Conclusion of the Battle (3)

In the dead of night. After a fierce battle with the bandit group, everyone had fallen asleep once more.

With the exception of Agnes, who was currently on night watch for the Hero Party, everyone else had returned to their respective tents. Thus, no one would notice whatever Ethan and I did inside.

“Are you really going to take them off?”

“If you raise your voice, the Hero-nim’s party in the tent across might notice.”

“…Can’t we just press our bodies together with our clothes on, Lilith?”

“As I mentioned earlier, Healing Aura is most effective when applied directly to the skin, Ethan Young Master. And I am simply using a method to maximize the contact between the most fleshy parts of my body and your body, Ethan Young Master.”

It seemed Lilith was designed with a voluptuous physique optimized for sensual beauty from the start.

If I had a more neutral body like Agnes or Luke, it might be different, but to maximize contact between the two masses of fat on my chest, taking off clothes was ultimately the most efficient way.

“It’s not as if being naked outdoors is new to you, is it? Have you forgotten the six days we spent during the Natural Science Exploration Class, Ethan Young Master?”

“…Of course I haven’t forgotten. I couldn’t even if I tried.”

“So there’s no need to overthink it. This tent and sleeping bag will conceal all our secrets, so you needn’t worry.”

Ethan had already experienced six days of living in a house where light streamed through gaps in the branches, and where there were no proper walls to cover his body, forcing him to bathe in the river using rocks for shade.

In contrast, now he was not completely outdoors but inside a tent, and even within that, he only intended to remove his clothes inside the sleeping bag, so his psychological resistance would be much lower than before.

Since they had already been attacked by bandits once, there was no reason to move the tents again in the middle of the night, so Ethan’s and my tent remained about 50 meters away from the Hero’s tents.

“Ethan Young Master.”

“…….”

“The Humanities Exploration Class hasn’t even started yet, Ethan Young Master. To help others in Bridget Village with volunteer work and to protect the village, you need to recover quickly, Ethan Young Master.”

“…Yes, that’s true.”

Ethan, too, would rather be of some help to me than continue to be a burden during class, so the best way to do that was to accept the quick recovery method.

Seeing me, who had taken off my maid uniform and was left only in my underwear, persuade him, Ethan made up his mind and quietly began to take off his suit jacket, which felt empty on one arm.

-Sreureuk.

“…Are we really just going to lie close together?”

“I have more patience than you, Ethan Young Master, so you don’t need to worry.”

“…I don’t think that’s true, but alright.”

There were only about three or four hours left until they had to depart by carriage the next morning.

It wasn’t enough time to receive the full Healing Aura buff, but it was certainly better than doing nothing.

As Ethan removed his clothes one by one, I also shed my own garments, one layer at a time. I pressed my body as close as possible into Ethan’s sleeping bag, squeezing in, and slowly pulled the zipper up from bottom to top.

-Malkang.

“Ugh, huff.”

-Munjil, munjil.

“Huu, huff….”

We had managed to get into the same sleeping bag, pressing our bodies together, and successfully zipped it up.

Of course, both Ethan and I were naked now, so with such close contact, various awkward parts of our bodies couldn’t help but touch each other, and a very healthy, masculine part of Ethan’s lower body began to function as it should.

“No matter how much the Young Master asserts himself in this manner, I intend to sleep, regardless of your libido, Ethan Young Master.”

“…This can’t be helped, Lilith. When I’m this close to you, I can’t help but react, even with clothes on.”

Well, that would be true. This wasn’t a reaction that could be physically controlled.

In fact, it wasn’t just Ethan; I also felt a slight reaction from being this close.

…It was just that my reaction wasn’t as outwardly visible or palpable as a man’s, so Ethan hadn’t noticed.

Of course, staying close like this and sleeping in one sleeping bag was purely part of a healing act, so I absolutely had no intention of doing anything lewd in this state.

Making noise in the middle of the night would be embarrassing if the Gyeotmwa guys in their tent heard it, and it wouldn’t be good for Ethan’s recovery either.

‘Besides, the sleeping bag itself is too narrow to put anything in and move around.’

So, for now, this was as far as it went.

Until Ethan’s body fully recovered, I would just have to endure this much.

Thinking that, I wrapped my arms around Ethan’s back inside the sleeping bag, pressing my chest as close as possible against his upper body.

-Dugeun, dugeundugeun, dugeun….

So close that my heartbeat and Ethan’s heartbeat could barely be distinguished.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“You both look tired, Lady Rosewood and Blackwood Prince.”

“…….”

“…….”

The next morning, after spending a night pressed close together for Ethan’s treatment.

Ethan and I couldn’t answer Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot’s comment when he saw us looking sluggish in the morning.

The act of pressing our naked bodies together all night had been so tense that Ethan and I couldn’t get proper sleep and had to wake up.

“They’re a foolish couple, aren’t they? They probably fooled around all night and stayed up until morning again.”

“That’s a misunderstanding, Agnes-yang. It’s true that Ethan Young Master and I were close all night, but that was purely for Ethan Young Master’s treatment. There were no lewd intentions or personal motives involved whatsoever.”

It was a moment when a reflexive rebuttal popped out against Agnes’s baseless slander, but Ethan seemed more embarrassed by my statement than by Agnes’s words.

“Lilith, did we really need to say that first?”

“…….”

“Ahem, I, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Wow, until you’ve fully recovered, you, you shouldn’t overexert yourself, Blackwood Prince-nim….”

“…There was nothing for the Saintess-nim to worry about, so you don’t need to be concerned.”

Thomas, the character with the least resistance to such topics, avoided Ethan’s and my gaze, while Celista, the shyest among the women, blushed but still offered advice befitting a Priestess.

The other women either blushed slightly according to their personalities or simply listened indifferently, as if they weren’t interested. That is, except for Natalie, who looked completely clueless.

“Isn’t it just that Lady Lilith-nim stayed by Prince Ethan-nim’s side all night for his treatment? It’s a role model for a maid devoted to her master, so you don’t need to be embarrassed and can be even more confident, Lady Lilith-nim!”

“Ah, yes…. Th-thank you, Natalie-yang….”

That dense attribute of hers truly is amazing the more I see it. Natalie is already a third-year, so she must be around twenty-two years old.

Ethan and I finished our somewhat awkward breakfast, worrying in our hearts for Thomas, who would eventually end up with her.

“You two are leaving right away, too, right? Your destination is Bridget Village, same as us?”

“…That’s right.”

“Then how about we leave first, and you follow our carriages? Just in case we encounter bandits or something on the way, it’d be good to move together.”

“…We’ll do that. Thank you for your consideration, Hero.”

“No need to call it consideration. We received help last night too. Lilith even did all the dishes after breakfast.”

Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot naturally suggested traveling together, and Ethan accepted the offer without much objection.

Perhaps because they had fought for their lives against a common enemy overnight, there was almost none of the previous uneasy atmosphere between the two of them.

In fact, it was closer to the opposite.

“A-ahem. Since you two are going to take the Humanities Exploration Class anyway, how about we act together during this class as well? What do you think?”

“…Are you asking me?”

“Well, you’re the leader of your party, so who else would I ask, Hero?”

“…….”

Gyeotmwa looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected Ethan to make the first gesture of wanting to get closer.

And I, too, felt a little puzzled by Ethan’s sudden change in attitude.

‘Until now, he would outright dislike it whenever the Hero was mentioned.’

It seemed that Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot’s recent actions, including the positive impressions he made during their few encounters, had worked well.

And since Ethan needed to enter a recovery period for a while, it was also a practical and correct decision to temporarily join the Hero’s party.

“If you say so, I’d be happy. It means we’ll have a reliable force on our side.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“I look forward to working with you during this class, Blackwood Prince.”

“…You can call me Prince Ethan.”

“Alright, Prince Ethan. And Lady Lilith too.”

“…I didn’t give you permission to call Lilith by her first name, Hero.”

“…Alright, Prince Ethan and Lady Rosewood.”

Even in such an atmosphere, Ethan insisted on correcting the address for me before finally shaking hands with the Hero.

Honestly, Ethan likes me too much for his own good.