Side Story 1. A Midsummer Night

Broken pine branches and rose petals torn to shreds rolled around without distinguishing between sidewalks and roads. The owner of the jewelry store located right next to the street tree scratched his head while looking at the broken window.

The plan to buy Celian a piece of jewelry had failed. Izer gripped his cane tighter and turned toward the tea leaf shop.

“Welcome, customer. Is there something you’re looking for?”

“Could you recommend a tea that’s good for sleep?”

“Please come this way. I’ll show you our herbal tea selection.”

The tea leaf shop was free from the commotion outside. Just breathing in the pungent aroma that blended pleasantly with the crackling sound of burning wood made him feel much more at ease. Izer unconsciously spoke his true feelings aloud.

“I should have come with my wife. She would have loved this.”

“Many customers who come alone say they should have come with their spouse. Please be sure to visit together next time.”

The young employee smiled and led him to one wall.

“Here we have valerian, chamomile, and lavender. These three are the most representative for relieving stress and aiding sleep.”

“I’d like to choose the most effective one.”

“If you purely want help with sleep, valerian would probably be best. However, customer……”

The employee trailed off and quickly looked around. The older man who appeared to be the owner was busy attending to a young lady at the opposite counter.

The male employee lowered his voice considerably.

“This might be presumptuous, but if you’re suffering from severe insomnia, I’d like to suggest seeing a doctor. My younger sister is prescribed sleeping pills, and she says they’re much better. Please don’t tell the owner I said this.”

“Thank you for your concern. But the doctor said sleeping pills wouldn’t work for my wife.”

“Pardon?”

Was it not this customer but his wife who couldn’t sleep well? To the bewildered-looking employee, Izer smiled bitterly and pointed to the dried valerian root.

“I’ll take 5 ounces of this. Please wrap it as prettily as possible.”

***

“……”

Her eyelids blinked slowly. Soon a dim view entered her eyes. Her hollow face, having just escaped from the fantasy flower garden she had been wandering through, reflected like a ghost in the window. The man’s hand overlapping hers on the window frame was trembling.

Celian gazed into the darkness and whispered. Heavy raindrops were roughly beating against the window.

“Where?”

“Our room.”

She could sense anxiety in her husband’s attitude as he pulled her close. Celian quietly looked down at Izer’s hand and then turned her body. Izer’s eyebrows furrowed at her dangerous action of sitting on the window frame that seemed ready to break in the wind at any moment, but she naturally wrapped her arms around her husband’s neck to reassure him.

“Sorry, were you very startled?”

Her finely trembling body and the black hair settling on her collarbone answered instead. Izer tried to persuade her again with a cracked voice.

“Lian, no matter how I think about it, it would be better to use this place as a vacation home and live in the suburban villa. Think it over again.”

“That house is too small for Bess and Percy to live in too. And we already completely renovated the interior here. It’s finally become a house that perfectly suits my taste.”

Izer muttered heavily.

“Then what can we do.”

Every night, all the windows of the Chesterfield ducal residence were tightly locked. This was the result of Celian’s persistent insistence despite Izer’s opposition. Even so, the doors remained open because Izer had dissuaded her until the end.

Only Izer and the head maid had keys to the windows. Celian had earnestly begged Izer never to tell her the location of the keys. After several arguments that bordered on marital disputes, Izer finally accepted her wishes.

He buried his head in Celian’s shoulder and took a deep breath.

“Lian, you don’t know how I feel. It’s like sleeping on thin ice every night. No matter how tightly I hold you while sleeping, do you know how anxious I am that I might lose you in my sleep?”

“I know, I’m sorry. But the frequency has decreased a lot. I regain my senses quickly too. Owen said I’ve improved considerably.”

“That man told me it would be best to remove the cause.”

“Is Owen’s word more important than mine?”

“You know that’s not what I mean, Lian.”

Izer sighed and lifted Celian up. He was careful to distribute the weight to his arm instead of his stiff right hand.

“Don’t think about seducing me, my queen. That won’t make my worries disappear.”

“If I fall asleep from exhaustion, I won’t have the strength to wander around. It’s the most effective method. Can’t we really?”

“No. They said a healthy body leads to a healthy mind. Don’t even dream about it until you’re completely better.”

“—That’s what Izer Chesterfield said last night too.”

As she deliberately pulled on Izer’s neck while speaking, a growling breath could be heard from his chest. Celian smiled triumphantly and wiggled her thighs.

“Can’t we really, honey?”

Celian smiled seductively and clung tightly to his waist. Izer tried to detach her before lying down on the bed, but Celian persistently held onto his shoulders and endured. Eventually, the man who sat on the bed with her still dangling from him looked at her with an expression of frustration.

“Lian, you barely ate dinner either. You’ve been leaving more food than Percy lately. Don’t you think there’s a problem?”

“It’s not that I eat little, it’s that Percy eats a lot. There’s nothing wrong with my appetite.”

She spoke nonchalantly while gradually pressing her pelvis against her husband’s waist. Her lips curved upward at the sensation of the lower body that hadn’t been directly touching when she was being held gradually hardening.

“Mmm, Izer.”

“Celian, stop.”

His voice, now much huskier, stopped her. Celian looked down and pointed out.

“Your words and hands are doing different things.”

“Damn……”

The negligee she wore to sleep was thin and loose. The hand that easily slipped under her skirt was busy caressing her heaving chest. The clumsily moving fingers stimulated Celian unnecessarily.

She also smiled mischievously and tugged at the buttons of the sleep shirt her husband wore. His chest opened up nicely, revealing itself. When Celian caressed it, she could clearly see his Adam’s apple, which he had been holding back, bob greatly.

Izer stopped her with a suppressed voice.

“Don’t stimulate me, Lian. It’s already hard enough.”

“You think only you have it hard. Women have desires too.”

She deliberately acted more shameless. If they went straight to sleep like this, Izer would obviously spend the night awake from agitation.

Izer usually tried to slip away like an eel, saying he didn’t want to strain her. Rather, there were many days when Celian was the one whose body was heated and tried to seduce him. Usually her efforts yielded tremendous results, and eventually Izer would give in to what Celian wanted. Very passionately and very fantastically.

This time too, her scheme worked to some extent. The loose neckline slipped over her head. A pleasant summer night breeze brushed around her suddenly bare body. Celian instinctively burrowed into her husband’s embrace seeking warmth. He always had a high body temperature and served as a good heater for Celian.

A low laugh echoed from above the woman curled up like a kitten.

“My queen, you’re not planning to stop after seducing me, are you.”

“Of course not. So hurry up and warm me.”

The last button of the shirt draped over his abs also came undone. Izer responded as she led him to remove his left arm from the shirt.

“You say dangerously tempting things so casually.”

She didn’t even pretend to listen and fidgeted as she set about the remaining task. Izer always said it was fine, but she paid special attention every time she touched Izer’s right arm. That’s why it took much longer to remove his right arm from the shirt, unlike his left arm which came out instantly.

Watching Celian struggle, Izer sighed and laid her down on the bed as she was.

“……?”

The shirt Celian had been desperately trying to grab was futilely thrown aside. Soon a hot body descended upon her.

“Telling me to get completely n*ked and wait while fidgeting on top, that’s going too far even for you.”

Izer leisurely met her gaze.

“How impudent. Let me try playing some tricks too.”

“……”

The tip that heavily brushed past her lower body made her tingle. She bit her lips hard, embarrassed by the wet sounds quietly settling in the quiet bedroom. Both had expected to roll around frantically, but today’s husband didn’t seem inclined to easily match her rhythm.

A much more explicit sensation than when he caressed and pressed with his palm swept through her entire body. Celian barely suppressed her moan. Every time Izer’s chest rose and fell, it grazed her plump n*pples, doubling the stimulation. She thought about raising her hands to stop him, but feeling like she would lose, she decided not to block him even if she had to light a double wick in her eyes.

Izer moved his hips rhythmically while meeting her gaze.

The sheet, wet with slippery liquid, stuck stickily to Celian’s thighs. Still, when she didn’t make a sound, Izer lowered his body a little closer to the bed. Judging by his firmly er*ect member, he seemed to be feeling desire too, but unlike the intensely erotic situation, Izer’s face remained consistently dry.

Celian, feeling competitive, looked him straight in the eye and caressed her husband’s nape. Even when she pressed firmly on the blood vessel where his pulse was beating rapidly and moved her hand downward, he remained indifferent.

Celian’s posture became even bolder. She spread her legs a little wider to make penetration easier and moved the hand that had been sliding along her chest downward. Her hand, now damp with sweat that had begun to emerge, grasped the slippery tip.