she didn’t want to see that disgusting scene either.
“It’s impossible! Absolutely not. That would be worse!”
“…Okay.”
Kartian slumped, feeling defeated. But at least he was slightly comforted that she cared about him.
“Go wash up immediately.”
Lia decided that arguing further would only make things worse.
Especially seeing Kartian’s state—his eyes were swollen like a fish’s, hair messy, clothes all loose.
“D-Do you want to see my body too?”
“What would I do with that?”
“No, I just… it would be fair.”
Kartian muttered quietly.
Lia gave him a sharp glare.
In the end, Kartian had to go wash up, unable to argue further.
But washing up was not easy for him. He had to use the same bathroom where Lia had bathed—and where he had seen her body. Every time he tried, the memory of that scene kept flashing back, making it impossible to calm down.
