Chapter 20
The woman in front of him was no longer Ibeliana.
She was simply a kind person doing the duty given to her. The favorability that had once sunk to an extreme negative shot up quickly and reached an average level.
Maybe because of that, the face that once seemed to radiate killing intent began to feel different. The white hair that had looked nothing but disgusting, like a monster witch’s hair, and the red eyes that had once sent chills down his spine like a demon’s, at some point began to sparkle like jewels and look pretty.
Because of that, perhaps, his eyes often drifted to the place where Kae worked.
Watching her approach patients cursed and oozing terrible pus without even frowning, or seeing her work through the night, he began to feel a human fondness for Kae. Despite having quite impressive skill, she worked almost like a volunteer for very little pay, and he found that admirable.
So, hoping she would continue to devote herself as a healer, and out of gratitude for healing his arm, he gave her a small reward. When she accepted the money with tears in her eyes, saying she had lived in poverty, then came out of the barracks shouting happily, she looked like a girl her age, and he found it very cute.
But that feeling lasted only for that moment.
Even though the existence called Ibeliana had disappeared, and with it his goal after regression, the things he had to do were piled as high as a mountain.
The upcoming ducal succession, the imperial family, relations with the Mage Tower—amid all those complicated thoughts, Kae passed by as only a very small part.
Still, when Kae staggered over to the barracks, saying she wanted to treat her benefactor to some precious alcohol, he did not refuse. Drinking alone felt lonely anyway, the wine she offered was an expensive grape wine that commoners rarely drank, and since he would never see her again once he returned to the capital, he drank with her as a farewell.
And when he drank the strong liquor she offered and the alcohol rushed to his head, he saw her smiling at him, her shining white hair and ruby-like red eyes glowing brightly. At that moment, his heart thudded hard in his chest.
She was, objectively speaking, a strikingly beautiful woman. Telling himself that such a reaction was natural, he took a deep breath and forced his pounding heart to calm down. Her red lips curved in a tempting line, but he only thought about it.
Up until now, he had lived a sexually plain life, so he did not give it much meaning.
Yes, his eyes had wandered for a moment, that was all. Thinking that, he drained his cup.
A sudden movement jolted Lloyd awake. By instinct, he grabbed the other person in the bed. On the battlefield, many had aimed for his life, so even the slightest sound roused him. His body moved on instinct, seizing and restraining the stranger in the bed.
But when he realized the woman he was holding was Kae, wearing only a thin slip, and that his own body was bare, Lloyd realized his assumptions were completely wrong.
“……!”
He hurriedly pulled the blanket over his lower body and forced his aching, hungover head to think. What had happened last night?
He remembered that the woman in front of him had been very beautiful. He even remembered thinking her red lips looked tempting.
But beyond that, he remembered nothing. It was completely wiped away.
He could not believe that after drinking so much he forgot everything, he would have left a beautiful woman alone. His last thought had been that her red lips looked tempting—there was no way he had just slept quietly.
In an instant, his body flushed hot.
There was no doubt that his drunken self had made a huge mistake.
In truth, Lloyd had simply gotten drunk, taken off his clothes as usual, and passed out. Kae, who had vomited on her clothes from drinking too much, had also taken off her clothes out of habit and fallen asleep clinging to a body, ending up sleeping on top of Lloyd. But unable to know the truth, the imagination of an inexperienced man with no sexual knowledge began to run wild without end.
“Lloyd-nim, we only slept!”
Yes, maybe, just as she says, we really did only sleep.
When Lloyd came to his senses at Kae’s cry and turned to look at her, he became certain.
They slept. They did.
His eyes were drawn to her figure faintly visible through the transparent slip. Even with just a brief glance, his body heated up quickly. Lloyd ignored every word of Kae’s sincere insistence that they had only slept, and fell into deep despair.
He turned his body away from her, trying to cool himself down.
“Alright. Then… put some clothes on.”
Turning away, he began to meditate with a solemn heart.
Ibeliana Rosebellier. The object of hatred who took my life. Remember, Lloyd. The moment your heart was torn out. The burning territory and family.
By habit, he recalled the face of Ibeliana Rosebellier, who had been the driving force behind his growth until now. The problem was that her face was exactly the same as Kae’s.
When the face of the vicious villainess changed into the face of Kae, who had been lying in his arms, flustered on the bed just moments ago, the heat that had cooled flared up again.
“Kh.”
It was enough to drive him insane.
“Um… young duke. I’m really sorry, but…”
“What is it?”
He answered with his head lowered, his posture awkward.
“My clothes got really dirty… could I borrow something to wear? Anything that can cover my body is fine.”
Without a word, Lloyd pointed to the wardrobe in the corner of the barracks.
He sank back into meditation, thinking solemn thoughts. This time, it was the teachings of the Terina religion he had learned since childhood. Fortunately, the doctrine seemed to work, and his body slowly began to cool.
Thank you, God.
“Um… Lloyd-nim. I’m dressed.”
Yes. I’ve calmed down too.
“I’ll put my clothes on as well.”
He quickly dressed in the clothes laid over the bed and turned his head to talk about the situation with a serious heart. But contrary to his intentions, when his eyes met Kae wearing his oversized white shirt, his face flushed on its own.
This made it the second time, wasn’t it? The second time he had found her cute.
Just then—
“Lloyd-nim, I’ve brought your breakfast. May I come in?”
Outside, he heard the voice of his diligent attendant, who woke him at fixed times every day.
When he glanced at Kae, her face was trembling with embarrassment.
“No. I’m not very hungry. Hans, I want to be alone, so don’t let anyone near.”
“Yes, Lloyd-nim.”
As the sound of the attendant’s footsteps faded away, Kae let out a relieved sigh.
With trembling hands, he spoke to her.
“I will… take responsibility.”
“Pardon?”
The chance of a child being conceived from a single encounter was low, but Lloyd, an innocent man with no sexual knowledge, did not know that. In his mind, Kae was already carrying his child. He could not send her alone back to Zeronia like this.
If an unmarried woman’s belly suddenly began to swell, could she bear all those unkind stares alone? And how could she raise a child while doing the harsh work of a healer by herself, without a husband?
According to Lloyd’s beliefs, no matter if it was a mistake, he had to take responsibility for what he had done.
Holding the hand of the woman who would one day be the mother of his child, Lloyd said,
“From today, let’s go up to the capital together. I will take responsibility for everything.”
“No, no, Lloyd-nim! Nothing like that happened. We only slept!”
“R… really?”
As Kae nodded vigorously at Lloyd’s desperate cry, his eyes caught a familiar ring on her finger.
“What is that?”
A thick gold ring, crudely decorated with loud patterns.
It was the magic ring they had obtained from the Asenta Dungeon.
Shaking his head again, he urgently grabbed her wrist. Seeing her flowing, beautiful hair and her slender, white wrist, a moment from last night—one he could not recall no matter how hard he tried—suddenly flashed through his mind.
“Hahaha, Lloyd-nim, it was just that our lips bumped by mistake. I mean, if you think about it, it was my first kiss! But it’s fine! Hahahaha.”
He had been holding the unsteady Kae when their lips collided.
With a very drunk face, she waved her hands, saying that mistakes like that could happen when drinking. Her white hair rippled as it fell in the moonlight, so beautiful it made his head spin.
Seeing her slender wrist, his whole body burned hot and his mind went dizzy, and from that moment on, he could no longer hear what Kae was saying.
Only one word remained carved into his mind.
First kiss.
To take a woman’s first kiss by mistake.
It was… her first kiss. Then I’ll take responsibility.
Lloyd took out a ring from subspace. Then he knelt down and slipped it onto her slender finger.
“Huh? What kind of ring is this? Lloyd-nim, you’ve already given me so much, you really don’t have to give me more—?”
Kae, answering in a humming voice, must have been very drunk, because she suddenly collapsed to the floor.
Lloyd caught her in his arms, and soon the warm touch of a woman filled his body.
After that, probably…
Damn it!
Enduring the throbbing pain in his head, Lloyd answered Kae with a stiff expression.
“Kae, I know very well what kind of ‘sleep’ that is. I can take responsibility, so don’t worry too much.”
“What kind of sleep? Lloyd-nim, that’s a dangerous thing to say. I mean just lying down, covering ourselves with a blanket, and sleeping. That kind of sleep!”
“Is that what you want to believe…? I’m sorry. This is all my fault.”
“I don’t want to believe it, it’s the truth! We really only slept! Seriously, this is driving me crazy. Anyway, I’ll go back to my quarters now. Mika is probably looking for me by now. Ah, I’ll wash these clothes and return them!”
Beating her chest in frustration, she turned and tried to leave the barracks.
A few months ago, he had heard a knight talking about how his wife was pregnant, saying that early pregnancy was dangerous and one had to be very careful.
That memory suddenly came to Lloyd’s mind, and he hurriedly grabbed Kae.
“Dangerous!”
But Lloyd’s urgent grip was too strong, and Kae fell straight backward.
At that moment, as Lloyd’s body toppled over onto Kae—
“Kae-sunbae? Are you here?”
—his eyes met Mika’s, as she peeked her face into the barracks.
