Raoul escorted Diana all the way to the castle.

“You can go now…”

“I’ll escort you until you return to your room.”

“…Alright, then.”

Diana accepted his kindness without further protest. Raoul walked along the narrow path, glancing around at the surrounding scenery.

“Nothing has changed here. It’s the same path I used to walk with you.”

“Because there’s no one to manage it…”

As the moonlight descended, shadows fell across the contours of his face.

‘I can’t believe he’s my lover…’

Even looking at him again, his appearance was truly fantastic.

His silver hair that ended shortly in the middle of his neck, his umbrella-like long eyelashes, and his features that looked as if they were measured with a ruler all seemed like they belonged in a myth.

Naturally, the body attached below his neck was also perfect to the point of inspiring awe.

Diana held her breath, recalling his thick frame that couldn’t be covered by just a cloak, the wing bones and broad back that overflowed in her two hands, and the clavicles that were soft but a little hard.

Just thinking about it made blood rush to her face, and her heart pounded as if she were committing a bad deed.

That’s when it happened. Raoul, who had been walking taciturnly while only looking ahead, wrapped his little finger around Diana’s and turned his head.

“You look like you’re going to bore a hole in my face…”

“Huh…? What did you say…?”

“Just look at me openly. I’m yours, so why are you stealing glances? You can just look.”

The back of his neck that had turned to the opposite side took on a cherry blossom-like pink hue.

His ears, which always turned red when he was embarrassed, were dyed as red as if they were on fire, looking like a cluster of camellia flowers.

Ah, at that moment, fireworks went off in her heart. She felt like she finally knew what she had been longing for.

‘Yes, I guess I’ve been missing this kind of ordinary daily life.’

Enjoying walks together, having her heart race just from making eye contact, and getting to know each other carefully during that time.

Thinking that this was such a moment, even though her appearance was shabby, her heart felt joyful and happy.

Diana murmured shyly with a smile.

“Yes, when you say it like that, it feels like we’re on a date… It’s nice.”

She was always in a hurry, eager to imitate a ripe couple.

Because there was no time, she was anxious to leave as many traces of each other as possible.

However, Diana also liked this kind of romance.

The innocent love that made her heart pound just by breathing like before… She felt a little excited, as if she were enjoying a romance no different from others.

But Raoul was silent, as if lost in thought.

The gaze that stared blankly seemed to have a more transparent water color than usual, but he was quiet. It was in the midst of this happy walk continuing.

At the end of the narrow path, a familiar flower garden came into view.

“Oh my! Come out here, everyone! Diana is here!”

Flower buds opened and hundreds of wings flapped simultaneously beyond the white light.

It was the nymphs’ forest.

Although she could have washed in the annex, she was worried that Lou would be concerned.

Fortunately, there was a place suitable for bathing where people’s eyes couldn’t reach.

It was the waterfall where she had fought a fierce battle with the water serpent a few years ago.

“You rascal! You come over here! Get away from the flowers!”

The nymphs surrounded Raoul and chased him far away from Diana.

Poor Raoul had to wait obediently by a tree at the corner of the garden until the short welcome party was over.

“I was right after all. I knew from the beginning that you two would become lovers!”

“Who? Who confessed first? Who liked whom first?”

The nymphs surrounded Diana and poured out over a hundred questions.

“Of course I liked him first… Come to think of it, I confessed first too. Although it was when we were very young…”

“Aaah! That’s infuriating! Your mother would faint if she heard that!”

“My mother…?”

“Yes. Your mother rejected the duke several times. Although she eventually fell for him, unable to resist his courtship.”

“My father courted my mother?”

“What do you mean…? Merrieas built a strange annex in the middle of the forest, worried that you might be lonely. He started trade with the Eastern Continent to obtain the materials that went into it. When it came to being crazy in love, your father was no less than a lycan.”

‘My father loved my mother?’ It was a story she could hardly believe. Her father in love…

When Diana was about to ask a few more questions about her mother, the nymphs turned their attention back to the couple’s romance.

“Do you still transform into a wolf these days? Is it still cute?”

“…No way. Revealing one’s true form is a great humiliation for a lycan. It’s cute, but how could he show that appearance?”

The nymphs giggled and pulled Diana’s earlobe.

“Oh my, it seems like you want to see it?”

“Well… Sometimes?”

“Then ask him to show you in bed. I heard that lycans show their original form after bedtime.”

A nymph who approached her ear whispered softly as if telling a secret.

“Why?”

“After imprinting, they are completely loyal to their wife’s words. He’ll show you his embarrassing appearance as much as you want. If it’s your request.”

She had never thought about imprinting. But if the two of them became husband and wife, it was something they would eventually do.

Diana asked, pausing slightly.

“…But what if the husband doesn’t want to show it? That’s forcing him.”

“Oh, aren’t you curious about his intimate appearance that others can’t see?”

“Of course I’m curious… But I don’t want to force him.”

The nymph whispered in her ear again with a sinister expression.

“You don’t need to feel sorry. On the contrary, he’ll secretly be happy. Lycans want to be loved by their wife even for their most hideous appearance.”

Diana glanced at Raoul, who was leaning in the distance, and said,

“I’ll… think about it. We’re still in the early stages of dating, so we’re not that close yet.”

Upon hearing that, the nymphs sighed with a regretful expression and said,

“You’re still not close? When we first saw you two, you already looked like lovers.”

Diana replied with a quite flustered expression.

“We only learned about each other’s feelings last winter at the earliest…”

“Sigh… How can we save this pitiful couple!”

The nymphs who were pondering suddenly clapped their hands and exclaimed,

“Right! You said you came to wash? Then try bathing together.”

“Ba- bathing together?”

“Yes, bathing together! Strengthening your relationship by washing off the dirt for each other.”

Diana jumped up and waved her hands.

“What are you talking about now?”

It was impossible.

“What’s wrong with that? Between lovers?”

“Yes. Don’t be shy. We’ll lend you some scented oil. Scented oil extracted from Silver Knight strengthens the bond between lovers. It also has a slight aphrodisiac effect, so the mood becomes very good.”

The nymphs had glass bottles containing scented oil in their hands, appearing from who knows where.

“Go now! Hurry!”

Urged by the clamor, her back was pushed.

When she turned her gaze, his situation wasn’t much different.

‘Wh- what kind of situation is this?’

Diana’s eyes widened and she mumbled towards Raoul.

“You just stay here…”

But her timid and small voice fell to the ground before it could even reach him.

Swooooosh!

The sound of the waterfall broke the silence of the forest.

Diana’s hair stood on end at the majestic sound.

Before she knew it, the noisy nymphs had disappeared, leaving only Raoul and Diana.

Diana hid the scented oil she was holding behind her back and scratched the ground with her foot.

“Uh… so… I’ll take off my clothes first… No, what am I saying! I need to wash, so could you turn around for a moment…?”

Raoul nodded and took off his robe, placing it on a rock near the lake.

‘Why are you taking it off…?’

A tactlessly loud sound came from her tense throat.

‘Don’t think strange thoughts!’

Fortunately, Raoul didn’t undress further and sat on the rock.

“Wear it when you’re done washing. The clothes you’re wearing now are dirty.”

‘That’s true…’

Diana was relieved and took off her clothes.

As she entered the water, wearing nothing at all, Raoul muttered anxiously.

“Don’t go too far. The water suddenly gets deep.”

“Yes… I’m right behind you. Don’t worry.”

“…”

For a while, she focused on washing her body.

Diana thoroughly washed off the bloodstains on her face, hair, arms, and legs, and poured scented oil over them.

Smelling the seductive fragrance that made her head tingle, the lewd stories she had just heard came to mind, making her cheeks burn.

‘Bathing together, that’s absurd… No matter how much we’re lovers, such an indecent act…’

It was the moment when Diana put her foot on the shore of the lake to put down the glass bottle.

Raoul mumbled in a low voice while rolling a pebble with his foot.

“…I should have bathed together.”

For a moment, Diana doubted her ears, wondering if she had misheard.

“Huh… huh?”

“I want to have a deeper relationship with you, I should have done it.”

Oh no, she had forgotten how good Raoul’s hearing was.

Even when they lived at opposite ends of the mansion in their childhood, he was the one who heard her short scream that even the servants couldn’t hear and came running.

There was no way he couldn’t have heard the conversation with the nymphs.

“That’s not what I meant. I meant that we are still lovers who haven’t been together for long…”

“I want you to fall deeply for me.”

“…I’m already deeply fallen for you… I was just flustered and made excuses when the topic of bathing together came up. I thought I should let them know we’re still in the early stages of dating…”

Raoul muttered in a listless voice.

“I want to make you a happy person, but I don’t know how. I have no idea how far I should approach to make you the happiest…”

Diana finally couldn’t stand it and got out of the lake.

When she put Raoul’s clothes that were placed on the rock over her body, they were more than ample, leaving a lot of room.

She tightly tied the robe she had put on twice and ran towards Raoul, who was sitting up.

And she hugged Raoul, who stood up as if to welcome her.

‘What should I do with this fool who only has a big body? I’m happy just being with you!’

As her wet hair brushed against the white tunic, the fabric naturally got soaked. Diana buried her face in it and took a deep breath.

As the cool scent of flesh penetrated to the tip of her nose, a rapture that was almost ecstatic rose in her chest.

Diana whispered in Raoul’s ear, standing on her tiptoes.

“Is it because of what you said at the pharmacy before?”

“…You look happier when I act like a friend than when I express my love.”

“When have we ever been just friends…? I’ve always liked you, and you said you liked me too. Then it’s not a simple friendship…”

“…”

“I don’t like it when you act like a friend, I like it when I can feel your sincerity. I like it when you’re in love… I like the peaceful moments when we talk… At those times, I want to hug you too. Like this… I want to…”

Diana said shyly, rubbing her lips against his neck.

Thick veins rose wherever the soft flesh touched.

‘I like it… You probably can’t even imagine how much I like you.’

The left chest she touched was pounding as if it would burst.

“But right now, I like it so much that I feel like my heart is going to explode. If you stimulate me too much, it might really burst…”

Raoul tilted his head and whispered softly.

“Then I want to hug you only to the point where it won’t burst…”

“Me too…”

Only then did Raoul put his arms around her back.

With the thin robe fabric in between, the soft and warm flesh touching made her feel like she was on top of a cloud.

The two of them whispered love to each other for a long time without letting go.

Not knowing that the nymphs were hiding behind the trees, watching this scene with satisfaction…