Chapter 34

Karil stroked her back leisurely. His gentle touch contrasted with the growing bulk beneath her bottom, but she was too tired to protest, only sending him a pleading look. The man, meeting her gaze, softly stroked her trembling eyelids.

“Your eyes are more beautiful than any jewel.”

“……”

“I used to imagine your eyes when I looked at that necklace… but it was pointless.”

His lips brushed her eyelids like a butterfly landing. When she slowly opened her eyes, his clear blue gaze met hers from close range.

“Aren’t you curious what the reward is?”

“I don’t want it…”

“What is it you don’t want?”

“Your rewards are… exhausting…”

Karil cradled her head, laughing low. Her cheek rested against his collarbone, his chest vibrating with laughter. The gentle affection filled her with comfort, like sinking into soft bedding.

“This one will be different.”

“…”

“But you say you don’t want a reward. Yet you kept leaking for me.”

“Stop…”

When Ria glared, he smiled silently. His hand slid from her nape to her ear, stroking the curves as if checking them, then spoke in a gentle voice.

“I’ll give you Sacred.”

But the weight of those words was hard to believe. Ariena, listening quietly, suddenly understood and pulled away. Karil, unconcerned by her confusion, remained silent.

“…What?”

“Sacred. The Golden Granary of Dongryeong.”

“……”

“It’s the land you saved, so it should be yours.”

Karil answered as if it were obvious. There were countless reasons it couldn’t be. Her low birth, her status as a Priest, her position as a shell of a Saintess. People would question why the prince gave such a gift, and the greedy High Priest would be furious.

“It’s absurd. Sacred to a mere concubine?”

“…To a mere concubine, yes.”

“Sacred is the Empire’s granary. Even as a Priestess, I know how important that land is.”

“Do you know who owns it?”

Of course. Karil had completely eradicated the monsters in Seoryeong, the Empire’s long-standing headache. For that achievement, the Emperor had granted him Sacred. Many even whispered in the temple that the Emperor meant to pass the throne to him instead of the ailing Crown Prince.

“Why do you think I went on every expedition without fail? Because I’m a bloodthirsty lunatic?”

“If I leave the temple, I’m a nobody. It’s too much.”

“Too much? You poured everything out to save that land from hell. It should have always been yours.”

His words hit home, and Ariena fell silent. It would be a lie to say she felt no resentment. Because she was a Saintess, because she was supposed to be pure, she’d received nothing but empty honor.

“When I asked the Emperor for Sacred, I intended this from the start. To return Sacred to its rightful owner.”

“I’m far too lowly to be its rightful owner.”

“Ariena, then who should be the owner? Those pathetic people who abandoned everyone and fled to the capital at the first sign of plague? Or you, who poured everything into reviving that land?”

“……”

“Anyone with a decent mind would know the answer.”

It was something everyone knew but no one ever said. A Saintess of humble background, who had even lost her holy power, was a convenient piece to use and discard. Even Ariena herself had long since resigned herself to it.

But there was someone who was angrier about it than Ariena herself. Her throat tightened, and she couldn’t speak. Ariena’s lips only trembled before she finally managed a protest.

“But… there will be many who oppose it.”

“That’s my problem, not yours, Ria.”

Karil answered indifferently. His bored look, as if she was worrying needlessly, made her nose sting. Ariena swallowed the heat rising inside and continued.

“…You’re not just teasing a naive Priestess, are you?”

“Of course not. The day you leave the temple, I’ll transfer ownership to you immediately.”

Ariena froze, even holding her breath. His strong hand pulled her slender waist close. Her small body was buried against his firm chest.

“Does it make you that happy?”

His voice, tinged with laughter, tickled her ear. The humid air made her shrink her neck, and Ria snuggled into his embrace like a small animal.

“…Yes. I’m so, so happy.”

Her words blurred into tears. The man laughed softly, gently stroking the back of her neck.

“Crying again. I thought you might smile.”

Ariena had grown up without family, hometown, or childhood. At some point, she began to consider Sacred her home. Those who helped her treat the sick eventually saw her as a person.

It started as a relationship between a Saintess and the sick. But as they fought through harsh winters and epidemics together, camaraderie gradually erased the distance.

They respected Ariena as a Saintess and pitied her. They felt sorry for the young girl whose life was mortgaged to duty. When temple life grew tiresome, they’d joke in earnest that she should come to Sacred anytime.

Her childhood was harsh. Ariena had always imagined running away from the temple when she grew up. She wanted to live peacefully in a kind village, eating sweet foods forbidden to Priests and sometimes napping in the afternoon.

A wish that once seemed unreachable now fell before her in a form far better than she’d dreamed. When this man’s love ended and she was no longer valuable as a mistress, she would go to her beloved Sacred. To the place where people trusted and protected her. There, she could live out her days in comfort and happiness.

“If I’d known you’d be so happy, I would have told you sooner.”

“……”

“Ria. Lift your head.”

Ariena obediently lifted her head. The man traced her face with his knuckle. His blue eyes, like melted sapphire, sparkled with mischievous life.

“If you like your gift so much, will you give me something too?”

“I have nothing to give.”

“That’s a lie.”

“……”

“You have so much to give me.”

His hand, tracing her jaw, settled on her lips. He gently stroked her parted lower lip as if checking its condition. Lips? Ariena looked up at Karil, puzzled. Hadn’t he already tasted her lips enough? When Ria looked up with questioning eyes, Karil’s smile deepened.

“Show me your tongue.”

It was a strange request, but she was ready to grant whatever he wished. Ariena hesitated, then stuck out her tongue, and his calloused finger pressed down. He ran his finger along her tongue as if checking its texture, then played with the inside of her mouth. Is this… good? Ariena wondered.

“S*ck it.”

Ariena raised her brow in confusion, but Karil only smiled faintly. Despite the ominous glint in his blue eyes, she gently sucked on his finger.

“Harder.”

Karil pressed her tongue with his index and middle fingers, whispering. It wasn’t hard. As she sucked harder, Ria’s cheeks hollowed.

Slurp, slurp.

The sound, like nursing, escaped her lips. Her soft flesh sealed tightly around his calloused finger. A salty taste and faint mint lingered in her mouth.

“Even your mouth is tight.”

Karil spoke in a voice tinged with a m*an. His finger, wedged between her lips, began to move slowly back and forth. Like a motion she’d grown used to over the past few hours. The realization hit Ariena a beat late.

She dropped her jaw in shock and looked up at Karil. His thick, long finger crawled deep over her stiff tongue, then slid smoothly out, the tip caught between her lips. The slow in-and-out motion continued. As if preparing her for something. Like opening a path.

“Are you ready?”

Karil whispered in a monotone as he withdrew his finger, checking her lower lip. It was just like stretching her entrance before pushing inside.

To take that in her mouth? Karil had made her s*ck him several times before. But taking that grotesquely long thing in her mouth was a different matter. Ariena stared at his thick, glistening flesh, wet even to the golden pubic hair, with dread.

If that went down her throat, she might suffocate. With instinctive aversion, Ariena shook her head and pushed his chest away. Karil laughed weakly and let himself be pushed.

“No. No, not that.”

“Yes. Then we’ll save it for later.”

“Later or never, absolutely not.”

Ariena refused with a determined face, and Karil, smiling, even let out a breathy laugh. Not in the mood for jokes, Ariena shot back coldly.

“Why are you laughing?”

“When you say no, when you refuse, it sends a shiver down my spine.”

“Ha. I didn’t know you were so afraid of me.”

“It’s not fear. It’s excitement.”

Ariena was at a loss for words, groaning. Whether she refused or agreed, he only liked her more, so there was no way to win. Karil, watching her flustered face with delight, soothed her by patting her shoulder.

“I’m joking. I wouldn’t torment you on the first night.”

“Not just the first night…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll teach you everything, slowly.”

“……”

“We have all the time in the world.”

His calloused finger stroked Ria’s lips greedily. Even after all that had happened, the man was still full of plans. Ria, knowing she was the subject of those plans, sighed low.

Her troubled face was so cute and satisfying that Karil showered her with kisses. He pressed his wet lips all over her small face, and she only lightly furrowed her brow, quietly accepting, which made his heart race.