How the Sidekick Prince Lives Again Chapter 97

Published at 15th of February 2023 11:39:25 AM

rince: Chapter 97

< Translated at Blessed Empyrean wordpress. >

“Your Imperial Highness?”

“I, I’m coming out now!”

Khalid called Renato once more when he didn’t come out. Only then did Renato come to his senses, grab the doorknob and turn it. When he opened the door, he immediately saw Khalid who had changed into a sleeping gown. It seemed that the man had also washed up somewhere else while Renato was in the bathroom.

“You should carefully dry your hair.”

Taking a glance at Renato, Khalid saw his wet hair and wrapped the towel in his hand over Renato’s head. Then, the man began to dry his hair skillfully. It was one of their routines whenever they shared a room after the first hypnosis treatment.

“I haven’t gotten used to it yet……”

Feeling the man’s hand dry his hair, Renato mumbled. Having been attended to all his life, he could do other things by himself, but he wasn’t used to drying or taking care of his hair. When he was in the Empire, the temperature was warm at night, so he didn’t have any problems even if he didn’t dry his hair.

“But I think that your hair isn’t dry yet either, your highness?”

Noticing the water on the man’s black hair covering his forehead, Renato timidly pointed out. Khalid’s hair looked a little curlier than usual, probably because it was wet.

“It’s okay, because I don’t feel cold and I’m also strong.”

“How does that……”

“I think it’s dry now. Please come over here and sit down.”

Confirming the silvery hair was well-dried, Khalid took Renato to bed. Then, seeing Renato limping his right leg, he slightly frowned. He also expected that to some extent, but he didn’t feel good when seeing it with his own eyes.

“Please wait for me a bit.”

“Pardon?”

After helping Renato sit on the bed, Khalid immediately turned around and disappeared outside the room. He was so quick that Renato couldn’t even ask where he was going.

“……”

Left alone, Renato felt a bit restless at Khalid’s attitude which was not much different from usual. He pursed his lower lip and patted the throbbing knee with his hand. It seemed that he was the only one conscious of their engagement’s first night.

Renato swallowed a sigh, feeling a strange sense of futility. It wasn’t their wedding’s first night and they were just getting engaged, so he felt ashamed for getting nervous like a fool. At that moment, Khalid returned with a small box in his hand.

“What is that?”

“This is a pain relief ointment. It is used by our Knights Order and is effective for muscle pain.”

Khalid sat down next to Renato and opened the lid while replying. The white cream appeared with a light herbal scent.

“You overworked yourself today, right? If you sleep without doing anything, you will suffer from muscle pain tomorrow. You might get sick, too.”

“Ah.”

“You can apply it to aching or uncomfortable areas.”

“……Thank you.”

Renato awkwardly scooped the white cream and expressed his gratitude in a small voice. Whenever Khalid took care of him so meticulously like this, his chest felt ticklish. He followed Khalid’s instructions and gently applied the ointment to his neck and shoulders.

Then, he put his hand into his sleeping gown and evenly applied the cream to his arms which had become stiff. Khalid watched that for a moment, then rolled up his sleeves and turned toward Renato.

“Please put your legs here. I will give you a massage.”

“……Massage?”

“Yes. Your legs are overworked the most today. If your muscles are relaxed before sleeping, you won’t have a body ache tomorrow.”

After finishing his words, Khalid tapped on his own thighs. So he means I need to put my legs up there? The light purple eyes filled with bewilderment alternately glanced at Khalid’s face and the man’s thighs.

“Can I just apply the cream?”

“Applying the cream won’t be enough. Come on.”

Hearing the man’s low urging, Renato was forced to put his legs on Khalid’s thighs. Then, Khalid immediately moved his hand. He skillfully folded the ends of Renato’s pants and quickly pushed them up. In an instant, Renato’s slender calves and round knees were exposed.

“I will apply the ointment first.”

Khalid put cream on both hands and grabbed Renato’s ankles. Then, he swept up Renato’s calves and spread the ointment on his legs. His hands stopped behind Renato’s knees, glided down, then went up again. After that, he wrapped around the ankle bone on Renato’s right foot.

“It might hurt a little.”

“Ah……!”

Having left a warning, Khalid raised his thumb and pressed on the ankle. Immediately, a groan escaped from Renato’s mouth. It hurt so much that his vision turned white for a moment.

“Does it hurt?”

Seeing Renato’s reaction, Khalid relaxed his grip a little. But Renato could feel no difference at all. When the man’s large hand massaged his tense calf and his thumb firmly pressed on his skin, Renato’s body trembled.

“Please bear with it a bit.”

Renato tightly closed his eyes and nodded instead of answering. He thought a groan would come out if he opened his mouth. Khalid’s hand, focusing on massaging his calf, gradually moved up toward behind his knee.

“Ugh, huff.”

Renato desperately held back the groans about to leak from his mouth. He thought he was familiar with enduring pain, but whenever the man’s blunt fingertips firmly pressed against the inside curve of his knee, his tears came out.

“Please relax.”

Khalid clasped the round knee with his hand, then bent his five fingers and strongly pressed on it. Then, his hand slid down and glided up again to massage Renato’s calf. After repeating that several times, the tight muscles loosened and the calf became softer.

“It’s quite loosened up now.”

Feeling the leg in his hand soften, Khalid had a satisfied expression. He then repeated the same actions on Renato’s opposite leg.

“Is, is it done?”

When the hand that was rubbing his left leg parted away, Renato let out a breath he was holding back and asked.

“Please wait a bit, not yet……”

Khalid trailed off his words, grabbed Renato’s left ankle with his left hand, and moved his right hand to scoop the cream. Then, he slipped his hand underneath the pants over Renato’s knee.

“What, ah!”

Startled by the fingers coming into his clothes, Renato tried to pull his body back. However, he couldn’t escape since his ankle was caught. A scream-like sound escaped from his wide-open mouth when the fingers soaked with cream pressed down on his stiff thigh.

“It, hurts, it hurts.”

Unable to bear the pain, Renato inadvertently grabbed Khalid’s wrist. His face, which was quite pale just a moment ago, was now flushed.

“Please bear with this a little bit, hmm? It’ll be over after this place is also relaxed……”

Ignoring Renato’s restraint, Khalid raised his fingertips, gently pressed them down, and rubbed the thigh from side to side. He soothed Renato in a soft tone and quickly relaxed the thigh muscles.

“Huff.”

Feeling the stimulation on his thigh, Renato held back a deep breath. However, a sound that was either a sob or a gasp soon leaked out from his closed lips.

“Huu……”

With a flushed face, Renato bowed his head and curled his toes. As the heat starting from his ankles rose, his stomach heated up and sweat formed on his forehead. His body became hot and his senses became more sensitive, making the touch of the hand pressing his thigh clearer than before.

Renato bit his lower lip hard enough to leave a tooth mark, hoping that the massage would be over soon. Every time the calloused thumb touched the inside of his thigh, his waist shuddered and his lower body became stiff.

Perhaps because of his unfamiliarity with people’s touch at that place, or his sensitivity caused by the heat from the massage, his body kept flinching in response to every of Khalid’s movements, making him feel embarrassed.

“It’s done.”

Either having noticed Renato’s embarrassment or not, Khalid, who focused only on the massage, released his hand after confirming that the thigh muscles had moderately softened. He genuinely wanted to massage Renato’s shoulders and waist as well, but he thought that Renato would be truly terrified if he tried to do so.

“You suffered a lot.”

Announcing that the massage was over, Khalid gently stroked Renato’s hair in front of him. Then, seeing the clear red marks on Renato’s ankles, he frowned.

“I didn’t know it would leave marks here.”

Khalid clicked his tongue, then lowered his hand to caress the reddened skin. Renato’s skin was fragile and soft, so a little force could also redden or bruise it.

“Are you not hurt?”

“I don’t know……”

Renato answered with no energy. Since the massage lasted for nearly thirty minutes, he could feel nothing but the burning sensation on his skin as if a fire had broken out.

“I already thought this before, but…… I think your feet are really small.”

The hand that came down to Renato’s ankle gently grabbed the round top of his foot. Khalid looked down at the tiny foot that perfectly fit in his hand in wonder.

“I think it’s because your hand is big, your highness.”

“Then I guess it’s both.”

Khalid let out a chuckle at Renato’s timid rebuttal, then continued stroking the ankle bone with his thumb. His eyes couldn’t part away from the slender ankle that seemed to break even with a little force. He also glanced at the handprints that were clearly on Renato’s skin.

“How can you be so weak……”

Khalid muttered in a genuinely worried tone. Every time he saw something like this, he would be worried and sad. But today, his feelings were a little different. Seeing his handprints occupying Renato’s skin made him feel a strange sense of satisfaction.

Satisfaction?

Khalid was briefly startled by his own thoughts. His shoulders flinched, and he quickly withdrew the hand that was holding Renato’s foot. At that moment, he could feel someone outside the door.

“Your highness, have you slept?”

Knock knock. After the knocking sound came a cautious voice. It was Count Horam who came to the bedroom. Khalid got up and walked toward the door as if running away.

“What’s the matter?”

“Her Majesty has sent a congratulatory liquor to celebrate your engagement and to apologize for the unfortunate incident occurring during the celebration banquet.”

Chapter end