His mockery cut through her like a knife.

Lianna’s face flushed.

She thought she deserved the criticism.

Nevertheless, the humiliation made the corners of her eyes redden.

“You really didn’t have to say it like that…”

Just as he had said, she had sold her purity to get what she wanted.

The fact that she could not deny any of it made her feel utterly miserable.

Lianna wiped her tear-filled eyes.

She didn’t want to cry pathetically in front of a man who had only ever been cruel to her.

“Your Grace is really… a terrible person.”

“I’ll gladly take that as praise.”

Lianna looked up at him, sniffing faintly.

Her violet eyes, reminiscent of blooming violets, brimmed with resentment.

The moment Calix saw her tear-filled eyes, he felt a pang of emotion.

“……”

There had never been any deeper meaning to sleeping with this woman.

Once the curse had been broken, he had no intention of ever seeing her again — let alone inviting her into his bedchamber.

To him, it was merely a practical act.

It was no different from solving an inconvenient problem.

At least, that’s what he believed.

The corners of the woman’s eyes, framed beneath delicate brows that looked as though they had been painted with a fine brush, were flushed red like flower petals touched by dye.

She was so beautiful that every man in the banquet hall looked at her with open desire.

And her bare body was no less breathtaking.

Though he hated to admit it, Calix desired this woman.

Even before he had truly taken her, the sight of her trembling and crying stirred something strange inside him.

He wanted to see her beneath him, disheveled and gasping for breath.

He wanted to reduce this woman to tears.

‘Getting aroused from seeing a woman cry.’

How disgusting.

Calix sneered even darker than before.

Like prey helplessly trapped in a snare, Lianna exposed her slender neck, trembling faintly beneath his gaze.

Calix lowered himself towards her.

Then he grabbed her br*ast.

“—!”

Lianna instinctively twisted away from Calix’s rough, large hand on her chest, but she was already completely trapped in his embrace.

His broad, muscular body caged her in, leaving her with no way to escape.

There was nowhere to run.

Not only was she completely exposed to him, but she had also never been touched by a man like this before.

Unable to endure the overwhelming humiliation, Lianna squeezed her eyes shut.

She knew this wouldn’t help, but she couldn’t stop herself.

Then the man’s hand moved over the soft curve of her chest.

Lianna’s violet eyes flew open in shock.

His fingers teasingly brushed over her sensitive n*pple and she gasped in surprise.

“Ah… hn…”

A strange, tingling sensation spread through her at once, tickling and overwhelming her.

Lianna trembled helplessly beneath it as Calix lowered his head and pressed his mouth against her chest.

Warm breath.

A heated, damp sensation brushed against her sensitive skin.

Calix moved his lips slowly and deliberately.

The wet sounds mingled with the faint moans that escaped from Lianna before she could stop them.

With every shaky breath she took, heat slowly gathered within her body.

“Haah…”

She had heard that women needed to prepare themselves before entering into a relationship with a man.

But she had never imagined it would feel like this.

At most — and even that did not begin to describe what she was experiencing for the first time — she had only ever been able to imagine something as simple as a kiss.

A sharp, unfamiliar sensation spread from the sensitive tip of her br*ast.

Lianna bit down hard on her trembling lip.

“Hng… Y-Your Grace… p-please stop…”

In response to her tearful plea, Calix slowly raised his gaze.

The woman trembled beneath him as though she could no longer bear the slightest touch.

He had only touched her chest, yet she was already reacting so intensely.

Calix found this faintly absurd.

What exactly had he done to overwhelm her so much?

It wasn’t as though she had never been touched by a man before.

And yet…

Watching her respond so sensitively to every caress was unexpectedly entertaining.

If she reacted this strongly to mere teasing, how would she respond to something more intense?

Would she cry and beg him to stop?

Or would she cling to him, sobbing and begging for more?

Either possibility stirred his curiosity.

A dull ache slowly built up in Calix’s lower body.

He could feel heat gathering inside him, making him crave immediate release, but he deliberately restrained himself.

There was no reason to rush.

Not before he had thoroughly unraveled this woman.

Calix’s hand slowly slid lower between Lianna’s legs.

The instant his fingers brushed against a sensitive spot, Lianna stiffened sharply.

She squirmed frantically, trying to pull away, but Calix’s strong arm tightened around her waist, holding her firmly against him.

His fingers moved slowly and deliberately, teasing her most intimate place.

The repeated brushing and rubbing made Lianna shake her head helplessly, trembling shivers running through her body.

“N-Not there… I-I don’t want…”

“Why say that?”

“It’s too… embarrassing…”

“Do all the women Count Chester hires have such talent for acting? If I weren’t careful, I might actually believe you.”

“Hng… what do you mean by that…?”

Even as she trembled beneath the relentless stimulation, the woman’s large eyes blinked slowly in confusion.

“Well, whatever. Even if it’s obvious, it’s still fairly entertaining.”

If she wanted to appear like a woman who had never experienced a man before, he was willing to play along.

The fingers that had been teasingly brushing against her most intimate place gradually pressed deeper with force. He rolled against her slowly before rubbing harder, and Lianna writhed helplessly beneath him.

The precarious sensation soon transformed into something that felt ready to burst.

It was strange.

Even though he was touching such a shameful place, it felt so good she thought she might melt apart.

Her chest rose and fell heavily. Her breaths grew ragged, thick heat pooling throughout her body.

Calix’s fingers, which had been toying with the delicate slit between her thighs, pushed inside.

Startled by the foreign intrusion, Lianna jerked violently and stiffened, but Calix paid no mind as he thoroughly explored her from within. His thick fingers moved quickly, probing deep inside her.

“Ah…!”

Wave after wave of sensation crashed over her without pause. Unable to withstand the unfamiliar pleasure, Lianna trembled uncontrollably.

Her lower abdomen felt unbearably hot and ticklish, enough to drive her mad. Her waist twitched, and her toes curled tightly.

The moment she felt as though her body no longer belonged to her beneath the overwhelming heat consuming her, Lianna’s eyes flew wide open.

Something warm trickled down between her legs.

Lianna could not understand what had just happened to her.

Only then did Calix finally stop the fingers that had been relentlessly stirring inside her. When he withdrew them and slowly licked them clean, Lianna’s eyes widened in pure shock.

“Why are you so surprised?”

At Calix’s utterly composed attitude, Lianna found herself speechless. Her eyelashes trembled violently with humiliation.

Calix let out a faint scoff at the woman acting like a fool.

A woman who had come here to sell her body, pretending as though she knew nothing at all—it was almost laughable.

And yet, strangely enough, he did not feel irritated by it.

If anything, the more he looked at her, the more entertaining she became.

A woman who had approached him with an ulterior motive.

And he, too, only needed to take what he wanted from her.

Calix gripped the woman’s thigh firmly. The instant his hand touched her, he felt her tense beneath him.

Lianna’s gaze froze upon the hardened bulge beneath his lower body. Her frightened violet eyes trembled pitifully.

But he had already reached the limit of how much leniency he could give her.

Calix spread Lianna’s legs wide apart.

Though she struggled desperately, her resistance was insignificant to him.

Holding Lianna tightly against him so she could not escape, Calix pressed his lower body forward.

The sensation of something burning hot touching her beneath made Lianna’s eyes widen instantly.

The moment Calix thrust forcefully inside her, a violent shock tore through her body as though she were being split in two.

“Ah—!”

A pained cry escaped her lips.

Calix’s eyes narrowed too.

She was holding on too tightly.

Grabbing Lianna by the waist, he pulled her sharply towards him.

Her cheeks were already damp with tears.

“Your Grace… I can’t… I can’t anymore…”

“Endure it. You came here to sell your body, didn’t you? Then you should be able to handle at least this much.”

“Hngh…”

The reminder of her situation brought tears to her eyes once more.

She bit down hard on her lip and clutched the sheets tightly with trembling hands.

Calix slowly withdrew before thrusting back into her repeatedly.

Though he was patient at first, he gradually felt the tightness surrounding him begin to loosen.

Despite tearfully insisting that she could not continue, Lianna accepted him without resistance.

No —

Was she merely accepting him?

The way her heated body tightened around him was enough to drive him nearly mad.

She felt far better than he had expected.

Calix’s movements gradually became rougher.

Each time he thrust forward forcefully, her body trembled helplessly beneath him.

Covering her mouth with both hands to stop her crying out, she endured everything in silence.

Come to think of it, he still did not know what this woman truly wanted.

It was Count Chester who was ambitious to enter central politics, not her.

So what had driven her to come all the way here?

A brief flicker of curiosity crossed his mind, but he no longer had the composure to think deeply about it.

His breathing had already become labored.

The wet sounds.

The creaking bed.

The woman’s muffled sobs.

All these sounds blended together into a crude, intoxicating harmony.

And this was just the beginning of a very long night.

***

As Calix slowly withdrew, only the tip remained inside her.

The moment the fullness left her, Lianna relaxed slightly.

Panting as though she were starved of air, she let out a long, shaky breath.

‘Is it finally over…?’

For a moment, she was naive enough to truly believe that it was over.

Then, without warning, Calix thrust into her again.

A gasp escaped Lianna’s lips.

The pain made her weakly push him away, but he continued moving relentlessly, giving her no chance to escape.

Everything below burned and throbbed painfully.

Her vision blurred with tears and sweat.

Calix pressed himself even closer to the trembling woman beneath him.

Then, the moment his brows twisted sharply—a scorching heat spilled deep inside her as he entered her fully.

Lianna let out a faint, trembling breath as she felt the overwhelming warmth filling her up.

“Haah…”

Finally, Lianna felt a sense of relief.

It truly seemed to be over now.

Drenched in sweat, she weakly lifted her gaze towards the man looming above her.

Despite having moved so roughly moments ago, Calix did not look tired at all.

Only a faint sheen of sweat glistened on his forehead.

He looked down at the exhausted woman who had taken him in completely.

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying so much.

Crimson marks that he had left behind stained various parts of her pale skin.

For someone who had repeatedly insisted that she could not endure it, she had held on surprisingly well.

Just as he felt a strange sense of satisfaction at this thought, something else suddenly caught his attention.

Against the pure white sheets, untouched by even the smallest stain, small traces of crimson slowly spread across the fabric.

Calix’s brows furrowed faintly at this completely unexpected sight.

“…Was it your first time?”

At his question, Lianna stared up at him blankly.

“……”

Lianna blinked slowly, as though she could not quite grasp the meaning of his words. Eventually, she gave a faint nod.

A quiet laugh escaped Calix’s lips.

Only then did he finally understand why the woman had reacted with such innocent confusion all night.

It had never been an act to begin with.

For her, all of this truly was her first time.