Chapter 35: A Bath, a Magazine, and a Flustered Husband

It was deep into the night when Qing Yu and Aldoran finally made their way back to the inn.

Thrud and Liliya, having arrived ahead of them, were already deep in slumber.

Aldoran, unwilling to disturb their rest, quietly resolved to inquire the following day whether they had uncovered any leads concerning the mysterious fog.

With that thought in mind, Aldoran and Qing Yu proceeded directly to their shared room.

As the light flickered on, Qing Yu observed that every item in the room was meticulously arranged.

A gentle warmth permeated the air, and a delicate, elusive fragrance wafted throughout the space.

On the windowsill, however, Qing Yu noticed a single flower had withered.

Its once vibrant pink hue had faded, and its stem drooped listlessly.

The beautiful petals were now veiled in a pallid white, and a deep, ominous black began to creep upward from their very base.

Qing Yu twitched his nose, drawing in a cautious breath.

Beneath the lingering sweetness, a faint, unsettling scent of decay subtly pervaded the room.

“Aldoran, do you detect any unusual scent?”

“No.”

Aldoran replied succinctly, even as a soft rustling sound reached Qing Yu’s ears.

Driven by an insistent curiosity, Qing Yu turned his head to glance over.

Aldoran stood before the full-length mirror, her movements fluid and practiced as she shed her garments.

Illuminated by the room’s glow, her reflection in the mirror offered Qing Yu an unobstructed view of her exquisite, snow-white form, her skin as smooth and lustrous as polished jade.

Her slender, pristine neck was gracefully arched, forming an elegant curve that proudly showcased her delicate collarbones.

Her gently swelling breasts, fair and soft, were utterly unveiled before Qing Yu.

The delicate curve of her torso accentuated Aldoran’s lithe and captivating figure.

Just then, Aldoran slowly began to shed her lower garments, revealing the soft, rounded curve of her buttocks.

“Aldoran!”

Qing Yu’s face instantly flushed crimson, and his gaze darted frantically about, unsure where to settle.

For a pure and inexperienced young man like Qing Yu, such a sight proved far too overwhelming.

“What is it?” Aldoran turned her head, her gaze meeting Qing Yu’s without a trace of self-consciousness.

“Y-y-you, what are you doing…?” Qing Yu stammered, his head bowed, his eyes fixed resolutely on the pristine floor, his gaze wandering aimlessly across its spotless surface.

“I’m preparing for a bath. Is something amiss?”

“B-b-but, don’t you possess that kind of magic? Th-th-the one that instantly cleanses your body?” Qing Yu’s words tumbled out in a jumbled mess, and he thought he heard a soft, amused chuckle escape Aldoran’s lips.

“Given how utterly exhausted I am today, I find that immersing myself in hot water offers a far more profound sense of relaxation. Maintaining a balance between exertion and rest is crucial, wouldn’t you agree?” Aldoran remarked, extending an invitation to Qing Yu. “Would you care to join me for a soak?”

Qing Yu instantly felt his mind ablaze, a surge of hot blood rushing through him, his face becoming several shades redder than an iron ingot seared by intense heat.

‘To share a bath, with Aldoran, in a bathtub…’

An immediate, vivid image materialized in Qing Yu’s mind: he and Aldoran, seated together in the bathtub, their bare skin pressed intimately close.

Aldoran’s slender, pale legs would gently brush against his own form.

Her exquisite, adorable face would be delicately flushed by the rising steam, her cherry lips adorned with tiny droplets of water, appearing soft and yielding to the slightest touch.

Her soft breasts would lightly graze his chest, and her damp, white hair would delicately brush against his cheek…

Then, amidst his own faint, heated breaths, Aldoran would slowly encircle his wrist, gently pressing him back into the tub.

He would offer a hesitant, half-hearted resistance, only serving to heighten Aldoran’s playful interest.

She would then roughly claim his uncooperative mouth with her lips, her leg subtly pressing against his body…

A faint groan escaped him; it seemed a certain part of his anatomy was growing rather engorged…

To be invited to share a bath by a peerless beauty like Aldoran—surely no one could possibly refuse such an offer, could they?

Qing Yu, of course, was the exception.

While his mind teemed with tantalizing, explicit fantasies, they remained, ultimately, mere thoughts.

His propensity for action had always been remarkably low.

“N-n-no, absolutely not!” Qing Yu stammered, retreating several steps, his words tumbling out incoherently. “I-I-I’m not ready yet!”

‘Besides, if Aldoran were truly intent, he knew he couldn’t resist her anyway. There would surely be ample opportunities in the future…’

“Oh, really?” Aldoran’s voice remained utterly calm. “There’s no need to be so bashful, is there? We are already married.”

“L-l-let me just… prepare myself a little more,” Qing Yu stammered, his face a deep crimson, forcing out the words after a long, agonizing pause. “It’s simply too sudden, too… stimulating.”

Despite their marital status, Qing Yu, having never so much as held a girl’s hand throughout his life—though he had, admittedly, been holding Aldoran’s hand quite frequently of late—found the leap from casual hand-holding to communal bathing an altogether too vast and daunting chasm to cross.

“Um, um, Aldoran, you go ahead and take your bath. I… I’ll just think about it a bit longer.” Qing Yu’s mind was, at that very moment, entirely consumed by the image of a completely unclothed Aldoran.

“Very well. If you decide you’re ready, you may come in at any point before I finish my bath.” Aldoran did not press the issue.

Having shed her remaining garments, she gracefully hung them on the clothes rack.

Mere minutes later, the distinct rush of water echoed from within the bathroom.

Only then did Qing Yu cautiously dare to lift his head and survey his surroundings.

Aldoran had already retreated into the bathroom, leaving Qing Yu utterly alone in the room, adrift in uncertainty as to what he should do.

‘To think he had let such a golden opportunity slip through his fingers! ‘Qing Yu, you utter fool!’ Qing Yu chastised himself, a slight sense of relief washing over him, quickly followed by a fresh surge of regret as the continuous rush of water from the bathroom filled his ears.

‘Perhaps? Should he go in? Aldoran had, after all, said he could enter at any time.’

‘No, no, never mind. There would be countless other opportunities in the future.’

Ultimately, Qing Yu found himself unable to muster the necessary mental fortitude, lacking the courage to step into the bathroom and share a bath with Aldoran.

‘He would wait a little longer; there was still ample time, after all.’

Qing Yu internally reasoned with himself, then scanned the room, seeking something to divert his attention.

Conveniently, a stack of magazines provided by the inn lay on the bedside table.

Overcome by boredom, he simply plopped onto the bed and idly picked up a blue-covered magazine, beginning to leaf through its pages.

“What is this?” Qing Yu murmured, his gaze falling upon the magazine in his hands, whose cover depicted a scantily clad young man.

He quickly flipped through a few pages.

“Winter Special? Manga Collection?”

He hadn’t known what to expect, but a quick glance left him utterly astonished; Qing Yu had never imagined the magazines of this world could be so audacious.

He rapidly turned several pages, and without exception, each one featured men in provocative poses, clad in revealing attire.

Even the table of contents boasted a detailed classification system:

“Foot Fetish Special,” “Hand Fetish Special,” “Extreme Taste Special,” and more…

‘This, then, must be this world’s equivalent of an erotic magazine, he mused.’

“This is truly something remarkable…” Qing Yu swallowed hard, then glanced cautiously from left to right before gingerly opening the magazine, meticulously turning each page.

Could it be that even in an age where technology remained relatively undeveloped, such explicit publications had already found widespread popularity?

Truly astonishing—

“Come to think of it, would Aldoran ever read a book like this?” Qing Yu’s curiosity was piqued.

He, for one, had certainly devoured his fair share of such material back on Earth, often resulting in his parents discovering them and subsequently delivering a severe tongue-lashing.

He was, after all, a perfectly healthy adolescent boy, both in body and mind.

Yet, Qing Yu considered Aldoran’s typically aloof and impassive demeanor and concluded that she could, by no stretch of the imagination, ever be caught reading such a book.

Thrud, however, seemed precisely the type who would indulge in such reading, and Liliya, given the opportunity, would undoubtedly follow suit, wouldn’t she?

Nevertheless, he found the “Foot Fetish Special,” turning to the designated page and perusing a chapter with meticulous attention…

‘Hmm, upon closer reflection, it didn’t seem particularly strange after all.’

‘This world, after all, was quite distinct from his own!’

‘Still, what was with this utterly muscular fellow! This “Foot Fetish Special” was truly bizarre!’

Qing Yu muttered to himself in silent exasperation.

“What are you looking at?” Aldoran’s voice suddenly resonated right beside Qing Yu.

“Woah!” Qing Yu yelped, startled, causing the magazine in his hand to clatter to the floor.

So absorbed had he been in his reading that he failed to notice the passage of time, not even registering the sound of Aldoran emerging from the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

“Is this a comic book?” Aldoran inquired, picking up the fallen magazine.

She quickly flipped through a few pages before gently returning it to Qing Yu’s hand.

“Do you possess such… proclivities?”

“N-n-no, I don’t! Absolutely not!” Qing Yu vehemently denied, his words jumbled in his haste. “I possess no peculiar hobbies whatsoever!”

‘It was over, utterly over. He had been caught red-handed with something scandalous.’

‘He would… he would be pushed down, wouldn’t he? Aldoran would surely push him down. She would undoubtedly push him down immediately, wouldn’t she?’

‘I-I-I’m not ready! That… that kind of thing is absolutely out of the question!’

“Y-y-you, listen to me! It’s not what you’re thinking!” Qing Yu desperately fabricated explanations in his mind, convinced that under no circumstances could he be ‘pushed down’ right now.

‘He was, after all, utterly unprepared.’

Aldoran, however, maintained an air of complete nonchalance.

The fact that her husband might peruse such explicit magazines was something she had known through the authority granted by her crest long before Qing Yu was even summoned.

Thus, Aldoran merely adjusted the blanket around herself and settled onto the edge of the bed.

“Are you going to take a bath?”

“Eh?” Qing Yu looked at Aldoran, seemingly unable to believe his ears.

“Aren’t you going to bathe?” Aldoran asked again.

“Oh, oh, oh.”

Qing Yu, as if a prisoner granted an unexpected pardon, hastily flung the magazine aside and bolted into the bathroom as if fleeing for his life.

“Winter Special…” After Qing Yu left, Aldoran picked up the magazine, scrutinizing it carefully…