Chapter 9

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Chapter 9

“My body has been throbbing again since a while ago, could you check it?”

“Pardon?”

Kylian slowly unbuttoned his blood-stained white shirt. Arya was startled by his actions and froze, unable to stop him. So she could see his body very closely. If his face was a masterpiece created by God itself, then the body had fantastic lines with perfectly balanced muscle mass as if a sculptor had carved it over 100 years. A body with very low body fat percentage, with a clear shade of his veins showing. A strong, firm body.

“Arya?”

“Ah…? Ah yes!”

For a moment, Arya’s head spun dizzyingly for a moment, but it felt like her brain was ringing.

“Arya has a nosebleed too.”

“Ahk!”

“What were you thinking that surprised you so much?”

Arya’s face began to burn in response to Kylian’s playful remarks.

“It’s nothing!”

Even her ears burned hotly as if she had been caught. Unknowingly, she placed both of her hands against Kylian’s face to stop his bleeding, but that left not enough hands to cover her own nose. So he pushed her hands away. After some time, he was no longer bleeding anyway.

“This way we’ll both die before anyone is healed.”

Kylian rolled up the shirt he had taken off and put it against Arya’s face.

“It was the princess who hit my nose, but why does it look like she was hurt more?”

“I’m sorry…”

‘As a kidnapper, I can’t even properly treat him. And in the name of treatment, I hurt him even more. In addition to that, I think I’ve been caught having bad thoughts.’

“I’m really ashamed of myself…”

Arya held her breath, fearing that she would be terrified again. ‘I can’t be nervous. If I behave as if I did wrong, he will lose his trust in me.’ Of course, she did nothing wrong. All flaws were made by the real Princess Arya. But because she was now Princess Arya–

‘I have just died and I don’t want to die again.’ It was all on her and she had to make it work. Because it was she who was alive right now.

“We must have bumped pretty hard, seeing how you still tremble.”

She nodded and endured her shaking as much as possible, and he smiled again. From Kylian’s point of view, it would be nice to see her hurt. Because the person who kidnapped him was hurt by herself.

“First, let’s wash up. My hands are covered in blood, as well as my body.”

“Yes, wash first.”

“The princess will wash first. I will rest for a while.”

That was also a problem. Calling the maids in meant Kylian being discovered. Not a regular person, but the kidnapped Duke of Rohenbert in her room. It would have been easier if it had been the Crown Prince.

She was in a cold sweat because of Kylian watching her from behind. She slowly turned the doorknob of what looked like a bathroom, and, luckily, there was a bathtub and water supply.

“I will wash first then!”

“Yes, go ahead.”

As I thawed a bit in the warm water, I was able to think more and more.

I’m dead.

If I’m dead, I can’t return to my previous life. I wanted to pay a lease on a deposit basis for my parents’ store, but my death insurance will come out, so they may buy a store, not just a lease.

“Ugh…”

Somehow I felt like crying. If I had known it would be like this, I would have eaten the breakfast that I was forced to prepare before rushing out.

“Hiiik- uhhhh…”

As I curled up in the bathtub and sniffled, the sound echoed. The sound of my crying echoed through the bathroom and entered my ears again, which made it even more sad.

In the past, I used to worry about what would happen if my mother died before me. Like a fool, I never thought that I might die first. I just hoped my parents would forget about me and live happily ever after.

I was living well here, so I hoped she wouldn’t worry and have a hard time there.

“Hiik- waaahh!”

Strangely, rather than dying, I was more afraid of that. Because I didn’t want to think of the family I loved, who would remember me and have a hard time.

Knock, knock–

“Ahk!”

“Arya.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Are you crying?”

“N- no!”

Upon hearing that, Arya came back to her senses and rose up. Her whole body was wet from the water, and cold water droplets dripped from her hair.

“Why? Did you get hurt anywhere else?”

“Oh, I didn’t cry, but…” Arya replied roughly, found her towel and wrapped it around her head. A négligée was nearby, so she came out wearing it, and a blood-stained Kylian was standing at the door. “It’s Kylian’s turn to wash.”

“I see.”

Seeing her trembling body as he looked at her, he smiled broadly in his heart. Although he actually didn’t want to.

“Arya.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t think I can wash by myself because I’m hurt.”

“What?”

“You need to help me.”

“Ah…”

Kylian seemed to be right. He had a nosebleed, a broken head and an injured body because of her. He was tied up all day, so his body might not be very useful. It’s not good for your joints to stay in the same position for a long time.

“Wouldn’t it be more comfortable to wash by yourself?”

“Even if it’s comfortable, I won’t be able to wash myself properly.”

In the original, Kylian had a meticulous and neat personality. He was such a perfectionist that he had to complete everything perfectly at once. What would happen if he couldn’t properly wash his blood-stained body? Then his bad feelings for her will only grow stronger. Arya thought she shouldn’t refuse whatever he wanted. It was entirely her fault that Kylian was hurt, and no matter how much the responsibility was blurred due to her situation, a person had been kidnapped.

“Ah…”

“Please.”

“…Yes.”

Arya thought she was lucky that she was only wearing a négligée now. If she had worn other clothes, she would have had to take them off now. The pinkish, rhyolite floor was visible again. There was a lot of moisture inside it due to the previous bath. Arya opened the small window in the bathroom, and when she turned around, the clothes he was wearing before were already lying on the floor.

“Ahk!”

As Arya was startled and covered her eyes with her hand, she heard a hoarse breath that sounded almost as a sneer.

“I’m done.”

“Yes…”

She was embarrassed to open her eyes, perhaps because her face was burning hot. As she opened her eyes very slowly, she saw a towel wrapped underneath.

“Now help me.”

“Yes.”

He started to collect water for the bathtub. Thus, Arya, packing the sponge and bath soap that she had used when she washed herself earlier, drew near him. He didn’t even fill the bathtub but sat in it anyway. The water was warm and steam was coming out. Arya rolled her négligée up to her shoulder and squeezed the bath soap into the sponge.

“Give me your arm.”

“Yes.”

As he stretched out his arm, Arya created bubbles within the sponge and rubbed it.

“It tickles.”

She made eye contact with Kylian, who was smiling as if it was funny. Every time Arya rubbed his arm, he felt delighted by the sound of the sponge rubbing and bubbles popping.

He had a really thick neck, but when she rode the tip of his right fingers through the hard arm muscles to his neck, it seemed to stand out even more. The muscles and veins in his neck felt so clear.

As every time he spoke, Arya faltered in surprise as if about to cry and met his eyes again. It seemed like he was still looking at her, so she had to be careful not to raise her head, even by accident.

Kylian also had a really solid left shoulder. His body was muscular in an inverted triangle shape, and it was really firm. Like a swimmer, with straight shoulders, thick arms, and big hands. She marveled again at the body created by God.

“Ahk-!”

“Hahaha.”

As she was rubbing his hand with the sponge he held her hand. Startled, she quickly slipped it, and he laughed as if it was amusing.

“Let- let me go.”

“Yes. It was because Arya looked so serious.”

Perhaps because he was smiling innocently she felt more shameful. She felt like the only one having bad thoughts.

Fortunately, he stopped smiling and climbed onto the lip of the bathtub and sat down. Thanks to that, she was able to wipe his body a little more comfortably. Kylian’s body was visible even underwater, but he looked much better when he came up all wet. The well-divided thoracic muscle was so fierce that you could see water running down like water through a valley. The abs were great too. The six-pack was very prominent, and he was full of muscle, even near his ribs.

“Arya.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Do you like my body as much as my face?”

“Yes. N- no, I mean! That–”

As he suddenly asked, her inner thoughts came out unchecked. He smiled amusingly and touched Arya’s cheek with a wet hand.

“I’m glad Arya likes it.”

“Ah…”

Kylian smiled widely as if teasing her, so Arya pretended to be okay and wiped her face dry. Then she quickly rubbed the sponge on his back. But the back was more of a problem. Because his shoulder bones were perfect too. Arya thought she might be weak against someone with a nice back. And of all choices, it was wet too.

“Ahk!”

“Oh gosh.”

His back was so amazing that she lost her mind and had another nosebleed.

“Are you okay, Arya?”

“Ah… Yes.”

She was a little dizzy, but she was looking at him seriously while covering her nose. The foam in her hands clung to her hair.

“Arya is dirty, too.”

For a moment, Arya didn’t understand what he was saying, so she looked blankly. Somehow he sounded as if worried about her yet smiled like a monster.

“What?”

“You need to wash again.”

Everything felt strange to Arya. Her mind was gone, but she felt so good every time she touched him. She felt as if something that wasn’t hers was flooding in.

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────