The Story of Gothic Lady Who Met a Grave Keeper in Another World - Chapter 20

 This is a service, not lust.

 It is devotion, not taking.

 So all this shaking of the fingers, all this heat in the body, all this difficulty in breathing, it is all a distraction, not a possibility.

 I should have brought water.

 It had never occurred to him that he had no tolerance for alcohol.

 It was the wine that Thorden poured down every day in place of water.

 He always thought it tasted like water.

 How could he leave Eri, who was drunk, staggering, and asleep?

 Many of the dead brought to this cemetery died from alcohol.

 Moreover, Eri wanted to take a bath.

 What would happen if Eri left because he was sleeping and then woke up and tried to take a bath alone?

 She would burn herself in the boiling water, drown in the bathtub, or slip in the bathtub and hit her head.

 It would have been easier if Eri had been dead, he thought for sure.

 But he doesn’t want her to die.

 If he wished for that, he would have reaped her life without pain, in a way that would never cause a scratch or mark, and he would have immediately embalmed her and prepared a glass coffin.

 Thorden ran his fingertips lightly over the bathtub filled with hot water at the right temperature, and then he put his hand over Eri’s clothes as she lay on the sofa, looking a little uncomfortable.

 It was a loose-fitting loungewear tunic that Sciuto had prepared for her.

 He undoes the waistband, relaxes the collar, pulls her arms through the sleeves, and tucks them around her neck, careful not to wake her.

 He is used to dealing with immobile bodies.

 He even thinks that sleeping people are easier to deal with because they don’t act like the deceased.

 Tunic after tunic, skirt after skirt, underwear after underwear – it’s just like the procedure. There is nothing different from washing a corpse stained with blood and mud.

 Except that Eri’s body is soft, warm, moist, sweaty, and even smells good.

” Where… the blindfold…”

 Maybe I should have worn that.

 No, it’s too late for that, too.

 I can’t carry a sleeping Eri with a blindfold on. If he dropped her by mistake, it would be a catastrophe.

Think of her as a corpse. She is not alive, not a living person. Let’s think so.

 Thorden took off her clothes and picked up Eri’s body.

 And then…

“Oh, ……!”

I’m not sure I want to be here.

 Eri’s body tensed up and Thorden almost screamed.

He wondered if I had woken her up.

 The first thing to do is to make sure that you have a good idea of what you’re looking for.

 Thorden fearfully looked at Eri’s face.

 Her face was pained and frowned. But she does not seem to open his eyes.

 It’s all right, she’s still asleep.

 Thorden is relieved and quickly moves to the bathroom.

 He quickly moves to the bathroom, where he lays Eri’s body down in the bathtub.

 If he did that, he would have a good excuse if she woke up.

 Wouldn’t he?

 Even though he couldn’t communicate with her.

 No, but he had already taken care of Eri’s bath once, and Eri didn’t say anything at that time.

 No. Did she say anything at that time?

 Suddenly, he almost remembered a soft feeling that he shouldn’t have, and Thorden hit himself with his clenched fist.

 Forget it. Forget it. Good.

 In the first place, isn’t the situation different from that time?

 At that time, Eri was a noblewoman and Thorden could never touch her but now Eri was Thorden’s belonging.

 Even if Thorden had no intention of doing so, Eri would be frightened.

 In that light, this was probably a shortsighted move.

 But it was too late.

 He had already undressed her.

 If Eri woke up at that point, he would not be able to get away with it, regardless of whether she could understand him or not.

 I don’t mind being accused.

 But it is not his intention to make Eri tremble with fear as a result.

 If only he could somehow convince himself that he was a harmless man…

 Thorden slowly laid Eri’s body down in the tub.

 He placed her bandaged leg on the edge of the tub so that it wouldn’t get wet, and then slowly shushed the rest of her body.

 As he lathered up the soap and washed her hair, Eri’s slightly tense body slowly relaxed.

Good, good, go straight into a deep sleep.

 After rinsing her hair, it’s time to start on the body.

 Eri is clean and there is no blood stuck to her, so a light pat with a cloth while in the bathtub should clean her up nicely.

 He wipes Eri’s neck with the cloth, then slides it between her fingers, down her armpits, and over the fullness of her br*asts.

 As he slides the cloth down her abdomen and touches her navel, Eli’s body jerks and she grabs his wrist as if rejecting his hand.

 He looked at Eri’s face, but Eri’s eyes were still closed.

He called out, “…… Eri?”

He called out to her, but she didn’t respond.

He was so excited to see her face.

 This was the first time I had washed a living person’s body, but even corpses can be violent. Even a sleeping person would probably put up some resistance.

 Gently, Thorden pulled Eri’s fingers away from his wrists, grabbed both of her wrists together so that they would not be interfered with again, and began to wash her body again.

 Eri’s body was stiff and stiff, as if in rigour mortis.

 Her legs were especially tightly closed, making it impossible to wash the inside of her thighs.

 With one leg on the bathtub, why does it have to be so strong ……? 

 Thorden knows that it is the area where the skin overlaps that needs to be washed well.

 However, as expected, unlike a corpse, he would not be able to force both legs to split open.

He did not think so.

 Probably not.

 No, not.

 Even if God allowed it, the little bit of common sense that existed in Thorden’s mind would not allow it.

 Thorden stared at Eri’s n*ked body.

 It was clean, without a scratch on it.

 To Thorden, who sees nothing but destroyed, bloody, earth-coloured corpses day in and day out, Eri’s body looks like a perfect work of art.

 Knowing it was an insult, he gently ran his fingers over the pink cheeks.

 How smooth they are.

 Plump and soft.

 For the past few days, he had thought that if he touched this woman, it would be the end.

 He had feared that he would lose control and destroy her, igniting a lust that he had thought did not exist in him.

 But now, Thorden’s heart was so calm.

 It was a strange feeling.

 Eri, moving and talking, stirred Thorden’s heart so much, but Eri, sleeping, calmed him down.

 Then it must not be her body that is always disturbing Thorden’s mind, but her soul. The thought that it is her soul that makes him hot. Not even in the lower half of his body, but in his heart.

 For some reason, at this moment, he wished she could wake up.

 He wondered what Eri would look like – if she woke up now.

 Would she forgive Thorden, as she always does? Would she smile at him?

 He had made so many mistakes in his life that could never be undone.

 Each time, Eri forgave and accepted Thorden.

 Thorden’s fingers found themselves repeatedly stroking Eli’s lips.

 Slowly, saliva began to flow, and without changing his expression, Thorden swallowed the saliva.

 What is this?

 This desire?

 Is it appetite?

 He wondered about the taste.

 He wanted to taste the blood pulsing inside her lips and the saliva that was flooding her mouth, just as the deceased had tasted Eri’s flesh and blood when he bit down on her leg.

 I don’t want to kiss her on the mouth.

 But I wondered if it would be a sin to slip my fingers inside her mouth and taste her saliva.

 Then.

“I’m not going to kiss you,” she said.

 Eri moaned in pain, and Thorden came back to himself.

 He had let her stay in the bathtub too long. Eri’s face was red, hot and sweaty, and she looked distressed.

 Thorden rushed to pull Eri’s body out of the bathtub.

 He wiped her with a dry cloth, put on fresh clothes, laid her on the bed, and opened the window.

 A breeze blew in, and Eri breathed a sigh of relief.

 The night breeze cooled her hot body for a while.

 Before it got too cold, he closed the window, covered himself with a blanket, and left Eri’s house.

 Back in the shack, Thorden looked up at the ceiling, closed his eyes, and stroked his lips.

 Not that he wanted to kiss them.

 And yet…