Futile Love

Chapter 93: Chapter 93

He slowly released her wrist and pulled away his other arms from her waist.

She felt his hands were hotter than the spring water. She felt exceptionally cold where he pulled his hands away.

“Thank you.”

Her voice trembled. Touching her right wrist, she walked back carefully.

This time she took extreme care not to slip and distanced herself from him.

‘Why?’

Her heart pounded. She kept thinking about his mysterious actions.

She didn’t feel it strange when he had caught her when she was slipping, but the fact that he didn’t leave quickly and held her for a while bothered her.

Why did he do so?

To the best of her knowledge, Bipaan was not interested in anything other than succeeding the throne. Why did he hold her in the water for a long time?

She was confused. She even felt resentful towards her throbbing heart, which was not supposed to pound at all. How come her heart beat so wildly when she saw Bipaan?

She was overwhelmed by confusion for the moment.

‘Wasn’t he ashamed of himself?’

When she thought a little more, she came to understand the situation from her angle.

Her heart beat because she was ashamed, and Bipaan also might have gotten stiff because of the fact that he was naked before her.

‘He must have been ashamed, too.’

Looking back, she wasn’t ashamed in that situation.

She began to feel relaxed and even smile.

‘It’s amazing to discover that such a cold-hearted man can feel ashamed!’

Though it was a guess, she held back laughter, convinced that she was right about his feelings.

She bowed her head to him and said, “Let me head out first, Your Majesty.”

“You just came to this hot bath, right?” he asked suddenly.

She was stopped by his question when she was about to leave.

She turned around and answered awkwardly, covering her half-naked body with her arms,”Yes, you’re right.”

“How come you’re leaving so soon?”

“Because you are here.”

She blinked, wondering if he asked the question on purpose.

“Hummmm…”

Bipaan turned his head as if he couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

Then he said, “As this open-air bath is for everybody, never mind my presence and just enjoy it freely.”

But she was not persuaded, and asked herself, ‘Well, that’s not my point.’

She protested deep inside in response to his nonchalant suggestion.

‘Doesn’t he feel awkward about the current situation at all?”

She was really frustrated as she couldn’t figure out his real intention.

“What I mean is I really didn’t know you were here, so I was dressed like this. ”

“Your dress?”

When she confessed about her half-nakedness, Bipaan examined her.

She was embarrassed when he was scanning her body. She flinched and quickly fastened the buttons, twisting away from him and covering her body with her arms as much as possible.

Only after checking her, he looked at his own outfit.

“Well, I was dressed like this because I thought I was alone here, but I think you might feel uncomfortable about my clothes.”

He then loosened the hem of the cloth tied to his waist.

“Ooops!”

She screamed in surprise and covered her eyes with her hands. My heart was pounding fast.

He stayed calm despite her screaming.

As she was so curious, she peeked between her fingers and saw him putting on a wet robe .

“Ah….”

She put down her hands with a short exclamation.

Apparently, he initially took off his robe and wrapped it around his waist.At first she thought it was a piece of cloth to cover his lower body because he tied it around his waist.

She was scared and nervous for fear he might remove it completely.

Not caring at all about her reaction, he said calmly, “You don’t have to feel strange about this as you and I are a couple, right? Please enjoy a hot bath freely.”

She felt very awkward about his use of the expression ‘couple.’

She was surprised to hear him saying that he thought they were a couple.

‘Well, we are a couple legally. Anyway, are all couples married?’

She smiled a bitter smile thinking to herself.

“Oh, I see,” she barely responded, nodding.

Though she replied, she was very uncomfortable about the fact that they were in the same bath. She felt uncomfortable from the moment she nodded.

The surface of the water rippled..

“Even if the water is warm, the open air is cold. If you keep standing there, you might catch a cold.”

“Ah, got it.”

She furtively lowered her body into the water just like Biipaan. When her shoulders were beneath the surface, she looked at him as he was sitting right next to her. .

Though the open-air bath was spacious, he did not return to wherever he’d been sitting before.

Instead, he stayed beside her and enjoyed the hot bath. She could not move away from him in this situation.

‘Oh my gosh.’

She was confused all the more now. She felt as if she was overheating in the hot springs, but not just from the heat of the water.

‘I can’t believe I am now taking a hot bath with Bipaan like this.’

She was close enough to touch his body if she extended her hand.

In this situation, she could not relax and enjoy a hot bath.

Even though she was sitting in the hot water, she was tense, and she kept lowering her body deeper into the water.

When she lowered her body up to her mouth, she breathed out air bubbles.

Her face was reddening because of her tension as well as the hot spring water.

She felt dizzy because of the hot steam from the water.

“By the way, …”

His curt tone surprised her.

With a big splash, he jumped up, approached her and looked down at her.

In surprise, she looked up at him with dazed eyes.

Drops of water dripping from his hair fell on her cheeks.

“It was good that you stopped by this open-air bath.”

The moon’s light highlighted his strong build shone.

His wet hair fell down his shoulders.

The sound of the water drops falling from his hair annoyed her.

His robe draped over the muscles of his upper body, which seemed tense..

She looked up at him, fixing her gaze on his eyes.

The moonlight shining from behind him touched her body.

Her fair skin seemed to shine through the thin, wet fabric of her gown.

The moonlight was romantic that night and highlighted her small figure.

He stared at her with a blank expression.

The humid air between them and the water dripping down their bodies heightened the tension between them.

For a brief moment, she was his woman, and he was her man.

Bipaan held out his large hand with his fingertips extended towards her.

When he extended his hand to her suddenly, she became embarrassed and stepped back.

She folded her hands behind her and pulled her body away from him, but she slipped again when she grabbed for the edge of the bath.

Splash!

Her grip slipped and she couldn’t sustain her balance in the water anymore, she splashed water out of the bath, making a sharp noise ring through the quiet building. The sound of the splash broke the tranquility of the open-air bath. Her sweet scent that tickled his nose vanished in the air. Then could she come to her senses.

Her face was soaked and her cheeks gleamed from the water she splashed on herself. Bipaan pulled away his hand and she leaned back.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” she said.

As she splashed water on him unintentionally, she sprang to her feet in embarrassment.

Approaching him quickly, she tried to pull her sleeve and wipe his face, but she couldn’t wipe him with the soaked clothes. Rather, it only added a wetness.

“I don’t think you can wipe me with this wet cloth.”

While looking at her quietly, Bipaan sighed as if he couldn’t understand why he had to explain that to her.

She realized that he was right.

“Oh, I think I’ve made a mistake again. I’m so sorry.”

“I already heard you say that several times today.”

“Sorry again….”

“I think I have to leave this place first as I make you uncomfortable.”

“Oh, that’s not….” she stammered.

“Hummm….you don’t deny what I have just told you.”

She blushed. Actually, she couldn’t deny the fact that she couldn’t enjoy a hot bath because of his presence. As she was forthcoming and honest by nature, she had to admit it.

It was one of her unique characteristics.

He cast a quick glance at her and straightened his wet robe.

“Enjoy your hot bath comfortably!”

“Your Majesty!”

When he was about to leave, she stopped him. He stopped before he disappeared into the steam.

“I think I heard you saying that things worked out well a moment ago. What did you mean?”

She asked about what he said in passing because she was so curious.