Chapter 51
BACKTICK`CHAPTER_TITLE: The Forbidden View
Nefertia took a small breath.
Bright sunlight poured down onto the intricately woven bamboo huts. The heat and steam combined to create a dazzling light.
Behind the thin leather screens, the silhouettes were boldly, unmistakably revealing Arkin’s body as though they were putting on some shadow play.
The slim waist that had been hidden under the tunic, the long legs, the firm buttocks, and every other part that shook with his movement—all laid bare without shame.
Whether a man’s body or a woman’s, Nefertia had seen such things before. In Kepet, showing naked flesh was not only impolite but inappropriate. Yet seeing someone’s bare skin wasn’t particularly shocking to her.
For example, during the annual Fertility Festival, selected men and women wore nothing but special decorative bands and danced the ancient Fertility Dance passed down from their ancestors.
It was returning to the pure heart in which the gods had first shaped humanity, offering sincere devotion.
She had watched such ceremonies many times as a child, so seeing Arkin naked now shouldn’t have been so strange.
But it was nothing like she had expected.
Tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome—her eyes kept rubbing, yet she still couldn’t stop staring. She suspected no one in this world could compare to him.
If she had to compare him to something… a stallion?
That was exactly why she had bathed thoroughly earlier but kept lingering outside the bathhouse, peeking at Arkin all the while.
Nefertia wrung the water from her hair while stealing side glances at the screen. Just as the urge to lift it grew stronger, her hand that had been smoothing her hair suddenly froze.
Wasn’t that the issue?
“It” was growing from Arkin’s body.
Nefertia’s hand that had been playing with her hair stopped. The thing that had been writhing beneath him and gaining strength first lifted its head, then gradually shaped itself into a tall, sturdy form and rose.
Even while Nefertia watched with her hand over her mouth, it continued to swell, growing fuller and thicker. Ever larger, ever more imposing.
My goodness… what is that?
Nefertia’s eyes widened.
***
The thing stood proudly erect, its lower abdomen pulling painfully tight.
Arkin’s mind was spinning. He pressed both hands over his face and took a deep breath. What was he to do? He couldn’t hide it here. Though he had held his breath and suppressed it while listening to the silhouette beyond the screen, the thing remained as hard as iron and refused to soften.
Why again… this can’t be happening.
Arkin squeezed his eyes shut as water dripped from his hair. He felt like he might lose his mind. His waist was throbbing with pain from the blood rushing there, and there was no way to stop it. His veins were bulging as he fought an erection, and Nefertia was still waiting right beside the screen.
What if he looked like this all day? What would happen if Nefertia saw him like this?
“Arkin, are you all right? Any discomfort?”
“Eh? Uh…”
Arkin bit his lip hard. His voice cracked. If Nefertia looked at him, said she wanted him, and touched him more… then what?
“I’m… fine.”
Arkin remained frozen, unable to move or speak. Even now, standing like this, if Nefertia knew and came over to take him by the hand, he wouldn’t have the strength to resist. He would be utterly conquered.
…And from that point on, a cold, painful reality would open its jaws and swallow them both. The two of them would have to take responsibility for their actions however they could. It might grow too far to fix.
Ah, damn it.
Arkin regretted it. Now and then, Arkin had only ever wanted the throne of Solinar. But because that position had suddenly become a chain around his neck, he had only wanted a brief, sweet escape from it.
So he had let things go as they would and followed the impulse to help Nefertia.
But… maybe that had been a mistake. Here they were, trapped in this exact situation.
Arkin hesitated for a long time, unsure what to do, then carefully lowered his hand and gave his penis a light squeeze. This was wrong. He shouldn’t be doing this.
When he had taken the Oath of Chastity in his youth, the priest of the Solinar Shrine had brought a huge clay pot and smashed it on the floor. “Pick up the broken pieces and glue them back together.” The vessel made with hasty mortar never held anything properly.
“Once, just once, is the result that cannot be reversed.”
The priest glared at him, warning him. No matter how well you glued it, the pot would always be broken. It could shatter again at any time.
Arkin gripped the hard flesh pillar and closed his eyes tight. This time I’ll stop it. This is a sacred sacrifice. Even if it becomes a broken pot, a shattered vessel…
Still, he believed it was better than letting his mind slip and spending the night tangled with Nefertia. After all, this was to prevent a major accident between them… I can handle it alone…
“Arkin?”
Nefertia’s voice calling him from beside the screen sent an unknown thrill tightening Arkin’s breath. Guilt and a maddening pleasure mixed and bubbled up together. Arkin had been thinking and thinking until the end, and finally made a resolute decision.
“Hey… once you’ve finished bathing, you can go first, Nefertia. I’ll be along soon.”
***
“Nefertia, how was the mood with Arkin this morning? Was it good?”
As Nefertia entered the empty field near the elephant enclosure, Zafiri greeted her warmly.
“Your face is really red. Did someone secretly kiss you? The Solinar prince seems pretty dangerous, you know.”
“No. It’s nothing like that.”
With an awkward smile, Nefertia turned her head away. A cool breeze and warm sunlight caressed her still-damp skin, making her body feel pleasantly lazy.
In the distance, Arkin’s silhouette leaned against the olive tree. When the golden hair stirred in the breeze beneath the spreading shade, it sparkled as though drinking in the sunlight.
Nefertia studied him with new eyes. He looked as proper and elegant as ever, but when she layered today’s morning events over that image, her feelings grew strangely complicated.
She wondered if anyone here had ever seen his other side.
For example, how he had embraced her in the mud last night and held her for so long in a daze, or how he had come out of the bath looking exactly as he had after sending her away in that state.
What exactly had he done in that narrow, humid bath for so long?
Nefertia stood with her face still flushed when a voice called her from behind.
“Handsome, right? I think you’ll find him irresistible.”
Nefertia turned to look at the owner of the voice. Princess Serena of Lakelium stood there. Her tone was gentle and soft, but her eyes were sharp and cold as daggers.
“Who?”
Even though Nefertia already knew who she was referring to, Serena deliberately pretended not to and asked. Serena’s lips curled in what looked like a smile of pity.
“Arkin Seilir, of course. You two seem closer than ever now.”
Serena’s green eyes fixed on Nefertia. She was a strikingly beautiful woman like a finely crafted doll, yet an unmistakable darkness lingered on her face. She had no intention of making friends.
“This morning we came to fetch the elephants together…”
“Yes, I know. Arkin himself offered to help you. Correct?”
Serena’s tone was pointed and displeased, hiding nothing of her jealousy as she looked at Nefertia with sharp eyes.
“I’m warning you—don’t toy with him. Don’t be so crude as to seduce him and damage the prince’s dignity.”
“Am I being crude?”
Nefertia asked calmly. Serena let out a scoff.
“Then I am? Arkin has been diligently preparing the path for his future. You don’t even know him, yet you’re acting as if he’s yours right away.”
“I’m not close to him at all.”
“Do you really think that? Truly?”
“We are….”
“To others, the subtle current between you and him may not be visible. But I know Arkin very well. So just from looking at his face, I can tell everything.”
Without taking her eyes off the stunned Nefertia, Serena struck like a blade.
“He is meant to sit on the throne of Solinar. If word spreads that the Kepet princess is getting along with him here, his throne will be in danger. So keep your distance. Do not toy with him.”