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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Spreading Warmth (4)
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He wore an amused expression.
Ariana froze, only her eyes blinking.
He swept his wet hair back, revealing a neatly defined forehead. Dark, ash-grey eyebrows lifted slightly, and droplets of water clinging to them trickled down past his eyes.
Long eyelashes, framing his peach-blossom eyes, were damp, lending him an air of decadence. Water droplets on his cheeks shimmered strangely.
Seeing Ariana stare at him, utterly captivated, her mouth agape, he spoke.
"Your drool's going to fall."
Ariana snapped back to attention and closed her mouth.
She blinked, then belatedly realized she was staring at his naked body and quickly turned away.
Splash—splash—
The sound of him wading through the water and emerging onto the lakeside reached her ears.
Her heart pounded, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why.
It wasn't her first time seeing a man's body, yet she couldn't understand why her legs kept losing strength.
His body, like a finely crafted sculpture, shimmered before her eyes.
Ariana gently clutched her skirt, trying to calm her wildly beating heart.
By the time he stepped onto the ground by the lake, Ariana had regained her composure.
She heard the rustle of clothes.
"Did you sleep well?"
Cyrus asked nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened.
Ariana pursed her lips, then carefully replied,
"Yes."
"Looks like you came to wash up."
"I was taking a walk, thinking it might help wake me up, Your Highness."
"Go ahead and wash. I won't look. I don't have a hobby of watching others bathe."
"...Neither do I, Your Highness."
"Oh."
He let out an inarticulate exclamation, then strode purposefully toward where their sleeping arrangements were.
His retreating back was so confident, unlike someone who had just been caught bathing, that she almost wondered if she had imagined the whole thing.
Cyrus, having returned to the campsite, perched on a rock. He saw Ariana standing idly and said,
"Am I making you uncomfortable by being here?"
"No. It's just that this water is too cold for washing."
"Ah, it would be cold for you. I'll have Rui find a container to heat some water."
"I appreciate your kindness, but please don't trouble yourself. I'll have plenty of opportunities to wash."
Ariana walked over to Cyrus, clasped her hands together, and stood respectfully.
"Your Highness. I will engrave the kindness and consideration you've shown me in my heart. Thanks to your hospitality, my strength has recovered, so I intend to depart now."
"It's going to rain."
"Pardon?"
"A downpour."
Ariana searched her memory.
Indeed, it was true that this season typically saw a lot of rain.
Getting a little wet wouldn't be a big deal, but a torrential downpour in the mountains was different.
'It keeps getting delayed.'
Although she had escaped the Bronte Ducal Estate, she wasn't entirely free from Rachel's clutches.
By now, Rachel would have received a report of Ariana's disappearance, and many people would be mobilized to find her.
Perhaps she had even hired assassins, ordering them to pretend to search for Ariana, then kill her as soon as she was found.
She wanted to get out of the Western Territory as quickly as possible.
"Rainy mountain paths are dangerous. It looks like it will rain for about two more days, so rest one more day and depart tomorrow. The rain should have stopped by the time you leave the cave."
"Yes, that would be best."
As Ariana sighed and responded, Rui was outside the cave, preparing to rendezvous with Noah and Isaac Peren.
Looking up at the clear, bright sky after last night's rain, Rui muttered,
"The weather is truly lovely."
+++
Isaac Peren frowned.
"Departing tomorrow? Why? Is the Duchess's condition that bad?"
"His Lordship says he needs a bit more time to win over the Duchess in order to use her."
"...Is His Highness still saying that?"
"Yes. At the Duchess's pace, it seems we'll only be able to leave here in three days."
"This is killing me. It's taking much longer than I expected. It'll be me, not His Highness, who gets chewed out by Duke Hern."
To the flustered Isaac Peren, Noah grinned and said,
"But if you come with the Duchess, Duke Hern won't get angry either."
"Well, that's true, but... How is the Duchess? The letter said she was badly injured."
"She's a bit better after applying your ointment, Isaac, but it looks like a scar will remain."
"Yes, I suppose so. That ointment was made for monsters with skin like steel, like His Highness and you guys. It wouldn't be good for a lady's skin to have a scar."
Isaac Peren tapped his thigh with his index finger, then said,
"We don't necessarily have to wait here, do we?"
"No."
"Then I'll wait in the village beyond that city. I need to make some medicine that won't leave a scar."
"Yes, His Highness will be pleased."
"That much?"
"Pardon?"
"You're saying he's so smitten that he'd be pleased just by me making medicine that prevents the Duchess from having a scar?"
"Yes. In fact..."
Rui was usually a woman of few words, but Cyrus's behavior with Ariana was so astonishing that she felt like confiding in anyone.
But she couldn't blurt out everything, so she carefully picked out the most impactful detail.
"His Lordship seemed bothered that the Duchess was sleeping on the hard cave floor, so he went outside, gathered a pile of leaves, and made a bed. He even spread his own cloak over it."
"Gasp!"
"Ugh!"
Isaac Peren and Noah made strange noises.
The two men clapped their hands over their mouths and paused, eyes wide. Finally, Noah said,
"Rui, your lies have gotten better since I last saw you."
"It's not a lie."
"Of course it is. No matter how smitten His Lordship is with a woman, there's no way he'd do something like that. Right, Isaac?"
"Yeah. Definitely. His Highness preparing a lady's bed? Hahaha. That was a really funny joke, Rui."
Isaac Peren patted Rui's shoulder, saying,
Rui considered protesting that it was true, but decided against it.
They would witness that astonishing sight soon enough anyway.
+++
This was Ariana's first time spending so long in the same space with another person.
Whether as Ariana Bronte or Ariana Albrecht, she had never before shared three meals a day, from morning till night, with anyone.
Even more so, her companion was Northern Duke Cyrus Karha. She was utterly exhausted from meticulously minding her every action, fearing he might find fault with her.
Unlike Ariana, who sat upright and observed him, he was annoyingly relaxed and at ease.
After finishing a luxurious breakfast made from fish and wild game caught by Rui, he leaned against the wall and polished his sword. Ariana tried to help Rui clean up the dishes, but Rui stopped her.
"The Duchess should not be doing such tasks."
"I am not a Duchess, and I am accustomed to such work."
"Then you must become unaccustomed to them."
Rui gently took Ariana's wrist as she reached for the dishes. Her violet eyes gazed seriously at Ariana.
"You must not use your noble hands for such work."
Her heart resonated with the sincerity in Rui's voice.
No one had ever cherished Ariana's hands so much before.
Even the Third Prince, who spoke kindly, had made her do all sorts of unpleasant tasks. Because of that, Ariana had lived believing that all those tasks were her responsibility.
She was grateful for Rui's consideration, but she didn't want to get used to it.
Once she reached the Eastern Territory, there was no telling how Eastern Duke Russell would try to use her.
She had no intention of doing maid's work as she did in the Western Territory, but she also didn't harbor hopes of living idly like a princess.
"My hands will do what I want them to do, Rui."
When Ariana insisted, Rui no longer stopped her.
The two of them headed to the lakeside to wash the dishes.
They sat side by side by the lake and cleaned the dishes. The water was cold, making her hands ache, but it was a familiar sensation to Ariana. There had been many times in the middle of winter when her hands had chapped and bled from washing dishes in cold water.
"Does the Northern Duke usually travel this often?"
Rui, having received the question, glanced back at Ariana.
'Is she curious about His Lordship?'
Until now, in Rui's eyes, the relationship between Cyrus and Ariana had seemed like Cyrus's one-sided courtship.
Ariana's cold demeanor was clearly pushing Cyrus away.
But seeing her ask about Cyrus, it seemed she wasn't entirely uninterested. After all, the beginning of affection often starts with curiosity about the other person.
Rui was usually tight-lipped, but she gladly answered the future Duchess's question.
"He does, occasionally."
"If the Northern Duke is away from the Northern Territory for a long time, don't people get anxious?"
"There is someone who handles matters while His Lordship is away."
"He must be someone His Highness trusts greatly."
"Yes."
"Is stealth... magic?"
Ariana didn't expect Rui to answer honestly.
It was generally uncommon for warriors to reveal their skills to others.
However, Rui answered without hesitation.
"It's a skill. It can be used through training, but not many know the training methods."
"Then His Highness using ice was..."
"Magic."
"Can Rui use it too?"
"A little."
Rui glanced back to check what Cyrus was doing, then scooted closer to Ariana. Then she held out her palm upwards.
Small ice particles formed on Rui's palm. Ariana watched with astonished eyes as they bloomed brightly like flowers, then vanished.
"It's beautiful."
"What His Lordship uses is the most beautiful, and the most powerful."
"I'm envious. Rui, even though you're a woman, you're strong and can even use magic."
"The previous Duchess was even stronger than me."
"Can I become strong too?"
Ariana's question made Rui's heart pound.
Indeed, Ariana must be interested in Cyrus. Seeing her desire to become strong after hearing that the previous Duchess was powerful.
While there was no absolute need to be strong to become the Duchess, Rui decided to create an opportunity for Cyrus.
"His Lordship is also an excellent instructor. If the Duchess were to learn from him, she would become strong as well."
Ariana, who had no idea what Rui was thinking, looked back at Cyrus. Beautiful as a painting, he continued to polish his sword, paying no attention to them.
Through a series of events, Ariana had come to realize that her body was pitifully weak, and that such a frail physique would constantly put her in danger.
Although she always thought ahead for her next move, having skills to protect herself would make things easier than they had been.
However, asking for instruction was another matter entirely.
People rarely shared their martial arts with others. Since one never knew when someone might stab them in the back, skills were only shared with trustworthy individuals.
'The Northern Duke wouldn't try to teach me.'
As if reading Ariana's thoughts, Rui said,
"I will speak to His Lordship about it."
