I Thought I Was Married, But I Was Left Alone, So I'll Live as I Please. So Please Don't Mind Me Anymore, My Lord of the Border - Chapter 15

Outside, I could hear the sounds of knights training. The clashing of swords and the mixing of potions, blended with the voices of Quinn and Slay talking about something.

Amidst all that, I was still in bed.

Lord Oliver had told me to rest well before leaving the tent, but there was no way I could sleep in this bed that still carried his scent.

My chest felt restless and unsettled.

The aroma of soup still lingered in the air, reminding me that he had been in this space just moments ago.

Lord Oliver’s attitude and voice were different from how they had been until yesterday.

Was it a change in his feelings, or was it just my perception…?

The expression on Lord Oliver’s face last night was burned into the back of my eyelids and wouldn’t fade.

“I’ve had enough of this.”

I couldn’t stop thinking about Lord Oliver.

Every time I remembered it, the heat, tenderness, and warmth from last night tangled my heart into a mess.

He let me hold him.

Should I say I defiled his noble body?

Even so, I couldn’t stop the feeling that I was glad it was Lord Oliver.

Guilt, relief, and a little bit of happiness.

I wanted all of it to disappear, but none of it would go away.

“Ah, enough! No, that’s not it.”

I came here as an alchemist.

It’s for the mission. This isn’t a place to bring personal feelings.

“…I have to work.”

I stood up. My legs trembled, but I wasn’t about to collapse.

I cast a light body-enhancement spell and forced my back straight.

My face reflected in the metal plate serving as a mirror was still pale.

It wasn’t so much from lack of sleep as it was from clinging to lingering feelings, and it was pathetic.

I love you.

Those words, lingering deep in my ears, echoed repeatedly like an auditory hallucination, tangling my heart.

As if scolding myself, I lightly slapped my cheeks with both hands.

“I am an alchemist.”

I told myself that and clenched the hands resting on my knees tightly.

I won’t repeat something like that with Lord Oliver again.

That’s proper etiquette, and it’s also my atonement.

Because I can’t be his fiancée.

After that, I took clothes from the luggage Lord Oliver had brought for me and changed.

I put on my pants and shirt. For some reason, I couldn’t find my robe, so I gave up.

Thanks to the body-enhancement spell, I could move without any problems.

First, I had to eat, so I drank the cold soup and chewed on some bread.

It had cooled down and tasted saltier, but it was still plenty delicious.

To save the trouble of washing up, I wiped the bowl clean with the bread and finished my meal.

“Alright, thank you for the meal. Time to work!”

Carrying the dishes, I stepped outside the tent.

“Huh? Ash. Are you feeling better already?”

“I heard from Lady Nia—they said you collapsed?”

Quinn and Slay came running over when they spotted me.

“Oh, I’m fine now. Sorry about that.”

“If you collapsed, it must’ve been pretty bad. You should rest.”

Slay peered into my face with a worried expression.

“Do you need medicine? What do you need?”

Quinn rummaged noisily through his compressed bag.

“I’ve got painkillers, nutrients, and antibiotics.”

“Just take them all.”

They tried to push a handful of medicine from their bags onto me.

Wait a minute, if I took all that, the side effects would kill me for real.

Put them away.

I returned the medicine they were pushing on me back into both Quinn’s and Slay’s bags.

“I told you, I’m fine now. But thanks for worrying.”

“Ash, you’ve gotta be in good shape.”

“Yeah, you’ve gotta be at your alchemy-obsessed best.”

“Hey, that’s not a compliment.”

“It is a compliment.”

“We respect you too!”

After a bit of playful banter, the three of us went to check on the Envy Mushrooms.

The upper parts had withered and crumbled, but the roots remained neatly intact, about ten centimeters from the base.

“We should dig into the soil and pour some potion inside too.”

“Oh, right.”

“Should we just dig them up?”

“Don’t. If aphrodisiac gas has pooled around the roots, it’d be a disaster.”

“Ugh… you’re right.”

Besides, last night was already a disaster…

I almost remembered yesterday and shook my head in a panic.

I absolutely don’t want to end up in an orgy with the knights deep in the demon forest because of aphrodisiac gas.

“Let’s be careful and use an injector to pour it in.”

“Got it.”

“We’ve got plenty of potion left. How much should we use?”

“Let’s do one from each side.”

“Roger!”

“Understood.”

We filled the injector with potion from a large bottle and poured it into the soil.

“We’ll observe it for another night, but aphrodisiac gas might leak out, so don’t get too close.”

“Aye aye.”

“Yes!”

I led the two, who replied energetically, away from the spot.

“What’s next?”

“We collected bark, moss, and soil samples from the area.”

“If there are any wild herbs you’re curious about, preserve them with the soil, and then…”

“Ash.”

“!?”

A low, growling voice called my name.

I froze at the sound, which carried clear anger.

When I cautiously turned around, Lord Oliver was glaring down at me, holding my robe.

“I told you to rest today, didn’t I?”

“I’m fine now…!”

“Hoh…”

Lord Oliver narrowed his eyes and draped the robe over me. It was clean, as if he’d had it washed.

I opened my mouth to thank him, but the sensation of his hand smoothly stroking my waist stopped me.

“Eek…!?”

A strange sound escaped me, and I hurriedly covered my mouth with both hands.

As surrounding gazes gathered on us, he continued stroking me.

If he kept this up, someone would hear me making noises.

My body trembled as I desperately tried to endure, but then his fingers slipped through a gap in my clothes.

The vivid sensation of his fingers broke my concentration, and the body-enhancement spell wore off, causing me to slump to the ground.

“See? You’re not fully recovered yet, are you?”

“…!”

Whose fault is that…!

Even though I wanted to say it, Lord Oliver crouched beside me as if concerned and didn’t stop stroking my waist.

Since my robe hid it from others, it just looked like he was genuinely caring for me. It was infuriating.

Sexual harassment, aaah!

I wanted to complain, but if I moved my hands, I was afraid I’d make strange noises, so I couldn’t say anything.

“Let’s go, Ash. Nia, I leave the rest to you.”

“Understood.”

Lord Oliver picked me up and began walking briskly.

No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t move. Even though I was just being carried sideways, some technique kept me immobilized.

What’s going on!?

As I squirmed helplessly in my immobilized state, Lord Oliver sighed above my head.

“Really, nothing goes as I want with you.”

“I’m fine now!”

“Say that when you can stand without using magic.”

“…Guh.”

I was taken back to Lord Oliver’s tent and laid on the bed.

“If I’m resting, I should do it in my own tent.”

“I doubt you’d rest quietly there.”

“…”

As I resisted Lord Oliver, who seemed intent on putting me to bed, he raised an eyebrow irritably and leaned over me.

I saw Lord Oliver’s expression soften into a smile.

“Shall I lie down with you?”

He whispered low by my ear, and I felt a serious intent that went beyond joking, so I stopped resisting.

“!? I’ll sleep! Good night!!”

I hurriedly pulled the blanket over my head.

“That’s better. I’ll be keeping watch here.”

I heard the sound of him sitting in a chair.

As I squirmed and turned over, he patted my back rhythmically, tap-tap, as if soothing me over the blanket.

I’m not a child.

Even as I thought that, warm memories of my parents overlapped in my mind.

Before I knew it, wrapped in Lord Oliver’s scent, I had fallen asleep.