The Banished Black Swordsman Wants a Peaceful Life with the White Saint in the Frontier ~Huh? You Want Him to Come Back with the Saint? It’s Already Too Late~ - 75

Chapter 75: A Brief Time for Just the Two of Us

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The commotion eventually died down, and in the end, it settled into the order of Elena and Fran going into the bath together first, followed by Lusha, and finally Lloyd last.

When he had guided the two of them to the bathhouse hut, they had stared wide-eyed at the Element Gems. The fact that water, wind, and heat could be produced from palm-sized orbs and that the Church had secretly developed them left Elena looking both exasperated and impressed.

As for Fran, she kept shouting, “I want one of these too!” in a voice loud enough to cut through the steam. Well, Lloyd understood the feeling. Anyone would want something like that if they saw it. He couldn’t help but feel grateful to Elliot for secretly swiping it and entrusting it to Lusha. 

…Though, he still had complicated feelings about the matter. Now, from beyond the door of the bathhouse hut, he could faintly hear Fran’s excited squeals, the sound of water splashing, and Elena’s gentle voice scolding her. As for Lloyd, he had made himself a sleeping space in the corner of the living room, spread out a blanket, and sat down on it. The wooden boards creaked softly once. Warm fatigue traveled slowly up his legs. It was the kind of moment when the weight of the day finally began to settle into his body.

“Um… I’m sorry. It’s because I said something strange earlier.”

Lusha clasped her fingers together restlessly and lowered her gaze to the edge of the blanket. Her cheeks were faintly red, whether from lingering steam or from recalling what had happened earlier.

“It’s fine. It wasn’t a lie, after all.”

Lloyd replied with a wry smile. In truth, she hadn’t lied at all. The bath was a little cramped for three people, and he knew that precisely because the two of them had gone in together before. Every part of it was factual.

From the other two’s perspective, if Lloyd looked like “a perverted guy who just wants to bathe with girls,” that wasn’t much of a problem… no, it probably was a problem. If it reached someone like Cron, it could become troublesome. Though, since the girl he’d bathed with had been the so-called “White Saint,” they probably wouldn’t dare tease too carelessly.

As if reading his wandering thoughts, Lusha let out a soft laugh and sat down beside him. Not on a wooden chair, but on the blanket. Its softness blurred the distance between them.

“It’s very quiet, isn’t it?”

When he listened closely, he could hear water splashing from the bathhouse hut and Fran’s excited shrieks drifting on the wind. Elena’s voice followed, scolding like she was admonishing a child—“Honestly, calm down and bathe properly!”—before dissolving into small laughter. Inside the house, though they could sense the others from afar, it was perfectly still. The noisiness that had filled the entire day had receded like a tide pulling back.

“This used to be normal. When Fran’s around, it gets noisy fast.”

“But it’s nice when it’s lively. I laughed a lot today.”

Lusha let out a small, fond chuckle. Her profile looked soft. In front of the stone oven, now without fire, the lamplight from the kitchen traced a pale golden line along her cheek. Lloyd closed his eyes and retraced the day from the beginning. It had been long, yet somehow it had passed quickly. A day when hunger was satisfied, words were plentiful, and even silence felt gentle and comforting. At least, it was a first for Lloyd.

“I’m glad you made friends.”

“Yes!”

Her reply bounced with energy. But then Lusha lowered her eyes slightly and smiled with a faint hint of loneliness.

“But… I feel a little lonely.”

“Lonely? Why?”

“Because… I didn’t get to talk with you very much, Lloyd.”

As soon as she said it, she gently tilted her head against him. It wasn’t heavy, but it was a definite presence resting against his shoulder. Even though she hadn’t just bathed, a pleasant scent drifted from her hair. Just having her press close like that made something leap in his chest. Naturally, their hands intertwined, fingers lacing tightly together. Lloyd rested his cheek lightly against her head, matching his breathing to hers. It felt like the tension that had held him taut while hosting guests for the first time was finally loosening.

“…I think the reason they chose a house a little farther away was partly because they were being considerate of us. They probably didn’t want to get in our way.”

“Is that so?”

“Probably.”

He couldn’t say it aloud, but that earlier comment about “nighttime voices” had just been their awkward way of covering up embarrassment. Without consideration, they wouldn’t have chosen a house at that distance.

“That’s a little embarrassing…”

Lusha’s ears tinged slightly red as she gave him a shy smile.

“Yeah. In my case, they were former party members, so it’s even more so. They probably didn’t think I was the type to fall in love.”

Truthfully, Lloyd himself had once thought the same. For years, he had blamed it on his curse, keeping anything within reach at a distance. He had resigned himself to thinking that lovers and friends weren’t meant for him.

“Even though you had two beautiful women so close to you?”

Lusha asked in a tone that was slightly sulky, yet seeking denial. He felt the faint shift of her hair against his shoulder.

“No matter how attractive they were, it didn’t matter.”

Lloyd tightened his fingers slightly where they were interlaced. He hadn’t been drawn to Lusha merely because of her cute appearance. She had called his curse “kindness” and accepted it—accepted him—as though it were the most natural thing in the world. She had placed a warm palm against the cold stone at the pit of his stomach and never once looked away. He had been saved by that gaze more times than he could count. So even if it felt embarrassing, he should just say it.

“I fell in love with you because you’re you, Lusha.”

“Lloyd…”

She lifted herself slightly and looked at him directly. Light flickered in her eyes before settling into something calm.

“I’m the same. I fell in love with you because you’re you, Lloyd.”

Her words fell softly into the quiet. Without breaking eye contact, they both slowly closed their eyes. The short distance before their lips met felt strangely long.

Their lips touched, parted, then met again. Once. Twice. Three times. Feeling the warmth that passed through her thin lips, Lloyd desperately restrained the urge to push her down. He didn’t know when Elena and the others might come out of the bath. The thin thread of reason that bound them together felt as though it might snap at any moment.

From afar, there was a faint clink of a washbasin. Fran’s laughter drifted through the mist, followed by Elena’s sighing scold—tinged with amusement. Startled by just that faint presence from outside, Lloyd still didn’t let go of her fingers and pressed one more light kiss to her lips.

For just a brief moment, in a short time when it was only the two of them, they simply spent it basking in the presence of each other, and no one else.

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