Chapter 33
***
Euris closed her eyes tightly, resenting the fact that she had to choose between the two. The night was deeper, but the summer air was still warm. However, the sea breeze had picked up a bit.
It was time to go to sleep.
"Let's sleep first tonight."
He said softly, and they moved from the terrace back into the bedroom, but she couldn't fall asleep right away.
"I need some time to think about this....... You go to bed first, honey."
With that, Chaint left and went into the bathroom. For now, she wanted to be alone, her judgment clouded by all the shocking stories she had heard in one sitting.
In the bathtub, flower petals floated on top of the water that the maid had already filled. She poured in the bath salts. A rich lather rose.
Without hesitation, Euris undressed and stepped in. It was warm, and as her body grew tired, her mind cleared in inverse proportion.
It was a simple proposition.
Keep Kylan out of the Lepallon Empire.
In other words, if she could convince Kylan, she could stop the war. But the process of persuasion would not be easy. The last time she saw him, he had already made up his mind.
But if she could convince him to stop a war that had cost so many lives, she had to do it.
On paper, it made sense.
'But Chaint....... Alas, how could I leave him behind.'
Euris wiped her forehead at the complexity of the situation. With a click, the sound of water echoed in the silence.
She felt a pang of resentment.
‘Why can't I be completely happy? Why is it so hard to love someone so completely?’
Not wanting to wake Chaint, who was sleeping outside, she covered her mouth and sobbed silently.
‘Me, him, and Kylan. Is there any way we can all be happy?’
Just then, the bathroom door opened. The trespasser's eyes met those of Euris, who was sitting in the tub. He was clad only in a robe, staring down at his wife.
Euris’ eyes were bloodshot. Her nose, her cheeks, her entire body was red with tears.
She hated the sight of her crying face more than the sight of her body without a single thread of clothing. She didn't want to show her weakness and distress. If she was struggling, she knew her husband would struggle even more.
So Euris instinctively covered her face with both hands.
"What's wrong, Chaint?"
Her voice was drowned in tears. Chaint exhaled shakily at the sound of his wife's voice.
Blinded by the covering on her face, Euris focused on the sound. There was a thud, the sound of cloth falling to the floor, followed by the gurgle of water.
She lowered her hand to see what was in front of her, and it was him, naked without his robe, stepping into the tub.
"Honey?"
Euris was genuinely flustered. She could feel the heat rising in her face, not from tears, but from shame and embarrassment.
The only saving grace was that the bubbles of the bath salts hid what was happening under the water.
"Take a bath with me, Euris."
He said the words without a trace of shame. Euris stared at him at the close distance, forgetting that she had been crying.
They had never bathed together. Not even once.
"Don't cry."
As he said it, he cupped her cheek with a waterlogged hand.
Someone comforts her.
Euris felt a surge of sorrow at the touch and desperately tried to control her emotions. Then he brushed a strand of wet hair from her forehead.
He acted as if he didn't realize that he was now in the same bathtub with his wife, her scantily clad body.
The room was so quiet that her breathing sounded louder, and the sound of the water lapping at her every move seemed larger.
Chaint’s other hand gently gripped Euris’s ankle under the water, his fingers brushing lightly against her calf, coming up to her knee. The sensation was so strange that it made her body tense up.
Chaint smiled weakly. His blue eyes were calm as he looked at her. His light brown hair was damp and slightly darker in color.
The hand that had been stroking the inside of her knee tried to move higher, but Euris stopped it without realizing it, and Chaint stopped touching her without protest.
But he looked hurt, and she felt guilty.
"Chaint, I'm......"
"Don't push me away."
The tub was big enough for the two of them, but he sat next to her anyway, closer, until their thighs were touching under the water. She could feel every inch of his hard muscle against her thin flesh.
"Not because I don't like you......."
"Euris, don't push me away."
He whispered, his tone a little different than usual. It sounded lower and sadder, and she craned her neck involuntarily at the sensation of his breath against her ear.
Looking down at Euris, Chaint slowly bent his upper body toward her.
His strong arms wrapped around her. Their flesh was slippery with loose bath salts. Euris pressed her lips to his, trapped in his arms in the corner of the large tub.
The bathroom was large and echoey, so the friction of their lips against each other sounded as loud as a loudspeaker.
The heat of the tub took his breath away and made his head spin.
When he pulled his lips away after a few moments of kissing, a long line of saliva formed. Dazed, Euris looked up at him through squinted eyes. Her vision was blurred by water vapor.
"Come with me to Belontia."
It sounded as if it were echoing in her head. Chaint didn't give her time to respond after the slow spit of words.
Again, their lips met, somewhat roughly. The gasping breaths exchanged through the gap stole the woman's attention.
Her senses seemed to come alive with every inch of flesh he touched.
The man's lips gradually descended to her neck. Euris closed her eyes again. She was too overwhelmed by this man who was so different from his usual self to say anything.
A low, raspy voice mingled with the sound of lips against flesh.
"I don't want to be separated from you."
She exhaled slowly. Her hands gripped the tub's railing, so strong she didn't realize they were white.
"So come with me, and consider it out of our hands."
She couldn't answer; she wouldn't want to. That's why he wouldn't give her the chance to speak. She closed her eyes slowly.
By the time the bubbles had dissipated and the water was nearly cold, Euris was almost out of it.
Chaint scooped her up in his arms, holding her close, and left the tub. He wrapped a towel around her in case she caught a cold.
She watched him with a dazed expression, and then fell asleep in his arms. He sat up in bed, leaned over her, and watched her sleep.
His gaze fell first on her long lashes, still damp. Her slightly parted lips breathed out a low breath. It was a damned beautiful face.
"Don't leave me....... Please."
The mass of his head leaning helplessly against her chest felt unreal. Euris's limp form looked as if she had given up her will.
His heart sank at the sight of his wife like that. It was the same face she had shown him in his last life.
He gently placed his hand on his wife's cheek. The faint warmth calmed him a little.
"I dare not say I know how you feel, but......."
His murmur faded into silence. Through the servants, he had heard that Euris had been going out to simple social gatherings like tea parties lately.
His wife, who has a hard time meeting people, attended social gatherings, perhaps to gather one more handful of information to stop the war.
When it came to the intense bullying she faced as a child, he knew all too well, so he knew how much she was struggling and how genuine she was.
That's why...... was not an easy burden to bear.
"Can you just think of me one more time......."
Even though he knew it was greedy, he said it. Outside, the sun had already risen. The brightening pink sky was glowing.
It was time to get back to work.
***
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Write a comment
Eve (Wednesday, 24 January 2024 20:03)
Chaint is right tho, they are some things you just can't control and are completly out of your hands ☹️