The Flower That Was Swallowed by the Beast - Chapter 55

Keivrand came next to the bathtub after Elly left.

Iris thought it was fortunate that there was a cover over the bathtub.

“Elly must have done something great.”

“Yes, she did. It was incredible.”

“What did she do for you?”

“It’s a secret.”

“To me too?”

“To you too.”

“That’s ridiculous. I can do a lot of great things for you too.”

“Not as much as Elly. Elly, she’s a really nice girl. Thank you for bringing someone like Elly to be my maid, Kei.”

“Mhm.”

Keivrand sat on the end of the bathtub and narrowed his forehead.

“Do you like Elly more than me?”

“Are you jealous again, Kei?”

“I told you. I get jealous easily.”

Iris scooped up a little water and splashed it on Keivrand’s face.

“Don’t be so jealous. Elly is a woman.”

“She’s not an ordinary woman. She’s an incredible woman, that Elly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, there was something like that.”

Keivrand smiled and pointed at the salad on the bathtub cover.

“Aren’t you going to eat?”

“It’s okay.”

“I heard you’ve been skipping meals lately. You became excited just by a sandwich.”

“W-what do you mean sandwich?”

When Iris pretended not to know, Keivrand chuckled.

“Irie, wolves have a good sense of smell.”

“Wolves have a lot of good things it seems.”

“I’m not blaming you for eating. It’s better not to go hungry than to wear a tight dress. No one should make my wife go hungry.”

“Christina was starving me.”

“Do you want me to scold her?”

“Can you even win?”

‘Well, Christina is a tremendous woman too…”

Iris didn’t know what he meant by the word tremendous. She was just saying that Christina’s war with words would be stronger than Keivrand’s.

“I heard you’ve only eaten grass, so I prepared some dishes. You can eat them in the bathtub.”

“It’s okay. One sandwich is enough. Tomorrow is very important, so I want to pull off my dress well.”

“Such a thing, Irie. You still don’t know?”

Keivrand opened his eyes wide.

It was an expression of surprise as if he couldn’t believe Iris was the only one who didn’t know what everyone else knew.

Iris wondered if she had missed something.

“Huh? What?”

“You’ll be the prettiest tomorrow, even if you go out in a rag.”

“Ha…”

What should she do with such a silly remark?

As she sighed at the absurdity, Keivrand chuckled.

“Why, you know it too. How pretty you are.”

“I know. But not to the point of being the prettiest in a straw mat.”

“Then you’re mistaken. Even without any clothes on, you’re the prettiest in the world. To be honest with you…”

Keivrand’s voice slowly lowered.

Iris listened with a serious look on her face just in case he wanted to say something else. Despite being fooled several times, she was fooled again.

“Sorry, it’s a bit difficult. You’re so dazzling it’s blinding me.”

“…Kei.”

“So, Irie.”

Keivrand stood up and left the bathroom. Then, he pushed a trolley in.

“Eat as much as you want. Even if you gain twice as much weight as you are now, you’ll still be the prettiest in the world.”

What a ridiculous thing to say, Iris thought.

She shook her head, but Keivrand lifted a delicious-looking canapé from the trolley and brought it to her mouth.

With her slightly open lips, she was about to eat the canapé that’s sure to be very delicious. The moment her lips touched the salty pastry, she came to her senses.

She had almost fallen for it.

Once she starts eating, she won’t be able to stop.

“No, Kei.”

She pushed the canape away with the back of her hand.

“Hmm. It’s so good.”

Keivrand ate it in one bite and chewed it.

‘He’s such a mean guy.’

“This is also delicious, Irie. Have a bite.”

Keivrand picked up a thinly sliced piece of beef with his fingers and brought it in front of Iris’ lips.

Iris shook her head again this time, and the meat went into Keivrand’s mouth.

Uhmuhm-

He chewed and gulped down the meat with the expression that there was no better food in the world.

“Wow, it’s delicious. Did you know? The chef of our mansion is famous throughout this continent. Once, he was invited to a royal party to cook for them.”

“…”

“Oh, how about this? Seafood won’t make you fat.”

Keivrand put cheese on top of the clam and stuck out the grilled dish.

“Cheese makes you fat. And my face swells up when I eat salty food.”

“Your swollen face will look so round and pretty.”

“Your aesthetic is a little weird.”

“Wow, this is really good. The subtle combination of the salty taste and savory flavor of the cheese goes well together…”

Pa-!

Iris couldn’t hold back and scooped up an armful of water and splashed it on Keivrand’s face.

“You hateful man.”

Keivrand chuckled and pushed the trolley all the way to a corner.

“Please understand, Irie. I don’t want to see my wife collapse from starvation.”

“I won’t collapse from this level of starvation.”

Iris had starved for more days than this.

“It’s more about your feet than being hungry. Your feet aren’t used to high heels.”

Hoping to take Iris’ mind off the hunger, Keivrand changed the topic.

Iris didn’t expect him to roll up the bathtub cover and look at her feet.

He checked her feet, which were submerged in the water, with a grave look.

She felt embarrassed having her thighs, calves, and feet clearly visible before his eyes.

“It’s okay, so cover it up please.”

“I’m telling you it’s a problem. Look. You got blisters on your toes.”

Keivrand put his hand in the bathtub and lifted Iris’ ankle slightly.

“Your heels are scraped and your calves are swollen. You should’ve told me if it hurt like this, Irie.”

“It’s bearable.”

“Ha.”

Keivrand sighed as if he was troubled.

Iris was suddenly worried that she might have caused him to be bothered.

“All right, Irie. It can’t be helped now.”

“Huh…?”

“I’ll give you the honor of me taking care of your feet, so don’t reject it.”

Keivrand spoke seriously with his brows narrowed, so Iris didn’t immediately understand what he had meant.

It was only after he brought a big towel and asked her to come out that she realized what he was going to do.

“Kei, I can take care of my own feet.”

“It’s so messed up because you can’t do it on your own.”

“Not enough to call it a mess.”

“What a mess. Blisters on your pretty feet. Come on, Irie.”

“I don’t want you to give me the honor of you taking care of my feet.”

Iris didn’t want to leave her feet to Keivrand and imagine what she would feel when he carefully examined it.

It’s too embarrassing, she thought. To have her bare feet observed by a man…she was flustered right now.

“I didn’t know you were such a petty woman that you wouldn’t even be honored.”

“Then know from now on. I’m very petty. You might even call me Countess Petty Green. Or Lady Petty.”

Keivrand’s creased forehead straightened. His mouth twitched. He tried to hold back his laughter, but eventually couldn’t.

“Hahaha. Lady Petty. That’s great. My men would love to hear that.”

“I’m glad you like it so much. For the joy of you and your shadows, I’ll try to be more petty.”

“Hahaha. All right, Irie. You win. But I’m really worried about your feet. I’m sure it feels fine now because it’s in warm water, but you won’t be able to walk tomorrow, so I’ll just treat you. Okay?”

Keivrand said desperately with a worried look.

Iris now knew she was weak to such a look. He wanted it so badly, so she thought she could put up with the embarrassment at least once.

“Okay. Just treatment.”

As soon as Iris came out of the bathtub, Keivrand wrapped her body with a large towel.

He bit Iris’ ear and whispered.

“Of course it’s only treatment. What do you expect, Irie?”

* * *

Iris never could have imagined that her feet would be a considered strange part like this.

Keivrand, who put her on the sofa, sat at the end with Iris’ calves on his knees.

He carefully wiped the water off with a soft towel and turned her small feet to check the condition.

“I’ll apply ointment and bandage now. It’s a good ointment, so you’ll feel it working by tomorrow.”

Keivrand scooped up a generous amount of the ointment from a medicine bottle. Then he applied it to Iris’ feet. His fingers rubbed each toe meticulously.

The slippery fingers from the ointment stimulated the nerves in her toes. She clenched her fists to the point where her knuckles turned white. However, she kept her focus on her feet. She felt a lumpy feeling in her stomach that she didn’t know what to do with.

The area where the ointment was applied quickly cooled and the pain subsided, but strangely, she felt hot.

‘The ointment must be very expensive. I can’t believe he used so much.’

She tried to shake off the strange feeling while thinking about something else, but it wasn’t easy.

Just from looking at Keivrand’s face staring at her feet with careful eyes, her heart beat fast.

She was worried that Keivrand, who has good hearing, would hear this sound and notice this feeling.

After putting ointment on both of Iris’ feet and bandaging them, Keivrand spoke.

“Irie.”

“Hah?”

She was so nervous that she had forgotten how to speak. Without pointing that out, Keivrand spoke.

“Let me massage your calves.”

“Oh, no. No, it’s okay.”

Iris tried to rush to her feet, but she couldn’t beat Keivrand’s strength. Struggling, her slip dress rolled up. However, when she saw her white thighs showing, she paused.

Keivrand’s eyes turned toward her thighs. Startled, she tried to reach out, but his hand pulled down the slip and covered her thighs.

“If you’re trying to seduce me, you’ve succeeded. I almost lost my mind.”

Keivrand said with a neutral tone. They have often joked about such things, so Iris replied without embarrassment.

“That’s too bad. It wasn’t completely blown away. I suppose I have to be a little more sexual?”

“You don’t have to, Irie. Because my reason comes and goes even with just you breathing.”

Iris wondered if Keivrand was joking.

She squinted and looked at his face. She couldn’t read anything from his expressionless face.

Meanwhile, his hand touched her calf. Using his thumb and index finger, he kneaded her calf.

A touch that stimulated her muscle, it didn’t even feel strange because her calves ached from having worn high heels.

With the pain she felt every time Keivrand’s fingertips pressed down, she groaned softly.

“Uh… ah…ah…uh…”

At first, it just ached, but it felt refreshing after her muscles eased.

“Haa…um…ah…”

Like a sleepy cat with its eyes half-closed, Iris enjoyed the calf massage.

So she didn’t see Keivrand’s sultry eyes dyed with darkness.

== Translator’s Note ==

1. Please report any typos, grammatical/spelling errors, sentences you find weird, and other etc…in the comment section .