Chapter 89

Chapter 89. Welcome Banquet for the Envoys

‘Like a green monster.’

The library that she returned to after a week was almost like a ruin with overgrown weeds. It was recently weeded, but it was already over her knees.

Henelone would rather fill the library garden with rocks. Then, wouldn’t it be possible to escape this endless shackle of labor?

“I guess it would be better to hire people……?”

Heinz’s expression next to her was not so good either. Henelone calculated the remaining budget of the library, but it was not enough to hire people. It seemed like she would have to solve it with her own money. However, Heinz shook his head with a short sigh with a troubled face.

“It’s okay. I can do it.”

Henelone followed Heinz, who was walking briskly through the overgrown weeds, and said urgently.

“I’ll help you too!”

But what came back was Heinz’s trembling eyes. Henelone, whose feet were numb, shrank her head between her shoulders and smiled awkwardly. He knew that she wouldn’t be of much help, and Henelone knew that too.

“…Then… I’ll clean the library? Ahaha.”

“Let’s do that.”

It was a very quick and decisive answer.

***

Even if they called it a general cleaning, there wasn’t much to do since it had already been cleaned thoroughly before the summer vacation started. All that was needed was to open the windows to ventilate, sweep the floor, and dust off a little.

‘Should I clean the glass of the window…?’

It was a bit embarrassing to sit alone while Heinz was busy weeding outside. Henelone thought it would be better to clean the window to pass the time. So she grabbed a dry rag and headed toward the window.

‘I’d like to replace all the glass in the window with new ones.’

The glass windows, which had traces of the years, would not be clean no matter how much she cleaned them. However, the glass was too expensive to pay for with her own money.

In the end, all Henelone could do was blow on the glass and wipe it clean. However, even that stopped short at the sight of the garden outside the window.

The scorching summer sunlight was so intense that sweat would form on the nape of her neck just by standing still. How much worse must it have been for Heinz, who was working under that scorching sun?

The sweat dripped down from his temples, dripped down his angular chin, and then fell.

Heinz wiped his chin with the back of his hand a few times as if it was annoying. Yet the sweat that had already formed kept flowing down his chin and the nape of his neck. In the end, Heinz, who was swinging the mower with both hands, lifted the hem of his shirt with one hand and wiped his w*t neck and chin with the other hand.

Henelone’s gaze turned to the man’s abdomen, which was clearly visible under the shirt.

It must have been quite hot, because the inside of the shirt was soaked with sweat. His six-packed, rugged abs shone shiny and glossy. 

Henelone swallowed the saliva that had gathered in her mouth and, without taking her eyes off Heinz, rubbed the glass window with her hands halfheartedly.

‘What a sight.’

Heinz would often make Henelone realize new facts she had not known. For example, that her tastes were a bit rough, or that she might actually like rugged men quite a bit.

As she had felt in the Brenicke estate, Henelone really enjoyed looking at Heinz’s well-refined body.

Whether he knew it or not, Heinz, who was wiping the sweat off his damp shirt hem, suddenly took off his shirt.

Tuk. The dry rag in her hand fell to the floor, but she didn’t even think about picking it up.

‘It was a great view.’

She doesn’t think the majestic Lironte Valley called the Wrath of the Gods is any hotter than him. Heinz bent down to pick up the mower that had fallen to the floor, and his thick shoulder blades rose and wriggled.

Henelone, who moved her eyes all the way down from the torso to the middle of his slim, narrow waist, smacked her lips without realizing it.

Henelone, who had finished preparing to fully appreciate his body, leaned her torso over the old window frame. She suddenly met Heinz’s eyes, who was looking at her with a trembling expression.

Henelone bent her hunched back even deeper and picked up the dry rag that had fallen on the ground. She thought it was quite natural.

“Isn’t it too obvious?”

It didn’t seem very natural. Heinz, who had already strode to the window, grinned while resting his chin on the frame above the window.

Henelone, who unconsciously took in the raised arm, smiled awkwardly and slowly straightened her bent back. The man was so big that the window, which she had thought was quite wide, felt completely full.

The midday heat fell on the man’s body, which had its back to the hot sunlight. It felt like a fireball was right in front of her.

Henelone rubbed the back of her neck, which was naturally covered with sweat, and rolled her eyes to avoid Heinz’s persistent gaze.

“Aren’t you going to make excuses anymore?”

“Uh, um. I was just cleaning the window……?”

“Kugh! Haha!”

Heinz eventually burst into laughter at the obvious excuse. His face flushed as he smiled, revealing his white teeth.