Chapter 30
Tarmin’s strength drained away, and Enya slowly pulled back.
Even after receiving his release, Enya calmly washed her hands instead of looking surprised or flustered.
Still reeling from his climax, Tarmin stammered out an awkward apology.
“S-Sorry.”
Drawing warm water from the tub and letting it run over her hands, Enya looked at him.
“What are you apologizing for?”
“I mean, uh, on your hand.”
“It’s fine. I offered to help, and I can wash my hands. Though I guess I’ll need to change my robe.”
Enya smiled as she looked at her soiled robe.
“You did well.”
“N-No.”
Was that really something to call hard work?
At her unexpectedly gentle attitude, Tarmin grew even more restless, like a child who’d wet the bed.
As he sat on the stool, opening and closing his mouth without a word, Enya smiled and reached for the knot tying her robe.
“Well, I’m going to wash now, so you can keep sitting there if you want.”
“What? Enya, wait! My legs are still—”
Despite his plea, the knot on Enya’s robe began to come undone.
He practically crawled as he gathered his clothes and left the bathroom.
**
A little while later.
Tarmin sat on the bed, fresh and clean.
It had been a long time since he’d taken such a thorough bath in hot water.
He fought the urge to fall asleep right there from sheer drowsiness and looked around.
While he’d been bathing, there didn’t seem to be any sleeping bags or blankets set out for him.
The expensive-looking bed supported a man’s weight without a creak, so Tarmin could hear every sound from the bathroom perfectly clearly.
The sound of water.
The sound of Enya washing herself.
Tarmin flopped down on the bed.
Wearing the robe Enya had laid out for him, he sat on the bed and thought how comfortable it would be to sleep in his own bed.
He didn’t like the robe’s soft feel or how spacious the bed was.
The bed looked big enough for two, provided they could put up with their shoulders touching, and that was a serious problem.
“What are you doing?”
He sprang up and looked at the person who’d spoken.
Enya came into the room, drying her wet hair with a towel. Instead of her robe, she was wearing a black negligee.
Her fresh, rosy cheeks and slender curves on full display made him quickly avert his eyes.
“If you lie there like that, where am I supposed to sleep?”
She spoke as if it were already settled that he’d be staying the night.
He asked just in case.
“Enya, uh, where am I supposed to sleep?”
“Hm? What do you mean? Where else would you sleep besides the bed?”
She answered as if he’d asked something obvious.
He looked sadly at the two pillows resting at the head of the bed.
Enya finished drying her hair for the most part, then pushed him farther into the bed.
“Come on, get in.”
“Ugh.”
Her soft, small hands pushed at his shoulder. Unable to resist, he ended up lying beside Enya.
Once he lay down, he was a little impressed by the clean scent of the sheets and pillow.
She must have been so meticulous about keeping things in order that she could invite someone to stay on a whim.
He glanced at Enya, who was gazing at the ceiling with a nostalgic expression.
After a brief silence, Enya spoke.
“It’s been ages since we slept in the same room.”
“We did it all the time while traveling.”
“That’s why I said it’s been ages. That was years ago.”
“Years or not, those rooms were cramped as hell—ow.”
Enya, stung by his blunt reply, smacked him on the shoulder.
“Who told you to lie so far away?”
Tarmin had been lying halfway off the bed to avoid any improper contact.
He straightened his hunched shoulder and lay properly, which brought their shoulders together naturally.
He held his breath at the mere contact, but Enya paid it no mind as she spoke.
“Taal, do you remember when we went to Sebik?”
He took a breath and resigned himself to humoring her a little.
“Sebik? That lawless city?”
He remembered the name of the city far to the west of Quaalid, ruled by criminal gangs.
“That’s right.”
“Wasn’t that where the prince nearly got sold into slavery? He wanted to know what his royal person was worth, so he put shackles on himself. Though nobody bid on him.”
The prince hadn’t realized no one would want to buy a foreign slave with black hair and gleaming eyes.
It had taken the whole day to rescue him.
Enya giggled.
“Not that.”
“Or do you mean that inn where there weren’t even separate rooms, and dozens of us slept together?”
“Yeah. Isn’t this better than that?”
“By that logic, what about sleeping outdoors?”
“That was worse than sleeping outdoors. Or maybe…”
The witch had stayed at an expensive inn and been overcharged, but the rest of the party had no other choice.
Now that there was one more woman in the group, staying in Sebik with the same party as back then would cost twice as much.
He watched Enya excitedly recount their memories.
The witch.
The witch’s prophecy.
“But when we turned south from there and headed for Hadia…”
“Enya.”
“Hmm? What is it?”
“So, what did you mean when you said you wouldn’t die?”
Enya paused, then took her time answering as she gazed at the ceiling.
“…I meant exactly what I said.”
“Come on, anyone would think there was some kind of meaning behind that.”
Words like you came here to die and you won’t die were still swirling around in Tarmin’s head.
Especially the stern expression on Enya’s face when she’d turned around after he asked if she’d come here to die.
He waited for an answer, but instead Enya suddenly jabbed him in the side.
He yelped in surprise.
“Ow!”
“Well, Taal, when you’re clinging to me, sobbing and begging me not to die, what am I supposed to say? Hm?”
“That’s different, and anyway, there’s something—ow!”
Enya’s jabbing fingertips hurt quite a bit.
It wasn’t so much pain as the kind of hurt that made him feel wronged and irritated just for having to endure it.
With tears even welling in his eyes, he shouted at Enya.
“That really hurts, you jerk!”
“Oh, no, it hurts? Well, I am poking you because I want it to hurt.”
“Ow! You—!”
He finally twisted around to face her. Enya’s eyes widened in surprise.
He raised a fist, intending to smack her on the head, and she cowered.
Covering her head, Enya said,
“Wait. You shouldn’t hit me in the head!”
“Now you’re going to play the invalid? Not a chance.”
He pushed her arm aside with one hand and brought his fist toward her.
Trembling, Enya stared at his fist, then blurted out,
“If you let me off this time, I’ll help you again!”
“Huh?”
At Enya’s words, Tarmin’s fist stopped mid-swing.
After the bath, the offer to help had taken on a rather special meaning between them.
The vivid memory of the bathroom.
The hot water and thick steam.
Her cool, soft hands and sweet lips.
You didn’t say that without knowing what it meant, did you?
…No way. Was she serious?
“Really?”
He looked at her with a mix of confusion and cautious hope.
Enya seemed to hold her breath, then—
“Heehee! I can’t believe you fell for that. Look at your face!”
She burst out laughing.
Tarmin stared dumbfoundedly at Enya cackling, then realized she’d been teasing him and flushed bright red.
He sat up.
“You’re dead.”
While he sat up, Enya covered her face with a pillow.
From beneath it, she said,
“I blocked you. Now you can’t hit me.”
“Yeah, right.”
With only her face hidden behind a pillow, she looked utterly ridiculous.
“It’s cheating if you move the pillow.”
“Ha! You think your head’s the only place I can hit?”
She looked so ridiculous that he decided to play along after all.
He felt a little excited by the childish antics, just like when they were young.
Trying to calm himself, he looked at Enya’s body, defenseless as she covered her head.
“Uh, well…”
As they’d wrestled around, the sheet had been shoved down toward the foot of the bed, and her thin nightclothes had ridden up, exposing her thighs.
Seeing her snow-white skin made the very thought of hitting her feel like a sin.
Unable to bring himself to touch her, he decided to go with the traditional approach instead.
He brought both hands to Enya’s waist.
“Taal?”
Before Enya could say anything, having sensed something was up, his fingertips traced the sides of her waist.
“Eek!”
Enya screamed and threw the pillow aside.
She hurriedly grabbed his hands, but he didn’t stop.
“Ahahaha! Taal, I-I’m sorry! Stop!”
He’d noticed before, but she really was ticklish.
Enya laughed, then suddenly grew irritated and kicked Tarmin in the chest.
“I said stop!”
“Urgh!”
Tarmin rolled off the bed and staggered to his feet, only for a pillow to fly into his face.
“Ghk!”
The pillow knocked him back down, and Enya rushed over, grabbed it, and swung it at him.
“Do you have any idea how awful it is to be ticklish, you bastard? Die!”
“You started it, you—whump!”
He was hit in the face with the pillow before he could finish, and Enya let out a sharp laugh.
“Serves you right!”
As Enya pounded him with the pillow, Tarmin grabbed one of his own.
The pillow fight went on until both of them were exhausted.
They let their anxiety drift away on their laughter.
**
The next day.
“Renzo! Long time no see. Is something wrong?”
Tarmin entered the tavern looking refreshed, then was surprised to see Renzo’s tired face.
It was the first time since they’d met that he’d ever seen Renzo looking so disheveled.
Renzo sat with his arms on the table, and a bottle of strong spirits stood in front of him.
He was nothing like his usual self, who only sipped weak drinks while socializing with the people in the tavern.
Even his neatly oiled hair, usually swept back, had a few strands hanging loose today.
“Oh, Tarmin.”
“You said you had work to do. Did it not go well?”
“No, it went very well.”
He certainly didn’t look like someone whose work had gone well.
He’d stopped by to check on Sigona in Enya’s place, but she wasn’t there.
He scanned the tavern, then spoke to Renzo again.
“Renzo, are you all right? You haven’t been swindled, have you?”
“I’m sitting here because it went well, aren’t I?”
“Well, that’s good, then.”
Renzo drained the rest of the liquor in his glass.
Then he said to Tarmin,
“You’ll thank me later.”
“Will I?”
Renzo soon slumped over the table and fell asleep.
Tarmin watched him with a puzzled expression.
***