Chapter 3 (Part 4)

Soaking in the bathtub, Grace endlessly stared at her thin, calloused hands.  

There was a time she wondered what would happen if she could never move these hands of her own will again.  

‘……I’m back to normal.’  

Leonardo had already quickly washed up and gone outside, saying he’d look around.  

Thanks to that, Grace was indulging in a luxury she never thought she’d enjoy here. She filled the bathtub with bath salts and soaked her body.  

‘Did I have that dream because something good was about to happen?’  

With that idle thought, Grace slowly scrubbed her body with a sponge.  

But maybe because she recalled the dream once, she kept thinking about what Leonardo did to her in the dream. Grace unconsciously grabbed her chest with her hand.

Just like Leonardo had done in the dream, Grace pressed her finger against her n*pple and flinched.  

She realized belatedly what she was doing.  

“—You’re crazy, Grace Lowell.”  

Feeling she shouldn’t stay here any longer, Grace got out of the bathtub.  

As she poured lukewarm water over herself, she muttered,  

“That was just a silly dream, a silly dream.”

Perhaps she wouldn’t easily forget such a dream, but she couldn’t keep recalling and being swayed by it forever.  

Grace gritted her teeth and shook her head.  

‘It was just a silly dream, Grace Lowell.’

Thinking of rolling around with Leonardo like that in reality made bile rise in her throat.  

Disgust boiled within her stomach.  

‘……Huh? This is strange.’  

No, it should be, but for some reason, she didn’t find it that dirty.

Surely, in the past, just being near him made her shudder, but strangely, while she didn’t want to have such erotic fantasies, she didn’t find it repulsive.

‘Is it because of the dream?’  

If what she was thinking was true, she really ought to die.  

For such a simple reason to make the unpleasant feeling disappear.  

‘You have no principles, Grace Lowell.’

On the other hand, what could she do? He had a face that was exactly her type. It just happened to be Leonardo Fernandez.  

‘What can I do when both his face and body are like that?’  

Though it was something experienced in a dream, the s*xual compatibility wasn’t bad either.  

Thinking that far, Grace covered her face with her hands. She suddenly felt very embarrassed about herself.  

‘No, damn it. Why am I attaching such reasons to a dream? Are you crazy, Grace?’  

She should have considered it was because of the magic. How long had it been since she decided it was just a silly dream, and now she was talking about s*xual compatibility…

If someone heard, they’d think she had actually tried matching bodies with Leonardo in reality.  

Grace hit her head with her fist, overwhelmed by a strong sense of self-loathing. After sighing, she filled her hands with cold water and poured it over her head.  

“Ugh, it’s cold!”  

The icy water that made her curse snapped her back to reality.  

Grace dried herself off, dressed, and wrapped a towel around her head.  

Pressing the towel against her dripping hair, she realized Leonardo hadn’t returned yet.  

“What is he doing that’s keeping him so busy?”  

Standing alone in the reception room with just one table felt oddly lonely.  

Grace frowned at the unfamiliar sensation.  

‘It’s strange. This doesn’t feel right.’  

While she couldn’t help being entangled with Leonardo in such ridiculous circumstances, she couldn’t let her heart keep softening like this.  

Having soft feelings for him was something that shouldn’t happen to her.  

Grinding her teeth, Grace turned her body toward the quarters.  

“…He’s diligent, really.”

Thanks to Leonardo kicking it down, there had been no door in the men’s quarters, but it had somehow been fixed, and a clean door was now in place.

Grace slowly placed her hand on the door.  

“This is strange, Grace Lowell.”  

How many years had she spent hating Leonardo, baring her teeth and growling whenever she saw him?  

For all that to melt away in just a fleeting moment of less than a week was impossible.  

Grace decided she wasn’t in her right mind.  

“Sir Lowell? Are you unwell?”  

At that moment, Leonardo, who was entering through the door, saw Grace standing blankly and asked in a surprised voice.

At his question, Grace slowly turned her head.  

Seeing his eyes, clear as glass, with no emotion, Leonardo felt his heart drop.  

“Sir Fernandez.”

Grace, who had always called him by his name despite her dislike, suddenly changed her address. Leonardo felt strange.  

For a moment, a sharp pain pierced through his heart.  

Ignoring it, he replied,  

“Yes, Sir Lowell.”  

“I think there’s a different problem.”  

Startled by her words, Leonardo hurriedly ran over and took Grace’s hand.  

Then he cast a spell to check her condition.  

A splendid golden magic circle swirled and filled the shelter.  

Even at a glance, it was a magic circle with more than five layers. Watching it with indifferent eyes, Grace thought,  

‘These aren’t my feelings.’  

She had only been here for three days.  

The depth of feelings one could experience in three days wasn’t like this. Especially not for someone she had loathed more than anyone!  

After examining Grace’s condition thoroughly with magic, Leonardo sighed and said,  

“……You’re still under the influence of the magic. For more details, a priest is needed.”  

“I thought so.”

Hearing his words confirming her suspicion, Grace felt relieved.  

Because she could blame all the confusion in her heart on it. If anyone said anything, she could just say it was because of the magic.  

Thinking so, Grace said,  

“My mind is unsettled, and I can’t organize my thoughts.”  

At her words, Leonardo tilted his head as if something was off but soon nodded in agreement.  

He, too, had felt that way lately.  

“By the way, how long does this state last?”  

Grace asked, shaking off Leonardo’s hand still holding hers.  

She felt a bit regretful that the warmth disappeared so quickly.  

‘What’s there to regret?’  

Grace, who flatly denied her feelings, looked at Leonardo, who seemed slightly shocked, and asked again.  

“How many hours will this state last? I just asked, Sir.”

Her words made Leonardo flinch.  

Then he took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and answered Grace.  

“I estimate it lasts only two to three hours. It just passed two hours, so it should change soon.”  

Grace nodded at his words.  

After thinking for a moment, she suggested to Leonardo,  

“It seems we’ll be in this state for a while… We should get used to each other’s bodies.”  

Leonardo was so surprised by her words that he couldn’t respond for a moment.  

The flesh-colored dream he had last time flashed vividly in his mind. As if he was seeing it right in front of him. Though Grace’s words probably didn’t mean that, surely not… 

“Could you explain what you mean?”  

Leonardo managed to speak in a proper voice.  

He was grateful for his efforts to maintain composure. But he felt exposed under Grace’s gaze, as if his ugliness was laid bare.  

If that moment had lasted a bit longer, he might have uttered nonsense.  

“Last time, it seemed like you weren’t fully utilizing the strengths of your body, Sir Fernandez.”  

Grace pointed to where the sword was displayed.  

“Until this issue is resolved, let’s practice swordsmanship with each other’s bodies every day.”  

“…….”  

“By getting used to each other’s bodies, we won’t die immediately in any situation.”  

As she finished speaking, Leonardo felt an inexplicable sense of emptiness.  

At the same time, he clearly remembered why he disliked Grace and the reasons he had loathed her until now.  

‘She’s just a brute of a knight who knows nothing but the sword.’

Somehow, he felt very unpleasant.  

Grace thought, even though the magic was beyond her control, she couldn’t just sit idly by. As part of that, she decided to distance herself a bit more from Leonardo.

Unlike before, when she called him by his name, addressing him as ‘Sir Fernandez’ was one of the methods she devised.  

‘If I keep distancing myself little by little, even the affection I have will fade.’  

Though she wasn’t sure if there was any affection to fade, given the current situation…  

‘Who knows if some affection might develop soon.’  

She didn’t know why she was having such strange dreams, but what if she kept having the same dream?

Moreover, if she continued being in a confined space with him while having such dreams, something might really happen.

‘How can I guarantee the future! Especially after going through something like this!’

In other words, Grace had reached a very reasonable conclusion based on her experiences so far.