Chapter 141: You pervert!
The white robe slipped from Lily’s shoulders and fell to the ground, revealing her completely bare to Vlad’s eyes. He swallowed hard, unable to look away.
His gaze traveled the length of her milky skin, tracing the pale length of her throat, the full curves of her breasts and their delicate pink peaks, the narrow waist, and the heavy thighs beneath.
He instantly sank beneath the surface of the water as she moved forward with an elegant motion, dipping into the water.
Vlad’s face burned crimson, his eyes trembling as the sight of her ethereal figure still lingered before them.
’Dammit, dammit, dammit! How come I keep getting stuck in this kind of situation?’ he screamed inwardly, pressing his temples between his palms.
’If she finds out I’m here, she’s surely going to kill me,’ he mumbled inwardly. ’I can’t go back the way I entered since the water currents are flowing in the opposite direction. In that case... I must hold my breath until she—’
His thoughts stopped mid-sentence as a pair of long, slender legs appeared before his eyes, swaying slowly in the water to keep the body afloat.
"Ahnm~ so relaxing..." Lily’s voice, muffled by the water, reached Vlad’s ears.
"Oh~ so good~ Ahn~"
’What the hell? Why is she here? And stop making those weird noises!!’ Vlad screamed, closing his eyes. He feared paying the price for watching something clearly forbidden. But then again, keeping his eyes closed was also dangerous. What if she dipped underwater and found him?
He opened his eyes and carefully moved lower, making sure not to cause any disturbance in the water.
After a few seconds, he reached the edge of the pond and pressed himself against the wall, clamping both hands over his mouth. For some unknown reason, he found it more and more difficult to hold his breath the longer he looked at her serene figure as she began swimming on the water’s surface, her hourglass body gliding like a fish.
Although he was relieved that she was facing the sky while swimming and thus didn’t see him underwater, the sight of her curvy rear made it all the more difficult for Vlad to hold his breath. His heart pounded like drums in his chest, his body burning from the warmth of the hot spring, or perhaps something else.
’I c-can’t hold it any longer,’ he muttered, his body squirming with the struggle. ’I need to find a way out. She seems to be in her late twenties, so she can’t be a professor. She knows my name... even has access to the restricted forest... That’s it! She must be a caretaker of the beasts in the forest! In that case...’
---
"Hmm, it will be a full moon tomorrow," Lily murmured, her silver eyes lifting to the sky where the gibbous moon shone with a luminous glow. She was floating in the centre of the pond, parallel to the water’s surface, her long silver hair spread like silken threads, swaying with the slow current. Only her face and her full breasts were above the surface, the water unable to hide her size. "Hehe~ I can’t wait to hear the Song of Welkin Moon again."
Her legs moved downward as she slowly drifted toward the opposite edge through the mist. Suddenly she stopped, hearing the sound of water splashing ahead. Her eyes narrowed, her gaze piercing the mist until it reached the edge of the pond.
A striking man floated there, waist deep in the water. The front of his hair was tied in a high ponytail that met the hair from the back of his head at his shoulder, cascading all the way to his upper back. His beautiful crimson eyes were half open, the dim moonlight reflecting off the sharp features of his face. Lily’s eyes moved lower, following the droplets of water on his wet skin as they travelled over his broad chest and finely sculpted abs. His biceps tightened and relaxed with every deliberate motion as he carefully washed his chest, shoulders, and neck. The man, who looked more like a deity, did not appear a day older than twenty.
"V-v-v-v-v-v-Vlad!!????" Lily gasped, her eyes widening, a rosy hue spreading across her face and reaching her ears as she finally tore her gaze away from him. "Wh-what is he doing here? How long has he been here? Did he see me? But I just saw him. H-he has an incredible bod—No, how can I have these sinful thoughts? He is just a child. But he doesn’t look like one. Last time I saw him, he was just a brat. When did he grow so mu—Stop it, you shameless woman!"
One sentence after another blurted from her mouth as her mind went blank, leaving her unsure how to react. Consumed by the embarrassment of having looked at something forbidden, she overlooked the fact that her voice was very loud, clearly reaching the man she was peeking at.
"Who is there!?" Vlad demanded, his head snapping toward the source of the voice as he moved toward Lily, the only thing separating them a thin veil of white mist.
"Oh no, he heard me. Should I run away?" She had barely spoken those words when Vlad was already right before her, looking at her with eyes glistening with moisture, lips parted in shock.
"Kyaaaaa!!!! You pervert!!!!!!!!!!" Vlad shouted, hiding his chest behind his hands as he slipped into the water up to his neck.
"N-no, I am not," Lily blurted, shaking both hands desperately. "I didn’t know you were here. I was just bathing here when I saw you."
"The hell you were! Might as well say that I’m the one who was peeking at you," Vlad retorted, his tone loud with anger. "I clearly heard you saying I have an incredible body. You also muttered about running away when I caught you. Do you have no shame, pervert?"
"N-no, th-that isn’t it," Lily whimpered, shaking her head vigorously. "You are misunderstanding me. Please let me explain—"
Her words stopped midway as she saw Vlad rubbing his eyes, his voice hitching, his breathing heavy.
"N-now that you have seen me naked, who is going to marry me? Sob-sob," he cried, squirming.
"I-I... I d-didn’t see anything below your waist," Lily said, trying to reassure him.
"You could have if I hadn’t caught you," Vlad snapped back, never removing his hands from his eyes. "Weren’t you about to run away after having your fill? Go away. Or do you want to see more? Sob-sob." Vlad rose to the surface up to his waist, revealing his wet, masculine body.
’Now that I’m giving you the chance to leave, just go already,’ Vlad screamed inwardly, terrified of being caught in his little act.
"N-no! No! No! I didn’t mean it that way," Lily blurted, her face reddening again, her eyes darting sideways in embarrassment. "Please stop misinterpreting my words. I’m not a pervert."
’You certainly aren’t,’ Vlad sighed inwardly. ’I should press her further to leave.’
"Forget it. I am just a commoner who has no dignity in the eyes of high nobles like you," Vlad said, his voice broken. "Please leave. I will forget about tonight."
"No!" Lily said in a firm voice. "Every person, man or woman, should not be stripped of their dignity. I shall take responsibility for accidentally peeking at you," she declared, her voice unwavering.
’Don’t take responsibility!’ Vlad cried inwardly. ’My conscience is already threatening to disown me. Leave before I slip up in my act.’
"No need," Vlad said, shaking his head in a low tone, his eyes lowered. "I don’t wish to see your face."
"I can’t have that!" Lily’s voice came instantly, as if she feared that declaration from Vlad. ’I waited a whole month to hear the lullaby again. I won’t be able to hear it from close if he doesn’t want to see me. I must fix this blunder.’
"I... I-I will... I will let you s-see my body f-for peeking at you," she managed to say, but her hands were already covering her face from the shame that accompanied the offer.
’Oh god, why is she so uptight?’ Vlad whimpered, his eyes lowering in embarrassment at her offer. ’I agree I’m a jerk, but I can’t take advantage of her like this.’
She was about to rise from the water, her cleavage reaching the surface, when Vlad declared, "Please don’t. It seems you are really reflecting on your mistake." Vlad said, rubbing the back of his head. "I forgive you, so let’s leave the matter here."
"No, I cannot," Lily shook her head. "You are such a gentleman to reject my compensation, something any man would have jumped at. Y-you said that no one will marry you because I saw you naked, right?"
Taking a deep breath, she spoke in a tone barely above a whisper, like a mosquito’s buzz, "I will marry you when you become an adult."
"The fuck?" Vlad blurted out instinctively.