The water wasn't very cold and wasn't very warm either.
It was just the right temperature.
It made the hair on my skin stand but that was it. It didn't send chills.
Maybe it was like that because I was a tiger beast man that the water made my hair stand.
And as for the temperature, if I were a human and decided to dip in a lake I found in the middle of nowhere, I would freeze.
The climate over here is just that cold, so regular humans couldn't live without warm clothes and even setting up fire regularly for warmth.
I took a deep breath, dipped under for a few seconds, and then came up, breathing hard as the water dripped down my hair and face.
I cleaned my face with my palms, and then pushed my hair back, sweeping down the water and touching my ears in the process, ticklish by the way.
It was refreshing. So good.
It's almost comparable to having a warm bubble bath.
"Those beasts don't know what they're missing," I muttered, splashing some more water on my face and then rubbing off the mud.
My face was so dirty, and my hands too. Ugh, I wish I had soap, but I can't expect that at this time.
Then, I looked down at my reflection in the water on the rippling water. Though I'm currently possessing Arinya, I don't know what she looks like.
They say she's ugly and I can feel the freckles when I touch my face but... Just how ugly was she? Having freckles doesn't mean a person is ugly. I find the cute and attractive, if anything.
But then maybe other features of my face were beyond ugly.
Once the water settled, I finally saw it.
Wait, hold on. Was I seeing things clearly?
I closed my eyes tight and then opened them. Still the same appearance.
What was going on?
I was shocked, my eyebrows knitting and my lips twisting, the same things happening in my reflection on the water.
Wait, didn't they say Arinya was ugly?
But then... Why was she so damn fine?
I mean what I say.
This isn't the reflection of an ugly duckling. Yes, she had freckles but I could barely even see them now that I've washed my face.
Was there something clouding her face this whole time that made others think of her as ugly? Did I wash it off? Is it even possible to wash off ugliness?
I'm confused.
I lowered my body even more till the water covered up my mouth and stopped at my nostrils.
I thought deeply, my forehead furrowing as I couldn't understand what part of Arinya they found ugly.
Or was it because she acted like a male that she was dubbed ugly?
I can't understand it.
Pointed nose, nice round chin, and that wild look that, of course, suited her wild character... Even her hair looks great. In all of that, I didn't see the 'ugly duckling' that every beast was talking about.
If it was just mud that had covered up all of this then...
"They're all idiots," I mumbled inside the water, bubbles forming from my breath.
Real idiots.
If I had even half the beauty Arinya had, I wouldn't even worry about being a side character back in my world.
I could at least pass on as a supporting character who snags the main character's best friend position or helper.
'Whatever, let's just enjoy the water.'
But just as I was enjoying the bliss of soaking my exhausted body, I felt the water move. Wait, no. That's not right.
There was a ripple but... That wasn't me. I didn't make that ripple.
But then another ripple came and slowly, the water began to wave.
"Wait, what's happening right now?"
I was confused.
But didn't think long about what to do and turned.
The best thing to do was escape.
I've enjoyed the water long enough anyway.
So, I began to swim.
Without even realizing it, I had gotten to a deeper part of the lake.
The ripples weren't from the water falling from the cliff, I could tell that much, since the ripples that came were big, as if there was someone moving in the water besides me.
Fear suddenly gripped me as I once again realized I was in the beast world.
What if it were a wild water species?
An alligator perhaps?
I got scared and swam fast, but then, whatever it was that was moving the water burst out, causing me to scream in fright.
"Eekkkk!" A short sharp shriek escaped my lips.
And before I could understand what was going on, a thick, long tail wrapped around my legs, and a pair of arms wrapped around my body.
"Arinya," I heard them call my name and I flinched.
Wait, wasn't that...?
Damar?
I turned my head and found this snake beast man showing a warmer expression than he did the previous night when we met.
A faint pink glow on those pale cheeks made me gulp. This...
"You kept your promise."
Wait, no, I don't know what's going on but... I looked at the water.
Had he been in there this whole time?
How was he even breathing?
I know he's a snake and all but... I'm baffled.
I have been swimming in this water this entire time, and never noticed that a giant snake could be lurking at the bottom, waiting to devour me.
What happened to my danger sensor? How could I not have noticed such a crazy detail????
Damar, the silver-scaled snake man I met the previous night, was right behind me.
He had his tail wrapped around my legs and his arms holding me to his body, as if he was scared I'd run, or rather, swim away, if he gave me even a little breathing space.
Wasn't this too much?
In the first place, I wasn't even here for him.
I came to take a bath.
How was I supposed to know he'd be sleeping in the depths of such a beautiful lake?
But more than that... I was naked.
My face burned red. Why was it always like this?
First, Damar saw me down there, and now he was seeing my entire naked body. At this point, he had already seen all of me.
What's left is to seal the deal and consummate, like he said.
But... I didn't even think about it yet. I was too busy with family drama that I had no chance to think of his proposal.
This is so embarrassing.
What do I tell him now?