Chapter 12

Erich von Schwert’s eyes were completely wild. Could such heated passion feel so cold?

No. It wasn’t coldness. It wasn’t chill.

It was just a depthless emotion that felt cold. Beatrice couldn’t understand those eyes—more precisely, she didn’t want to understand—so she hurriedly closed her own.

In the darkness, Erich laughed again. Something seemed to boil. Maybe his laughter, maybe her skin.

One of them definitely felt like it was burning.

“Didn’t I say it? Your body is really beautiful.”

Beatrice stubbornly kept her eyes closed. The man’s large hand roamed freely over her skin.

“There’s not a bit of excess flesh.”

His hand teased her sensitive side, then moved up to greedily squeeze her chest.

“Here.”

“Ugh…”

Beatrice gritted her teeth. She was trying hard not to m*an, but her n*pples were sharply scratched, so she couldn’t help it.

“Here.”

At some point, his hand left her chest and grabbed her bottom.

“The way there’s only flesh here, it’s really… arousing.”

The angle of penetration changed.

Feeling his member reach deeper, Beatrice arched her back and groaned. No, it wasn’t just a feeling. He was truly stimulating her most sensitive spots.

Erich’s hand was no longer covering her mouth, but she didn’t notice.

Saliva dripped from her slack mouth. Her excited breath fogged the mirror’s surface.

A gentle bite on the nape. A kiss landing on the bitten mark.

Beatrice still didn’t open her eyes.

Every time his member withdrew, her bottom followed desperately. And when he penetrated again, her insides relaxed instinctively.

It wasn’t her will. Her inner walls were convulsing out of control.

Slap. His hand smacked her bottom.

Then he stroked the reddened area, then grabbed it again. The sensation of five fingers leaving marks on her skin was vivid.

After greedily tormenting her bottom a few more times, his hand slid forward and began teasing her cl*toris.

“Ha, ah…!”

Layered pleasure threatened to make her lose her mind. Erich pressed his body closer, pinning her between the mirror and himself. Beatrice moaned frantically.

Hot. Stifling. That stifling feeling transformed entirely into ecstasy. She wanted to move her hips.

She wanted to finish.

There was a familiar scent. Magnolia, dizzying her head. The scent from the man behind her, always present at her peak.

“Haa…!”

Enduring the stimulation as his fingers kneaded and twisted her chest, Beatrice cl*maxed helplessly.

Her trembling insides gripped his member, while the man kept thrusting, intensifying her pleasure.

Finally, as Beatrice emerged from her blinding cl*max, she let out a suppressed m*an and realized—

She felt hot liquid spreading inside her. Beatrice opened her eyes. In the messy mirror, she saw herself and the man behind her, tangled together without concealment.

Both were flushed, wet, and disheveled.

Beatrice fluttered her stiff eyelashes. Blinking several times, she saw Erich open his eyes and meet hers through the mirror.

That wild look was gone.

Relieved, Beatrice smiled faintly. Whatever he made of that smile, Erich quietly showered kisses on her nape again.

“Beatrice.”

“Why?”

“Can’t we do it just one more time?”

With a voice as pitiful as a child robbed of candy, Beatrice snorted.

She meant to firmly refuse, saying this was just right, but his member inside her was hardening again. Her sensitive body responded instantly to the stimulation.

Welcoming it, or maybe anxious, her belly tightened.

Unbelievable…

“Seriously, but only twice.”

Beatrice sighed, lightly grabbing and releasing the hair of the man behind her.

“Just finish this round.”

Erich grinned and kissed her chin. He was always such an annoyingly charming man.

When Erich washed her, Beatrice was barely conscious, but she finally woke up when she reached the sofa.

She knew exactly why he’d laid her on the sofa instead of the bed.

It must have been his resolve not to put her freshly cleaned body back onto a bed marked by their lovemaking.

Erich tucked a cushion under her head. Beatrice opened her blurry eyes and gazed at him.

The man, still unwashed, carried strong traces of their intimacy.

Erich’s magnolia scent, her forget-me-not scent, and the unique musk of lovemaking blended into a strangely delicate aroma.

He slowly reached out and tidied her hair.

Meanwhile, Beatrice calmly observed the results of their union.

The always neat man’s reddened eyes, disheveled hair, and wet, gleaming nape—all were her handiwork.

“The Ivory Tower decided to send a sorcerer west. There was a report of seeing the <Sand Scorpion>.”

“Ah.”

“I hope Schwert will send a warrior as well.”

“I’ll do that. Someone sharp-eyed would be best.”

“I think so too. It’ll be hard to find.”

“Anything else?”

Beatrice slowly shook her head.

The man who had been teasing her lips with his thumb finally turned and disappeared.

Soon after, she heard the sound of water. She unconsciously listened, then let out a dry laugh.

Wow. Hearing Erich von Schwert shower in her bedroom.

Isn’t life full of surprises?

Beatrice giggled and smoked her cigarette. Breathing in the gentle scent of forget-me-nots, she reflected on the exhausting day.

Really, the Grand Meeting and Erich von Schwert were enough to drain her…

The thoughts swirling in her mind began to settle. That was the good thing about cigarettes. The more thoughts faded, the more her emotions calmed.

Whenever her emotions became unstable, her energy would surge—making it easy to fail at spellcasting. That was Beatrice Winter’s well-known weakness.

The sound of water didn’t stop. Beatrice listened quietly, then snapped her fingers.

A slipper that had been lying around reached the sofa. Scratching her head, Beatrice got up and slipped them on.

Someone was outside.

* * *

She couldn’t let them in, so she had to meet them outside.

Just before opening the door, Beatrice called the mirror to check her appearance. The mirror cleaned its dirty surface as a bonus.

…It seemed she didn’t look too obvious.

Relieved, she went outside and found her secretary, Maximine.

“Tower Master.”

“What is it?”

Beatrice carefully closed her bedroom door.

“Sir Gunnesbach replied that he’ll stay awake and not hibernate this year.”

“Really? Glad he hasn’t gone to sleep yet.”

“And Elder Oliver’s side is furious about the recent audit.”

Beatrice tilted her head.

“Furious? Did they cause a disturbance?”

“They broke a celestial telescope.”

“Then we’ll have to claim damages. What else can we do?”

“Understood.”

“Mm. Thanks for letting me know. Anything else?”

Beatrice slowly crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. Her strict secretary watched her with a peculiar expression.

Now, the sunlight was clearly red, pouring over them.

Maximine drew a line in the air with his hand. Asking for a silence barrier, Beatrice snapped her fingers.

“I’d like to ask why you haven’t started the dismissal procedure for Elder Oliver.”

As expected, Maximine spoke directly as soon as he asked for the silence barrier.

“He’s been neglectful in his duties. There’s even evidence of embezzlement in the ledger. Considering today’s disturbance as well, maybe dismissal is difficult, but demotion seems perfectly reasonable.”

“……”

“The elders are showing excessive behavior.”

Beatrice rubbed her forehead and took a deep breath in and out.

It was true Elder Oliver had been slacking. The disturbance today was probably true as well.

She had more than enough reason to demote him, yet what made her hesitate…

“Is there any job as familiar with numbers as a sorcerer?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“In that sense, is there anyone as skilled at calculations as me?”

“No, there isn’t.”

“And yet Elder Oliver attempted embezzlement. Even though he knows well… that deceiving me with numbers is nearly impossible.”

Her whispered words made Maximine’s eyes widen.