Chapter 78 - BATH ATTACK

Veronica was busy enjoying her bath as well as the glittering moonlight when she heard a noise. Without thinking much, she turned around and her body froze the next instant.

A black bear was standing there. It came to drink water at night but faced a yummy meal. In the dark, only its glowing eyes could be seen properly.

The bear snarled as she turned over. At first, he just came to drink water but then saw the prey. Since the prey was unmoving, it assumed that its soon-to-be food was already dead.

Dead food wasn't as tasty as the one which was freshly killed and it was troublesome to get into the water. So, he was going to leave right after drinking water. However, the food suddenly moved. He then suspected that the food wasn't dead and it looked quite delicious.

The bear looked at its prey with hungry eyes.

On the other hand, Veronica couldn't move. Her lips wouldn't part and let her voice out. It was like her brain was dead. It couldn't give her body any order. She dumbly and cautiously stared at the predatory animal, without even blinking her eyes.

"Gaaah!" The bear was confused as its food wasn't moving anymore. It needed to confirm whether the meal was dead or alive. In order to test that, it roared with all its might.

Upon hearing the ferocious sound, Veronica forgot to even breathe, let alone thinking about how to escape this predicament. Her whole body turned cold.

The bear finally concluded that the food wasn't alive. It wasn't moving as he thought it would. "Hmph!" After expressing his displeasure, he drank water to his fill and then left the place.

Even after it had left, Veronica couldn't move. She stayed like that for quite some time.

"If you stay like that for another two minutes, your legs will go numb. After that, you will drown."

Upon hearing a familiar voice, she slowly and carefully turned around. Her heart was still trembling in fear that the bear would come back if she moved even a little. She was terrified to even let the water around her slosh lest it might attract the predatory animal's attention again. She saw a man sitting on the tree branch, not so far from the bank of this water body, on a rather tall tree.

In the moonlight, Arthur noticed how scared she was. Even her red lips turned white. He assured her by saying, "Relax. The bear left. It already lost interest in you. So, it won't come back. However, other animals may come to drink water. They won't be as polite as bears. Hey, wait, why are you crying?"

"Ah!" Only then did Veronica sense that water was actually coming pouring out of her eyes. She was so scared after seeing the bear and she thought she was going to die naked. It would be such a shameful way to die.

After the bear left, Arthur came like a savior just like always. She felt a sense of relief wash over her entire being in the next second as she realized she was safe now. She couldn't control her emotions and began to cry in front of him. So, she quickly wiped her tears.

"I'm not crying or anything. It was just some water. I'm bathing." She refused to acknowledge her weakness in front of him. "In any case, what are you doing here? Are you a pervert who likes to peep at women taking baths? You said you were only after those who gave themselves to you. I didn't give myself to you."

Arthur was amused by her words. He came down from the tree and stated, "You know other women wouldn't come to me crying or would say how scared they were. They would also be elated knowing that I was watching them bathing."

"Eww! Gross! No woman will do that. You are making things up. Get out!"

Arthur started to walk away and she could hear his voice coming from further away, "Are you sure? You might face another animal. You may not return to the tent safely."

"Wait! Wait!" Veronica quickly called out. There was no way she could walk out of there with this kind of fear plaguing her heart.

Arthur smiled and paused in his tracks. As he was about to turn around to face her again, he heard her warn him, "Don't you dare to look in my way. If you do…" her voice trailed off. She didn't know what to do. She only said that to stop him from seeing her in her birthday suit.

"If I do?" Arthur repeated. "What will you do?"

She told him, "It won't be good." She swam back to the shore and took a piece of cloth to wipe her body.

"Pfft!" Arthur could not control his laughter. Her words humored him to a great length. He laughed for a while and then said, "What kind of reason is that? That is not good enough," saying that, he slightly turned around.

"Don't!" Veronica sharply warned him. Her heart was about to jump out of her chest. As if one attack (bear attack) wasn't enough. She was going to die of a heart attack one day.

Arthur paused when he heard her shout. He listened to the sound of her wiping her body hurriedly. He suddenly asked, "Are you done? I'm coming…" he tried to turn around.

"No!" Veronica's heart jumped to her throat. She forced herself to wear her undergarments. She quickly grabbed her clothes.

'This is fun,' Arthur thought in amusement. He hadn't had fun for such a long time. The war made his life dull. Having a woman with a unique persona just added up as a prize.

"Are you finished now? May I turn around?" he playfully asked and before she could reply, he turned around and faced her. He regretted not turning around sooner. She finished wearing her clothes sooner than he had thought.

"I'm done," Veronica answered smugly. Back in the temple, when she would wake up late, she would dress up in one minute to cover up for her laziness. The dress she was wearing now was less complicated than the temple uniform. It didn't take that much time. As if she accomplished something great, she stared at Arthur with pride.

He stepped forward and watched her closely. She was wearing a light blue-colored garment. It was given to her by a healer after she saved them. It was a night cloth. The cloth gripped her here and there because some of her body parts were still wet.

Her hair was dripping wet and so she wrapped her head with the white cloth. Some hair strands peeked out of the white cloth and covered her forehead and temples. Those hair strands were still wet. He could see droplets of water hanging there. He touched one of those strands and dripped out the droplet of water. While doing so, he asked, "Did you have a good time bathing?"

Veronica snapped at him, "Is this the main point right now? What were you doing here? How could you follow me when I came to bathe?"

Arthur shrugged helplessly, "Oh, is it my fault now? I was here for quite a while. You are the one who suddenly barged in and started to undress."

Veronica's face heated up. Due to darkness, he couldn't see her blushing out of embarrassment. However, she didn't want to admit defeat just yet or she would lose her face here. She interrogated him, "Was it me who came here later? Then why didn't you say anything in the first place?"

"It looked like an emergency and so I said nothing. I was giving you some privacy and you blame me." Arthur placed his hand on his left chest to show her that he was hurt by her accusation.

It wasn't time to reflect on her actions. She had yet to confirm another thing. She was blushing furiously as she inquired, "Did you look? When I was bathing?"

"Did I?" Arthur took a note of her nervousness and pretended not to know the answer to increase her anxiety. "I don't remember."

"What do you mean by that?" Veronica thought her heart was about to explode in anxiety and annoyance. "It just happened a few minutes ago and you cannot remember? Drop the act and tell me!"

Arthur mischievously asked her, "What will you do if I didn't see? What will you do if I did see?"

Veronica pursed her lips. In anger, agitation, and humiliation, she wanted to cry.

He was always like this. He played with her heart like that and he wasn't even serious about it. His insincere attitude only threw her back. For a simple-minded girl like her, it was hard for her to deal with something like this.

She stomped her foot and said, "You are acting like this because you saw me, didn't you? You always say that I'm your friend but you always take advantage of me. That's it. I won't ever talk to you anymore."