“Ah……!”

A large hand closed firmly around my slender waist and slowly glided upwards along my spine. Each time his strong, calloused fingertips touched my skin and traced its curves, a shudder ran through my body, causing my back to arch involuntarily.

Our bodies fitted together perfectly, pressing intimately against each other. Arsen captured the m*an I could no longer suppress and swallowed it within his mouth.

His hands explored every inch of my n*ked body with unbearably sensual persistence. Each breath-stealing caress burned through my thoughts until my mind went completely blank.

There was no trace left of the cold duke from the original novel. Only searing heat remained as he hungered for me like a predator. Swept away by a flood of sensation, I clung to his broad shoulders until my knuckles turned white, helplessly sinking into the intimate depths to which he was leading me.

It truly was a strange night when maintaining my reason had been impossible.

***

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was an unfamiliar ceiling. Why did I always seem to wake up in strange places? However, the scent of the sheets brushing my nose was painfully familiar, for better or worse. It was the same scent that had enveloped my body all night.

I tried to turn my head and look around, but I just furrowed my brow. My whole body felt as though it had been buried deep underground, and my limbs ached as if they were crying out in protest. Even the slightest movement made my waist and inner thighs throb and made my head pound.

Unable to move, I stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Let us say that we are both acting strangely tonight. ……Only for tonight.”

Fragments of the previous night suddenly flashed through my mind.

‘I must have been insane. Completely insane.’

I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again, curling inward. Then I noticed something strange about the sensation against my skin. My body, which should have been entirely bare, was now clothed in a soft chemise.

‘Surely Arsen did not dress me himself?’

Instead of feeling relieved, I was overwhelmed by mortification, which made my face burn.

At that moment, I heard the rustle of a page being turned nearby.

My heart plummeted. Instantly forgetting both my headache and the throbbing pain weighing down my entire body, I slowly turned my stiff neck.

On the far side of the excessively wide bed, Arsen was sitting casually against the headboard. With the covers lowered, his upper body was completely bare.

Morning sunlight streamed through a gap in the curtains, casting intimate shadows across the defined line of his neck, his sculpted collarbone, and his firm, perfectly proportioned chest. The heated sensations of last night naturally resurfaced, making my face burn as though it might burst into flames.

Yet Arsen himself remained calm, reading as though nothing had happened. With one hand resting on his raised knee, he looked impossibly elegant and composed.

I stared at this unbelievable sight in a daze before finally coming to my senses. I had assumed that I would naturally wake up alone, but I was completely wrong, and I felt deeply flustered.

‘……What should I do?’

Carefully watching Arsen, I quickly searched the room for my clothes. Thankfully, the gown and corset he had mercilessly stripped from me last night were draped over a chair near the bed.

‘What am I supposed to do? How can I possibly put those back on?’

My thoughts spiraled into confusion. According to my original plan, I was going to make up a plausible excuse, secretly summon a maid from the Everlyn household, and then slip away unnoticed. If the ducal servants found anything suspicious, I planned to claim that I had been feeling unwell and had rested in an empty room — a story that would protect my reputation.

I anxiously bit down on my lower lip. The man sitting right in front of me had completely ruined all my calculations.

Without looking up from his book, Arsen spoke.

“Are you feeling all right?”

His deep, calm voice suggested that he had known all along that I was awake. His demeanor was so composed that I could scarcely believe he was the same man who had entwined himself so passionately with me the night before.

“……Yes.”

The answer I managed to force out sounded thick and hoarse. There were unmistakable traces of the way I had pleaded and moaned beneath him last night in my voice; I was still overwhelmed by a passion I could barely endure.

Arsen closed the book and slowly raised his gaze. His dark green eyes swept over my flushed face. Although the night’s heat had faded, his gaze remained relentless, penetrating every inch of my skin.

I did not want this man to see how anxious I was.

“Are you certain? You do not look well at all.”

Arsen leaned toward me. His cool scent suddenly enveloped me, awakening memories of the night before and nearly stealing my breath.

“I am fi—”

As I tried to pull the covers up to my chest, a pained groan escaped me. The aching pain filling my lower body was far more vivid and acute than I had anticipated.

My brow furrowed momentarily. At my unmistakable reaction, Arsen’s dark eyebrows shifted almost imperceptibly.

“You should rest a little longer.”

There was no trace of regret or embarrassment over last night in the way he tried to dissuade me from moving.

‘Even if last night meant nothing, is he not being far too composed?’

As though driven by sheer stubbornness, I forced myself to sit upright. My entire body screamed with every movement, but I kept my expression perfectly controlled.

“We were…… both acting a little strangely last night.”

I broached the subject indirectly, pretending it was of little importance. Given the conversation we had exchanged only a few hours ago, this much should have been enough for him to understand my meaning.

“Neither of us was quite ourselves.”

Barely managing to meet Arsen’s gaze, I forced the corners of my lips into a smile.

“So…… let us leave what happened last night in the past. It would be easier for both of us that way.”

“……”

Arsen merely stared at me in silence. As the silence stretched on seemingly without end, my heart pounded violently. Taking a deep breath, I delivered the final blow to the man who showed no sign of leaving the bed.

“I would like to make myself presentable, so could you summon one of my family’s maids?”

That should have made my feelings about last night clear.

Arsen studied me quietly, as though turning my words over in his mind. Then he slowly leaned towards me. The blanket draped loosely across his hips slipped lower as he did so, revealing more of his bare skin. Startled by the gradually revealed skin, I hurriedly looked away.

“Of course we should leave what happened yesterday in the past.”

Just as relief began to wash over me at his agreeable tone, Arsen’s lips curved into a smooth smile.

“And what happens today will belong to today, while what happens tomorrow will belong to tomorrow.”

His words were exceedingly difficult to interpret.

“Whether this strangeness will last only tonight or continue tomorrow remains to be seen.”

The words he had spoken last night flashed through my mind. My heart plummeted.

As I sat there speechless, Arsen whispered with a cool, unreadable expression,

“I no longer intend to let a single day go to waste.”

He answered as though the words held no particular significance. It seemed as though he was being deliberately vague, but not wanting to cause any unnecessary trouble, I remained silent.

At that moment, Arsen rose casually from the bed. The blanket slid slowly and unashamedly down, revealing his n*ked body in the morning sunlight. I whipped my head away in alarm, but not before I had seen everything.

My face instantly burned as though it might burst into flames. Although it had lasted only an instant, the image of his broad shoulders, muscular back, and powerful hips was etched in my mind.

Beneath the covers, I clenched my restless fingers tightly. Against my will, I could see and feel again the contours and sensations that I had explored with my fingertips the previous night. Trying not to dwell on them, I pulled the blanket up to my chin. But I couldn’t erase the sound of his breathing from my ears.

As Arsen got dressed with his back to me, he looked out of the window and said…

“It is beautiful.”

I followed his gaze. Bathed in the early morning sunlight, a fountain glittered like a jewel, while meticulously trimmed trees stretched toward the distant forest. The magnificent view was enough to inspire awe.

“It is. I was too preoccupied to notice it yesterday.”

At my words, Arsen turned halfway toward me.

“Indeed. Why did we fail to see it properly?”

Arsen wore a peculiar expression as he looked at me. He seemed to be smiling, yet there was something strangely sorrowful about him as well.