Chapter 14
Chapter 14. The Next Day
Despite his determination to sleep and his body worn out from exhaustion, his mind was maddeningly alert.
Was it the warm tea from last night kicking in now?
He tossed and turned, counted sheep—something completely uncharacteristic—and even washed his face with warm water. But it only sharpened his senses, the water droplets trailing down his cheeks feeling too vivid.
“This is driving me crazy.”
While wiping his face with a towel, his eyes happened to catch the golden embroidery on the bathroom door.
Might as well take a bath.
“Huh? A bath…”
Then he suddenly thought—
‘Do I have to be n*ked for that?’
Should I…? No. No way. What am I even thinking?
Nox rubbed his face with the damp towel, denying the idea.
It’s starting to look like he actually wants to see that woman again.
‘Still….’
The desire to soak in warm water was genuine. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he figured he might as well go into the bath. Nox began to unbutton his pajamas.
Looking down, he saw the small silhouette of a wolf on the right side of his chest—something he’d had since birth. A creature that spent its whole life with one mate.
He scratched the wolf tattoo with a fingernail without thinking.
He didn’t mean to remove it. He just couldn’t help touching it as the memory came back.
Whether it was fondness, curiosity, or whatever, all he wanted was to see her again.
He wanted to look Arianne in the eye again and untangle the mess inside him.
Nox instinctively reached for his pants but paused. It seemed better to take them off in the bathroom. It would take some time for the water to heat up anyway.
He had just started moving—taking a step or two—when suddenly his body stiffened.
And began to turn gold.
“What?!”
Without realizing it, a foolish sound escaped.
It could have been a situation where he would have been trembling in shock, but Nox stood still, calmly watching the changes in his body without yelling or reacting in fear.
‘Could this be…’
Quickly raising his head, in the blink of an eye, everything had changed 180 degrees.
The Duke’s luxurious bedroom had completely disappeared. In its place, a disoriented, eerie, and untidy semicircular room appeared.
Just like before, his body wouldn’t move, and he couldn’t speak, but Nox accepted the sudden change surprisingly calmly.
“Nox!”
In his view, Ariane, dressed in fluttering pajamas, appeared.
As Ariane stretched out her arms and rushed toward him unsteadily, Nox instinctively tried to move closer.
‘What if she falls? She should be careful.’
Thankfully, Ariane reached him without any problems and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her white arms around his waist.
As her head and chest made contact with his, an irreplaceable warmth and breath were strongly conveyed. The strange feeling that made his chest tighten slowly dissipated the negative emotions that had been building up.
“I’m sorry, sob. I’m sorry. Nox.”
Her voice cracked and sounded dry as she spoke. Apparently, Ariane hadn’t been at ease during this time either.
‘It’s okay.’
It was fine now.
She had called out to him and even apologized, so the fact that he hadn’t been able to sleep for two days didn’t matter anymore.
He wished he could move his body and pat her head, but he resented the fact that his body couldn’t do anything.
“Did you wait a long time? I’ve been in so much pain that I couldn’t move at all.”
Ariane lifted her head and looked up at Nox. Now, with his eyes able to move, Nox could see Ariane’s face, which was slightly flushed.
Her pretty eyes were swollen, as if she’d been crying not long ago. The red veins in her white sclera spread out like a spider’s web.
Seeing this pitiful sight, Nox ground his teeth.
What kind of bastard dared to hurt you? How should I deal with him?
“I sent you away and slept all day. My stomach… and the inner side of my legs hurt so much that I couldn’t move. My mana was completely drained, and I didn’t have any recovery potions left. I’ve only just replenished my mana and called you. You’re not mad at me for not calling you before, right?”
A sudden pang of guilt struck Nox. He wanted to deny it, but no words came out.
Was this my fault?
Nox’s mind slowly returned to that day. Even though he only inserted halfway, he had forced his p*nis into a narrow, unrelaxed hole and kept moving. It was no surprise that Ariane, who had a small frame and wasn’t trained, had gotten injured because of it.
Ariane gently placed her hand on Nox’s cheek. The warm touch of her palm wiped away his distractions. He just wanted to stay like this forever.
“My goodness, Nox, why does your face look like this? You look like an Ent (tree spirit). Why is your jaw so rough? A beard? Do homunculi even grow beards?”
It wasn’t bad for Nox to hear all the words he hadn’t spoken for a month in one go.
‘But what’s an Ent and what’s a homunculus?’
He didn’t know what they were, but he had compared his body to a golem before, so these terms must have been strange too.
‘I should’ve shaved and washed earlier if I knew this would happen.’
At least he was grateful that he didn’t smell.
He had hoped that he could still maintain some last shred of pride as a human, but Ariane furrowed her brow and brought her nose closer. What was she doing now?
“Sniff sniff! Is the magic circle hot? Nox, your body smells like sweat.”
‘Ugh!’
The mention of sweat made Nox’s face heat up. If he could move, he would have hidden in a rat hole rather than offer an explanation.
Nox, who had rarely felt embarrassed in his life, was thankful his body was still frozen.
“It’s okay. I like your sweat smell.”
‘Thanks.’
