Chapter 22
“Goodness!” I snapped and closed the door again with a bang. Unlike my empty room, Kaichen’s was full of things. There were parchments and scrolls scattered everywhere. Rare antiques were also placed randomly around the floor. There were many unidentifiable things in the corner of the room. But it wasn’t these things that had caught my eyes. It was Kaichen.
He had been changing. He had no shirt on, and it seemed he had just finished putting on his pants. I had thought before that for a recluse and a mage, he was just too fit and muscley. Now that I had seen him half-naked, there was no doubt. His body shimmered with ripped muscles. His shoulders were broad and sturdy. His abs were well-formed. In the fraction of a second when I had opened the door, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off of him.
Bronze skin and hard muscles had struck me dumb. I was embarrassed at myself. Was it really my first time seeing such a perfect body? I had been thoughtless. I should have knocked before opening the door. The after image of his body left me flustered. I even saw his und*rw*ar! He was pulling up his pants! And his… thing bulged. Was it my imagination?
Blood rushed to my face. My heart was pounding. My nose felt weird. I raised my hands to my nose. They were smeared with blood. This was ridiculous! What did I just see? I was so occupied with everything that a thought formed in my mind. So, Kaichen positions his thing to the left side…
I was truly, utterly shameless! I hadn’t meant to be brazen. I think I have forgotten my manners in these hundred years. I have never had a need to knock because nothing ever changed.
I wiped the blood away and pressed a hand to my pounding heart. My hands were shaking, more than before. It was more because of nervousness than alcoholism. I felt like a p*rvert. I had gotten excited and gotten a nosebleed like a hormonal teenager! I wanted to argue that the nosebleed was because I had been very tired.
I had looked at every nook and cranny of Acrab for a hundred years, and I had seen many vulgar things. Of course, I never felt excited or envious. During the hundred years of living, I had never been frustrated, so I was taken aback by the current situation.
Am I really that s*xu*lly frustrated? Really? I headed to my own room and washed my face with cold water. I then made my way to the door of his room again and stood there awkwardly. I wonder if he had seen the nosebleed. No! I closed the door fast. Will it show?
After wiping my face with my sleeves, I made sure I knocked. He didn’t respond from inside. He must be angry at me. I sighed. Of course, he would be angry. Anyone would be. It must have been so very uncomfortable, more so for him than for me.
I knocked again, there was no answer yet again. Reluctantly, I pushed open the door. “I am coming in!” I said as a warning. I decided to be brazen this time.
What I had learnt while travelling with him was that I had to be brazen with Kaichen. He talked very little, and his face was set in stone. So, unless I looked closely, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. So, I had to talk and ask boldly in a straightforward way. I just have to act natural.
“Did you forget your manners too?” Kaichen, who was finally clothed fully, said in annoyance. He looked utterly baffled by my very rude behavior.
“I am so sorry,” I said, “I lived alone for so long that it became a habit. I will be careful next time.”
“There will be no next time. Do not come to my room ever again.”
“What? How can I do that? You are the only other person here!”
Although we had our own reasons for this arrangement, it couldn’t be ignored that we were, after all, a man and a woman living in the same house in the middle of wilderness. It was a strange and awkward arrangement, but it made one smile.
“Anyway, I came here because I wanted to ask you something,” I said.
Kaichen, who seemed tired, raised his head with a short sigh. I took it as a signal for me to keep talking.
“If you have any magical potion that can help with my shaking hands, can you give it to me?”
“There isn’t such a medicine.”
“Then, can I borrow your books on magic and medicine?”
“Are you going to make it yourself?”
“If it is not available then yes, I want to make it myself. I can’t continue living with these shaking hands.” I put out my hands towards him which I had hidden before from out of sight. For over a week, my hands had been shaking uncontrollably to make my daily life difficult.
