Chapter 16

Marietta’s Anger

“Marietta, are you upset?”

“Naturally! For other women to entangle my Sir Belvant, how could I allow such a thing?”

Her arm squeezed a bit tighter behind his neck, her words subduing as petal pink lips turned downward. Despite her pout, her voice remained refreshingly pure.

With the two of them alone in the room, Marietta leaned softly into Belvant’s arms, a gentle excitement stealing over her.

Belvant didn’t think poorly of his small fiance’s newly revealed possessive desires. He himself wished he could avoid all other women for the rest of his life, but more than that, Marietta’s adorable bout of jealousy sparked a warmth in his chest similar to a gulp of strong alcohol.

“But that back there was just like a noisy cicada, I think.”

If he were to compare them to Marietta, other women would be nothing more than insects drawn to her clear flame. Belvant, who made a habit of shying away from women clearly aiming for an influential position as the general’s wife, had thought as much ever since the evening party.

“Well, I especially dislike well-bosomed cicadas. Please make sure that doesn’t occur again.”

“I’m not sure it’s something I’ll have to go out of my way to prevent though.”

His comment earned Belvant a glare from a set of pale, teary eyes.

“Sir Belvant, you are far too negligent! Is it fine if, due to your charm, inferior insects come to push me aside into the position of a mere lover, snatching even the position of being your wife away from me? Please, hold a bit more self awareness. It makes others suspicious, you know, if the country’s general behaves in such a way; can’t you turn away my rivals and keep their breasts off of you?”

The young lady’s cheeks were puffed in displeasure, but since her anger manifested while hanging from Belvant’s neck, lovingly pressing her cheek into his as though to claim him as her beloved and only husband, it was difficult to seriously consider her as mad as she sounded. Rather, Belvant could only see her as absurdly adorable.

Because of her “my husband is the most appealing in the world” complex (no, well, Belvant might not be too aware himself, but lately he had turned rather appealing), Marietta was fluttering about frantically in her desire to keep hold of him, and Belvant couldn’t restrain himself at the sweet sight. Leaning over, he interrupted Marietta’s desperate lecturing with a quick lick on the nose. She gave a soft yelp, her eyes going wide in surprise to stare at the rugged face before her own, his normally cold, ice blue eyes shining with tender affection.

“I got it, it’s my bad. I apologize, so cheer up.”

A large hand most familiar with the hilt of a sword stroked Marietta’s blonde hair, gliding down across her tender cheek…

“No matter who my next companion is, I’ll immediately knock them down and restrain them with my blade to their throat.”

… And said something quite dangerous.

“Ah, going that far would be…”

“If it’s not about that much, I won’t be able to drive that sort away. More importantly, are you sure it is fine if we don’t take a bath? You also seem to have a bit of that perfume lingering around you.”

Belvant belligerently asked, showing the princess in his arms an indulgent smile known only to her, his finger tickling at the tip of her jaw. Marietta let out a slight cough as his expression drew them into their own little world.

Nevertheless, no matter how he considered it, it had been his failure that allowed that glamourous woman to approach him. It was his shortcoming to not even lift a finger against her embrace. He could only assume his lack of awareness was a result of how efforts towards him had been falling, at least prior to the evening party. Even so, seeing Marietta’s face just before his own prompted an overwhelming, nigh intolerable desire within him to hold her close, to kiss her and spoil her. The blushing face of the gorgeous maiden in his arms was so precious, he couldn’t help that he wanted to devour her whole.

I can say beyond doubt that this woman has taken my heart, huh?

Belvant found his nose instinctively drawn down to Marietta’s neck as he took a breath of her fragrance, his sweetheart singing out another soft note of surprise at the tickling sensation.

“Um, but, you know, since I don’t have my own change of clothes…”

Marietta, painfully aware of her own blush, fidgeted about in Belvant’s arms. Recently, the looks he directed at her felt unreasonably warm. She couldn’t call it unpleasant, but it planted a distressingly impatient feeling within her chest.

“I will patiently wait here in your room, so by all means, please enjoy your bath.”

If we were to bathe together, I might catch sight of him in the nude! Such an embarrassing thing would just be too much for me!

Under Sierra’s tutelage, Marietta had just scratched the surface of bedroom etiquette and at least knew that a couple in bed would do something like embracing in the nude, but just that image was enough to send smoke shooting out of her ears.

She was half certain that if she tried to face her Sir Belvant in such a situation, her embarrassment would burn her to a crisp.

Incidentally, she had yet to learn the full extent of “embracing”.

Do your best, young virgin Sierra.

The young maid was in fact, at this moment, searching the bookstores of Oltaire for slightly indecent novellas she could use as a textbook.

“Hmm, that so?”

Seeing straight through Marietta’s clear embarrassment, Belvant suddenly felt like teasing her a bit.

He considered forcibly disheveling her clothes a bit, but realized in the next moment that he would be flipping the table on his self restraint, and would be all but guaranteed to swoop down on her then and there.

Belvant had grown more aware of his own limits; what a capable man.

However, thinking that a little flirting would be fine, he decided on a plan and prepared his world-renowned poker face.

“In that case, we’ll need to think of another method to get the smell off both of us. Feel free to snack on the confectionary there while you wait.”

Belvant gave a nonchalant reply as he set Marietta down before starting work on the buttons of his uniform, unfastening them one by one. Marietta bashfully turned her head away from the strangely erotic sight, but her sidelong glance betrayed her desire to watch Belvant remove his clothing. The cute girl’s borderline perverted behavior violently toed the line of acceptable conduct for a lady.

Oh my, Sir Belvant, why did you decide to undress here? Sir Belvant is such a stunning soldier, so losing the rest of his clothes might just drop my resistance to nothing, but, I-I, it would be too, too wonderful, No! Too stimulating, ahh, no, this, taking off just his shirt, his dreamy muscles exposed to the world, ohmygoodness how dazzling!

Marietta’s eyes were held captive by the exposed, flexed pectoral muscles before her. Belvant casually set his shirt aside with one hand, peeking at Marietta as panic took root in her mind.

She’s so embarrassed she’s grown red right to the ears, and yet she diligently watches on.

Though somewhat expected, Belvant found Marietta’s reaction almost intolerably amusing. His lips tightened as laughter tickled in his throat, but he steeled his expression and reached a hand towards the clasp of his trousers, at which Marietta snatched several sweets from the table and shot off towards the far corner of the room.

“Um, I will be waiting here with these snacks, so please feel free to go over there and enjoy your bath, over there!“

In a fluster, Marietta began chomping into the sweets until she looked like a squirrel packing its cheeks.

Marietta turning away to frantically nibble at her pastries because of him was the final straw, and Belvant at last burst into laughter.

“I got it, so calm down. Drink some tea while you wait too, or you might choke, Princess.”

If Adlan were to see Belvant here, laughing with such a rare smile, his jaw would likely hit the floor.

Behind the teary-eyed, pastry-munching Marietta, Belvant turned toward the room’s small attached bathroom.