With a faint smile, Reizen suddenly pushed two fingers inside her.

“Haaack!”

He patted her white bottom reassuringly, his fingers slowly stretching her as he moved them.

Despite being drenched with *rousal, her walls gripped his fingers tightly. At this rate, there seemed to be no sign of progress.

His fingers, which had been stirring roughly inside her, suddenly slipped out.

Melissa gasped for breath in the brief moment of freedom, opening her eyes. Her vision was blurry. Her entire body was filled with heat, and she breathed raggedly.

Just as she was catching her breath, she suddenly felt the thick tip of his p*nis against her entrance.

It was hot and hard.

“….!”

His *rection, which seemed impossibly large, nudged against her quivering entrance, trying to push its way in.

“Ah, no!”

She didn’t even have the chance to scream.

“It’s okay, you’re wet enough.”

He scooped up the slick fluids from her entrance and rubbed her cl*toris with his fingers. A moan escaped her lips at the gentle touch.

“Aaang, ah!”

Then, his enormous *rection, which had been rubbing against her wet entrance, began to push its way inside.

It felt like only the tip was in, but her insides were already stretched taut, the pain almost unbearable.

“Re-Reizen…Haa, ah!”

She shook her head. As she clung to him, sobbing uncontrollably, he wrapped her legs around his waist and answered.

“Yes.”

Reizen kissed her lips quickly. Still embedded inside her, he gently brushed her sweat-drenched hair aside.

“You’re doing well, Mel.”

He praised her and kissed her eyelids. Melissa, still crying, nodded slightly. Reizen may have seemed gentle, but his lower body was anything but.

She thought he might go easy on her if she cried, but his *rection only swelled even larger. His hard sh*ft pushed deeper inside her, parting her tight walls, accompanied by his hot breaths.

“Heu, eugh.”

Her small opening barely stretched, squeezing his p*nis tightly. But he still wasn’t fully inside.

Now, a low groan escaped Reizen’s lips.

“I’m going to break you at this rate, Mel…Huu. Relax, just relax.”

He soothed her, stroking her white bottom. She shook her head.

“I, more, it hurts…Aheeugh…!”

“You can do it, it’s okay.”

As he pressed down lightly on her lower abdomen, Melissa suddenly burst into tears.

“Haa, eugh. Heu.”

It seemed like he needed to force his way through her in order to fully sheathe himself inside her. Melissa, unable to bear it any longer, writhed and bucked her hips.

“R-Really…Heu, I’m, I’m…”

“No, Melissa.”

Reizen chuckled, his eyes softening. He licked away the tears that had spilled onto her cheeks. How could even her tears be so alluring?

Melissa’s insides twitched, clenching tightly around him. Her small, fair b*ttocks trembled.

“Haa.”

He wanted to thrust into her with all his might, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it when she whimpered like that.

“Ha, eugh.”

Reizen slowly pulled back. It would be easier to endure the pain of the stigma or even torture. This required an insane amount of self-control.

It was a good thing he took a handful of those pills…

He was like this even after taking them. He couldn’t imagine what he would have done if he hadn’t. But that wouldn’t be what either of them wanted.

He held her close, comforting her as she kept apologizing. She couldn’t accept him, and the pain of the stigma would remain. A red glow emanated from her left arm.

Melissa, her mind growing hazy, reached for the medicine. Reizen put a pill in his mouth and, with a touch of his tongue, pushed it between her lips.

* * *

The first light of dawn spread across the sea, illuminating the hotel window.

Melissa lay n*ked on the bed. She had fallen asleep in Reizen’s arms and woke up to the sunlight stinging her eyes.

“Ah…”

What had happened last night?

Her memories were fragmented, but the marks left all over her body and the vaguely recalled, embarrassing scenes sent shivers down her spine.

The wound on her stigma throbbed.

A thin, light brown scab had formed over the scratch she had made with her fingernails. The scab tugged uncomfortably at her skin whenever she moved her arm.

Her long eyelashes fluttered open.

She suddenly remembered Reizen, who had come in dead drunk last night. She looked around, but he was gone.

‘Where’s Reizen?’

She looked around the room, but he was nowhere to be seen. Could he have gone back to the castle alone, disappointed in her?

She tried to convince herself otherwise, but a wave of anxiety washed over her.

She hadn’t realized until the stigma had manifested yesterday. How powerful and dangerous the stigma’s power was. How far it could drag a person down.

Reizen had been so considerate of her, enduring her pain, but she couldn’t accept him.

She had been afraid of this outcome from the start, afraid of what would happen, and that’s why she had tried not to sleep with him.

Self-loathing welled up inside her again. Had she overestimated herself? Melissa bit her swollen lips, sore from being kissed so passionately. The seizures had worsened since last night, and she had been crying nonstop, making her eyes puffy.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to wake up, but it stung. As she tried to get up…

“Eugh!”

Her body felt strange. Apart from the red marks he had left all over her body from his kisses and bites, her core throbbed with a dull ache.

Her whole body ached as if she had a fever.

Her skin felt sore even at the slightest touch of the blanket.

The fever she thought had subsided yesterday returned with a vengeance. It wasn’t because of the stigma this time; it was a real fever.

She cursed her weak body for crumbling at something like this. She wanted to endure the pain, but then her heart pounded at the thought of his consideration.

They said wounds never disappear, didn’t they?

That you just had to cover them with good memories.

Were her wounds big enough to be covered by something else? She had her doubts when she first heard those words, but when she thought of Reizen, it felt possible.

He was special.

That belief solidified within Melissa. She closed her eyes again. Her body didn’t feel well, so she planned to recover and look for Reizen later.

How much time had passed?

She heard voices outside the bedroom.

Melissa listened to the sounds drowsily.

She couldn’t make out the exact words because the door was closed, but she recognized the voices. One was Erich, the other Reizen.

They were talking in the living room outside her bedroom.

‘Sir Erich came all the way here to report?’

Melissa thought nothing of it and drifted back to sleep, as he usually worked at dawn.

But just before she lost consciousness, she thought she heard Erich’s excited voice. Something about a spy, something about the stigma…

Just as Melissa’s mind began to drift, Reizen, worried that she might have woken up, opened the bedroom door. Erich’s voice slipped through the gap.

“…Should we continue to track Loge?”

“We have to. Selheim will be there.”

Reizen checked on the woman lying motionless on the bed, then closed the door and went back.

Soon, her body went limp, and she lost consciousness. An unknown anxiety spread through her like poison.

* * *

“There was a shootout?”

The Empress lifted her teacup. She brought the ornate gold cup to her lips, her gloved hand trembling slightly, and chastised him with a sharp look.

“Your life is not your own, son.”

The glass greenhouse was bathed in the peaceful light of midday.

Birds with clipped wings chirped from their perches on branches, their song almost mimicking Empress Isabella’s scolding.

“You’re acting like a lovesick puppy over your first love. Grow up.”

Clink. The woman set down her teacup with a sharp sound and frowned in annoyance.

Her eyebrow, arched high, showed her displeasure.

Selheim chuckled.

“You’re angry with me.”

He nodded with a gentle smile.

“I admit, it was a bit reckless this time. I went too far. I didn’t realize he cared for Mel that much.”

“He’s her destined partner.”

“What’s so special about being destined partners?”

“It means something. The attraction between them is different.”

“Ha,” Selheim chuckled and looked down at his teacup.

“Is that so? I wouldn’t know.”

The man’s eyes, gleaming with an elegant smile, flickered in the reflection of his teacup.

“But Mel’s stigma hasn’t manifested, so there’s no way they’ll end up together.”