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Chapter 28
“It’s under the left shoulder, but it’s just a light graze….”
She sat him against the tree, slid his sword belt aside, and deftly began unfastening the buttons of his shirt. He felt breathless watching her so close, eyes glistening as she concentrated on undoing his buttons.
He could hear his own heartbeat in his ears.
She carefully pushed his shirt to the left and frowned when she saw the wound on his arm. To Azen it seemed nothing serious, but instead of protesting that it was nothing, he chose to remain silent.
She rummaged through her bag and said in a depressed voice, “I don’t have anything useful for this.”
Only then did he try to reassure her. “It’s fine. This will heal if left alone.”
She seemed not to hear and continued searching the bag, then tore the end of the shawl inside it.
“Well, I washed it at the inn yesterday, so it should be clean.”
Her voice lacked confidence, but her hands wrapped the bandage with practiced ease. He watched her quietly.
A long-ago memory came to him.
A bright summer day in a leafy forest, sunlight streaming down.
Back when nothing was broken yet.
Just the moment he fell, purely, for those green eyes…
He felt dizzy for an instant at the sight of her hair fluttering so close to his face, then returned his attention to the face focused on wrapping the bandage.
His chest fluttered.
He looked down at those lowered green eyes, the long lashes that veiled them, and her white, smooth forehead, and he kept looking, kept watching, until…
Suddenly she froze and stopped moving entirely.
Only then did Azen realize his lips were touching her white forehead.
Huh?
Wait—how did that happen?
Startled, Azen pulled back. She opened her eyes wide and looked up at him.
He grew more flustered still.
He had always wanted to touch her — wanted to press his lips to that pale skin and feel it — but aside from politely kissing the tips of her fingers, he had never been allowed. How, when, why—when had it happened…?
He met her moist, clear eyes. She opened and closed her lips as if to say something, then fell silent.
In such a moment… in such a situation…
Who the hell set this up, doing something like that—?
He turned his face away, overcome with shame.
At that instant, something warm and very soft touched his cheek.
He looked back in surprise.
She had kissed the little spot on his cheek, then withdrawn, hiding her eyes beneath trembling lashes and lowering them.
She couldn’t believe what had just happened.
He could hardly breathe; his chest swelled.
A nameless feeling rose from deep within, making his whole body tremble.
He reached out with slightly shaking hands and gently cradled her face. His hand on her cheek felt hot. Her clear eyes rose to meet his for a moment, then dropped again.
His lips brushed hers lightly and parted.
His hands trembled at that soft touch.
His heart pounded wildly.
After looking at her face a moment, and seeing her blush quietly without saying a word, he kissed her again. She trembled slightly but welcomed him.
One hand grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her close; the other wrapped around her waist. She threw her arms around his neck and held him.
It was the heart-stirring moment he had waited for across both his lives.
His whole body quivered with rapture; he could barely breathe from rising happiness.
For a little while he forgot there were people pursuing them, that once their trail was found a relentless chase would follow, that he had been hiding her family’s death, that it was he who had cast her into this abyss.
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Continue
The tender new lovers lay close under the night sky.
With a star-strewn sky as a roof, grass-scented earth as a floor, and a breeze carrying floral fragrance as a wall…
Azen used one arm as a pillow under her head and stroked her back gently with his other hand.
“It tickles.”
She giggled and wriggled; he smiled softly.
She looked up at him with bright, clear eyes. Her cheeks were still flushed from the heat; they were so lovely he kissed her forehead again.
“Are you cold?”
As the heat ebbed, a chill he hadn’t noticed earlier began to creep in. Even though it was summer, it was a forest at night. He wrapped her cloak around her more carefully and pulled her close again.
“You’re warm…”
She snuggled into his arms. The soft skin pressed against him; the rounded softness made his head spin, but he forced himself to hold back.
He kissed and caressed her body as slowly, softly, and gently as possible. He was cautious so her fragile body wouldn’t be startled or hurt.
Her eyes looked at him with longing. Her hands sought him. Her flushed cheeks. The tempting scent she wore. Her hair spilling loose. Her mouth that seemed made to be devoured. Her white, tender body. Her voice calling his name with excitement. She invited him.
Everything was so sweet and intoxicating he could hardly think. He wanted to savor and worship her slowly, not be devoured by instinct, which was maddeningly difficult yet exquisitely blissful.
He worried he might be asking too much of her fragile body. Thinking of the journey so far and the rough road ahead, he vowed not to tire her any further. They had traveled all day; she must be exhausted. He suppressed his burning passion.
From the start, leaving someone so noble and beautiful lying on the earth with only a piece of cloth beneath her felt unbearable…
He stroked her cheek with compassion. She lifted her face from his chest, met his gaze, and smiled faintly.
My beloved.
How could I ever let someone as beautiful and lovely as you go?
“Later…”
She cocked her head slightly, listening.
“When things settle down a bit—”
He swallowed, steadied his breath, and continued.
“…will you marry me?”
Her eyes widened for a moment, then curved into a thin smile.
“Yes.”
She buried her face in his chest.
His heart almost leapt out of his chest. Overcome with emotion, he hugged her tightly.
She hugged him back and stroked his back gently. Wherever her hand touched, he felt himself melt.
In his previous life, she had always looked at him with fear or disgust; she trembled at even a fingertip and stepped back, only later coming to him as if she were a lifeless doll with no feeling.
But now—
She wanted him. She accepted him. She permitted him. She called to him, looking at him with loving eyes.
He could hardly believe such a wondrous thing was happening. To confirm reality, he ran his hand over her soft skin again. The warmth and vivid sensation under his fingers reassured him.
As he drifted in bliss, her voice shook him back to reality.
“My parents will like you too.”
She remembered how her parents had said they didn’t care about rank; anyone who loved and cherished her would be fine.
He pictured the peaceful dinner when her father and Letvian discussed the estate she didn’t plan to accept — a once-ordinary evening that now felt cherished and perhaps never to return.
She added, smiling on purpose, “Jexion might get angry. He’ll definitely challenge you to a duel. Please go easy on him then.”
There was no response. He felt the hand stroking her back stop; she raised her head and looked at him.
He looked at her with an expression so devastated he seemed about to cry.
“Azen, I’m all right.”
Still he said nothing.
He slowly moved his resting hand again, softly stroked her back, and held her close without a word.
‘I should have killed him earlier.’
Mounted on a galloping horse, Kashien muttered.
If it was going to end up like this anyway, he should have killed him in that greenhouse back then.
From the moment he saw the man in that greenhouse, he’d wanted to kill him—especially after seeing the way he looked at her.
He should have done it then. The aftermath could have been handled somehow.
“A report has come in near Mishelun of two people presumed to be that person.”
Kashien had heard Hard’s report this morning and immediately mounted his horse and set off.
“One was a woman and the other a man. The woman tried to cover her face completely, but during the commotion her hood was pulled back and her blonde hair was revealed.”
