Chapter 33 - Bathe

After Van had finished the additional servings, Amoria led him to the bathroom.

"Take as much time as you need. Let's just say you're not exactly the picture of cleanliness right now," she teased playfully.

"Right..." Van muttered, scratching his head awkwardly after catching a whiff of himself.

"...I can help you bathe, if you want," Amoria offered casually, her smile unwavering.

"...Sorry, what?" Van exclaimed, his voice rising in surprise as his face flushed with embarrassment.

Amoria gasped as she saw his embarrassed expression, couldn't help but laugh at it.

"S-so cute...! You're just too adorable when you're embarrassed, like a little boy... and with that face!" she giggled, reaching out to pinch his cheeks gently.

"..." He groaned silently, almost in frustration.

'His skin... It's so tough...!' Amoria noted silently, surprised by the firmness of his cheeks.

He quickly moved to brush her hands away.

"Stop teasing me. I might look young, but you know I'm older than you." he said, his voice shaking slightly, his cheeks still beet red.

Amoria's laughter filled the room as her smile broadened, finding his flustered state even more endearing. "Saying that with such a youthful face!" she continued to tease, pinching his cheeks again.

"You're like a kid trying to act grown-up!" she chuckled, squeezing his cheeks a bit more firmly.

"I said stop..." Van's protest was soft and shy.

"Oh, you poor, adorable thing, are you sure you don't want this sweet older lady to help you bathe..!?"

Amoria cooed, increasing the intensity of her rubs and squeezes.

"I'll do it myself," Van exclaimed as he shook her off, "No need for teasing to this extent, Amoria." He hurried into the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

'Damn it... I thought my heart was gonna burst.' Van thought, his heart still pounding as he leaned against the bathroom door, trying to catch his breath.

Outside, Amoria let out a soft sigh, her cheeks tinged with a blush.

"I was serious about helping you out, though..." she murmured to herself as she bit her lip with a pout, her voice barely audible as she glanced back at the bathroom door one last time before walking away.

A few minutes later, Van sat on the stool in the bath, beginning to soap himself.

'She was never this forward before.' he pondered, struggling to reach a spot on his back, his breathing still uneven from the earlier encounter.

'Should I have accepted her offer just now...?' He mused, his body relaxing as he stared up at the bathroom ceiling through the rising steam.

'If I had been firm about me and Amoria continuing the journey without Magus and the rest back then, could things have been different between us? Did I... make a mistake by listening to Magus when he begged me to stay?'

Van gazed down, a shadow of defeat clouding his features.

'... Relax.' He reassured himself, 'I'm going to live far beyond the burning out of the last star in this universe. Am I really crying about not being loved when I'm in my 40s? What am I, a lovesick teenager?' He scolded himself, his mood lightening as he stood up and stepped into the bath, stretching out and trying to relax as the cleansed the lingering soap from his body.

'Really, why am I getting worked up over something that happened over 16 years ago? I'm supposed to be immortal... Act like it!'

'Magic is advancing, new dungeons are appearing with stronger monsters every week or so, and the complexity of spells is increasing. My current stats already place me on par with this world's mightiest for the next couple of centuries, and I can still level up my stats by dying in creative ways. Why am I wasting time bitching over something as trivial as unrequited love?' he pondered.

'It's... Not that important,' He tried to convince himself, yet his heart betrayed him, a subtle knot forming in his abdomen.

'I should... I should just focus on Alicia. Let's be honest... She kissing that demon didn't mean anything to her, it was just a game... I left because... I'm just immature. That has to be it.' He thought.

'To hell with all of it,' Van decided with newfound resolve.

'... I'll return to the demonic realm to Alicia after a few days.' he decided, a faint smile playing at the corners of his lips as he relaxed further into the warmth of the bath.

'I bet she's mad that I left so suddenly. I'll tell her why I left... And,' He thought, as several minutes later, he left the bathub and dried himself, noticing clothes neatly folded near the door.

'I'll also tell this girl she'd being kind to the wrong person. I'll tell her everything in due time.'