Chapter 35

"Yadvi is playing too!"

For a while now, Yadvi's excited voice has been coming from the women's bath next door.

"The next room sounds like fun."

William, while rinsing the suds from his head, spoke to me.

"Yeah."

A few hours after love had blossomed, they were bathing separated by a single wall, but the other party was still an 11-year-old girl. The scene of Yadvi playing in the hot spring came to mind, and Edward soaked in the bath with a gentle expression.

"Hey, Yadvi! That tickles!"

Just hearing Emma's voice made Edward's heart thump loudly. He had never experienced anything like this before. He had attended countless tea parties and social gatherings, and had danced closely with beautiful girls many times. Yet, his heart felt as if it was beating for the first time, awkwardly and wildly.

"Mom! Emma is so smooth!"

Although he wasn't intentionally eavesdropping, Yadvi's excited voice carried well. Moreover, when the topic was Emma, his attention naturally turned to it. Emma... smooth?

"Wait, let me touch it!"

His mother's slightly excited voice could also be heard.

"Hey, not there! No, that's not okay!"

Emma's voice, more urgent and flustered, rang out loudly. ...Where is "there"? Just thinking about it made his heart race wildly. His heartbeat quickened as if he had just run a long distance at full speed, and the sound of his heart echoed loudly in his body. Emma... where is "there"?

"Emma, what is this smoothness? Even without the hot spring, I want to touch it all the time... what is this smoothness?"

Emma... smooth. Want to touch it all the time. Emma... smooth. The information from his mother circled in his head. Georg and William, seemingly unaware, were talking happily about tonight's dinner.

"Roe! Can you lower your voice a bit? Ah! Not there... stop it! No, that's not okay!"

The voice, which didn't seem to belong to an 11-year-old girl, was incredibly... incredibly sensual, coming from just one wall away. So, where is "there"? What is his mother touching?

His mind was dominated by wicked thoughts. "Ah" and "hn" were just too cute. Where would you touch to make such sounds? Where... what am I thinking...

...No, forget it! Forget everything that just happened!

...

...

Emma is smooth, and I want to touch it all the time, and "ah" and "hn" and no... Just thinking about it made his heart race even more, and his face flushed as he recalled Emma's smile from a few hours ago.

In the end, the prince submerged himself in the bath (or sank) and was rescued by Georg and William after a few dozen seconds.

Still, the prince got out of the bath earlier than the women, and with his flushed face cooled and his heart rate much calmer, he made Georg and William promise not to mention his embarrassing behavior. Their lukewarm gazes stung, but they promised to keep quiet.

Yet, the moment he saw Emma's warm, smooth cheeks after the bath, the wicked thoughts he had suppressed came rushing back.

"Your Highness? Your face is red. Are you okay? Are you overheated?"

Emma looked at the prince with concern. Although the prince was a bit taller, her gaze was at a perfect angle, looking up at him with slightly moist, green eyes. His heart contracted sharply.

"I-I'm fine. No problem."

He could only manage two words and quickly averted his eyes. He, who could handle foreign dignitaries without a hint of nervousness, could only stammer when talking to Emma. It was frustrating, embarrassing, and pitiful.

"I'm glad you're okay."

Seeing Emma smile, he realized that despite the frustration, embarrassment, and pity, he really liked her. His heart floated and sank repeatedly in such a short time. He wanted to do anything for her smile.

Yet...

While giving evacuation instructions after the monster attack, the hunters of the Valerie region gathered. They volunteered to guide the way to the location of the local hazard barrier. Both his mother and the hunters opposed, but he insisted he would turn back if it became dangerous and started walking.

He would later regret his lack of crisis awareness.

The monster that emerged from the local hazard barrier didn't seem as strong as the illustrations in the book he had skimmed through the day before. It was just a puddle. William called it a slime, but it was just a puddle. When the three brothers saw the monster, they immediately went into combat stance, and he reluctantly followed, though he was confident in his sword skills. He had received daily training from strong knights in the capital, and while the hunters seemed well-trained, they appeared somewhat slender and less reliable compared to the capital's knights. Their equipment, which he thought was exaggerated for such a weak monster, included heavy armor and more shields and swords than necessary. He borrowed a sword from a hunter and hurried to the three brothers.

He intended to turn back when he saw Georg and William from a distance, but Emma wasn't there. Despite the hunters' repeated requests to turn back, he insisted on finding Emma.

When he got closer, he saw Emma being carried by Georg. His body tingled. What happened? What happened to Emma?

Without thinking, he moved.

"Over here!! Hurry!!"

He urged the hunters and ran towards Emma. William tried to stop him, but he shook him off and kept running.

"Emma!? What happened? Emma! Emma!?"

Emma was unconscious, and her right side was covered in blood. Was she... alive? Georg's arms and clothes were stained red, and the ground, which looked melted, was dotted with a significant amount of blood. Was all this blood Emma's...?

"Prince! The slime is coming! Get out of the way!"

Georg shouted as the puddle, which he had thought was just a puddle, charged at them with incredible speed.

Without thinking, he drew his sword. The daily practice with the knights had made his reflexes sharp, and he instinctively cut the puddle heading towards Georg. The monster split into two without much resistance.

"What are you doing!!"

William's shout and Georg's exasperated sigh were heard as Georg stepped in front of him to protect him. The puddle he had cut in half showed no signs of damage and split into two, each moving independently.

"What!? It doesn't die when cut?"

He realized his mistake. The sword that had cut the puddle was melting from the tip.

From then on, one of the halves started targeting him persistently. The hunters were doing their best to protect him, but the shields, which he had thought were too many, were melting and running out.

He had definitely made the situation worse by cutting the puddle. Despite William's warnings and the hunters' voices, why didn't he listen? If he had turned back then...

Regret washed over him, but the slime's attacks were fast, and the hunters' heavy armor melted easily. He had no time to apologize or reflect as he desperately tried to escape from just one slime.

Georg, carrying Emma, was dodging attacks from two slimes. The speed was so fast that it was hard to follow with the eye, and the hunters were amazed. Every time Georg moved, Emma's blood splattered.

He wanted to help Emma, but he couldn't do anything. He was at a disadvantage compared to Georg, who was handling two slimes. Once the shields were used up, the hunters and he would have no way to defend themselves.

It was a hopeless situation...

The two slimes simultaneously charged at Georg, shooting water jets. He had thought the smaller one couldn't shoot, but it could. The water jets had a pattern, firing five times before pausing.

With only body slams, he had a bit more breathing room. Looking at Georg, he saw him kneeling, having lost his balance. He needed to stand up quickly or he would become a target for the water jets.

"Georg!! Ah!!"

He called out to Georg just as a sudden gust of wind blew, forcing him to shield his face. The wind stopped abruptly, and he looked around in disbelief.

The gust was the arrival of a new monster.

A large, solid creature, different from the slimes, was raising its front paws, ready to attack the kneeling Georg. Georg's attention was on the two slimes, unaware of the new threat. The scene was enough to instill despair in the prince and the hunters.

It was a life-or-death situation.

"Georg! Behind you! Please, run!!"

The prince's anguished cry was probably too late.