A heavy weight sunk the atmosphere.
It became rather hard to catch a break, as Lucilline slumped in his empty room. After admitting entrance in Miriam Kingdom, the group first found an inn to stay for the night. However, the odd stares directed at them were not pleasant.
Lucilline did not blame them though.
Especially considering the knightly attire and silver armour that the knights wore, the swords they carried by the waist, the noble appearance that Lucilline and Percival had etched in their bones, the royalty shining off from Dimitri's golden locks, and the unconscious maidservant laying on Farrah's back.
"Tired from the run?" By his slumped side, Percival asked.
Concern was written across his handsome face.
"How is Willow doing?" Lucilline did not answer the question, but asked one himself.
Percival tucked a strand of chestnut brown hair behind an ear. "Jacques is still treating her in the next door room. Apparently, she still hasn't gained consciousness."
A hazy layer misted over Lucilline's golden eyes.
You need to be alright, Willow. His fists subconsciously clenched, with the knuckles akin to the palest bones. To ensure Willow's successful treatment, everyone had left Jacques to focus on the important task. The light-blue-haired mage had promised to heal the maidservant to the fullest.
Lucilline pondered, his consciousness floating in the air.
The last time Willow had passed out was after she'd been taken in by Lucilline. That time, they were both young—the maid eight and the Young Master five. The white-haired puny girl lost consciousness from exhaustion, but only after she finally gained familial warmth.
"Trust in Jacques' skills," Percival had exclaimed. "He is a Royal Knight, a mage, and have healed many extreme wounds before."
Lucilline forced himself to calm down. That's right. Jacques is highly skilled and should be able to fully heal Willow. Again, Willow only passed out. It's not like she's on the brink of death.
"Don't tell me you have doubts about my knights' skills?" A teasing voice blew next to the black-haired nobleman's ear.
In an instant, Lucilline straightened up.
Dimitri wore an amused look. His high-arched nose and healthy wheat-like skin shone underneath the ceiling light, brimming with divinity. He almost appeared like a God, masculinity exuding from his taut muscles, stretching the thin shirt which wrapped around his firm arms.
The Crown Prince smiled gently. "Jacques' healing spell is strong. He even managed to prolong an old granny's life by a year."
Hearing that, Lucilline was stunned.
A year; that was 365 days. To be able to make an elderly woman live for that many more days longer... Jacques truly was not some random mage. His power for prolonging life even rivals against the Snowflake of Immortality...!
"But then he coughed up tons of blood after, so that wasn't really worth it." Dimitri off-handedly remarked.
Lucilline: ... there is a limit to everything, after all.
"Aside from that, Jacques is a really powerful mage." Percival sighed.
On the surface, the mage appeared like an ice-cold handsome young man, his light blue hair silky smooth like the bountiful waves of shimmering shores. His light pink eyes were abnormal—as if they could see right through the human soul... capturing every single hint of emotion.
But after knowing him, Lucilline realized that this mage was very caring. Jacques always took great care of his younger brother; Hugo; and would do anything for family.
Behind that cold facade was a warm heart.
"So you needn't worry about Willow's recovery." Percival smiled.
Lucilline felt the tension in his bones disintegrating. He felt like he could finally loosen up and trust in the blue-haired mage's capabilities.
*****
"Where are you going, Lucilline?" Farrah tilted a head to one side. She was waiting outside of the inn room, her back leaning against the corridor walls. Once she saw the black-haired nobleman exit into the corridor, Farrah stepped forwards.
Lucilline wore a small smile.
"Hot springs."
Farrah was stunned. "Hot springs?"
The black-haired nobleman pursed his lips. "You haven't heard? This inn provides a hot spring. Pretty fancy, huh?"
The Demon Princess fell silent. She had no idea there was a hot springs in the inn.... nor did she know what a hot springs was.
"Can I follow?" Spurned by curiosity, Farrah asked.
She was allowed.
They stopped before the entrance of the hot springs, where two separate curtains—red for ladies and blue for men—had been draped. "I will enter to the blue side, and you will to the red." Lucilline began to explain, "In the hot springs, we will be in different areas."
Farrah: ??? We are separating ???
"But I want to be in the hot springs with you?" Brainless, the Demon Princess blurted out without thinking.
Lucilline was exasperated.
His face fully betrayed his emotions, shock flashing across his widened golden eyes. "Do you know what that means?"
Farrah inclined her head to one side, her locks of fake chestnut brown hair falling alongside. "No, I don't. Aren't we just watching a bunch of hot... flowers?"
"Hot flowers...?"
A raise of the eyebrows made Lucilline appear even more amused. Then, the black-haired nobleman remembered that Farrah was an amnesiac. She had apparently lost full knowledge of her surroundings. Or perhaps as a Demon Princess, she'd never gone to a hot springs before.
Gradually, a smile unveiled across Lucilline's lips.
"Hot springs is a body of hot water, which will make the human body feel very comfortable when soaking in it. However, for privacy reasons, the women and men are separated. So that is why we will be going in different hot springs." He felt incredulous for explaining such basic knowledge, but still reeled in that feeling nonetheless.
Soaking in the newly gained knowledge, Farrah hummed.
"I understand now." The common courtesy of humans was to ensure privacy between men and women. Such courtesy was not often found in demons. Rather, demons did not even have a gender—aside from the Royal Demons.
Then she stepped towards the red curtain. "I shall see you again after a minute, Lucilline."
The black-haired nobleman felt the corners of his mouth twitch. "Make that 30 minutes."
Lucilline felt an odd sense of worry. What if the Demon Princess makes trouble again? But he couldn't have her enter the same hot springs as him, so he could only make do with this.
He entered the blue curtain, and Farrah's figure disappeared after entering the red curtain.
Meanwhile, watching all of this unfold, a young woman stepped out from the shadows. She had a head full of bright pink hair, tied into two ponytail curls, making it look like she had two spirals on both sides of her head. Skipping forwards, the pink-haired young woman laughed to herself.
Who was that beautiful young man?
She remembered how good-looking every angle captured his face, how the world had fallen silent if he broke out into a smile, and how cute his look of confusion was. She'd never seen such an interesting and fair young man before!
The pink-haired young woman giggled. "I need to know more!"
When Farrah entered the hot springs, there was merely a pool made of pebbles, stones, and lapis. The Demon Princess had no idea what to do. She noticed the steam rising from the bubbling body of water, and a wave of hot water vapour permeated around her.
She remembered what Lucilline told her.
"Soaking in... hot springs...?" Farrah found it ridiculous. Why did she need to soak in hot water? What was the different from this to a bath? Did the rocks mean something?
All of a sudden, a feminine voice oozed from behind.
"Aren't you going?" A very beautiful young woman smiled. Her hair was like two bundles of spiral staircases, a dashing and bold colour of bright pink. It blinded Farrah's eyes, who was used to seeing dark colours all the time back in her ruined Palace.
But then Farrah felt exasperated.
This pink-haired woman was not wearing any clothes!!!
However, she did not seem to mind. The pink-haired woman seamlessly stepped down, her slender and smooth leg entering the pool of hot water. She slowly sunk her whole naked body in.
"Oh." Farrah returned back to herself.
It turned out that in order to soak in hot springs, one needed to take off their clothes.
Farrah stripped, then directly sat inside the hot springs.
Instead, the pink-haired woman stared at her with a baffled expression. The water here is extremely hot! How are you able to immediately sit down?!?
But her expression shifted immediately.
She wore a small smile, "What is your name?"
Farrah did not answer. Instead, she stared blankly at a bubble which formed on the surface of the hot springs. The Demon Princess felt a strange urge to pop the bubble with her own hands.
Having been ignored, the pink-haired woman coughed twice. "Ahem, my name is Layla. You?"
Farrah blinked. This pink lady was talking to me?
"Nineteen." She went with the fake name.
Having finally gained the brown-haired woman's attention, Layla smiled in accomplishment. "So, Nineteen~" The pink-haired woman drawled her voice, "Before I entered the hot springs, I noticed that you were talking to a black-haired gentleman outside. Sorry, but I was absolutely captivated by that gentleman's beauty and elegance! Are you two perhaps acquaintances?"
Farrah: ???
She could sense the pink lady's intentions from a mile away. Farrah silently hummed to herself. Lucilline already has enough suitors... She thought of Percival, the Crown Prince, Azalea, Jacques, and Augustine.
"No, we are not acquaintances." Farrah blurted out.
Layla's smile had stiffened. "Don't lie, Nineteen. I saw you two talking about the hot springs earlier, and you were waiting for that gentleman to leave his room." Her eyes shone pink as well, "There is no way you two aren't acquaintances. Unless... you're something... more?"
Farrah: (T_T) Why is it that everyone always misunderstands me
"No," Farrah shook her head. "We are merely adventurers heading to the same place." No, not even. I am merely using that nobleman for my own purposes. For my memories.
Layla breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. To be blunt," her teeth were whiter than the snow of the brutal winter, "I am interested in that gentleman."
Farrah rolled her eyes. I know.
The water broke into a few ripples, as Layla inched closer to the Demon Princess. Strands of bright pink hair had floated near the Demon Princess, making the latter subconsciously tense in the bones.
"Could you tell me about his preferences in girls?" Layla's eyes were bright like the sun.
Farrah pursed her lips.
Would you believe me if I told you that his preferences aren't in girls?
"I don't know." Farrah reiterated, "We are just travelling together—it's not like I live with him." That was a lie. I've lived with him for over a week already.
"Aww..." Layla sulked. "Then I guess I would need to find out myself~"
Inwardly, Farrah sweated.
I'm sorry Lucilline. It seems like there is another suitor added to your list. But it's not like you'll ever be aware of this.
*****
Lucilline sighed.
His slender figure was wrapped by a cotton white towel, reaching from his collarbones to reaching his lower thigh. Only his limbs were revealed, the contours soft like the whiskers of snow-coated branches. His black hair was untied, the long strands falling down his shoulders, as if droplets of ink had rippled across an entire sea of melted obsidian.
"Ah," the black-haired nobleman blinked.
He was not the only person.
Soaking in the hot springs was a small scrawny figure, the back arched and showing vulnerability. The young man's skin was a dark tanned colour, his body full of long scabbed wounds, presumably from hard work and chores. His hair was of a short ebony black, almost like the head of a mop.
"Hey there." Lucilline nodded.
The scrawny young man meekly nodded back.
Silence ensued between the two.
Lucilline was not much of a talker to strangers either. He chose a place further away from the scrawny young man, soaking himself slowly underneath the hot springs.
A few minutes passed without anything happening.
All of a sudden, Lucilline heard a rapid splash! His eyes flashed to look at the scrawny young man, who'd accidentally fallen back, drowning his entire body underneath the shallow depth of water.
Lucilline: ...what happened?
But it was then after several seconds did he realize... that scrawny young man still hadn't come above water...!
Without thinking, Lucilline darted towards the other side of the hot springs.
In the end, he'd dragged the scrawny young man out of the water, draping him gently onto solid ground, then forced the latter to hack out mouthfuls of water.
"...are you okay?" Lucilline worriedly asked. How did you even manage to drown in such shallow water?
The scrawny young man flinched, waking up from his murky subconsciousness.
"...Y-Yes, I'm okay!" He coughed, his voice cracking and rasp. The young man flailed around, then sat up from the marble-stone ground. His black eyes flashed around, only to settle on the beautiful figure staring him down.
"Did the steam get to your head? It isn't safe to soak for too long." Lucilline folded his arms across his chest.
The scrawny young man frowned. "I... you're right. I-I just forgot... and got dizzy..."
"Be careful," Lucilline soothed, "What is your name?"
"Noah." The scrawny young man answered, his voice filled with timidness. "W-What about you?"
Lucilline faltered. He had decided to keep his own identity as a secret, in order to ensure that nobody knows a young nobleman from a neighbour kingdom have come to visit.
The gears in his head began to spin. "Lucy! You can call me Lucy!"
Noah: ??? (；'Д｀) Wasn't Lucy a girl's name?