Chapter 4.1

‘From now on, you’re my slave, Lyle.’  

‘Y-yes… but, um, isn’t slavery abolished in the Empire?’  

‘Shut up! You are to obey my orders unconditionally. Got it? That’s the virtue of a slave.’  

‘Y-yes…’  

‘Can’t you answer more briskly?’  

‘Yes, yes, yes, yes!’  

‘Saying it a lot and saying it quickly are two different things, you idiot! …By the way, why is your skin so pale for a man? It’s unsettling.’  

‘Um, isn’t yours even paler, Lord Kadis? Look, see? Right?’  

‘This brat has the nerve to talk back. Do you want to die?’  

‘I-I’ll accept any punishment.’  

‘What? Who said I’d punish you?’  

‘But you just…’  

‘Hey. Didn’t I tell you not to look at me with those eyes? Are you crying? Don’t whine like a baby over nothing!’  

‘I’m not crying.’  

‘…When you cry, it feels like something heavy drops here.’  

‘Huh? Does your chest hurt? Should I call a physician? Oh, maybe it’s an illness.’  

‘….’  

‘Lord Kadis? Lord Kadis! Where are you going?’  

“Looord Kadis…”  

Lyla tossed and turned in her sleep, chasing after a younger Kadis in her dream. But the more she ran, the further Kadis drifted away. Not realizing it was a dream, her heart grew restless. In the end, she even flailed her arms in the air.  

“Gasp!”  

She suddenly woke up with a start.  

‘Huh? This doesn’t seem like my room.’  

The texture of the sheets against her skin felt unfamiliar. The air smelled heavier and denser than usual.  

Feeling something was off, she turned toward the window, but instead of sunlight, a spectacle of flesh greeted her.  

Well-defined abs cast in deep shadows, a perfectly sculpted chest, scars large and small crisscrossing his body, and thick veins running along his muscles. It was a sensual physique that seemed to appeal to primal desires in women.  

It was the kind of male body that could stir not just lust but even hunger.  

Lyla instinctively swallowed hard.  

“Why do you keep calling my name in your sleep?”  

“…?”  

She slowly lifted her head and locked eyes with Kadis, who was propping his chin on his hand.  

‘Lord Kadis?’  

That could only mean one thing—the n*ked body she had just woken up to belonged to Kadis.  

‘Oh. Oh no. Oh no no no!’  

Realizing the situation, Lyla didn’t know where to direct her gaze. She darted her eyes around before finally shutting them tightly.  

“I’m asking why you called my name.”  

“You appeared in my dream, Lord Kadis.”  

“Really? What were we doing?”  

Kadis’s crimson eyes widened with curiosity, a childlike innocence glimmering within them. In contrast, Lyla furrowed her brows, trying to recall the fading fragments of her dream as her mind cleared.  

“Um… You called me an idiot.”  

The Kadis in her dream had been ten years old.  

It was the year after she had escaped with him from a bandit hideout, only to be taken to the Ducal Residence for daring to lay hands on the Young Master.  

At the time, Kadis constantly had words like ‘idiot,’ ‘coward,’ and ‘fool’ on his lips. Naturally, those words were directed at Lyla herself.  

He had been utterly relentless in his disdain for her.  

“You… You still remember that? It’s been years… Ha. Unbelievable.”  

Kadis, flustered, repeatedly brushed back his fallen bangs with one hand.  

“I remember everything.”  

Lyla spoke with determination in her voice.  

She meant that she remembered all her memories with Kadis, both good and bad. Of course, Kadis, unaware of her true thoughts, visibly darkened.  

“Tch. Sorry for being such an unpleasant brat.”  

Kadis muttered apologetically. Lyla shot up from the bed in surprise.  

“Un-unpleasant brat? I never thought that! You’ve grown into such a remarkable man!”  

Lyla stammered, unable to replicate Kadis’s crude language. However, she made sure to articulate her last words clearly.  

She then gazed at him warmly.  

But that warmth didn’t last long. As her gaze traveled upward, she was once again struck by Kadis’s bare upper body.  

The long scar running from his neck to his collarbone made her chest ache, and at the same time, she felt a pull in her lower abdomen.  

It was happening again.  

She had felt the same sensation when she saw Kadis at the ballroom. Though her memory was foggy, it had likely happened again when she drank last night…  

Before she knew it, her right hand was reaching out toward Kadis’s scar. Realizing this, Lyla quickly pulled her hand back.  

‘What’s wrong with me? Am I still drunk?’  

“Th-that reminds me. Lord Kadis.”  

“What?”  

“Why are we in the same bed?”

Fiddling with her bold hand that had almost touched her lord’s body, Lyla hesitantly asked. Kadis inwardly scoffed at how long it had taken her to ask.  

Resting his chin on his hand, he let out a chuckle. It was a strangely sultry laugh, laced with an unspoken intimacy. His eyes, too, curved seductively as he looked at her.  

“Why do you think?”  

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking.”  

“We did it.”  

“?”  

Lyla tilted her head in confusion.  

“We did it.”  

“?”  

She still couldn’t grasp his meaning.  

As Lyla blinked innocently, Kadis bit his lip hard, suppressing his frustration.  

‘There she goes with that expression again. Not that she’s trying to seduce me or anything.’  

He had withdrawn earlier before she woke, but now the blood was rushing back between his legs.  

In the end, Kadis sat up. Lyla’s gaze, which had been fixed downward, slowly followed him upward.  

“Do I need to spell it out for you?”  

“Yes. Please explain.”  

‘This brat…’  

Kadis sighed deeply, running a hand down his face.  

“You brought this on yourself.”  

“Excuse me?”  

Kadis leaned down, his large frame folding toward her. Lyla could only stare at his approaching face, unguarded.  

“Lord Kadis, huh…!”  

Just as she was about to protest about how close he was, Kadis’s tongue brushed against her lips.  

Like a feline grooming its fur, he licked her lips in one smooth motion, causing Lyla to jolt. A strange shiver originating from her lips coursed through her entire body.  

“Ah…!”  

Kadis’s palm rested on her trembling shoulder. Even without applying pressure, his grip was strong, making it clear she had no chance of escape.  

“Mm…!”  

Kadis licked her lips again.  

Lyla clenched her eyes shut.  

With her vision blocked, her other senses heightened.  

The heat of Kadis’s tongue against her lips felt like fire. The warmth of his palm on her shoulder radiated like embers.  

Faced with him, anyone would freeze, only to melt like ice unable to withstand the heat.  

‘I feel dizzy.’  

As her thoughts began to blur, Kadis’s earlier words suddenly clicked.  

She understood what he meant by ‘we did it.’  

“P-please stop…!”  

Lyla belatedly pushed Kadis away.  

Unfortunately, her hand landed squarely on his chest. His firm chest felt so soft for a man that she instinctively gave it a squeeze.  

Kadis tensed his chest muscles, and the previously soft flesh turned solid in an instant.  

“Eek…!”  

Startled by the sudden change, Lyla’s hand recoiled as if burned.  

Unlike a woman’s chest, which was soft and fatty, a man’s chest could be both soft and firm. Lyla stupidly marveled at this realization before snapping her head up.  

Kadis smirked and asked, 

“Do you like my chest?”  

“…?”  

As Lyla struggled to process his question, Kadis grabbed her right hand and guided it down his torso.  

Her palm slid over his rock-hard abs, eventually reaching his lower stomach. It was dangerously close to a forbidden area.  

“This side deserves some affection too.”  

“P-please stop!”  

Lyla, who could easily handle bugs barehanded, let out a scream.  

Surprisingly, Kadis released her wrist without hesitation. Lyla quickly pulled her hand away and began rubbing it, still feeling the lingering warmth of his touch. Her voice wavered as though she was about to cry.  

“That’s not funny.”  

“I’m not joking.” 

Kadis replied indifferently.  

“I-I’m a man. You know that… don’t you?”  

Lyla clutched her chest, which was tightly bound with bandages, as she protested. 

Could it be that he had realized I was actually a woman?  

But after hiding it for over ten years, it seemed impossible that her secret would be discovered now.  

“I’m a man!”  

Worried Kadis might not understand, Lyla emphasized her point once more.  

“Yeah, so?” 

Kadis asked nonchalantly.  

“How could two men… you know… do that?”  

“It’s possible.”

Kadis said, his gaze sweeping over Lyla from head to toe.  

When his blatant stare stopped between her legs, Lyla instinctively crossed her thighs. If they had truly done something, her body should have been in pain. After all, she was a virgin. She vaguely remembered hearing that a first experience was supposed to be extremely painful.  

‘Wait, if we really did do it… which hole…?’  

Lyla’s thoughts spiraled.  

‘If it’s between two men, there’s only that hole, right?’  

Her body had two possible options, but neither of them hurt. Only her head throbbed from a hangover.  

Finally concluding that Kadis was lying, Lyla glared at him with a deeply upset expression.  

“Why are you lying about something like this? What if strange rumors start spreading? You have a duty to carry on your lineage, Lord Kadis…”  

“Ha. Carry on my lineage? What am I, a stud horse?” 

Kadis scowled.  

“A stud horse… That’s not what I meant…”  

“Then why don’t you give me an heir?”  

“W-What nonsense are you spouting? I’m a man! How could a man have a child?”

As Lyla snapped back, Kadis’s frown deepened.  

“Oh, is that so? For someone claiming that, it went in just fine.”  

“W-what…?!”  

As Lyla continues to deny it, Kadis raised his right arm and began thrusting it upward into the air. His muscular forearm, cutting through the air, was truly intimidating.  

Watching him blankly, Lyla’s mind conjured a vivid image—specifically, of something rough entering and exiting her body.  

She had never seen such a thing in person, but still…  

“Smoothly, actually.” 

Kadis said, halting his arm mid-air before smirking.  

“At this rate, you might even be able to have kids.”

When his raised arm slowly lowered, Lyla instinctively tensed her lower body.

That massive forearm felt as though it was slipping out from beneath her.

Cold sweat trickled down her back, and her entire body trembled. She felt nauseous enough to faint, yet her mind grew sharper.  

Judging by Kadis’s tone, he still hadn’t realized she was a woman.  

Could it be that I got drunk first, and then Kadis followed suit? Was he just imagining we’d done something?  

Or… had we really done it?