Catherine, leaning back on the bed, widened her eyes in surprise at Michael’s intensity as he approached her.

Those d*mn glasses obscured her eyes. Michael reached out, removed her glasses, and said:

“Listen, Catherine. We weren’t in pain because of s*xual compatibility, but because we were inexperienced.”

Michael’s tone was extremely gentle, yet somehow conveyed a subtle pressure that weighed down on her.

“Both you and I were inexperienced.”

She had only seen Michael like this once before.

Last night. When he had painfully sucked on her br*asts after pushing her down.

“!”

Just like right now.

Michael’s head tilted slightly before he unhesitatingly parted her lips and entered.

His tongue thrust in so suddenly that she had no time to defend herself. It caressed and coaxed the tip of her tongue before powerfully sucking on it. The kiss was aggressive and rough.

Saliva dripped between their crushed, widely parted lips. The sweet rose scent traveled from Catherine’s mouth to the tip of Michael’s tongue.

Michael plunged his tongue deeper as if wanting to taste more of that sweetness, licking every corner of Catherine’s mouth.

“Uu, uh…… hnngh.”

Catherine clutched Michael’s shoulders as he pressed deeply against her body, gasping for breath.

His tongue sucked on hers almost painfully, and somehow his hand had already moved up to gently squeeze her defenseless br*asts.

Her n*pples hardened beneath the thin undergarment. Her head spun from lack of breath, and her body, remembering last night’s pleasure, was already leaking fluid.

Michael, who had been kissing her—sucking, biting, licking—separated his lips from hers. Then he muttered in a husky voice:

“You’re wet again, aren’t you?”

Breathing heavily, Catherine avoided his eyes without answering.

“If you don’t answer, I might have to check for myself.”

Catherine gasped at his threat delivered in a soft voice and quickly answered:

“I’m wet!”

The blue eyes staring directly at her curved as if to say ‘see?’

“Look, you get this wet just from kissing, how could our s*xual compatibility be bad?”

“But kissing and s*xual compatibility aren’t the same……”

“One week.”

Michael cut off Catherine’s words and said firmly:

“Give me one more week. And after a week, let’s try three more times like you said.”

“Really?”

Michael nodded resolutely toward Catherine, who asked in surprise without realizing it.

Then Michael slowly approached Catherine’s ear and whispered in a very low voice:

“That climax that feels like dying that you mentioned. I’ll definitely make you feel it.”

⁕⁕⁕

Like last time, the week passed in an instant.

After Michael left, Catherine called for Cindy, Laura’s roommate who was in charge of cleanliness in the mansion, and negotiated for the white book.

Cindy firmly refused at first, saying she absolutely couldn’t give it up, but when Catherine offered to pay twice the auction price, she quietly handed over the book.

“It was a good deal, Miss. Enjoy your reading.”

Laura clicked her tongue as she watched Cindy leave with a bright smile, maintaining proper etiquette and dignity.

“That sly fox. Tsk. She already knew the auction price before coming, which means she was planning to sell it anyway, but she still took twice the price.”

Catherine smiled and said it was fine. She had been planning to pay twice the price anyway. She had felt guilty about secretly reading someone else’s book.

After that, Catherine read only books.

She also listened attentively to Laura and Cindy’s conversations.

Cindy was a prim beauty with short blonde hair and slightly upturned eyes, and she was very popular. According to her, she’d had a steady stream of boyfriends since she was eighteen. Cindy was someone who knew she was pretty and enjoyed it.

“Men are creatures who ask for five things when you give them one. But what if you don’t give them anything? Then they offer to give you everything they have. Strange, isn’t it? Yes. Men are a species women can’t understand. But that’s what makes them so cute.”

Cindy smiled as she refilled Catherine’s teacup.

“You have no idea how cute they look when they’re dying of love for me. That’s why I sometimes pretend not to know, not to need, not to care.”

“You can be quite mean sometimes.”

Laura chuckled as she neatly cut a roll cake for Catherine to eat. Cindy bristled.

“You? You can say I’m mean after making Cain pine for you for six years?”

“Why are you bringing up Cain now?”

“Because Miss asked about the affairs between men and women. I should let her know that there are cases like mine, but also cases like yours. How diverse are the world’s romances?”

“You always have something to say, really.”

Laura burst out laughing in disbelief as she placed the beautifully sliced roll cake on Catherine’s plate and said:

“It’s today, right, Miss? The day Michael mentioned.”

Catherine nodded while putting a fragrant roll cake filled with yuzu jam into her mouth.

“Have you read a lot of books?” 

Cindy asked in a playful voice. Catherine nodded firmly.

“I’ve read them all. But toward the end, there were many things I didn’t understand well. There were many bizarre positions too…… Oh, that reminds me, there’s something I wanted to ask.”

Catherine put down her teacup and looked up at Laura and Cindy with eyes full of vitality.

“Those items in there. Could I get some of them?”

“Items?”

“Yes. These.”

Catherine picked up the book she had put down and showed them the pages she had marked.

Laura’s expression became aghast as she examined the items drawn in the book. In contrast, Cindy burst into laughter.

“Shall I get them for you? Really?”

“Yes! I want to at least see them. I’ll pay whatever errand fee you want.”

“Miss.”

Laura called Catherine with a worried expression.

“I think it might be a bit early for you to handle these things.”

“No, I’m not saying I’ll try them, I’m just asking if they can be obtained.”

“Laura, these aren’t that hardcore. Couples play with these things all the time.”

Laura glared at Cindy with sharp eyes as she interjected.

Cindy wasn’t wrong. Compared to what her former master had played with, the items Catherine was asking about were indeed light things that couples might use.

But if one becomes accustomed to strong stimulation from the first experience, normal s*x might become difficult later. That was what worried her.

“Alright, Miss. I’ll get these for you. I think I’d feel better getting them myself rather than having Cindy do it.”

Catherine nodded readily, as she didn’t care who obtained them.

Hrrk, Catherine’s eyes moved to the clock as she sipped her now-cooled tea. Her heart, which had been pounding since morning, was now beating uncontrollably.

It was almost noon already.

When would Michael come?

⁕⁕⁕

“Mother went out? At this hour?”

“Yes. Countess Heimdall asked her to come. She’s been unable to go out for days and was bored, so she invited your mother for a small party, saying she’d received some good wine.”

“What? Is it okay for her to drink when she’s injured?”

“I’m not sure, but I guess their doctor said it was fine, which is why she invited her?”

“Well, I suppose that must be it……”

Catherine checked the clock again.

Five in the afternoon.

It wasn’t very late, but if she went now, she definitely wouldn’t return tonight.

Of all days, her mother had to leave the house on the day Michael was supposed to come. Catherine blushed with an inexplicable excitement. The excitement spread like heat, already kneading her chest.

Catherine ran to her room, deciding to review the book once more before Michael arrived. A few days ago, Laura and Cindy had procured a couple more similar books because Catherine had been reading the white book so diligently.

Catherine hugged them joyfully like a child receiving birthday presents.

Laura and Cindy were touched by her reaction.

They felt a strange sense of duty to show this flower-like Miss the way to true pleasure.

“Miss, remember when I mentioned a few days ago that I deliberately make men who are dying of love for me pine for me?”

“Hmm? Yes. You did.”

“But I realized I didn’t tell you something more important.”

“Something more important?”

Catherine widened her eyes curiously.

“You can make a man pine before you give him anything—be it your heart, body, affection, whatever. But Miss, once you’ve decided to give it, don’t hesitate or make him wait.”

“……Then?”

“Give it decisively and take back even more.”

“That’s too difficult for me to understand.”

“It means that once you’re in bed, there’s no need to deliberately hide your emotions, feelings, or thoughts. You don’t need to be verbose, but honesty is good. Miss, do as you wish. Feel freely and savor it all.”

Cindy smiled brightly. Catherine, looking into Cindy’s kind brown eyes, smiled back and nodded.

⁕⁕⁕

Michael arrived exactly thirty minutes later.

Or to be precise, not Michael himself but a carriage he sent came to pick up Catherine.

“Hello, Miss. It’s been a week since I last saw you.”

“Norman.”

Norman, Michael’s personal attendant, greeted Catherine respectfully as he opened the carriage door for her. Norman was a connection as long-standing as Catherine’s acquaintance with Michael.

The two smiled at each other with great familiarity.

“Shall we go? I’ll escort you to Master Michael.”

Catherine boarded the carriage, accepting his kind escort. The carriage quickly left Catherine’s mansion and sped through downtown.