Please, just… Don’t say anything… Just… I can’t…

Several moments passed in stifling silence before he released a soft exhale and stepped incredibly close behind me. For a brief second, I had the fleeting suspicion that he would wrap his strong arms around me in a warm embrace from behind. To my partial relief, and chagrin, he simply grasped my long blonde hair and draped it over my left shoulder before proceeding to carefully tie the strings as tightly as possible, slowly moving up my back.

He paused just as he got to the very center of my back. “You can trust me, you know…”

“I know.” …You don’t know or realize how much I really want to…

There were several moments of stillness before he resumed his work. He once again paused as he reached my shoulder blades, leaning in close enough for me to catch a whiff of his alpine and sage scent.

“Why do you insist that you’re a monster?” His words came out barely above a whisper, his breath tickling my ear, though he wasn’t that close. The words sounded almost pained, rimmed with a frustration that I still couldn’t bring myself to comprehend.

“Because it’s easier to keep people away.”

The young man said nothing as he finished lacing the corset, pulling the strings tight and tying then off.

“There. It’s as tight as I can make it.” He spoke dejectedly, a soft sigh escaping him as he stepped away.

With my disguise now complete, and after making a few final adjustments, I turned to him with a more composed expression. My attire now consisted of a ¾ length bare-shouldered cream blouse that was designed to naturally show more cleavage, a long brown skirt with two slits on either side – revealing my shapely legs – and boots of a darker brown that laced up the front. Tying the overall look together, both figuratively and literally, was the under bust corset that was such a hassle to get on properly. It accentuated my hourglass figure, my gentle curves easily becoming more evident. With the way the under bust part of the corset was designed, it lifted my voluptuous breasts more than the average one would, giving them a much perkier appearance.

“Well?” I studied him nonchalantly. “How do I look?”

Although the young man’s eyes were focused on me, his expression was solemn and his gaze distant. Upon hearing my question, his eyes regained their focus, honing in on me and my outstretched arms, his eyes slowly trailing down my body. It didn’t take long for his jaw to drop and deep crimson to flush his cheeks. He now gawked at me, his gaze slowly caressing my curves as he returned his attention to my face.

Nodding, I crossed my arms, my breasts jiggling as they were lifted ever so slightly. “Good. Quick, pass me that cloak. We need to get to the town.”

He nodded stiffly, moving almost mechanically to retrieve a matching brown cloak and handing it to me. As I threw the cloak over my shoulders, he carefully picked up my neatly folded clothes from one of the roots.

“W-what about these?” His tone was soft, almost distracted; his gaze focusing on certain parts of my disguise.

Heh… Guess I affected him more than I thought I would. With a gentle motion, I flicked my long golden locks from the confines of the cloak. “Just put it in your pack.”

He blinked, snapping out of it. “What?! Why mine?”

“Because they’re most likely going to search our bags, and of the two of us, you’re more likely to wear black.” I replied matter-of-factly, fluttering my long lashes at him. “We wouldn’t want to be caught before we even infiltrated the palace, would we?”

“Hm.” It was quiet, but I managed to catch him murmur, “They’re still warm…” before he placed them at the bottom of his bag without further argument.

“All right. Let’s go!” Purposefully pressing gently against his muscled arm, I smiled brightly and began leading him through the forest, the young man bearing both packs as we traveled; his cheeks stained a deep scarlet.