Chapter 3 (Part 1)

“Sienna.”

Knock, knock. With the sound of a heavy knock, Eden’s voice came through the dormitory doors. It was always a charming voice, but Sienna, who was hurriedly slipping into her dress, was startled and rushed toward the door.

“Y-Your Grace. Good… morning.”

In the end, she had a restless night and woke up late. Even though she tried to get ready quickly, it seemed he had grown tired of waiting and came to find her first. As Sienna forced a smile, awkwardly lifting the corners of her mouth, Eden’s expression somehow took on a complicated look.

“I come at the same time every day, but today you were late. Did something happen?”

“I just overslept a little. Haha…”

Eden’s red eyes flickered toward her trembling lips. The audacious and shameless spirit she had shown yesterday was nowhere to be found, and now she seemed even more apprehensive than when they first met. A slow anger simmered within him. He hadn’t been able to sleep a wink because of her, and yet she had the audacity to oversleep so peacefully.

“And the magical potion still needs a few more days to stabilize, so… I thought there was no need to go to the laboratory today.”

It wasn’t that there was absolutely nothing to do, but after what had happened yesterday, the idea of returning to the same place immediately made her hesitate. Biting her lip in embarrassment, she noticed him staring intently at her lips before he spoke.

“…Today, you said you’d touch my forearm.”

“Pardon?”

“I told you, your words activated the magical contract. My obligation is…”

Eden sighed once and continued speaking. His low voice had a faint growl mixed in.

“Anyway, as the bidder, I have no choice but to meet your demands and wait for your touch.”

Because the magical contract had taken effect, the magic from the contract kept subtly interfering with his magical circuits. While it wasn’t particularly unpleasant, it was somewhat bothersome, and he didn’t want to leave it unresolved. The magic would likely only dissipate if he experienced the humiliation Sienna had demanded.

That’s right. The sole reason he had come and brought up the topic of his forearm was because of this. There were other ways to provoke feelings of shame, but if fulfilling the contract could be as simple as a brief touch, then that would be the easier route.

Eden suppressed the ambiguous emotions suddenly surfacing in a corner of his heart and justified his reason for coming to see Sienna. Lowering his gaze slightly, he noticed her ears, softly tinged with a gentle red like a ripe peach, as she nervously parted her lips.

“Uh… uh. So, um…”

Sienna stuttered, swallowing hard. 

So, he came here just to have his forearm touched?

“Here?”

“As you wish.”

A straightforward reply came back, as if all he needed was for her to touch his forearm. Rolling her eyes nervously, Sienna stepped back and extended a trembling hand, gesturing for him to come in.

Eden, who had been faintly hardening his lips, stepped forward. The door clicked shut, and for a brief moment, silence weighed down the air inside the room.

Was this the first time he’d entered my room since that brief moment on the first day? 

Eden silently scanned Sienna’s room. It was similar to his adjacent room, but the parts she had decorated in her own style after spending so much time here were striking. His gaze lingered on the empty brandy bottles lined up above the fireplace, and he raised one eyebrow.

“I knew you liked alcohol, but… at this level, it’s an addiction.”

He recalled how, on the first day, when the topic of alcohol came up, she had immediately pulled out a fine brandy from the cabinet. 

Had she been relieving her stress in this way all along?

“No, it’s not!”

Following his gaze, which seemed to question her health, Sienna quickly shouted in protest.

“I do like it, but those are bottles I’ve been collecting since my undergraduate days. I didn’t drink them all by myself. It was trendy for a while to display empty bottles on the fireplace.”

It had been a fleeting trend that faded quickly, but she had been too lazy to clean them up, and they had piled up one by one, leading to this misunderstanding. While it was true that she liked drinking and enjoyed it occasionally, she wasn’t addicted.

“Well, that’s a relief.”

Fortunately, Eden seemed convinced by her explanation. He didn’t know why he felt so reassured to learn that she wasn’t addicted, but his lips curved into a pleasant, rounded smile.

“Then it’s time to get to work, Sienna.”

“……”

Eden naturally walked over to her bed, sat down, and tilted his chin up. Sienna’s lips parted slightly at the sight. It seemed the Duke had become even more shameless than he was yesterday—what was going on? Seeing him sitting there so casually on her bed in his relaxed attire, improper thoughts began to surface.

As Sienna stood there dumbfounded, Eden’s eyebrow started to twitch upward. Watching his expression, she hesitantly shuffled closer to him and carefully placed her hand on his forearm.

The trembling of her hand was so intense that Eden could feel it clearly. To an outsider, it might have looked as though he was forcibly trying to take her. He was utterly speechless—wasn’t she in this situation because of him?

Without a word, he began unbuttoning his shirt one button at a time. He was concerned that Sienna might suddenly lash out and ruin his shirt again, and besides, he could feel a growing tightness in his lower body. He figured it would be better to get this over with quickly. Sienna, startled, pulled his hand away, her eyes widening like a rabbit’s.

“You don’t have to do that!”

“Why? Are you planning to take it off yourself, like yesterday?” 

He chuckled softly, locking eyes with her trembling dark green gaze. His hands didn’t stop unbuttoning his shirt.

“I didn’t bring many clothes with me. Any more damage would be troublesome.”

As the collar gradually opened, his thick chest, distinctly defined and muscular, came into view. Sienna, who had learned firsthand yesterday just how magnificent the body hidden beneath the fabric was, instinctively swallowed hard.

Yes, this couldn’t be helped. What could she do about a magical contract being triggered by a single slip of the tongue? 

Perhaps because she had already endured such humiliation yesterday, she no longer felt the need to hide her desires. The memory of her earlier resolve—that she wouldn’t turn down an opportunity to engage in shameless acts if it arose—resurfaced.

While she was busy justifying her actions of touching Eden, he finished undoing the buttons and slowly took off his shirt. His thick chest rose and fell rhythmically, and as her gaze traveled downward, she saw his impressive waistline tapering into a sharp, lean form. As expected, his forearms were as thick as his torso.

The muscles revealed themselves as they moved, contracting and relaxing with every slight motion he made, creating an enticing sight. Though it seemed unintentional, his slow movements exuded an undeniable decadence. Sienna found herself staring at his body, unable to even blink.

Again, he looked like a statue. If someone painted him white and placed him between the pillars of the Great Temple, no one would recognize him as Duke Felice. Sienna, trying to forget the tickling sensation near her navel that had been bothering her for a while, continued her trivial thoughts.

“Sienna.”

As she stood there absentmindedly for quite some time, a stern voice, as if asking if she had nothing better to do, urged her on. Sienna, as if bewitched, reached out her hand toward his chest. As expected, she preferred his chest over his forearms.

“Kuht, wait.”

When her improper touch landed somewhere other than agreed upon, Eden swallowed a startled breath and looked at her. His dark green eyes, already dazed, shamelessly roamed over her body. Eden let out a low growl as he gritted his teeth.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to….”

Sienna hastily withdrew her hand, stammering. Her ears were as red as ever, but perhaps because she had already been exposed as a pervert, she wasn’t as embarrassed as last time. After all, since the goal was to induce shame, it didn’t matter where she touched, did it?

She stuck out her tongue slightly and licked her lips, which felt parched. Then, as promised, she started to feel around his forearm. Eden’s Adam’s apple bobbed more prominently.

Hearing his increasingly labored breathing, Sienna, too, felt a strange sense of excitement. She accidentally let out a faint moan through her tightly clenched lips, then hesitated as her gaze shifted toward Eden. Fortunately, he seemed too preoccupied with restraining himself, his Adam’s apple moving visibly.

Suddenly, she felt something wet trickle from between her legs. Startled, she flinched, and the air beneath her skirt brushed over her now-damp underwear, sending a chill through her.