Scáthach lifted her eyes and glanced at Fu Yuan, who was smiling. Then she nodded gently.
"Mm. I'll eat with you from now on."
The Queen of the Land of Shadows Takes a Bath
Night fell, and Fuyuki City was utterly quiet. The chirping of insects rose and fell, creating a peaceful, tranquil atmosphere.
Beneath that tranquil atmosphere, Fu Yuan was... filling in the holes in the courtyard garden. While testing Shadow Knight: Moon Halo, he had accidentally crushed the ground in the courtyard.
So after dinner, Fu Yuan came to the courtyard to fill in the holes. As for Scáthach, he had sent that queen off to take a bath.
Scáthach had not needed a bath in the first place, but her earlier spar with Fu Yuan had left her covered in fragrant sweat. And after eating dinner, she wanted to wash herself with some cold water and cool down her rising body temperature.
Splash, splash~
The showerhead above continuously poured down icy water, soaking Scáthach below. The cool water slid down her purplish-red hair before finally dripping from her slender toes.
Feeling the chill against her body, Scáthach parted her cherry lips and breathed out a warm sigh.
"Phew~"
Scáthach, who possessed the wisdom of the Land of Shadows, was not incapable of using a water heater. She simply wanted to rinse her slightly burning body with cold water.
Bathing in the cool water, Scáthach raised her fair hand and swept back the purplish-red hair hanging over her forehead, revealing the lovely face hidden by her bangs.
Through the mirror in the bathroom, Scáthach saw her current expression.
It was an incomparably beautiful face faintly flushed red. Her crimson eyes were gentle and captivating, like a pool of spring water. Looking at herself like this, Scáthach closed her eyes.
Those are not my eyes. That is the look Medb often gives men... My heart is in turmoil. But even my heart can be thrown into turmoil one day. How incredible.
Scáthach was very clear about the subtle changes happening within her. She simply had not expected that she, too, would look at a man the way Queen Medb did.
Because even a queen was still a woman.
Women being attracted to men, and men being attracted to women—was that not perfectly normal?
Scáthach cast aside the thoughts in her heart and focused on washing her delicate body, thoroughly cleaning away all the sweat from their spar.
It was Scáthach's first time washing herself so carefully. She had never cared about how others saw her before, but after meeting Fu Yuan and seeing what he was capable of, she had developed the thought of wanting to "clean herself up a little better."
Fu Yuan was busy in the courtyard when his sharp hearing caught the sound of gentle footsteps approaching. Aside from himself, Scáthach was the only other person living in the estate.
Fu Yuan stopped working and looked toward the source of the light footsteps. He wanted to ask Scáthach whether she was used to a modern bathroom.
But when Fu Yuan saw Scáthach, the words he wanted to say would not come out.
Having emerged from the bathroom, Scáthach had changed out of her JK uniform. She now wore a loose bathrobe over her delicate body.
Fresh from her bath, Scáthach was beautiful.
Her purplish-red hair spilled down behind the bathrobe. Her fair, exquisite face was slightly flushed, perhaps from the bath, while the skin exposed beyond the robe was crystal-clear, like white jade.
Even the loose bathrobe could not conceal Scáthach's proud curves.
Now that she wore a bathrobe, Scáthach had lost much of her bewitching allure, replaced by the freshness and tranquility that followed a bath.
Although her aura was no longer as seductive as before, she was even more heart-stirring.
Scáthach walked over slowly. Seeing Fu Yuan staring blankly at her in the courtyard, she smiled faintly and asked, "What is it? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Cough." Snapping out of it, Fu Yuan coughed to hide the embarrassment of having stared too long. Lowering his head, he continued filling the hole as he said, "Nothing. I just wanted to ask whether you were used to modern things."
Scáthach, dressed in her bathrobe, looked at Fu Yuan busily working beneath the moonlight. Her lips curved upward as she said, "It's quite nice. I like it."
"Is that so? Then that's for the best."
After saying that, Fu Yuan did not know what else to say to Scáthach, so the atmosphere in the courtyard subtly froze.
And Fu Yuan noticed that Scáthach's gaze had remained fixed on him. The Queen of the Land of Shadows' attention made him feel a little uncomfortable.
Feeling awkward, Fu Yuan coughed and said, "Ahem, Scáthach, why don't you go watch some television?"
"No. I'm not interested in television," Scáthach said as she watched him.
"Then what are you interested in?"
"You."
Thump!
Fu Yuan's heart gave a sudden hard beat at Scáthach's two words. And was it just his imagination?
It seemed that he had just heard Scáthach's heart skip a beat as well?
Scáthach gently brushed her slightly warming cheek with her fair hand and added, "Right now, you are the only thing that interests me, because you are very strong. Let's have another fight."
So that was the reason. I totally got the wrong idea, Fu Yuan thought inwardly.
"Let's forget about sparring. You just came out of the bathroom, and it's late at night. Don't do anything too strenuous, or you might not be able to sleep."
"Mm, all right."
After the subtle atmosphere caused by Scáthach's slip of the tongue passed, Fu Yuan finished filling in the holes in the courtyard beneath Scáthach's unwavering gaze.
Then Fu Yuan left the courtyard to Scáthach and asked her to set up a Magic Barrier, one capable of gathering Great Source Mana.
Naturally, Scáthach readily agreed to Fu Yuan's request.
After all, it was something they had agreed upon earlier.
While Scáthach set up the Magic Barrier, Fu Yuan went to take a bath. After entering the bathroom with his pajamas in hand, he caught a faint lingering scent.
It was a sweet fragrance, like an orchid blooming in a secluded valley.
It was probably left behind by a certain queen after her bath...
Smelling that fragrance, Fu Yuan rubbed his hair and forced himself to stop paying attention to it, focusing on bathing instead.
At that moment, Fu Yuan's doorbell rang. Someone had come to visit him.
Hearing the doorbell chime, Scáthach, who was setting up a magic circle in the courtyard, furrowed her delicate brows slightly. Before she could notify Fu Yuan in the bathroom, the person who had rung the bell casually crossed through the entrance and came to the courtyard.
Tohsaka Rin and Tohsaka Sakura arrived in the courtyard and saw Scáthach there...
Before you continue