Futile Love

Chapter 92: Chapter 92

Accompanied by the nanny, she headed for the open-air bath building in the north.

The building was lit up like Kyosul’s room. The unoccupied buildings were dark, but this particular building was lit as it was reserved for the open-air bath.

When Kyosul entered the building, the nanny asked, “Would you like to call a court lady?”

“No, you don’t have to. I think they already went to bed after finishing their work for the day. I can take a hot bath on my own.”

“Should I come back to pick you up when you are done?” the nanny asked.

“You don’t have to, Do you think I’ll get lost?” she said jokingly, pushing the nanny to go back.

If not, she was embarrassed because there were too many court ladies serving her when she took a hot bath alone. For example, there was a court lady checking the temperature of the bath water while keeping an eye on her from behind. Another court lady took care of bath supplies and incense.There was a court lady responsible for tea and refreshments, while another court lady cleaned her body and put her clothes in order. In addition, the nanny was with her all the time.

“Today, I would like to take a bath alone in a relaxed mood. Please go back and take a rest.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

As the nanny tried to express worry, Kyosul stopped it by ordering her sternly, “It’s my order, nanny!”

“Got it. Please enjoy your hot bath and come back safely. ”

Although she was Kyosul’s nanny, she had no other choice but to obey.

After confirming that the nanny left the building, Kyosul went inside.

There was no separate sleeping area in the bathhouse. The small room leading to the long corridor was not a bed, but a space for the guests to clean up and changing their clothes.

She was puzzled because there were several rooms attached along the corridor. She didn’t think about it deeply and chose one of them to get undressed.

She put on a thin gown after taking off the clothes and entered the bath.

Her thin gown was kind of see-through, so it revealed her fair skin.

“Is this the open-air bath place?”

She clumsily found her way into the open-air bath place.

“Wow!”

She exclaimed at the amazing scene unconsciously as it was the first time she experienced it. The open-air bath was so wide that she couldn’t see its end on both sides. White steam rose thickly over the mountains in the background. As it was clear, the starlight was gorgeous.

Trembling in the cold outside air, she quickly sunk into the bath.

Splash!

The heat of the hot bath soon warmed her cold body. It was as deep as her waist.

She went further inside the bath, looking for a suitable place and lowered her upper body in the hot spring water.

The sound of her splashing hot spring water rang amid deep silence. As she was naked, she felt strange about the sound. Due to the cold air, steam was endlessly rising from the open-air bath. As the steam was so thick, she could not see both ends of the open-air bath.

She said, “The bath in my place in the Dongbi Palace is large, but it is much wider here. How can I use all of this space? I can’t believe the fact that I’m enjoying the luxury of using this large bath alone. ”

She splashed water. The ripples that started at her fingertips spread farther and wider, then came back after hitting something on the opposite side.

She turned her head in that direction nonchalantly.

At first, she thought there was a statue buried under the bath, but the dark shape, seen through white vapor, was moving little by little.

“Huh? What is that? ”

She was so embarrassed that she couldn’t speak. She barely exclaimed shortly.

There was another person in the bath.

“I didn’t expect you’d come here.”

The voice was low and steady, mellow as if the owner of the voice took things like a philosopher. It was familiar to her, but she didn’t hear it often. It was the voice that she didn’t expect to hear again since she came to Kongrimok.

She called him with a trembling voice, “Your Majesty!”

Bipaan was nothing more than a blurry shadow through the thick steam.Surprisingly, he approached her first.

It was the first time he came to her first, which she never expected.

Splash, splash.

The hot spring water rippled. The returning waves of the water tickled her skin. The more she felt tickled, the more tense she felt. She had goosebumps, a feeling tinged with strange tension unlike pure fear.

“The nanny told me there is an open-air bath in the back of the villa. As I was in the bath in my room all day, I just wanted to come for a hot bath before going to bed. ”

Was it because she got nervous that she was trying to make excuses for some reason?.

Splash!

The waves rippled again before her eyes. She did not know what to do, shaking her head and looking down. When she looked down, her fair skin was exposed to the hot spring water, creating the sense that she was half-naked.

Bipaan thought she was only a young girl, but she was a woman, too.

The scent of her skin wafter through the fresh air.

He moved one step closer through the steam revealing his strong body.

As her nudity was revealed through her see-through fabric, she quickly covered it bashfully.

She raised her head and looked up as if she was embarrassed.

He was already right in front of her. She opened her eyes with surprise.

He was gazing at her with his big and blinking eyes.

“Well, if I have to explain….” she stuttered. She felt she would rather have lowered her head.

Bipaan was naked.

Although he wrapped some fabric around his waist, he didn’t put any clothes on his upper body, revealing his wide chest openly. He put his hair in a simple topknot on his head, and his long, indigo hair was moist.

It was the first time in her life that she faced a man’s naked body.

As she was so embarrassed, she didn’t know where to look at and glanced around and away from him.

Then, she quickly looked at his collarbone, his thick bulging neck, his wide shoulders, and his chest as well as his moderately muscular abdomen.

Though she blushed and kept glancing away, she stole glances at his upper body.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were… . ” she said quickly, and lowered her head.

As she was so absent-minded checking her clothes and stepping back with greetings, she slipped in the water before she knew.

Splash!

Clouds of spray rose from the water as she struggled to find balance and flailing her arms around.

In the end, she closed her eyes as she felt she was losing her balance and about to plunge into the water, but he grabbed her wrist with a strong grip before she slipped.

“Be careful. Although they keep an eye on this place all the time, you have to take caution as it’s slippery under the water. ”

She heard him talking to her..

She opened her eyes suddenly and turned her head towards him. He was standing right in front of her. They were close enough to touch their noses. While taking a deep breath, she staggered. Her legs were wobbly, but this time he touched her back with his warm hands.

“Watch out.”

Giving her a warning for the second time, he wrapped both hands around her wrists.

She was so embarrassed. He held her right wrist with one hand and wrapped his other arm around her waist. It was as if he was hugging her from behind. As she could not breathe freely, she had to hold her breath. Her fingers trembled.

She was dressed in a thin gown while he was mostly naked. If they touched at all, it was skin to skin contact.

It had been a long time since they got married, but she couldn’t even imagine touching his body, let alone his bare skin. She felt so strange and even scared about touching his body.

Strange enough, he stayed that way instead of avoiding her.

With her body stiff in his arms, she hunched her shoulders a bit and her lips trembled.

The water she splashed while struggling to keep her balance had soaked them. Water dripped from their hair down their body to their fingertips. They felt cold as water cooled in the cold air and flowed down their bodies.

The silence of the moment was broken intermittently by the sound of dripping water.

She intentionally held her breath because of that sound.

Now she felt awkward about her own breathing.

She got tense in that quiet moment, and goosebumps appeared on her upper body though she had been soaking in the hot spring water.