“Will you just wipe my throat?”
When Kaiden asked as if she was rushing, Evelina finally came to her senses and smiled. Her jaw almost hurt because she faked laughter all day.
“I don’t have enough soap.”
At her words, he squeezed more of the soap he was holding into her hand. Evelina felt awkward as his large body straddled her bathroom chaise lounge. She sat down next to him and lowered her hand from his neck to his shoulder.
The sore lump in his thick neck groaned as he swallowed his dry saliva. His neck, which was covered with foam, looked hard enough to be seen even if it was covered with foam.
Evelina wiped his chest with her hand. She thought his breathing sounded deafening, but he was leaning toward her. Evelina ignored it and stroked his abs.
“Well…”
She scratched his navel with her finger. Then he pressed threateningly against her lower body. She jumped out of her seat in surprise at the action. It reminded her of the size of her life.
“I, I’ll wash your back.”
“…Yes.”
She calmed down a bit as she went behind his back. When he looked at her and leaned in, even breathing was threatening, but if he gave his back completely, she felt like she would live. But then, as she applied three bath products to his back, the thought vanished.
There was no way she wouldn’t be in danger if a predator gave her back. As she looked at his back, she began to feel that menacing feeling she had seen the last time.
“Why do you have so many scars on your back?”
“My enemies are not only in front, Lina.”
It was as if he was saying that she was his enemy behind him now.
She spoke to him, pretending not to know.
“Why are you hurt here?”
Evelina wiped the wound on his back with her hand and applied soap. Then he said, less sensitive than before.
“I was shot by a friendly fire while I was advancing.”
“Oh, my God.”
“There are traitors everywhere.”
At his words, Evelina spoke sadly as if she really didn’t know. She felt that he would react to her touch but not force it first.
If what he really wants is to play with her heart in the first place. Even if they took me by force, it wouldn’t be a big entertainment. It might be that he liked to destroy towers built with great effort. So a psychopath.
Evelina patted him on the back and soon began to wipe her arm on his shoulder. As she wiped his arms and reached the back of his hand, he grabbed her hand tightly.
“You have to let it go so that I can finish cleaning.”
“I want to hold onto it a little bit.”
When he pulled her arm, Evelina was hugging him from behind. Her chest was getting damp with the foam and water on his back. He dug in between his sliding fingers and held them tightly, and she felt strange that he was covering his hands in the midst of the danger.
It was like he was making her feel like she can’t run away.
So she shook his hand and hugged him. Then he remained still, pressing her arm with his hand. Evelina tried to stay still, trying to position her sliding hand around his chest. The large heart rate transmitted through the palm of the hand was like a ferocious beast holding back its anger.
“Kaiden made me dirty, too.”
She said so in his ear and fell off. Then he looked back at her. When Evelina saw his ears red, she thought that he could control them differently from her.
“It’s dirty, so I’ll have to wash it.”
“What?”
Evelina saw him lathering her cheeks. He put a little bubble on her nose and smiled unconsciously. It felt so strange that he was playing tricks like children.
“Oh, my God.”
She smiled happily at his behavior and took a foam off his neck and applied it equally to his nose. She was gleefully smiling at his well-polished red eyes.
She smiled more beautifully to hide the alertness she felt every time he exhaled. He said, staring blankly at her.
“How long do I have to wait to wash Lina?”
“Next… week?”
She tried to stretch her tongue as far as she could. Next week, life was now two weeks away. She thought it would be more comfortable.
In addition, contrary to the vague idea that she would really have a relationship with him, she thought she shouldn’t have to look at his body. Then, let alone three weeks, it was as if she might be alive the next day.
“Can I really wash Rina next week?”
“…Yes.”
“Then what should I do to move it forward?”
When he asked in a friendly voice, Evelina replied unconsciously.
“You can do it like now.”
Then he laughed. She almost let her guard down, perhaps because of his first look. He was really smiling with a pure expression. Like someone who really doesn’t have any conspiracy against her, and didn’t hide any insidious feelings.
When she saw him, she was more wary. He said with a more colorful smile than before.
“I really like Kaiden right now. Thank you.”
“So am I. Lina became my wife…”
He continued, swallowing his dry spit.
“I consider it the greatest luck in my life.”
Seeing him press harder on her lower body, she laughed inwardly, thinking it was a lie, a response to the body.
“Now wash up and go to the bath. I’m going out now.”
“I want to go in with you.”
“I am wearing clothes.”
When Evelina laughed as if she was in trouble, he said.
“You don’t like coming in dressed?”
“Yes, of course.”
She brushed off the foam with him and headed for a large bath. She was more nervous because he seemed strangely excited.
“Be careful because it’s slippery.”
“Ah, over there are the stairs… .”
She was taken aback when he casually descended the height of her thighs. He went down and she stretched out her arms to Evelina. She thought he was about to give her a hug, so she took one look at the stairs in the distance and hugged him.
He hugged her and gave her a bath. The temperature of the bath was very warm. However, she was under the illusion that his body temperature seemed hotter than water. She tried to come down slowly, but she couldn’t step on the ground because he didn’t let her go.
“Kaiden?”
“Please stay like this for a while.”
She was like that, hugging him. Then he let her down with a sigh.
“Oh, my!”
The towel hanging from his waist came undone while she was coming down.
“Oh, my God.”
She trembled with surprise at the touch of his skin on her thigh. He grabbed the towel floating on the water and turned around and tied it back. She felt the dull touch so clear. Even over the negligee.
“Why don’t you take off your clothes?”
“What?”
“I’ll get you a towel.”
“Oh, no…”
She refused and sat down first. Then he came near her and sat down. He checked his condition by seeing Evelina not looking at her.
Every time the water fluctuated, the thin negligee she wore also fluctuated. He thought she had better change. She didn’t seem to know, but the inside was clearly reflected when the negligee got wet.
He found it difficult to keep an eye on her when he saw her chest lifted because of the buoyancy.
“Kaiden.”
“Yes.”
“I think the bath is really spacious and nice.”
She spoke casually, and he tried to answer casually.
“I see.”
He stared blankly at her and then at the ceiling. The ceiling was made of glass, so they could see the sky.
“Is the empress’ job hard?”
Kaiden suddenly said so as if he remembered what Evelina said. Then she answered with a breath of laughter.
“It’s not hard, but it’s fascinating. I didn’t know that I would be doing the work of the empress.”
She looked at him, pretending to speak like a thoughtless infant. Then he saw her, too.
“Why did you think so?”
“Because I’m the Queen.”
He opened his mouth unconsciously when Evelina smiled brightly again.
“I don’t want Lina to be Queen.”
As soon as he touched her, she looked him in the eye and said, wondering if he had forgotten that he shouldn’t express dislike.
“Being queen is enough for me. I’m with Kaiden.”
He bowed and sighed at her words. Evelina leaned her head over his shoulder, and her bright platinum hair clung to his shoulder like a badge.
“When you have a child, please be nice to me, Kaiden.”
He stared at her without answering. Evelina tried to talk about the Empress again. His eyes felt like they were kissing her for some reason.
“And whoever comes in as empress, I hope they don’t hate my child too much.”
“The child Lina will give birth to will inherit the throne.”
“I see.”
“And the woman who gave birth to the crown prince should be the empress.”
She thought he spoke with his mind. It was as if the child of the woman who would become the empress would inherit the throne, and that she would be abandoned by him before the child was born.
But she really didn’t care about them. Now that her life is really less than three weeks away.
“Your Majesty.”
He frowned at her when he was called.
“If I have many children, will you welcome me as empress?”
When she asked so, she knew how he would respond.
“I’ll make you an empress even if you don’t give birth.”
“Oh, my God.”
She hugged his neck and climbed onto his thigh, acting like a stupid young girl whose greed was not there at the beginning of the marriage. She looked down at him, trying to ignore the dangerous touch that stabbed her in the thigh.
“Don’t kiss me.”
He spoke as a warning, and she put her lips to his, ignoring the warning. To pretend that she really is the one who completely fell for him.
This girl herself is the cause of all her suffering. He is is speaking quite clearly and she is misunderstanding every damn thing he says.
She really kind of is – I understand that Lina would be suspicious of Kaiden, but so far he’s acted very consistently both in front of her and when she’s not there as if she’s important. I have to admit – I’m not sure I would have believed him yet either given the family history – and her conviction that she’s going to be poisoned or killed for his revenge – but she should be softening towards him. It’s a little confusing because I don’t know how long they’ve been married – I would still be very wary if it was a month or two, but 6 months ….. yeah.
Poor Lina has really managed to convince herself that Kaiden is playing a long game and that he’s only treating her well to twist the knife in her back later but given how these stories work I’m quite sure that’s not what’s going on. Kaiden hates her family with a fiery burning passion, sure – but Lina he adores, he just has no idea how to tell her that, especially since apparently the only women he’s ever been around are Elsius and the Dowager Empress, neither of whom are exactly motivated to share feelings or be honest about anything, much less show actual affection and emotion in a healthy way.
TL;DR – Lina is super suspicious of every interaction with every person because she thinks she’s going to be assassinated, and Kaiden has no idea how to communicate or express emotion because of his incredibly effed up childhood. Hooray. Let there be communication!