CHAPTER 25: A MIDNIGHT BATH WITH AZUL

Fortunately—or maybe unfortunately. She actually didn’t know whether she liked it or not—no one got spanked that night.

But in the middle of the night, Roxanna accidentally woke up. Her head no longer hurt, and her body wasn’t burning with fever anymore.

She honestly didn’t expect her body to recover that quickly, and the fever also wasn’t as bad as she thought. But maybe the fever hadn’t been too bad because Azul had taken care of her so well.

In her sleep, she felt someone changing the wet cloth on her forehead over and over, and the skin-to-skin contact truly stopped her from shivering in the cold.

But now her body felt sticky because of sweat and also damp from the wet cloth placed on her forehead. She slowly wriggled and slipped out of Azul’s embrace.

She thought he was asleep, but his eyes suddenly opened. "What’s wrong, Roxanna?" he asked, his voice low and raspy from sleep.

Roxanna blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes until her vision cleared. When she finally saw Azul clearly, she whispered, "Nothing’s wrong. I just feel a little sticky."

She held her breath for a moment because Azul’s face looked so ethereal from this close.

A few loose strands of his long blue hair framed his face, highlighting features so perfectly balanced between masculine and feminine. His skin looked smoother than hers, and his eyes... his eyes looked like the ocean itself was hiding inside them.

Among all her husbands, Azul was definitely the prettiest. If he lived in the modern world, he would’ve been a top androgynous model without even trying.

[I still can’t believe that someday I will get to have a beautiful man like him as my husband,] Roxanna squealed inside her mind, her face heating up. [My ex-husband will look like a sewer rat if he stands next to Azul.]

Actually... that wasn’t fair to the rat. The rat would cry if it knew she compared it to a monster.

Azul, on the other hand, felt very proud that his face had managed to steal her heart so quickly.

"I can bring you clean water," Azul said gently. "But if you’re feeling better, I can take you to the river instead." He pressed his palm lightly to her forehead, checking her temperature. "You feel fine now, but the river water might be too cold for you."

But now that her system had fully recovered, Roxanna no longer shivered like before, and she probably wouldn’t shiver even if she entered the river at night.

Besides... a bath would definitely refresh her mind.

[You can also mate with Azul there, Host!!]

[Oh, shut up!] Roxanna snapped at the system in her mind. [I just want to bathe, not flirt with Azul!]

Though she did need to be careful, because after all, Azul was still a man with a working libido. Even while she slept, she definitely felt something poking her from below, most likely his not-so-little brother reacting on instinct.

Well, she couldn’t be mad, because apparently, showing that they were aroused wasn’t embarrassing in this primitive era. Besides, Azul didn’t do anything to her, so Roxanna simply brushed it off and treated it as a natural reaction.

"A bath in the river sounds nice, but isn’t the water too strong?" Roxanna asked with curiosity.

Azul smiled. "Don’t worry. There’s a pond fed by the river. Some people actually prefer to bathe there instead of in the river itself."

Roxanna’s eyes lit up a little. "A pond...? So the water is calmer?"

"Yes," Azul nodded. "The river flows into a shallow basin nearby. The current is very gentle there, and the water stays clean because it keeps flowing in and out."

"That sounds perfect..." Roxanna murmured, imagining the warm night air, the sound of water, and the chance to finally clean herself after feeling sticky for hours.

Azul slowly sat up, his long hair sliding over his shoulders. "If you want, I can take you there now. It’s quiet at night, and no one will disturb you."

Without thinking further, Roxanna nodded while smiling. "Alright, let’s go there!"

Since they weren’t heading back to her hut, Azul lent her a set of his clean clothes. Roxanna honestly didn’t expect she would get to use anything foamy for her bath, but while she soaked alone in the pond, Azul went to search for something he called "soapberry."

She didn’t really know what it was, but apparently, when the fruit was crushed and mixed with water, it created bubbles like real soap.

"Here, we crush it like this." Azul stepped into the water, then used a stone to break the soapberry open at the edge of the pond.

He was completely naked, while Roxanna was still wearing her animal-skin clothes. She actually felt uncomfortable bathing like that, but she would feel too embarrassed if she were fully naked.

After all, the water was so clear that Azul would definitely be able to see her body.

"Amazing!" Roxanna clapped her hands in excitement as Azul rubbed the crushed soapberry in his palms after dipping it into the water.

Within seconds, the fruit foamed up.

"Come here," Azul said gently, taking her hand and pulling her closer to him. He placed the foamy soapberry onto her hair. "I’ll help you wash your hair."

Roxanna turned her back to him, letting Azul take care of her hair. After spending so much time in the forest and losing so much blood earlier that morning, she could finally wash herself properly and relax for the first time today.

Azul’s hands moved gently through her hair, his fingers separating each strand with surprising care. He washed away every bit of dirt and oil as if her hair were something delicate he wanted to protect.

The soapberry didn’t have any fragrance at all, but that was still much better than smelling like sweat.

"You need to take off your clothes too, or you won’t be able to clean your body properly," Azul said casually. "Why be shy? It’s not like this is the first time we’ve seen each other naked."

Since Roxanna didn’t want to reveal her true identity, Azul used that as an excuse to tease her a little. As long as it didn’t hurt her, he guessed it was fine.

"W-Well, that’s true, but... but it doesn’t mean I can’t be embarrassed," Roxanna muttered, lowering her head. "I’m trying to be a better person now! So if I get naked, won’t it make you feel bad because... because it might remind you of all the horrible things the old me did to you?"

Azul let out a small laugh. "What horrible things?"

Roxanna blinked, confused.

"I have the memory of a fish," Azul said with a smile. "I can’t remember my past clearly at all."