NOVEL WEB Chapter 195
Chapter: 195
The monster wave lasted a bit longer and a bit fiercer than I thought.
But it all came to an end before the week was up.
Outside the castle, there were countless monster corpses left behind, while the knights and many northern folks were busy dealing with the aftermath inside the castle.
I was tempted to go see all that again, but instead, I was just sitting quietly inside reading a book.
“It’s all over already. Can’t we go see it now?”
“Camelia.”
“No, there’s no danger at all now. There’s no reason not to go, right? The monsters are gone, so it’s not dangerous anymore…”
“Camelia.”
“…….”
Honestly, I wanted to go out and play too.
But due to circumstances, I found myself stuck here instead.
This was all Ivana’s fault.
She had blabbed to Rosalyn that I went to check out how the monster wave was going.
And naturally, Rosalyn found out and blew it all up like this.
“I could’ve relaxed and conducted business a little easier in the north this time. The monsters are dead, so there’s no danger left. And if I go now, all that’s left for the knights is to recover or clean up the monster corpses.”
“Camelia. Didn’t I say no?”
“Tch….”
…Honestly, there wasn’t really any danger.
At this point, it was actually safe enough just to go and have a look around.
I didn’t even need any invisibility magic like last time; it was fine to just go. So why was I being stopped?
“Your mother said it was dangerous, and you might get hurt, so she definitely told you not to go right?”
“…Yes.”
“And yet, you went against her word?”
“Well, yes?”
“And you’re still trying to go?”
“Um… well….”
But it really is safe now.
I didn’t return with any injuries; I just chatted with Ivana and came back without any issues.
Was it really worth getting scolded this much…?
Honestly, I didn’t think so, but Rosalyn seemed to believe it was that serious.
“Really… after saying that, why did you even go? If you had just asked young lady Ivana, she would’ve told you what happened and what the situation was.”
That was true, but it was different from seeing it myself.
I wanted to explain that to Rosalyn, but I knew that would just start another lecture.
So, I decided to stay quiet.
If I kept talking, I would definitely get yelled at for real.
Plus, it wasn’t like sneaking out was impossible or that I couldn’t go.
I was just playing along with Rosalyn’s words, right?
*
After the monster wave ended, I spent time discussing business matters with Ivana, and soon enough, everything in the north wrapped up.
Ivana’s business wasn’t completely over; it was barely starting, but it had a good start nonetheless.
“Ahhh….”
I was enjoying a warm soak in the hot spring, feeling somewhat successful in my own way.
It was a bit odd to have such a nice hot spring within the castle, but once I got used to it, it actually felt good.
Unlike a simple bath, the hot spring required a bit more upkeep, but the unique feeling of the hot spring was truly nice, wasn’t it?
“How’s the hot spring?”
“It’s amazing. I’d even want to make one in our mansion.”
“Well… if that’s the case, I’m glad.”
I had pretty much finished everything I could help with during this vacation, and Ivana had been quite tired due to the monster wave and business preparations.
To celebrate things going well, we ended up soaking together in this warm hot spring.
This wasn’t just any guest hot spring; this was the real main hot spring used by the Nordal Family.
“It’s the best just to sit here quietly.”
“We boast about our brag-worthy water quality here.”
“Definitely… the difference between a normal bath and hot spring water is really distinct. You can feel the scent, and it has a sort of slippery feel, so it’s a lot better.”
I relaxed in the bath while sharing my thoughts with Ivana.
Ivana had come in a bit late and was now slowly washing up.
“Hmm….”
“Why do you keep staring at my body?”
“I’m just amazed at how your muscles look pretty defined.”
Besides her great chest and hips.
It was clear that Ivana had muscles in various places.
Not like a six-pack, but she was definitely more toned overall… sort of like an 11-line abs thing.
Overall, I felt it was quite impressive.
I knew those muscles came from years of hard training, but I wasn’t used to seeing such a figure.
Most of the girls around me were either toned or had more soft bodies.
Honestly, I considered myself reasonably toned, except for my chest.
“…?”
“Ivana, unlike others, you’ve trained for a long time, so your body looks really good.”
“Is it good…?”
“Of course! Being toned is definitely better than having excess fat, right? Your muscles aren’t bulky at all but feel nicely toned overall.”
“I never really thought of it as good. I just thought it might look a bit off compared to others.”
“Hmm…. I’d say you have plenty of great features in your body.”
Honestly, I didn’t quite understand what Ivana said.
It was clearly a beautiful body, so why did she think it looked off?
I really couldn’t grasp why her self-esteem was low given how she looked.
“Just look at your chest! Apart from size, the shape itself is beautifully proportioned, I think.”
“It’s just inconvenient when fighting.”
“That’s true when fighting, but it looks pretty good, right?”
“I wish it were smaller. It’s not very convenient to deal with day-to-day, honestly.”
“Hmm….”
Given that I used to have a small chest before the academy, I couldn’t agree with Ivana’s comments.
I knew all too well that smaller was typically worse!
No matter what, a larger chest is definitely better than a small one.
I wasn’t talking about huge sizes or anything, but at least a nice, well-rounded, full size looks beautiful.
Even Rosalyn, whose chest wasn’t huge at all, still looked lovely.
“I think your figure is absolutely not bad at all, Ivana.”
“Is that so?”
She seemed to brush my comment off like it was nothing.
Did she not feel the sincerity in what I was saying?
Ivana still seemed a bit young despite her appearance, I thought.
If I said something like this in front of Ella, I would have probably gotten a thorough scolding.
“Ahh… it’s warm.”
“You don’t seem to mind the cold much. You feel the warmth pretty normally, don’t you?”
“Maybe because I’m not very sensitive to the cold, I might be more sensitive to heat instead. I suffered quite a bit from the heat last summer at the academy.”
“Ah.”
That was true.
Watching Ivana enter the hot spring, I recalled how hard she had struggled in the summer.
I had tried to cool her down with ice magic or wind magic in the club room, but that probably wasn’t enough to really help her.
I guess it was a fair bit of a challenge?
“Considering how long you’ve lived in the north, maybe you’ve just gotten too used to the cold weather?”
“That might be it.”
“Still, relaxing and warming up in the hot spring is definitely good enough.”
Well, even if she was sensitive to heat, with her having spent more time in the north, it didn’t seem like a huge problem.
“Besides, your body does tend to be on the warmer side anyway, doesn’t it?”
As I said this, I slowly moved closer to Ivana in the same bath.
Ivana stared at me with her characteristic blank expression, clearly confused about what I was going to do.
If it were Rize, her face would be flushed and she’d be trembling.
“If I lightly touch Ivana’s body like this, doesn’t it feel rather cold instead of warm?”
I placed one hand on her smooth shoulder and made that remark.
It was nothing more than a light touch.
Differently from how I would act with Rize, this was a gentle touch on a non-threatening area.
“I feel like when I touch Ivana’s body, it really feels warmly compared to cold.
I definitely felt the temperature difference.
I’d felt it before when I hugged Ivana at the academy… her body was indeed quite warm.
“Isn’t it?”
“…It is warm.”
“Huh. You think it’s warm? Even after I’ve touched you like this?”
Huh.
Expecting a different response, Ivana’s answer contradicted my guess.
Clearly, she thought my touch was cold when I expected her to find it soothingly warm.
“Hmm….”
Well then, I suppose I should just give Ivana some compliments and warm touches since she likes warmth.
I figured it was enough.