MWTB 07

CHAPTER 07

After exercising for the first time in a long while, Julia felt sweaty and uncomfortable. Besides, she had been wearing only wide, flowing dresses, and now that she was dressed in a snug hunting outfit designed for agile movement, she felt somewhat constricted.

Thinking she should soothe her stiff muscles with hot water, Julia entered the bathroom.

Since bringing a large number of attendants to the hunting grounds for a preliminary inspection would have been inconvenient, they had not brought any servants along. However, the servants had been sent ahead several days earlier, and all the preparations for their stay had been completed perfectly.

Moreover, since the lodging was exclusively for the King, precious magical devices had been installed throughout the building, so there was no inconvenience in staying there for a night. In fact, some of the previous kings had even deliberately left their servants behind because they wanted to fully enjoy the special experiences provided by the magical devices.

Julia skillfully operated the magic-stone equipment to heat the water, then washed herself thoroughly with the supplies that had already been prepared.

Every item that the head maid had thoughtfully packed for her carried a faint floral fragrance.

“Ah, this is nice.”

Enjoying her favorite scent filling the bathroom, Julia immersed herself in the hot water. The water heated by the magic stone was at just the right temperature to ease away her fatigue, and the relaxing warmth made her feel drowsy.

Finally, after getting out of the bathtub and taking a refreshing shower with cool water, Julia was clean and sparkling from head to toe.

“……Huh?”

After drying her body first, Julia was wiping the moisture from her wet hair with a towel when she suddenly stopped.

She had easily found and put on a fresh set of underwear, but she couldn’t find the indoor dress she had packed to change into. Her nightgown, a négligée, was nowhere to be seen either.

‘Oh no!’

She had been told that since she was wearing her hunting outfit underneath, she wouldn’t need an underskirt or inner dress, so there must have been some mix-up after that. The maids, who had been incredibly busy preparing for the royal hunting competition, must have made a mistake.

‘What am I going to do? The dress I wore from the palace is hanging inside the carriage!’

This was going to be terribly embarrassing for the Queen.

No, even putting appearances aside, she couldn’t exactly walk around wearing nothing but her underwear!

Pale-faced, Julia roughly wrapped a towel around herself, knelt on the floor, and frantically rummaged through her angular travel bag.

“Please, please!”

A new pair of stockings, fresh underwear, new handkerchiefs……

She pulled out and tossed aside everything her hands touched. Then, at the bottom of the now-empty bag, she spotted a piece of white fabric.

It was clearly larger than the other items, so Julia quickly pulled it out.

“……A shirt?”

It was a long, oversized white men’s shirt. Made of soft fabric, it was the sort of thing that would be comfortable to wear while sleeping.

“This is Endymion’s.”

Apparently, the flustered maids had accidentally mixed one of the King’s clothes into the Queen’s luggage.

Julia absentmindedly held the shirt against her body.

For Endymion, it was simply a comfortable shirt, but on her, it came down all the way over her lower body. Of course, it didn’t reach her calves like her négligée did.

‘I have no choice. I’ll have to wear this.’

‘When did he get so big?’

Julia hurriedly slipped the shirt on, looking completely bewildered.

When she turned from side to side, the white shirt fluttered around her thighs, reaching just above her knees.

She had always thought of him as the little boy her age whom she had first met when she was seven, as though he would remain that way forever.

And yet, their difference in size had already become this great.

Julia put the things she had thrown aside back into the bag as she became lost in thought.

The King’s clothes were always washed thoroughly, dried softly in the sunlight, and carefully stored, so there was no trace of body odor on them.

And yet, the soft fabric against her bare skin made her feel strangely unsettled.

The oversized shirt wrapped around her body seemed to emphasize even more strongly the difference between them.

‘……An adult.’

The meaning of the coming-of-age ceremony began to take on a slightly different meaning.

Endymion was more than a head taller than her. His shoulders were broad, and he had a naturally large frame. His face was as handsome and beautiful as a flower, but his body belonged to a natural-born warrior.

His swordsmanship instructors during his days as Crown Prince had praised his physique endlessly, saying he possessed the ideal body for wielding a sword.

Julia glanced down at her own soft, pale skin and slender frame beneath the shirt. Her figure was full of gentle curves, completely opposite to Endymion’s more solid, straight-lined build.

After blinking for a moment, Julia stood up and hung the wet towel neatly.

Then she stepped into the hallway and hurried back toward the bedroom.

As she walked through the windowless corridor, something Endymion had casually said earlier suddenly came back to her.

—“I think it’s time for a change.”

She had known it in her head, but it felt as though she had only just awakened from a daze and finally realized the reality of it.

She had never imagined that she would experience such a strange, unsettled, unfamiliar feeling toward the husband she had spent twelve years with.

It was a very strange feeling that she couldn’t put into words.

‘Is it because of the shirt……?’

Because of the Queen’s education she had received since childhood, Julia was surprisingly conservative in some ways.

Especially when it came to clothing.

Even the négligée she often wore to bed was long enough to cover her calves.

Perhaps it was because she was wearing nothing but an ill-fitting shirt instead of her usual nightgown?

Every time she walked, the soft fabric brushing against her thighs made her shiver.

She was so uncomfortable and ticklish that she felt like taking it off, but she couldn’t, because then she would have nothing left but her underwear.

It was a blessing that there was no one else at the lodge right now.

‘I should hurry and see if there’s any other clothes.’

Julia let out a small sigh as she arrived in front of the bedroom.

Trying to shake off the strange feeling, she turned the doorknob and flung the door open.

“……!”

“Julia.”

The moment she opened the door, Endymion was standing right in front of her.

He slowly lowered the hand he had apparently been about to use to open the door himself, his beautiful blue eyes fixed on her.

“I was looking for my shirt. I was going to ask if you’d seen it.”

Thud.

The bedroom door closed.

For some reason, the sound made Julia’s breath catch.

Without realizing it, she took a step backward, then another, until her back hit the door and she could go no farther.

She felt like a rabbit cornered against a wall.

Endymion blinked his long eyelashes as he watched her, then leisurely began walking toward her.

“W-wait a moment……”

Her embarrassment surged.

His well-shaped, muscular arms.

His smooth waist without an ounce of excess.

His firm, defined abdomen, strong and athletic like that of a predator.

Standing before Julia was her husband, bare-chested down to just above his hips.

“So you were the one wearing it.”

Endymion tilted his head slightly and brushed his wet hair back as he came closer.

His slow, relaxed steps, almost like a predator approaching its prey, made her feel breathless.

Julia was so flustered that she instinctively tried to move farther back. She belatedly turned her head, but there was nowhere to go—the door was already behind her.

“Ah. I-I’m sorry. I didn’t have anything to sleep in, so I just borrowed it for a moment……”

Julia hurriedly spoke without even knowing what she was saying.

In the meantime, Endymion stopped walking.

He remained exactly three steps away from her, as though deliberately leaving her a safe distance.

She could smell the cool, fresh yet gentle scent of the fragrant oil Endymion often used.

As the scent filled her senses, her body stiffened even more. Her lips naturally fell silent.

With an expression that clearly showed she had no idea what to do, Julia slowly raised her stiff head.

‘Why am I acting like this?’

She raised her gaze to meet his eyes.

And then, entirely by accident—truly, completely by accident—

Julia’s violet eyes became fixed on Endymion’s firm abdomen.

Tiny droplets of water remained between the contours of his smooth, toned stomach, glistening where he had not quite dried himself completely.

“……”

As Julia stared blankly, one of the droplets seemed to fall right on cue.

Drip.

It darkened the wooden floor.

“It suits you, my clothes.”

The low voice that reached her ears gave her the strange sensation of spreading through her entire body.

Everything about it felt unfamiliar enough to make her head spin.

Endymion’s lowered voice.

The strong, unfamiliar body that seemed as solid as stone.

It wasn’t actually the first time Julia had seen Endymion’s body.

Every summer, whenever they went boating, he would complain that wearing more was troublesome and wear only a white shirt, so she had seen his upper body through the wet fabric ever since they were children.

There had also been countless occasions when his robe had fallen open while he slept, revealing his skin.

‘But why is it different today……?’

Confused, Julia let her gaze wander.

For some reason, she even hesitated to meet his eyes.

Just then, his firm muscles shifted, and a quiet voice came from above her.

“Julia.”

Endymion took another step toward her.

The movement of his smoothly shifting muscles made her feel as though he might touch her at any moment, and the sensation was so strange.

Julia swallowed a startled breath and hurriedly cried out,

“Wait, wait!”

As though fleeing, she quickly slipped away from that spot and ran toward the luggage bag beside the bed, which happened to be within sight.

“I’ll give it back! Your clothes!”

Thankfully, once Endymion disappeared from her immediate view, the suffocating feeling disappeared as well.

Letting out a relieved sigh, Julia rummaged through the travel bag as though she intended to tear it apart, clicking her tongue in frustration.

Apparently, the surprise she had gotten in the bathroom was still affecting her.

Besides, how could she possibly become flustered just by looking at Endymion?

He was Endymion, of all people!

As Julia reassured herself, a shadow fell over her back.

“What are you looking for?”

“Ah, my nightgown. Have you seen it?”

Julia asked while busily searching through the bag.

The thighs barely covered by the shirt felt strangely exposed and ticklish.

She had never in her life worn clothes that came so far above her knees.

So if she could just put on some proper clothes quickly, this strange feeling would disappear……

“It’s not there.”

“……Huh?”

The firm, decisive answer made Julia turn her head.

Those beautiful blue eyes, clear as a lake, were looking down at her.

“I looked through it earlier when I was searching for my shirt. None of your clothes were there.”

“What? That can’t be!”

Firmly convinced that her clothes had simply been mixed in with Endymion’s, Julia hurriedly turned the bag upside down and shook it.

But sure enough, there was nothing in the luggage bag except Endymion’s belongings.

Defeated, Julia plopped down onto the carpet.

“My personal maids made a mistake like this? Even Head Maid Marianne?”

“They’re bringing your clothes tomorrow morning anyway, so just sleep like that tonight.”

Endymion lightly gestured toward the shirt, as though offering to let her keep it.

The soft, short carpet fibers tickled Julia’s thighs, making her awkwardly get to her feet and nod.

“That’s strange. They’ve never made a mistake like this before.”

“They probably forgot because they had so much to prepare.”

Endymion walked toward the bed, surprisingly generous for once.

If anything, he even seemed to be in a good mood.

Julia followed him with an intrigued expression.

‘Hmm. Normally, he would have immediately said they should have their pay docked. Has he decided to be more lenient now that he’s an adult?’

He wasn’t quite a tyrant, but Endymion was a king who was far from merciful.

When his subordinates made mistakes, he never simply overlooked them and always handed down swift, uncompromising punishments.

Julia was usually the one who balanced him out by showing them generosity and mercy.

‘He really has grown up.’

As Julia watched Endymion with a newly proud feeling, he lay down on the bed.

Stretching his tall frame out across the blankets, he looked as relaxed as a lion after a satisfying meal.

Without realizing it, Julia found herself looking at his solid muscles and broad shoulders, so different from her own that they almost seemed to belong to another species.

It was an unfamiliar body—unfamiliar enough that she felt like reaching out and touching it, just once.

‘He really has grown…….’

“What are you doing? Come here.”

“Huh? Ah, okay.”

Snapping out of her thoughts, Julia climbed onto the bed a moment later.

Somehow, she felt unlike herself today.