IF Side Story. Mihail (2)

Splash……!

Water droplets scattered like jewels around Mihail and Seraphina as they resurfaced.

Soft light flickered over the two completely soaked people. It was a harmonious light created by the faint moonlight and the light flowing from the building.

The color reflecting off their wet skin seemed both golden and silver.

Mysterious and enchanting.

Thinking this, Mihail looked down at Seraphina with profound eyes. She was also looking up at him with gently moving eyes.

It was a beautiful moment like a painting—the night sky covered with a black curtain, stars twinkling above, and below, two people immersed in the Nilda River, gazing at each other.

“Light.”

A small whisper flowed from Mihail’s mouth.

The purification light that Seraphina created—his favorite.

Looking at it made him feel like all the world’s worries disappeared. His mind became peaceful, cozy as if finding a sanctuary, and also complete.

Saa……

Mihail leaned his face against the faint light she emitted. After kissing her palm, he raised his head and looked into her brown eyes with an orange tint.

She smiled with dazzling eyes that seemed to bewitch people.

“Do you like this light that much?”

“Only the ones you make.”

“You’re really strange. Your taste is, how to say it……”

Watching her search for words, Mihail interrupted,

“So do you hate it?”

“……?”

“I’m asking if you hate my strange taste.”

“Ah, well.”

Mihail raised one eyebrow as he watched Seraphina make a thoughtful expression. Judging by her eyes, they were full of mischief.

This woman, so cute.

“Your answer?”

“Well. Do I hate it, or do I like it……”

As Seraphina trailed off, Mihail quietly gazed at her with profound eyes, then impulsively grabbed her hand that had been emitting light. Like a lover holding hands.

Seraphina’s eyes widened like a surprised rabbit. With that, the purification light also disappeared. Was it crazy to find even this cute?

Haha……

Inwardly letting out a slightly insane chuckle, Mihail moved to the next step. Just as he immersed himself in the Nilda River, he wanted to be completely immersed in this woman.

“Is holding hands not strange? Then how about this?”

“Mihail……!”

When he wrapped his arm around her waist in the water, she was startled, as if burned. But she didn’t completely avoid it.

“How about this?”

Now Mihail pulled her waist close.

Their bodies touched intimately. Perhaps because they were wet, the sensation of the overlapping parts felt even more vivid.

“Isn’t it natural rather than strange?”

Whispering words that were ambiguously a question or not, Mihail tilted his head.

His lips overlapped with Seraphina’s. Under the moonlight, she closed her eyes tightly and accepted Mihail’s kiss.

Mihail felt his heart tickle.

I should have done this earlier.

If he had known her lips would be this soft and sweet like whipped cream, he wouldn’t have done such a foolish thing as clinging only to her palm for years. The texture made him want to gently hold it in his mouth and then swallow it whole.

“Mmm……”

Doesn’t making sounds like this drive one even crazier?

Mihail slid one hand through her hair like a fish, cradling the back of her head, while his other hand held her waist more firmly.

Even when they rode horses side by side in the desert, he wished that moment would last forever, but this moment was wonderful too.

If only life with her could last forever.

As he fell into these sweet thoughts, Seraphina fidgeted. Now that he noticed, she seemed somewhat urgent.

Sensing this keenly, Mihail removed his lips and checked her complexion. Or rather, he tried to.

But Seraphina was faster.

“Achoo!”

“……”

Spit sprayed on his face before he could avoid it.

However, Mihail acted as if it was nothing, dipped his hand in the river water, wiped his face, and looked at Seraphina with a serious expression.

“Have you…… caught a cold?”

“Well, I, hm, aachoo!”

Oh dear.

She caught a cold.

I told her we should go in early.

Mihail slightly narrowed his brows like looking at a tomboy, remembering Seraphina who had insisted on watching the sunset.

“Didn’t I say desert nights are cold?”

“Hmm, I was sure I could endure it.”

“So you endured and caught a cold?”

When he made a stern expression as if scolding a child, Seraphina glumly pressed her lips together and drooped her shoulders.

She must have been incredibly cute when she sulked as a child. It wasn’t difficult to imagine a smaller version of her superimposed over the grown woman.

I must be truly crazy about this woman. Thinking this, Mihail couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.

She was so cute that even scolding her was difficult.

“This won’t do.”

“What won’t? Ah!”

Splash……!

Instead of answering, Mihail grabbed Seraphina’s waist and lifted her above the water’s surface. After setting her on the terrace floor connected to the Nilda River, he also came out of the water with a light movement.

When Seraphina looked up at him as if asking what he was doing, Mihail attractively lifted the corner of his mouth and wrapped her in a large towel that was prepared on one side. Then he picked her up with both arms.

“To wash in warm water.”

“What……!”

Seraphina was so flustered she couldn’t finish her sentence. Her face turned as red as a ripe tomato.

Though it was obvious what she was thinking, Mihail deliberately didn’t clear up the misunderstanding.

Seraphina was about to say something but closed her mouth with a ‘hup’ when servants passed through the corridor. Soon she questioned him just loud enough for only Mihail to hear.

“Are you crazy? Where are we washing together!”

“I never said together.”

“……!”

Now even her neck turned red.

Mihail hummed a tune with a mischievous smile deeply held on his lips. Seraphina became docile in his arms, stiff with embarrassment.

Why are such foolish pranks so fun?

Feeling a pleasant flutter, Mihail ordered a servant who happened to be passing through the corridor.

“Would you prepare Lady Sera’s bath water?”

“Yes, Commander.”

The servant glanced at the two soaking wet people and bowed deeply. Worried about causing unnecessary misunderstandings, Seraphina could be seen fidgeting, unable to do this or that.

Mihail thought about teasing her a bit more but decided to let her off.

“Please prepare mine as well.”

“Ah….. Yes, I understand.”

Having apparently misunderstood that they would bathe together, the servant was momentarily confused before promptly answering. Then he hurried toward where Seraphina’s room was located.

Following leisurely behind, Mihail regretted the imminent parting. Though they had been together all day, even this brief separation at night felt so difficult.

Perhaps that’s why.

After taking Seraphina to her room, returning to his own room to bathe, Mihail came back along the corridor the way he had come.

Knock knock.

When he knocked on the door, a response came from inside.

“Yes. Come in.”

“Do you willingly invite someone in at this hour without knowing who it is?”

Mihail asked a crooked question as he entered Seraphina’s room.

She had washed her body in warm water and was ready for bed. That is, she was greeting her night visitor with only her face peeking out from under the covers.

In other words, in a very cute and deadly appearance.

“I knew it was you and told you to come in.”

Ah.

So that’s how it was.

Feeling his heart instantly melt, Mihail strode to the bedside.

Seraphina had apparently thought he would sit at the edge of the bed, as she opened her eyes wide in surprise when he lifted the blanket and got in.

“You’ll catch my cold!”

The flustered woman dissuaded him with concern.

But Mihail didn’t mind and did as his heart dictated. He lay down next to her under the same blanket.

Looking at Seraphina’s gently trembling eyes, Mihail softly stroked her cheek. A subdued voice flowed from his mouth.

“That’s my wish. To catch your cold.”

“……!”

“Is that strange?”

The sensual question seeped into the night air. Seraphina couldn’t answer easily and blushed her cheeks red.

Mihail lightly stole a kiss and then met her eyes again.

Seraphina moved her lips before belatedly answering.

“No. It’s natural.”

Mihail’s gaze deepened. Seraphina filled his teal eyes completely.

As his eyelids closed, Mihail kissed her again.

This time deeper.

So that he could catch her cold.

* * *

Bright light stabbed through his closed eyelids.

When he first recognized this, Mihail was momentarily confused by the cognitive dissonance that overwhelmed him.

It was clearly night……

Ah.

As he slowly opened his eyes, he saw the newly brightening sky beyond the window of the hideout located in the bustling district. The moment he realized what was reality, Mihail felt like his breath was choked by an unavoidable thirst.

Desert mirage.

It was the perfect expression to describe the pathetic fantasy he had continued until dawn.

“Haha……”

A bitter laugh escaped at his own foolishness.

Mihail alternated between laughing like a deranged person and being deathly quiet.

How amusing.

One hurts as much as one loves…….

What a mysterious world.

Though he already knew this fact, he was realizing it in this way for the first time. Leaving his hollowed heart abandoned to the side, Mihail relied solely on the power of reason to get up.

Though the desert had regained peace, regular patrols continued.

“A camel would be good today.”

Slow and leisurely.

Like setting out for a desert excursion.