Page 30 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

He hadn’t been foolish enough to put his tent that close to the mountain, but it still caused an awful lot of noise and made the ground tremble in the area.

His eyes went back to his tent, where Alezya was bathing.

There was no way she hadn’t heard that, but she hadn’t called him.

Was she alright? She hadn’t collapsed in the bath or something, had she?

He tried to listen, but it was hard to hear anything with his imbecile dragon making such a racket.

Kassein didn’t care anymore about whatever they’d been searching for up there, he was more worried about that woman being silent despite the uproar.

After one more glare at his dragon, he decided to walk back into the tent.

“Alezya?” he called her name as he walked in to try and warn her.

When he stepped inside, he saw her, half-standing in the middle of the bath, looking panicked.

She turned her eyes his way, clearly surprised to see him.

Kassein was stunned. She was naked, most of the bandages taken off and lying next to the bath on the floor, and her long black hair all around her, framing her beauty.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, and this vision hit him.

It was like he’d walked into an impromptu moment, and caught some ethereal goddess bathing.

He’d seen a bit of her body before, but then, she was heavily wounded, covered in blood and bruises, and he hadn’t cared much for her silhouette. Well, she had a gorgeous one.

She had a long, slender body, but larger breasts that a lot of women would have envied. Her long ink-like hair was down to her thighs, enveloping her body and enhancing her superb figure.

As Kassein took his eyes back to her face, he realized she was glaring, and he suddenly realized he’d been staring too much.

He darted his gaze elsewhere immediately, ashamed.

“S-sorry,” he mumbled.

He hadn’t pronounced that word nor felt so ashamed in a long time, but the image of Alezya standing naked was carved into his mind, and wouldn’t go away. He tried to focus on something else, like the fire in the tent, but his feet were solidly anchored there, and he didn’t turn away.

“I just came to check if you were alright,” he finally uttered, feeling like a moron.

He hadn’t felt this awkward in ages. Not just because he’d caught a woman bathing, or seen her naked, but because for the first time, the sight stirred something deep inside.

He had never found himself like this, so shy, so uncertain, and so… tempted. Something about Alezya’s beautiful appearance humbled him inexplicably. Still, he tried to regain his composure quickly and chase that strange state of mind away.

He heard the water move around and glanced to see that she had sat back in the tub, her body submerged all the way up to her neck. She was still glaring at him though. He sighed and stepped out of the tent, mentally kicking himself out of there; she was alright, that was all he’d come to check.

When he stepped out, Tievin appeared in his field of vision, the Grand Intendant’s eyes on the orange dragon climbing the mountain and making a full-on natural disaster out of it. He was carrying two of his coats, as instructed, and approached Kassein with his eyes still glued on the dragon.

“Dare I ask what’s going on with that dragon of yours?” he sighed.

“No.”

Kassein took the coats from him. He may have been reluctant about it, but Tievin had still picked two small coats that were soft and thick enough for Alezya. Right behind him, the soldiers from before were also carrying some clothes, just as he’d asked them.

Kassein put the coats back in Tievin’s arms to check what they’d brought. The pants would still be too large for Alezya, but the tunic was long and should be fine.

“Her previous clothes?” he asked Tievin.

“I had them thrown away, of course. Didn’t you see what state they were in?”

Kassein was a bit annoyed, but he couldn’t say Alezya’s previous clothes were salvageable. From what he’d seen, they were ripped, soaked, and stained with blood beyond salvation. Still, they could have kept them to take her measurements. He let that idea go.

Clothes were still clothes, they’d find a solution eventually. The men had brought a pair of shoes that could fit, but he wasn’t sure her feet were in any state to wear those yet. Kassein took the clothes and sent them away. That was when he heard her call him.

Already? Did she finish in a hurry because she was worried he’d intrude again?

Kassein stepped in, Tievin following behind him. Alezya was out of the bath, seated on the bed, and wrapped in a large towel, busy drying her hair with another one. From the color of the water, that bath had been long overdue... Tievin frowned upon seeing that too.

Kassein walked up to her and put the clothes next to her on the bed while Tievin left the coats on the side.

“I’ll get someone to take this out...”

“No,” Kassein stopped him. “I’ll do it.”

Tievin froze, surprised, but Kassein didn’t want other men walking into his tent; he hated anyone coming in, and he didn’t want more men to see Alezya and risk scaring her.

Ignoring the Grand Intendant’s stunned gaze, Kassein moved to grab new bandages for her wounds and that medicinal paste he’d made.

“Do you need me for anything else, Commander?” Tievin eventually sighed.

“...See that she gets new underwear,” Kassein said, glancing at the old one Alezya had left on the bed.

It was dirty, of course, but that was the only thing they couldn’t replace right away. Noticing the two men’s eyes were on it, she blushed and took it away, but Tievin nodded. He’d had enough time to see it and guess the size.

“Understood... I’ll get her some from the village.”

Tievin already hated the idea of a trip just to get a woman new underwear, and probably some proper clothes while he was at it, but that would be better than having the clothing unit fabricate female underwear or clothes.

Otherwise, he could already hear the kinds of rumors that would circulate within the camp.

Those soldiers could be worse than old widows when it came to gossiping at times, especially anything that involved their Commander in Chief. ..

Moreover, it would be nice to go south for a bit, and he did like to go shopping and spend his hard-won money.

With that said, Tievin left, planning to go right that day.

The camp could do without him for a few hours, and he was more than happy to leave while that dragon was going on another rampage.

Who knew what would be left of that poor mountain when he’d come back… ?

With Tievin gone, Kassein and Alezya were left alone in the tent, and he noticed she did relax a bit once Tievin was gone. He brought over the bowl of medicinal paste he’d made and showed it to her so as not to alarm her.

“I need to put this on your wounds,” he calmly said, putting a knee down in front of the bed.

Like before, Alezya reacted shocked, and nervous to see him seated underneath her, but he didn’t leave her room to protest. He gently took her ankle and began spreading the ointment.

He felt her flinch; it ought to hurt a bit.

Her skin and injuries looked much better though.

Now cleared of all the dry blood and dirt, it was much smoother and the injuries and cuts clean.

Her skin was healing fast, little scabs had appeared here and there to try and cover the open wounds.

It smelled nice too. The soap that had smelled too floral for Kassein was now wonderfully adorning Alezya’s skin, and it tickled his senses a bit.

He realized his fingers had paused a bit longer than normal on her ankle, and he looked up.

She was staring at him, and faintly blushing.

Alezya wasn’t like most bashful young ladies though, averting her gaze and acting shy.

Instead, she wasn’t afraid to stare at him, with an inquisitive, confused gaze, her cheeks a bit red.

He quickly withdrew his fingers, and went back to the ointment, applying it quickly where he ought to.

When he got close to the areas her towel covered, he stopped and put it aside.

Then, he grabbed the bandages and began covering her feet again, careful of his movements and grateful to have a reason to hide her skin away.

He was feeling much more mindful of the way their skin touched, and Alezya’s reactions.

Sometimes, it was just a very faint flinch, but he couldn’t help but wonder if it was because of the pain, or the contrast between their body temperatures.

He tried hard not to look up again, focusing on bandaging her feet properly.

Suddenly, another loud growl was heard from outside, and Alezya jumped in fright. Kassein glared at the area of the tent behind which he knew Kein to be still wreaking havoc.

Either his dragon had actually found something or had begun hunting for the fun of it; it was just being annoyingly rambunctious and scaring Alezya.

Kassein ignored it and finished bandaging her wounds he could access. Then, he pushed the clean clothes toward her, making a gesture, so she knew it was indeed meant for her. Alezya nodded, but her eyes kept going toward the back of the tent nervously.

Kassein sighed, but anyhow, she had to get dressed. Even in his tent, it wasn’t so warm that she could stay like this for too long.

Thus, he grabbed the dirty, old bandages and lifted the large water bucket to take it outside. Using the time he was outside to give Alezya some privacy to finish getting dressed, he spilled the dirty water in the snow a few steps away from his tent and got rid of the blood-soaked bandages.

Two soldiers came to pick up the now empty bucket and take it away, giving him curious glances. He’d visibly not taken a bath yet, as he still had some blood on him, so they had to be wondering who had used that in the Commander in Chief’s tent.