Chapter 124
The result of the violent bout between Frigga and Skuld was apparently Frigga’s defeat. Then again, they had both been limiting their strength so that they wouldn’t cause too much damage and Frigga had not been using her griffon.
After asking a maid to clean up the mess in the hall, Kurats went to soak himself in a large bathhouse that made the Strasbourg castle’s pride among Jormungand kingdom’s people.
【”…Aaaaah, the one thing I envy from Strasbourg is definitely their bathhouse.”】
The very spacious bath seemed like it could easily fit 10 people.
The marble covering the washing area was decorated with multicolored artificial flowers, and hot water kept flowing from multiple water fountains, large and small.
Bashtar had just begun developing itself, so there were no such excellent bathhouses there.
Yielding himself to the feeling of warmness rising from the core of his body, Kurats closed his eyes while covered in water up to his shoulders.
『It has been so long that I had forgotten, but the feeling of taking a bath is not half bad.』
【”You got that right.”】
This was something different than instinctive desires such as lust and hunger.
Although this was a physical sensation, it carried a sense of mental satisfaction with it.
【”Haaaah”】
As Kurats washed his face and let out a deep sigh like he was some old man, he suddenly heard something.
――The sound of a door opening.
【”Erhm… I-if I may ask, lord Kurats, you are alone right now, right? There is no one else, is there?”】
The awkward voice was from Skuld.
Kurats could see her blond hair from the other side of the door, with her body beautifully wrapped in a towel.
The sight of her supple white arms and legs, which were well-trained and yet had a feminine softness to them, was burned into his eyes.
【”No, but I gotta say, you’re quite bold.”】
Kurats was aware of Skuld’s honest affection towards him.
Like in Frigga’s case, the act of meeting Kurats would apparently leave a pretty massive impact on those who sought for power.
There was certainly a part of Kurats that hoped something would with Skuld when he chose to bring her along with him to the city of Kozun to deal with the first army.
That being said, even he had failed to predict that she would show up in the bathhouse with her bare skin exposed.
【”A-about that, it’s pretty embarrassing, so if you could close your eyes just for a little bit…”】
Feeling excited despite himself, Kurats closed his eyes as he was told.
Following a few fluttering footsteps, a calming sound of splashing water echoed in the room.
(She came in!)
A light ripple of water reached the bottom of Kurats’ body, and as he felt her light breath approaching him, great vigor traveled down and then up.
【”――You can open them now.”】
Kurats powerfully opened his eyes, allowing himself to witness the sight of Skuld’s half-exposed, fresh, and vibrant body, sitting right next to him with her shoulders and the top of her cleavage laid bare.
It felt like she would faint on the spot from embarrassment if she allowed herself to think about what she was doing.
She lowered her head and her white skin became entirely flushed.
Was she not used to being this daring?
A throbbing sensation came from the depth of her stomach. Then, it kept coming again and again, making her whole body feel hot.
She was not confident that she would be able to keep herself conscious if she once more looked at Kurats’ body of steel, which she had already taken a glance at while getting into the bath.
【”――Beautiful.”】
【”Hyaa!”】
Kurats’ deep voice gave Skuld the illusion that he was breathing directly in her ear.
The sight of the drops of water sliding down Skuld’s silk-smooth skin was indescribably charming.
Because she had tied up her hair using a towel, there was nothing to hide her fresh and seductive nape, leaving Kurats drunk with desire.
【”B-b-by the way… Was there any truth to what you said earlier?”】
【”Earlier?”】
【”About making her highness Felbell and me into your women!”】
Speaking with a voice so faint it felt like it could vanish at any instant, Skuld became teary-eyed while her face blushed to the very limit.
For Skuld, who had never had a normal conversation with a man before, putting her feelings for Kurats into words was a little too much.
Since her father’s assassination, she had only been living with training and revenge in her mind. It was probably only natural for her to have no resistance towards these sorts of matters.
【”Well, I wasn’t being serious, but I guess I’d be happy if it was true.”】
【”――Really? Thank goodness! That means I have a little bit of charm in lord Kurats’ eyes!”】
Skuld suddenly raised her face and smiled like a blooming flower, but that led to her eyes directly crossing Kurats’ gaze.
That alone was enough to make her blush and boil all over again. She submerged her face up to her nose into the hot bath; some bubbles were coming out from her mouth underwater.
Seeing that childish gesture, Kurats barely managed to keep his sense of reason and suppress his urge to push her down on the spot.
【”You’re more than charming enough.”】
Maybe because she was more petite than Lunaria and Frigga, this felt immoral.
But, unlike Cornelia, Skuld was far from lacking in the chest area; on the contrary, she was massive. Kurats felt helplessly allured by that imbalance.
『…A girl from Asgard’s imperial family, huh. I most definitely want her to serve our cause of world domination.』
(Don’t butt in! You’re ruining the mood!)
Lunaria, Felbell, and Skuld.
Since Heimdall had no children, perhaps Kurats could qualify as the prince consort of their two countries.
That calculative thought suddenly crossed Kurats’ mind.
【”I’m so glad! No one has ever said anything like that to me. I was worried that maybe I’m not attractive as a woman!”】
【”No no no, there is no way in hell that’s true!”】
Not only was Skuld the niece of the emperor, she was also a unique beauty, to say the least.
And that assessment was definitely a safe one since it was coming from Kurats, who had gathered all sorts of beauties, such as Cornelia, Lunaria, Frigga, Marika and Clodette.
And yet no one had ever told her that she was attractive or beautiful? If that was true, then Asgard’s men were all blind.
【”But it’s true! Whenever any slightly interesting people would show up, we would directly have a duel and they would all die!”】
【”How did you get from the topic of love to murder?!”】
(Does this woman think “Love” stands for level of violence?)
【”Well, I mean, they were weaker than me so they died. It can’t be helped, can it?”】
【”Yes it can! How about you start by not bringing death into the equation!”】
From Skuld’s perspective, an ideal partner had to be someone who would defeat her favorite and unbeatable uncle, Hiemdall, who happened to be the one who had once murdered her father. That was the basic premise needed for anyone to be considered her partner. She had been staking her life on that idea, for the sake of her revenge.
For that reason, she seemed to deem it a must for her partner to put his life on the line, too.
(I see, is that why they call her the mad princess?)
【”T-t-this is why I’m doing this… I have no idea what I’m supposed to do… but I remembered that father used to like taking baths with mother…”】
That was why Skuld had resisted her own embarrassment and charged into the bathhouse.
Even so, exposing her soft skin like this was something she had not even done in front of her late father.
Before her mother died in an accident, Skuld’s father had been a very gentle man with no ambitions.
Back then, he would always stick to his wife under the pretense of skinship. Skuld had never realized the actual truth, which was that her parents were just lust addicts.
From Skuld’s perspective, they just had a great relationship. Such a great relationship that she felt envious.
Thinking back to those days, she remembered her father always had terrible skin when he came out of the bath. In contrast, her mother always had glossy and charming skin after having a bath with him.
When she tried asking about that back then…
【”Ufufufu…. You’ll know when you take a bath with your husband someday.”】
【”T-that’s right. But do they not say that the secret of inner peace is to learn to adjust to your circumstances, my dear wife?”】
Her father had answered with a pale countenance.
【”But does it not seem to you that the secret to beauty is to push things to the limit? Don’t you want me to be beautiful, dear?”】
【”Y-yes… But if we could adjust things a little-….”】
【”Ooh? Are you saying you won’t hear my request, dear?”】
【”Nonsense. I would never. Of course not.”】
【”Mom and dad are such good friends!”】
It was a mystery what sort of thoughts had been going through the mind of Skuld’s father, the late archduke of Bewerstein, when he saw his daughter’s innoncent smile at the time.
(SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM THIS SWEET HEEEEEELL!)
――It seemed the secret of a happy marriage was that the husband would quietly listen to his wife’s requests.
【”My father seemed to be happy when my mother would wash him with foam for some reason. Is it the same for you, lord Kurats? “】
【”AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”】
Hearing the words of Skuld, who had clearly never realized what her father and mother had really been doing, Kurats felt like vomiting blood.
How in the world was he supposed to react?
『Just do as you usually would.』
(My conscience won’t let me do that with her! She’s basically a clueless kid right now!)
【”Apparently, he felt good when he cooled himself with shaved ice, too, but I wonder, does that mean men don’t catch colds when they cool themselves? “】
【”THIS IS DEFINITELY WROOOONG!”】
It was a good thing that Skuld’s father had died. If he was still alive now, Kurats would probably fire a right hook to his face.
Kurats was at a loss as to what he was supposed to say to Skuld, who was staring at him innocently, eager to make him happy.
Chapter 124
The result of the violent bout between Frigga and Skuld was apparently Frigga’s defeat. Then again, they had both been limiting their strength so that they wouldn’t cause too much damage and Frigga had not been using her griffon.
After asking a maid to clean up the mess in the hall, Kurats went to soak himself in a large bathhouse that made the Strasbourg castle’s pride among Jormungand kingdom’s people.
【”…Aaaaah, the one thing I envy from Strasbourg is definitely their bathhouse.”】
The very spacious bath seemed like it could easily fit 10 people.
The marble covering the washing area was decorated with multicolored artificial flowers, and hot water kept flowing from multiple water fountains, large and small.
Bashtar had just begun developing itself, so there were no such excellent bathhouses there.
Yielding himself to the feeling of warmness rising from the core of his body, Kurats closed his eyes while covered in water up to his shoulders.
『It has been so long that I had forgotten, but the feeling of taking a bath is not half bad.』
【”You got that right.”】
This was something different than instinctive desires such as lust and hunger.
Although this was a physical sensation, it carried a sense of mental satisfaction with it.
【”Haaaah”】
As Kurats washed his face and let out a deep sigh like he was some old man, he suddenly heard something.
――The sound of a door opening.
【”Erhm… I-if I may ask, lord Kurats, you are alone right now, right? There is no one else, is there?”】
The awkward voice was from Skuld.
Kurats could see her blond hair from the other side of the door, with her body beautifully wrapped in a towel.
The sight of her supple white arms and legs, which were well-trained and yet had a feminine softness to them, was burned into his eyes.
【”No, but I gotta say, you’re quite bold.”】
Kurats was aware of Skuld’s honest affection towards him.
Like in Frigga’s case, the act of meeting Kurats would apparently leave a pretty massive impact on those who sought for power.
There was certainly a part of Kurats that hoped something would with Skuld when he chose to bring her along with him to the city of Kozun to deal with the first army.
That being said, even he had failed to predict that she would show up in the bathhouse with her bare skin exposed.
【”A-about that, it’s pretty embarrassing, so if you could close your eyes just for a little bit…”】
Feeling excited despite himself, Kurats closed his eyes as he was told.
Following a few fluttering footsteps, a calming sound of splashing water echoed in the room.
(She came in!)
A light ripple of water reached the bottom of Kurats’ body, and as he felt her light breath approaching him, great vigor traveled down and then up.
【”――You can open them now.”】
Kurats powerfully opened his eyes, allowing himself to witness the sight of Skuld’s half-exposed, fresh, and vibrant body, sitting right next to him with her shoulders and the top of her cleavage laid bare.
It felt like she would faint on the spot from embarrassment if she allowed herself to think about what she was doing.
She lowered her head and her white skin became entirely flushed.
Was she not used to being this daring?
A throbbing sensation came from the depth of her stomach. Then, it kept coming again and again, making her whole body feel hot.
She was not confident that she would be able to keep herself conscious if she once more looked at Kurats’ body of steel, which she had already taken a glance at while getting into the bath.
【”――Beautiful.”】
【”Hyaa!”】
Kurats’ deep voice gave Skuld the illusion that he was breathing directly in her ear.
The sight of the drops of water sliding down Skuld’s silk-smooth skin was indescribably charming.
Because she had tied up her hair using a towel, there was nothing to hide her fresh and seductive nape, leaving Kurats drunk with desire.
【”B-b-by the way… Was there any truth to what you said earlier?”】
【”Earlier?”】
【”About making her highness Felbell and me into your women!”】
Speaking with a voice so faint it felt like it could vanish at any instant, Skuld became teary-eyed while her face blushed to the very limit.
For Skuld, who had never had a normal conversation with a man before, putting her feelings for Kurats into words was a little too much.
Since her father’s assassination, she had only been living with training and revenge in her mind. It was probably only natural for her to have no resistance towards these sorts of matters.
【”Well, I wasn’t being serious, but I guess I’d be happy if it was true.”】
【”――Really? Thank goodness! That means I have a little bit of charm in lord Kurats’ eyes!”】
Skuld suddenly raised her face and smiled like a blooming flower, but that led to her eyes directly crossing Kurats’ gaze.
That alone was enough to make her blush and boil all over again. She submerged her face up to her nose into the hot bath; some bubbles were coming out from her mouth underwater.
Seeing that childish gesture, Kurats barely managed to keep his sense of reason and suppress his urge to push her down on the spot.
【”You’re more than charming enough.”】
Maybe because she was more petite than Lunaria and Frigga, this felt immoral.
But, unlike Cornelia, Skuld was far from lacking in the chest area; on the contrary, she was massive. Kurats felt helplessly allured by that imbalance.
『…A girl from Asgard’s imperial family, huh. I most definitely want her to serve our cause of world domination.』
(Don’t butt in! You’re ruining the mood!)
Lunaria, Felbell, and Skuld.
Since Heimdall had no children, perhaps Kurats could qualify as the prince consort of their two countries.
That calculative thought suddenly crossed Kurats’ mind.
【”I’m so glad! No one has ever said anything like that to me. I was worried that maybe I’m not attractive as a woman!”】
【”No no no, there is no way in hell that’s true!”】
Not only was Skuld the niece of the emperor, she was also a unique beauty, to say the least.
And that assessment was definitely a safe one since it was coming from Kurats, who had gathered all sorts of beauties, such as Cornelia, Lunaria, Frigga, Marika and Clodette.
And yet no one had ever told her that she was attractive or beautiful? If that was true, then Asgard’s men were all blind.
【”But it’s true! Whenever any slightly interesting people would show up, we would directly have a duel and they would all die!”】
【”How did you get from the topic of love to murder?!”】
(Does this woman think “Love” stands for level of violence?)
【”Well, I mean, they were weaker than me so they died. It can’t be helped, can it?”】
【”Yes it can! How about you start by not bringing death into the equation!”】
From Skuld’s perspective, an ideal partner had to be someone who would defeat her favorite and unbeatable uncle, Hiemdall, who happened to be the one who had once murdered her father. That was the basic premise needed for anyone to be considered her partner. She had been staking her life on that idea, for the sake of her revenge.
For that reason, she seemed to deem it a must for her partner to put his life on the line, too.
(I see, is that why they call her the mad princess?)
【”T-t-this is why I’m doing this… I have no idea what I’m supposed to do… but I remembered that father used to like taking baths with mother…”】
That was why Skuld had resisted her own embarrassment and charged into the bathhouse.
Even so, exposing her soft skin like this was something she had not even done in front of her late father.
Before her mother died in an accident, Skuld’s father had been a very gentle man with no ambitions.
Back then, he would always stick to his wife under the pretense of skinship. Skuld had never realized the actual truth, which was that her parents were just lust addicts.
From Skuld’s perspective, they just had a great relationship. Such a great relationship that she felt envious.
Thinking back to those days, she remembered her father always had terrible skin when he came out of the bath. In contrast, her mother always had glossy and charming skin after having a bath with him.
When she tried asking about that back then…
【”Ufufufu…. You’ll know when you take a bath with your husband someday.”】
【”T-that’s right. But do they not say that the secret of inner peace is to learn to adjust to your circumstances, my dear wife?”】
Her father had answered with a pale countenance.
【”But does it not seem to you that the secret to beauty is to push things to the limit? Don’t you want me to be beautiful, dear?”】
【”Y-yes… But if we could adjust things a little-….”】
【”Ooh? Are you saying you won’t hear my request, dear?”】
【”Nonsense. I would never. Of course not.”】
【”Mom and dad are such good friends!”】
It was a mystery what sort of thoughts had been going through the mind of Skuld’s father, the late archduke of Bewerstein, when he saw his daughter’s innoncent smile at the time.
(SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM THIS SWEET HEEEEEELL!)
――It seemed the secret of a happy marriage was that the husband would quietly listen to his wife’s requests.
【”My father seemed to be happy when my mother would wash him with foam for some reason. Is it the same for you, lord Kurats? “】
【”AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”】
Hearing the words of Skuld, who had clearly never realized what her father and mother had really been doing, Kurats felt like vomiting blood.
How in the world was he supposed to react?
『Just do as you usually would.』
(My conscience won’t let me do that with her! She’s basically a clueless kid right now!)
【”Apparently, he felt good when he cooled himself with shaved ice, too, but I wonder, does that mean men don’t catch colds when they cool themselves? “】
【”THIS IS DEFINITELY WROOOONG!”】
It was a good thing that Skuld’s father had died. If he was still alive now, Kurats would probably fire a right hook to his face.
Kurats was at a loss as to what he was supposed to say to Skuld, who was staring at him innocently, eager to make him happy.
