CH 18

Chapter 18: 《Duke’s POV》Falling in Love with Miltia

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『Master…』

The red eyes of the automaton controlled by Bhadra kept on flickering. The flashing eyes meant Bhadra’s magic was going haywire. Just what he was upset about for his magic to become unstable?

“….. What’s wrong?”

『Your hair…..』

Hair?

Ever since I was stuck in this form, I couldn’t even see or touch my hair let alone comb it since my hair was buried under the curse.

『So there’s still some hair left…』

“… Bhadra…. After this, I’m going to pluck all of your slovenly stubble one by one myself. You better prepare yourself, alright?”

『My apologies.』

As I wiped my face with a hot towel that Miltia had prepared for me, somehow… My skin… For the very first time in a long time, my skin felt similar to a human’s skin.

“Maricle-sama, with this we’ve removed most of the『curse』from your body.”

『Master, please take a look at your body….!』

The automaton brought a moderately sized mirror, it was about the size of a book.

The figure that I saw in the mirror… It was.. The figure of a human… A man’s figure to be precise.

Sure, my skin’s colour was still a bit off and you could see traces of scales that looked like cracks on the back of my neck and cheeks but still, there was a world difference between my usual appearance where strange creatures and grime would gush out of my pus-covered skin.

Compared to that, this figure before me still resembled an ordinary ‘man’. I had tried many, many things to break the curse but this was the first time I ever looked this close to a normal human being.

“Y-you’re amazing, Miltia…!”

“Yes! It’s a big catch indeed!”

“No! I wasn’t referring to your haul of marine creatures!”

I glanced at my surroundings. My gaze fell on the coriander full of the sea demon she had killed.

I do agree it is a big catch though!

“You…”

For some reason… It took me the same amount of courage for me to voice out my next words as it did to defeat the demon king.

“…. That… That creepy appearance of mine… Is it… Not… Disgusting?”

Was it because she was standing against the light? Or maybe I unconsciously avoided looking at her face because I was weak-willed?

I had no idea what kind of expression Miltia had on her face right now. The only thing I knew was how loud my heart thumped, as if my heart would creak from within at any given moment.

I wonder why?

“Huh? No…. For me… Calling it disgusting is… That… Maricle-sama… The fact that you have the predisposition of always producing fresh seafood without needing to fish… I actually… Feel a little bit envious of you.”

E N V I O U S ?

I couldn’t believe my ears but the thing that startled me the most was how bright she was shining as she smiled with the bright red sunset behind her back. Even the angel or the saint was no match against her…

Little by little, those lights then began to illuminate my chest.