“What are you talking about right now…?”

Did this man really feel like joking even in a situation like this?

Larinne pressed the back of her hand to her heated cheek and shot him a glare.

He was still smiling.

“What do you think it means?”

Even if she was inexperienced in such matters, she was not so oblivious that she couldn’t understand this much.

But such a request…

“That’s absurd.”

Despite Larinne’s rebuke, Libehi Winterd did not even blink.

Instead, he pulled the shaking woman toward him and lightly tipped her into his arms.

“And now you choose to be conservative.”

Up close, the dark crimson eyes held an unrefined desire laid bare.

Larinne knew that gaze well. She had seen it before.

How could she forget seeing it once—inside her own bedchamber?

“You may feel a little uncomfortable, but it would be better to cover you.”

Libehi Winterd removed his shawl and draped it over Larinne.

The large cloth hid her silver hair, which shone in the moonlight.

Then he calmly gave instructions to the children.

“If you follow this direction straight to the rocky cliffs, you’ll find a man with long hair. Tell him to hide the boxes, and he’ll help you.”

The Pellet children knew exactly how they were supposed to act in this moment.

They were young, but they were not cowards.

“Thank you! Please take good care of Lady Larinne!”

Each child firmly picked up their box and moved forward through the reeds toward the cliffs.

“Understood, Harry?”

Libehi Winterd fidgeted with his earring as he watched the children disappear.

Larinne didn’t understand why Harry’s name had suddenly been mentioned, but she was relieved that someone was helping the children.

Only when their presence could no longer be sensed among the reeds did she allow herself to breathe. But that relief lasted only a moment.

“Who’s there?!”

A sharp shout rang out nearby.

Several soldiers were cutting through the white reeds with curved spears as they approached.

“Are you ready to endure a breach of manners?”

“Duke Libehi Winterd… this is not a very good plan.”

He only smiled in response.

Leaning closer, he tilted his head slightly.

“You don’t seem to have any better alternatives.”

They were so close that their breaths mingled.

His gaze, directed at her from such an intimate distance, was bold — yet strangely, it did not feel unpleasant.

It was a strange thing.

Larinne allowed his slowly approaching lips to claim hers.

“!”

It was her first kiss.

Even on that night when they had shared warmth, she had never permitted such closeness.

‘It’s only a deception. Just buying time for the children to escape.’

She tried to steady herself with that thought, but she could not stop her muscles from tensing.

Every time his lips touched hers, she shivered from head to toe.

Perhaps it was the force with which he devoured her — her breath soon grew short.

No — it was more accurate to say that he was stealing her breath.

Slipping past her lips, he consumed her like a starving beast.

Her senses spun.

Being in a sandstorm might have been safer than this.

Unable to withstand the intensity of his advancing weight, Larinne’s body tilted backwards.

Though he caught the back of her neck before she could fall, she found herself trapped even more deeply within his arms.

“Mm—!”

He had told her not to hold back.

She had believed that would never happen. Yet she was forced to admit her mistake almost immediately.

He was a truly wicked man. She felt as though she was being tamed by a man who was as cunning as a snake and as sweet as the devil.

Just as he had intended, Larinne let sounds slip from her lips.

Unsteady breaths.

A trembling body.

Rising heat.

Swelling desire.

Libehi Winterd seemed determined to absorb every last bit of it without leaving a trace.

‘S-stop…’

Larinne clutched at his shoulders.

A dizzying sensation surged through her, pushing her to the brink.

Her breath came in gasps and her head spun.

The harder she tried to push him away, the more stubbornly he clung to her.

Obscene and foreign sounds escaped her lips and she could hardly believe they had come from her own mouth.

They were sounds that thickened the sultry night air.

Through her dazed vision, she could see the white reeds swaying.

Perhaps it was not the reeds that were trembling, but her own world, shaken by the relentless force with which he was pressing in on her.

“I’m sure I heard voices from this direction—”

The sound of a stranger’s voice came from nearby.

Moments later, a neatly severed reed fell to the ground with a dull thud.

Two young men in Zhakan combat uniforms appeared beyond it.

Judging by their youthful faces, they appeared to be low-ranking recruits who had recently joined Zhakan.

“Ah!”

They stumbled back in shock at the unexpected scene before them.

It was only natural.

A man and a woman were entangled in a dark, secluded spot that was rarely visited.

Even as rookies, they could easily guess what the two had been doing. And yet Libehi Winterd paid them no attention at all.

He focused only on pressing his lips against hers.

Gulp.

The inexperienced soldiers found themselves captivated by the passionate kiss unfolding before their eyes.

They forgot why they had come, standing there, absorbed in someone else’s scandalous intimacy.

The woman was completely covered by a large shawl, not a strand of hair visible.

But who could say?

Perhaps her bare skin was exposed beneath that cloth.

Their imaginations quickly took flight.

“C-cough!”

They tried to compose themselves with awkward coughs, but the imagination of a healthy young man could not easily be restrained.

Their reddening ears made that obvious enough.

The only person unfazed was Libehi Winterd.

“What is it?”

As if only just noticing the presence of others, he finally pulled away and looked toward them.

He was so composed that, at a glance, one might have believed it.

‘How can he be so shameless?’

Larinne stared at him, struggling to catch her breath.

Ignoring her incredulous look, he carefully wrapped the shawl more securely around her.

It was an unexpectedly gentle gesture.

“What brings the Zhakan soldiers all the way out here?”

“W-we are searching the area under imperial orders. Please state your identity.”

Hearing his tone, the two young Zhakan soldiers seemed to realize he was someone of high status.

Their attitude quickly became respectful, a sharp contrast to how boldly they had been cutting through the reeds moments earlier.

“I am the head of the Lirmen delegation, here under the imperial invitation.”

He produced a golden plaque from his pocket.

It was something issued only to those formally invited by the imperial family.

Even low-ranking soldiers were not foolish enough to fail to recognize a golden plaque.

“Our apologies for failing to recognize you. But the person beside you…”

The young soldiers’ gazes shifted towards Larinne. Wrapped tightly in an embroidered shawl, she must have looked highly suspicious.

According to protocol, they should have verified her identity, too. However, if they did so, the information would inevitably be reported to Seidon.

Larinne hurriedly clutched Libehi Winterd’s collar.

Perhaps misunderstanding her gesture, he interlaced his fingers with hers.

Then, deliberately, he pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

‘This man… honestly.’

Even in a moment like this, he was playing games.

She tried to shake his hand off, but he was not a man who would yield so easily.

“In the Eastern Empire, the Lemen people are called barbarians, are they not?”

“E-excuse me? W-well…”

The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances at this unexpected change of subject.

Even if the rumor were true, the man in front of them was an imperial guest.

What were they supposed to say?

Meanwhile, Libehi Winterd slowly curled the corners of his mouth upwards, like a well-fed predator.

“Do you know why they are called that?”

“I’ve heard… rumors that they cook and eat monsters.”

In truth, there were countless bizarre rumors about the northern Lemen people.

They practiced cannibalism. They took pleasure in sl*ughter. They had sold their souls to monsters. They indulged in depraved relations…

Most of these unpleasant rumors were lies invented by the nobles of the Eastern Empire.

What the young soldier had mentioned was relatively mild by their standards.

“I’ve also heard that the Lemen enjoy relations with men.”

Libehi slowly ran his tongue across his damp lips.

The gesture looked unmistakably sensual, almost like an act of seduction.

“I happen to have rather… indecent tastes. What do you think?”

“W-we were ordered to return immediately… we’ll take our leave now!”

The two soldiers fled as if escaping.

Once they were alone again, Larinne removed the shawl that had covered her.

“Will that really be alright? Rumors might spread.”

“It doesn’t matter. It isn’t entirely untrue.”

“…Which part is true?”

“Are you curious?”

His lips crashed against hers again.

By the time she realized she shouldn’t have asked, it was already too late.

***

Harry did not return to the Western Palace until nearly dawn.

Greeting the exhausted Harry was Libehi, who kept snickering to himself.

“You dump all the work on me and still have the nerve to laugh?”

“The work?”

“The supplies were moved to a safe place, and the children were all sent home.”

“As expected of Harry.”

“Flattery won’t work on me.”

“Oh? Has charm stopped working on you now?”

Even when Harry shuddered in disgust, Libehi only continued smiling.

“It seems you had quite a pleasant outing with Lady Larinne. Your expression is different from when you left.”

“That’s all thanks to you, Harry.”

When he rushed out earlier that evening, he had looked grim.

Seeing how cheerful he was now, Harry assumed that Lady Larinne must be OK.

Anyone would have been shocked to see blood running down her forehead.

Harry, who had no particular feelings for her, had even felt his heart drop at the sight.

How much worse must it have been for his lord?

That was probably why he had run out looking so upset.

“She ought to know that Your Grace is a rather twisted man with questionable tastes.”

“Unfortunately, she probably already knows.”

Harry stared at Libehi in astonishment.

Meanwhile, Libehi’s thoughts were elsewhere.

The memory of the flushed face gasping for breath in his arms brought a smile to his face.

It must have been her first kiss.

The blessing of water would have prevented any other man from kissing her until now.

That alone filled him with immense satisfaction.

Had Harry called it bad taste?

He was right.

Thinking about it now, perhaps his tastes were rather unpleasant.

He enjoyed seeing the usually composed Larinne become flustered because of him.

Whenever his teasing jokes caused her rigid expression to crack, he felt an urge to behave even more childishly.

It was a thoroughly indecent taste.

Watching Libehi laugh quietly to himself, Harry sighed.

“Why did you lie?”

“What are you nagging me about now, Harry?”

“The companion dream. It’s one thing to follow what appears in the dream, but you didn’t have to go that far. You were clearly acting on your own desires.”