“Mmm.”

I tightened my grip on the showerhead.

“I didn’t ask for any kind of goodwill, but I still didn’t expect her to do this.”

“Why on earth were you even at Rosaline’s party?”

“I couldn’t refuse the invitation,” I replied, feeling a bit drained. “The princess insisted that I attend. I couldn’t reject her.”

“And what about the tea baptism?”

“That was unexpected.”

It was to be expected that the people at today’s tea party would give me a hard time.

After all, this was a tea party hosted by Lady Rosaline, who was hostile to Kyle.

But even if I expected some harassment, I thought it would be limited to verbal disputes among a group of people. I didn’t anticipate it would escalate to direct infliction of harm like this.

Kyle hasn’t even been officially crowned as the prince, yet here I am facing such scrutiny. Does that mean I am seen as a threatening presence to them?

“Phew.”

Frustration surged, and I let out a sigh.

Suddenly, I noticed Kyle kneeling in front of me.

His clothes were slightly wet due to the water stream from the showerhead.

I felt a renewed sense of gratitude towards Kyle.

This was the first time I met Kyle since I returned home.

He had been extremely busy lately, to the point of postponing his promise to visit our house.

It seems like he came to see me today after hearing the news of my visit to the palace…

If I hadn’t met Kyle, I wouldn’t have been able to handle the situation until I arrived at the main gate where Lisa was waiting.

I couldn’t just barge into a room in the palace and leave it unlocked.

I would have ended up walking through the palace in a dress covered in red spots.

I shuddered at the thought of it.

Squeak.

Feeling the temperature of my skin had cooled down a bit, I turned off the water. Then, Kyle closed his eyes and took something out of his pocket.

“Just a moment, Vivi.”

What he pulled out was a small, cylindrical jar of ointment. Kyle skillfully twisted the lid off and scooped out a generous amount of ointment with his fingers.

“Let’s put it on before it gets worse.”

I had a moment of dubiousness.

Why does Kyle have ointment?

It’s not the Academy, and there’s no way he’d need it now.

Lost in thought, I didn’t notice Kyle’s hand moving closer and closer to my thigh.

Tap.

And when his hand touched the skin of my body, I jerked back.

“Wait, hold on!”

What is he doing?!

In a panic, I lowered my skirt, which I had pulled up to my knees.

The heat was suddenly coming from my head, not my legs.

I pushed Kyle’s shoulders away, unsure when he had gotten so close.

“I’ll do it myself! Kyle, just leave now.” 

“Can you do it by yourself?

“Yeah! I can do it!”

“Okay.”

Kyle handed me the tube of ointment and calmly stood up from his seat.

Then, still with his eyes closed, he naturally walked out of the bathroom.

Thud.

The door closed, and finally, Kyle disappeared from my sight.

I remained seated there, trembling, and let out a silent scream.

Ahhh!

Crazy, crazy!

What the hell did I just do?

What if I had stayed there quietly? Was I really about to ask Kyle to apply ointment to my thigh?

It felt like Kyle’s hand lightly touched my thigh for just a moment.

Suddenly, my gaze fell upon the mirror hanging on the wall.

In the mirror, there was a girl with a reddened face, as if it could burst into flames at any moment, who seemed utterly clueless about what to do.

“Ugh, I’m in trouble.”

Struggling against the overwhelming embarrassment, I belatedly regained my composure and straightened my attire.

First, I lifted up the damp skirt and checked my thigh. There was a slightly reddish mark left on my fair skin. 

“Fortunately, it doesn’t look too bad.”

Taking a deep breath, I opened the lid of the ointment that Kyle had handed me.

The ointment seemed partially empty, as if someone had already used it.

I scooped up the transparent cream and spread it thinly on the reddened skin.

Swiftly applying the ointment, I reflected on the question that had crossed my mind earlier.

“Why does Kyle have ointment for wounds?”

The ointment was not handed to Kyle by the servant.

The maid who was supposed to bring me the clothes I would change into hadn’t arrived yet either.

In other words, it belonged to Kyle….

“But there’s no reason for Kyle to need this ointment anymore.”

When we were at the Arene Academy, Kyle would occasionally sustain injuries during training or sparring.

Holding a sword all day would leave his palms blistered.

It was only a matter of time before calluses formed and then burst.

Thanks to that, I would diligently provide Kyle with ointment that was good for treating wounds.

However, that only lasted for the first few years.

As time went on, Kyle grew formidable, and situations where he would get injured decreased rapidly.

In the last swordsmanship tournament  he participated in, he won without even breaking a sweat.

Moreover, Kyle isn’t even at the academy anymore. He probably engages in light training just to maintain his senses even when wielding a sword, but there wouldn’t be any intense sparring that would require applying ointment to treat wounds.

“No way….”

A momentary uneasiness brushed through my mind.

“It couldn’t be Titania, could it?”

The thought that came to me made my blood run cold.

Kyle is becoming an adult soon. He’s no longer an eleven-year-old child who suffered in Titania’s abuse and the emperor’s neglect.

Furthermore, Kyle is a sword expert.

But someone like Kyle… getting hit?

“No way. It can’t be,” I murmured, shaking my head.

Nah, it’s impossible.

“There’s no way.”

But the uneasiness still lingered in my heart.

I stared at the ointment in my hand, unable to shake off the unease. It looked new, which made me more suspicious.

Then, I heard a knock at the door.

“Miss Vivian, I’m here!”

“Lisa?”

I stood up from my seat and opened the closed door.

My personal maid, Lisa, was standing outside the bathroom, holding a large bag in her arms.

“Miss, the servant told me about it. What’s going on!”

“Come in first.”

I stepped aside for Lisa to enter. A quick glance inside the room revealed no Kyle.

Once inside the bathroom, Lisa was horrified at the sight of me.

“Your newly fitted dress is a mess!”

“It’s not just the clothes.”

I briefly showed my thigh to Lisa, and her eyes widened.

“Are you alright?!”

“Yeah, I got the heat down.”

“Did you put any medicine on it?”

I shook the ointment bottle that Kyle had given me in front of her.

Finally, Lisa stopped fretting and worrying, but her eyes still held concern.

As Lisa wrapped a bandage around my thigh, she spoke.

“We should properly treat it once we return to the mansion.”

“Did you bring any clothes?”

“Yes, I’ll help you change right away.”

With Lisa’s assistance, I quickly changed into new clothes.

As Lisa packed the soaked and heavy dress into the bag, she looked distressed.

“What on earth happened at the tea party?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I’m so sorry, Miss. You got hurt like this…”

Yeah, that’s right. I sighed inwardly.

By the time I was fully dressed and out of the bathroom, Kyle had returned to the room. He noticed that I was done fixing myself up and approached me quickly.

“Vivi, are you okay? Did you apply the ointment?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

I tried my best to hide the embarrassment and gratefully thanked him. At the same time, I scanned Kyle’s body with my eyes.

I couldn’t help but suspect that there might be marks left by the lashes Titania created on his body.

If I were younger, I would have immediately stripped Kyle to check…

But after what just happened, there’s no way… I can’t do it.

I fanned my face, which was starting to feel hot again, and turned to Kyle.

“I’m glad you had the ointment. But where did you get it?”

“I often need it during sword training. I always carry it with me.”

“I see.”

Yeah, it’s not Kyle’s fault.

Titania might have hit Kyle again.

I really had an outrageous thought.

At that moment, Kyle reached out his hand to me.

“Let’s go, Vivi. I’ll take you home.”

I nodded and took Kyle’s outstretched hand.

Inside the palace, carriages were not allowed to be used for traveling, except with the royal family and very special exceptions.

That was why I’d left my carriage at the front gate when I’d been invited to the tea party.

But as I walked out of the building with Kyle, I noticed a carriage waiting in front of the building.

Upon closer inspection, I saw the emblem of the royal family engraved on the exterior of the carriage.

Kyle opened the carriage door for me personally.

“Get in, Vivi.”

“Did you prepare this carriage, by any chance?”

I looked around the carriage in astonishment and asked. Kyle responded casually as if it was nothing.

“Yeah. You’re injured, so you can’t walk.”

“But I can’t ride a carriage inside the palace…”

“It’s fine since I’m riding with you. Besides, who would blame Vivi just for riding in a carriage today?”