How beautiful that fine, golden hair was, and how well it suited her delicate features. How much power resided within those strikingly noticeable blue eyes.

Once he realized this, he felt anxious. What if someone kicked away the gem rolling between the pebbles? But if he kept her close, what if the jagged pebbles clattered and hurt her?

So Gabriele investigated thoroughly and made plans. What he needed was a trigger to set everything in motion.

Just then, the perfect guest arrived at the palace. Princess Medina—Camilla.

“Look, I don’t want to marry you.”

That was the first thing Princess Medina said at the “getting to know each other” meeting arranged by the King’s command.

“Not just you—I don’t want to marry anyone right now. I’m still young, and there’s so much in the world to enjoy. So couldn’t you just make up some excuse and turn me down?”

From what he could tell, she had no intention of marrying either and had only made the long sea voyage here because she couldn’t withstand her parents’ nagging.

Since Gabriele had been planning to make a similar request anyway, he quietly attached a condition to her request.

“I see. In that case, there’s something you’ll need to do.”

When he quietly shared the details of his plan, the Princess looked intrigued, then burst into giggles.

And so their secret contract was made.

The next day, Princess Medina acted like she was terribly upset that the engagement had been broken off.

“What should we do, Gabriele? The Princess seems very heartbroken.”

Queen Cervone fretted as she watched.

“Her family is powerful enough to influence international affairs. I’m worried Torre might suffer some disadvantage.”

Gabriele whispered to his mother with feigned indifference.

“Why not leave it to the court painter?”

“The court painter? You mean Miss Grimaldi?”

“Yes. She’s skilled at diplomacy and conversation, so she’ll surely be helpful.”

“Oh.”

Queen Cervone nodded as though convinced.

“That’s true! I’ve never seen anyone as naturally gifted at winning people’s hearts as she is.”

And so the plan began.

First, Gabriele sent his subordinates to investigate what was needed. Meanwhile, Princess Medina would pretend to be thoroughly upset and guide Rita, who was trying to comfort her, to approach him.

But as things progressed, something felt off.

He’d only asked her to make Rita pay attention to him, but the attention was so excessive it became bewildering. The experience of having the woman he cared for look only at him was special, but when she dove in without looking back, it also made him angry.

Especially when she appeared at the night ball to approach him—that made him furious to the tips of his hair. When some nobody approached her while she was clearly fumbling around, unfamiliar with night balls, he had to struggle not to strike the man dead.

Even so, Rita didn’t change her attitude, and eventually she even climbed into the bathtub he was soaking in.

He’d wondered what on earth they’d told her to make her act this way, but to think it was to come draw a n*de portrait. He was appalled by Princess Medina’s mischievousness, yet at the same time he harbored a subtle anticipation.

‘…No, I can’t do this. I’m not that kind of man!’

He felt disgusted with himself. But in his moment of carelessness, his relationship with her only grew more suggestive by the day.

The moment she stripped off his clothes and gazed at him with clear eyes, he could no longer hide the tension building in his core. 

Conversely, when it was his turn to draw her, he used all his strength to keep from throwing down the charcoal and paper and ravaging her.

But eventually, all his patience ran out.

When he came to his senses, he’d summoned Rita to his room and was thrusting his hips like a beast.

When he saw her face, he wanted to strip her clothes off. When he stripped her clothes, he wanted to bite and suck. And then he wanted to shake himself while buried inside her, feeding her plenty of his white seed.

No matter how much he pulled out, he kept sinking into her like a swamp. When he buried himself inside her body, he couldn’t think of anything else.

When he saw her smile at another man, he became so anxious he lost his mind. He’d meant to summon Rita and gently tell her not to do that, but before he knew it, he was ravaging her again like someone left with only instinct.

“…This wasn’t what I intended. I just didn’t want to lose you.”

Rita, sleeping soundly, couldn’t hear his clumsy feelings. Before long, the same situation repeated itself, and eventually he crossed the line, leaving him no choice but to watch Rita cry. 

She seemed to think he was toying with her.

Of course, possessing her body wasn’t the entirety of his plan. He liked her. He intended to be with her forever, but he couldn’t let her harbor false hopes with something not yet certain.

Just then, his subordinates finished their investigation and submitted their report. Once it was revealed that Rita had noble blood flowing through her veins, everything became much easier. 

Gabriele immediately visited the County of Rusole.

Her biological father was a pathetic figure. By now he should have realized his own fertility had already run out, but he kept pathetically seeking young second wives to produce a new heir.

“I’d like you to make your daughter your heir.”

“What? But that child, though pretty, is only half-blooded, and heartless enough never to have visited her own father.”

Gabriele smiled bitterly.

‘Half-blooded.’

The Count himself had created the bloodline that would be half-blooded. Moreover, according to his subordinates’ reports, the heartless father who never once visited her when she was young and weak was Count Rusole himself.

But he wasn’t idle enough to reform a rotten person to the bone in the first place. All he could do was change the old man’s mind for her sake.

“If you do so, I’ll ensure you can at least remain as a relative by marriage to this country.”

“A relative by marriage…!”

The Count’s eyes glittered and gleamed. The sound of his rusty mind calculating profit and loss was deafening.

The House of Count Rusole was on the path to ruin.

His two legitimate sons had squandered money recklessly, then gotten into accidents and become shut-ins confined to their rooms. 

The Count, weakened by old age, lacked the stamina to manage the household. He’d divorced the Countess to take a second wife, and the asset division from the divorce had left their finances shaky.

In this situation, if he could gain the title of royal relative by marriage, he could reconnect the severed financial and social ties and maintain the family for at least another ten years.

The Count finally finished his calculations.

“I’ll make Margarita the next Countess. With that status, she’ll be a suitable match for Your Highness the Crown Prince with no defects in her background. Hehe.”

Gabriele didn’t smile. He only collected the documents that would allow Rita to stand by his side and rushed through all the procedures.

No matter how much he hurried, processing a noble’s succession and status inevitably took some time. During that time, she had the audacity to try to leave him.

It was fortunate he’d instructed a maid close to Rita to watch over her. He’d nearly had Rita stolen from him by Princess Medina right before his eyes. But in the end, he was faster.

Rita, Countess Rusole.

Queen Cervone was surprised that the former court painter would become her daughter-in-law, but acknowledged that as a properly registered member of a Count’s bloodline, she was suitable as the next Queen.

The only slight problem was the limited resources that could be gained from her family, but it wasn’t a major flaw. The Torre Kingdom was in its golden age. 

There was no urgent need to supplement military or financial power through marriage alliances with other countries, and the royal authority was strong enough that they didn’t need to worry about nobles competing to offer their daughters as Crown Princess candidates.

As a result of all that effort and good fortune, Rita was back in Gabriele’s arms.

* * *

“Ah, mmm… Gabriele. J-just a little slower…”

“Haah, don’t squeeze so tight. I feel like I’ll come right away.”

“Hah, uh, mmm.”

Inside his room with dim lighting. Rita lay on his bed, swaying to match his movements. 

From inside her passage, where she’d already cl*maxed several times, thinned white fluid leaked out each time Gabriele’s shaft moved back and forth.

He couldn’t hold back. The sense of fulfillment from becoming one with Rita’s body couldn’t be replaced by anything else, so once he tasted it, he could only shake his hips like a madman. 

Until Rita, who had been sweetly tightening and releasing while crying out, reached climax repeatedly, then at some point went limp and let her limbs hang loose, and finally begged him to stop while sobbing. 

If only her stamina could support it, he would have joined with her until dawn.

He stimulated the deep place that would have been hard to reach with an average size, the spot that made her shudder when he rubbed it firmly. Rita’s waist jerked and bounced up.

“Ahhh…!”

At the same time, like a Venus flytrap closing when touched, her inner walls clenched tight. Gabriele exhaled while feeling the sticky clinging membranes. 

No matter how many times he invaded, her insides always gripped him tightly like the first time—an inexhaustible spring of pleasure.

Then, when he pretended not to notice and pulled his hips back to only travel the shallow parts, Rita twisted her waist and whined like she couldn’t bear it.

“Haah, Gabriele, please, there…”

“There, what?”

“Haah…!”

The hole dripping mixed s*men and love juices also gaped in protest. Deeper, harder. Gabriele smiled with his sweat-beaded face. It was truly a lewd and lovable body.

“If you want something, you need to say it properly. Don’t you?”

“Hnngh, there… there.”

“There?”

“Your c*ck… sob.”