2.2

The man soon arrived at the back room of the tavern with Ella. Only then did she feel her feet touch the ground. However, still half-drunk, her legs wobbled like jelly.  

The man quickly steadied her and helped her sit on the bed before stepping out of the room.  

Ella’s eyes followed him anxiously.  

Where are you going?!  

“Apologies, my lady. I need to leave my shirt outside before coming back in.”  

Fortunately, the man’s voice could be heard from outside the door.  

Phew, he didn’t leave.  

“Take it off…”

Rustle…

The sound of him taking off his shirt, having gained her permission, reached her ears. Soon, his muscular, bronze-toned torso entered the room.

Without a word to Ella, the man headed straight for the bathroom as soon as he entered. The sound of water being drawn into the bathtub echoed from beyond the door.  

No conversation, just straight to washing?  

‘He must be in a real hurry. Damn it, I’m the one who initiated this, but I can’t keep up with the pace.’

Ella bit her lip. Now that she was about to get to the main event, she was incredibly nervous. She tried to calm her racing heart.  

Squeak.  

The sound of the water being turned off indicated that the bathtub was full.  

Ella’s anxiety grew.  

Alright, life is all about real-life experience. I’ve come this far; I can’t back out now!

Slapping both cheeks with her hands, Ella quickly slipped out of her dress and entered the bathroom.  

***

The man had completely undressed and was rinsing his body with a bucket of water before entering the bathtub.  

That’s when Ella unexpectedly appeared.  

“What is this…?”  

His eyes trembled. Judging by his reaction, he seemed utterly shocked.  

Hmm, maybe I should’ve let him undress me instead of doing it myself?

“Hehe.”  

Ella let out an awkward laugh.  

The man flinched at her laughter, then hurriedly covered his groin with the bucket and tried to leave the bathroom.

From a glance, it seemed like he had gotten slightly bigger than before. As expected, he was one step ahead of her.  

Huh? Why is he trying to leave? Is he heading to the bed already?

But he didn’t seem fully cleaned yet, and she hadn’t even started washing. Though her ex-boyfriend had once insulted her for having “boring textbook s*x,” Ella, who had diligently studied the “Essential Guide to Safe s*x” for perfect scores in home economics, couldn’t compromise on mutual cleanliness. Unhygienic s*x was the root of chronic diseases.  

Ella moved to grab the man’s arm as he tried to leave in a hurry.  

No! You need to wash properly!

“Where are you going…?”  

“B-be careful!”  

Ella, still unable to escape her wobbly legs, found the bathroom floor far too slippery. Losing her balance, she began to fall toward the floor.  

The fleeing man quickly stepped forward and caught her collapsing body.  

Squish… 

Their n*ked bodies collided. Ella’s soft br*asts pressed against his firm chest. The man flinched violently, looking as though he might drop her.

With an expression that seemed to scream he was about to lose his mind, the man lifted Ella fully into his arms. It seemed he intended to carry her to the bed.  

At that moment, Ella reached out her hand.  

Flinch.  

Wow, he’s really solid.  

Surprised by the man’s iron-like physique, Ella ran her hand from his shoulder down to his chest, even poking him a few times.  

The man muttered pitifully,  

“Why… why are you doing this?”  

“To the bathtub… together…”  

We need to be clean first!

But the man, wearing an expression as if he’d seen a ghost, ignored Ella’s words and stood frozen in place.  

Annoyed, she reached out and smacked his butt.  

Hurry up!  

At that, he jumped in surprise, scooped her up into his arms, and stepped into the bathtub.  

“This feels… nice…”  

The bathtub was too small for two people. Ella’s body ended up almost entirely draped over his.  

Ah, it’s warm. Ah, it feels good.  

Enjoying the warmth, Ella began to wash herself in earnest. While she busily moved her hands to clean herself, the man sat still, as if he were being punished.  

Every time Ella rinsed her hair or moved to rinse her mouth, her hips would brush against the man’s lower region. This seemed to stimulate him, as his hardened center poked insistently against her soft backside.  

But Ella, too preoccupied with washing, paid no attention. Seeing her oblivious expression even in this situation, the man bit his lip in frustration and stared at the ceiling.  

“Hmph.”  

Ella wasn’t pleased with his passive behavior.  

‘He needs to scrub more thoroughly!’  

Frustrated, she turned to face him and began to scrub his body herself. Every time she touched him, his body twitched like a freshly caught fish.  

“I-I can do it myself.”  

His pitiful voice echoed in the bathroom, but Ella, focused on cleanliness, didn’t hear him.  

Smack!  

Stay still! I’m doing this because you can’t do it properly yourself!  

Ella’s firm hand landed on his chest.  

The man tried to avoid her touch, but since his body was beneath hers, he had no escape.  

After scrubbing his upper body for a while, Ella’s hand moved lower.  

She reached for his er*ect member first.  

This part has to be the cleanest!  

After a few strokes up and down, the man, seemingly unable to endure any longer, pushed her away and stood up abruptly in the bathtub.  

“Stop!”

Splash!  

Water splashed onto Ella’s face as the man suddenly rose.  

Ugh, my nose!  

Having accidentally inhaled water through her nose, Ella coughed and sputtered.  

Though he had just shouted, the man became flustered upon seeing her coughing and panicked.  

“Are you alright?”

Unable to leave the bathtub for fear of splashing her again, and unable to sit due to the cramped space, the man hovered awkwardly, standing in place.  

As a result, his member swung back and forth right in front of Ella’s face.  

Even amidst her coughing fit, a memory of Shyle’s words suddenly crossed Ella’s mind.  

「You’re the most boring person I’ve ever been with in bed.」

Right, I need to improve too!  

Once her thoughts were sorted, Ella, having stopped coughing, leaned forward and bit down on the manhood dangling before her eyes.

***

Adolf was on the verge of losing his mind.

What on earth was this woman?

Adolf de Ludwig.  

He was a knight who had been stationed at the Empire’s western border for four years and three months, fighting against monster troops, because his father, Duke Ludwig, had fallen out of favor with His Majesty the Emperor for failing to present a newly discovered diamond mine in the ducal territory.  

Sigh…  

Of course, serving the country was an honor, but Adolf couldn’t understand why he had to be a scapegoat in the power struggle between the Emperor and the Duke. He spent his entire service term sighing.  

Today was the long-awaited day of his discharge.  

As the second son of the Ludwig Ducal family, Adolf was born with a robust physique. Strangely, even without much exercise, his body naturally developed muscles. In fact, his arms became so thick that they began to interfere with daily activities, forcing him to cut down on a meat-heavy diet.

His self-healing ability was also remarkable. Even if he was wounded by a sword, he could walk again within a week, and low-level fireballs often fizzled out against his skin without leaving a burn.

Thus, his father, Duke Ludwig, despite the Emperor’s whims, would simply laugh heartily and say,  

‘A man must experience war at least once in his life!’ 

And with that, his farewell consisted of a few pats on his grown second son’s shoulder.  

Even his elder brother, who had his own duties to fulfill in the Imperial Family, offered only words of encouragement, saying that Adolf would gain valuable experience serving the country at the border.  

Not even the household staff of the ducal family, on whom Adolf had placed a small hope, expressed any concern for him.  

But Adolf had a significant secret.  

Contrary to his body, which rarely got injured, his nerves were extraordinarily fragile.  

‘There are too many scary things in this world!’  

If he slept in a new place, it took him a week to fall asleep properly (though, unfortunately, his face remained fresh and free of dark circles).  

His heart was so delicate that he couldn’t even kill a mosquito, no matter how much it bit him (and they looked grotesque to him as well).  

He was so terrified of blood that even the sight of his own blood scared him, and he went to great lengths to avoid injury.  

His timid personality made him hesitant to initiate conversations with others unless absolutely necessary. Naturally, he had never dated a woman before.  

Why had this secret remained hidden for all of his 26 years? The answer lay in his appearance.  

There was no need to mention his body, but his face was so ruggedly masculine that his thick eyebrows, sharp, elongated eyes, and nose, which resembled the tallest Himolian Mountain on the Ika Continent, all contributed to his intimidating aura.  

Even his jaw was impressively square. Occasionally, injuries sustained during swordsmanship practice left scars on his cheekbones, adding to his rough appearance.  

He wasn’t unattractive per se… but his looks transcended the spectrum of handsome or ugly. Yes, he exuded a kind of ferocity. If alchemists were to humanize a golem, it would probably look like Adolf.  

“Uh, Lord Adolf… Ah, never mind.”  

With the background of being the second son of one of the Empire’s three great ducal families, a body as massive and muscular as an ogre’s, a ferocious face, and a lack of conversational skills, other noble families’ children would muster the courage to approach him, only to scatter like frightened mice at the sight of his gaze. The young ladies, their legs trembling, didn’t even dare to look in his direction.  

“…”  

Adolf felt wronged. If he had a sister, she might have noticed his plight, but his mother had passed away early, leaving only his tactless father and much older brother at home.  

Once, he tried to hint at his fear by saying, “Actually, I’m really scared of blood. Whenever I see blood, I have nightmares.” But his family merely laughed heartily, saying their youngest had learned to make jokes.  

With even his family not believing him, Adolf swallowed his tears and lived a lonely life without friends or a lover.