Chapter 550 – #114_Love And War (3)
#550
1.
-Gulp, gulp, gulp.
“Kuhaaa…!”
Rürie, having chugged down the cold, sterilized milk from the bottle, shuddered and expressed her joy. She drank it with such relish that even Siwoo, who was drinking milk beside her, seemed to feel that his milk tasted twice as good.
“So refreshing! Mwahahaha!”
Rürie, laughing heartily as she put down the bottle, looked full of energy, with no trace of the dizziness she had felt earlier, despite wearing a large gown over her bikini.
Well, she had spent an hour going back and forth between a bathtub full of cold water and a steamy sauna, so it was unlikely that there was anything wrong with her body. Besides, her spirit form wasn’t that fragile to begin with.
Still, just in case, Siwoo gently wiped the milk from the corner of her mouth with a towel and asked, “Are you feeling okay now?”
“Do you think I would collapse from a mere sauna! I just stumbled a little while ago!”
It was clear that there was no way she could have stumbled in that position and situation, but she seemed embarrassed, so he let it slide.
“It’s certainly more enjoyable when we’re together. How was it for you?”
Rürie’s skin was definitely smoother, as if the sauna had done her good. She looked somewhat cute, and he barely managed to stop himself from patting her head.
“I enjoyed it too. It’s nice and relaxing.”
“Going back and forth between the sauna and the cold bath is my secret to enjoying the sauna from A to Z. When your body is full of heat and sticky with sweat! The incomparably refreshing plunge! Isn’t this paradise on earth?”
“When I return to my homeland, I will spread the word to the people.”
Or, would it be okay to pat her head?
He cautiously reached out and placed his hand on the top of Rürie’s head.
Why is it that when you see a cute cat, you just want to pet it? It was a similar kind of impulse.
“Thanks to you, I’m having a lot of good experiences.”
He said this as he placed his hand on her pretty, dark blue hair. Rürie, who was in a good mood, didn’t seem like she would get angry over something like this, and if she did, honestly, it would be kind of fun to watch.
“…Hmm?”
Rürie only slightly raised her eyes to look at the hand on her head. Her large, innocent eyes blinked, as if she didn’t immediately realize what was happening.
-Rustle, rustle.
Since he had already started, he gently stroked her hair from side to side. He had noticed it before, but Rürie’s hair was incredibly soft. When it was flowing freely, it felt almost like a piece of silk.
“Uh… he… mo….”
Rürie’s mouth opened and closed, and at the same time, her hands, which were awkwardly extended to the sides like a penguin’s, twitched. Now she would start to throw a fit…
‘How dare you touch my sacred body without permission! You are impudent!’
‘I couldn’t help but move my hand when I saw Your Majesty’s beautiful hair! Please kill me!’
‘Is that so! Very well! I shall allow you to appreciate my hair once a day! Be amazed by my great generosity!’
That was the short skit that should have played out…
“……”
Rürie was so quiet that Siwoo was taken aback. She didn’t even swat his hand away or tell him to stop.
Had he been too forward?
Startled by her strange reaction, he quietly lowered his hand. It was as if she had been holding her breath, and only then did Rürie let out a strange sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a gasp.
He had been a bit over the top, but he hadn’t expected Rürie’s reaction to be so unexpected.
“……”
Still silent, Rürie raised her hand to her head like a squirrel washing its face and bit her lip tightly. It was quite a feat to be able to twitch the corners of her mouth while biting her lip so hard.
“Doon’t… touch… my… hair… like… that.”
She had bitten down so hard that it was difficult to understand what she was saying, but if he had to guess, it was something like, ‘Don’t touch my hair so carelessly.’
“I’m really sorry!”
He apologized repeatedly, trying to soothe her feelings, as he hadn’t realized she would dislike it so much.
2.
A spirit form doesn’t really get hungry, but there is such a thing as mental hunger in the world. After sweating it out, one’s mouth tends to feel a bit empty.
After changing from her swimsuit into pajamas and having a light late-night snack in the dining hall, the clock was already pointing to 4 a.m.
In fact, it wasn’t easy to gauge the passage of time in a submarine. Except for Rürie’s bedroom, there were no windows, and all that could be seen through those windows was the dark sea.
However, both Siwoo and Rürie were witches with regular sleep habits, so it was time for them to go to bed, even if it was just for three or four hours.
“I’ve finished the dishes, so I’ll head back.”
Siwoo bowed his head and said goodbye as if nothing had happened. Watching him, Rürie felt a sense of resentment.
It was about the head patting incident after the sauna.
She didn’t want to admit it, but the moment his thick hand gently stroked her hair, Rürie felt a dizzying sensation. To be more precise, she had almost fallen for his charm and was about to give in to any request with a foolish smile.
She hadn’t been able to protest right away because she had been flustered, but as she ate her late-night snack in a daze, she felt like shouting, ‘That’s a foul! A foul!’
To explain in more detail, it was because Siwoo had suddenly initiated physical contact.
The two of them were currently engaged in a power struggle. He dared to want Rürie to kneel and submit first, while Rürie was trying to tame the wild colt that was Shin Siwoo.
But suddenly patting her head was a complete foul. It was too straightforward to be placed within the category of ‘power struggle,’ and it violated the unspoken rule of ‘not showing any signs of trying to seduce the other party.’
If physical contact was as openly acceptable as he had made it, she was confident that she could have conquered Siwoo even faster.
“Minister of Internal Affairs.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
If he was going to play it that way, she had no choice but to respond with a spicier move, raising the stakes. It was Rürie Nukelavi’s creed to return two blows for every one she received.
“Sleep in my bed tonight.”
“Pardon?”
“I mean, sleep next to me.”
“…Pardon?”
A request for cohabitation, a truly extreme measure.
When a man and a woman cohabitate, the probability of having sex increases greatly. She knew that cohabitation itself implied sexual relations.
Right now, Shin Siwoo would be throwing a celebratory party in his head while outwardly suppressing his cheers.
“The bed is wide anyway, isn’t it? Don’t sleep on that hard bed every day, rest comfortably.”
However, this offer, which at first glance sounded like a vulgar flirtation, contained a subtle trap. It was that cohabitation did not necessarily mean sex.
He would assume that Rürie had surrendered first and would pounce on her like a horny monkey. And that’s when she would say this!
‘I took pity on you, sleeping on a hard bed, and even offered you a corner of my bedchamber! But you, blinded by lust, try to violate my sacred body! You beast!’
Shin Siwoo, caught in the trap, would be thoroughly exposed, and the initiative would completely pass to Rürie. That way, she could very confidently show compassion even to a lust-crazed subordinate and completely dominate him.
Furthermore, by moving the location to the bedroom, she could also block the terrifying secret weapon in his room, completely overcoming the humiliation of the previous night. She was confident that this was a strategy that would make even Zhuge Liang weep.
“Hmm… very well.”
You fool.
He had fallen for it.
However, unlike Rürie’s expectations, Siwoo’s willingness to accept the offer was not due to any sexual intentions.
He had assumed that Rürie had completely lost interest in that area. Perhaps it was because he had just sweated it out, but he was drawn to the comfortable bed, and most of all, he thought that Rürie, who had been sleeping alone for a very long time, might be feeling lonely.
In their different dreams, Rürie hid a triumphant smile.
3.
Rürie’s bed was very large. Just in terms of width, it was about 30 square meters.
The deep-sea view from this bed was so spectacular that she had spent whole days rolling around on the bed, watching the sea.
However, as soon as she began her operation, Rürie realized that the scenery, which she never tired of seeing, was not catching her eye at all.
“Hoo… hoo… it’s nothing. I need to calm down…”
Rürie was left alone on the bed while Siwoo went to tidy up his room for a while.
She didn’t know why she was like this. Since she had decided to show the dignity of a generous queen who would even accept childish behavior, it was effective to show a time difference until she satisfied his desires. Therefore, she intended to firmly refuse any requests today and not do anything for him.
However, no matter how much she muttered to herself, her body trembled with tension. She was even more nervous than she had been on her chaotic wedding night.
“I took pity on you, sleeping on a hard bed, and even offered you a corner of my bedchamber. But you, blinded by lust, try to violate my sacred body. You impudent fool. You beast.”
She practiced her lines in advance, but her pounding heart showed no signs of calming down. When she heard him coming in, Rürie flinched.
She raised her head, thinking, ‘Surely he didn’t bring that terrifying tool with him?’ but thankfully, he hadn’t.
Shin Siwoo, who looked like a model in a gown that was too big for Rürie and dragged on the floor, walked in with heavy steps. Each time, Rürie’s breathing became more rapid.
“Oof.”
Siwoo took off his slippers and lay down on the bed. Even though they were lying on the same bed, there was a considerable distance between them, as the bed was over 3 meters wide.
“Thank you for giving me a good experience.”
“O-oh, yes.”
“I always feel this way, but this bedroom is really amazing.”
“O-oh, yes…”
“Good night.”
“O-oh, yes…”
Only then did Rürie regret it.
She realized that her strategy had failed.
She hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
Just lying 3 meters away was making her head spin and her reason was being paralyzed. She had felt dizzy when she saw his bare body, but this was even worse.
She was in a state of mental and physical weakness where she felt like she wouldn’t be able to resist no matter what he did.
When she heard a rustling sound, Rürie pulled the blanket up to her chin and squeezed her eyes shut. Was he going to kiss her now? Or was he going to approach her with a lewd smile, saying something like, ‘Hehe, you pretend not to be, but you’re quite the pervert’?
Was she going to have to endure that violent act again?
Was she going to be pinned down by his muscular body and cry like a little girl?
An uneasy feeling that wasn’t entirely unpleasant began to stir in her chest.
“Huh…?”
Rürie opened her eyes wide, which were brimming with tears from squeezing them shut too tightly. Nothing had happened, even after a minute or ten minutes. She sat up in bed and looked to her side.
While she was busy digging her own grave, Shin Siwoo, the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Nukelavi Kingdom, was snoring peacefully, lost in his dreams.
“What is this…”
And so, a peaceful night flowed like a sailboat on a calm lake of bewilderment.
