Startled by his own actions, he quickly pulled back.

Feeling the sudden chill from the gap created between them, Lysith squirmed and burrowed into his chest.

Now that they were even closer than before, Ashites was in agony.

The sensation of her soft br*asts pressing against his firm body was almost violent. If it was so unbearable, he should have pushed her away, but his body refused to let go, making him feel like a complete idiot.

As he pondered why he was acting this way, he felt Lysith stir and pretended to be asleep.

He was curious to see how she would react.

Groaning softly, she carefully removed her hand from his waist and waved it in front of his face to see if he was awake.

Ashites, unable to stop her, thought to himself, ‘Why is she so cute? Wait, cute?’

Completely unaware of his turmoil, Lysith lay quietly in his arms. She didn’t seem to have any intention of escaping.

This left Ashites feeling awkward, as he had expected her to wake up startled or quickly escape his embrace.

The one-sided and awkward tension ended quickly. Unable to bear the discomfort, Lysith tried to move out of his embrace.

“Mm…”

As she moved, Ashites made a sound as if he had just woken up and slowly opened his eyes. He was met with the sight of a woman who looked like she had just been caught off guard.

“…Did you sleep well?”

“……”

Not responding to her question, he noticed her awkwardly chewing her lips. Ashites almost kissed her again, thinking it was a continuation of last night, but managed to restrain himself.

Why was he acting like this? It was driving him crazy.

“Um, could you… let go of your arms and legs?”

“Oh, right.”

Shouldn’t he have naturally let go upon waking? Yet he was still holding her tightly with his arms and legs.

Realizing this, he reluctantly released her and looked confused about why he hesitated.

Freed from his embrace, Lysith sighed softly and hesitantly picked up her underwear and half-torn chemise from the floor.

Should she get dressed in front of him? Asking him to leave seemed pointless, so she decided to just get dressed quickly, convincing herself that it wasn’t much different from undressing in front of him.

But the tattered chemise was beyond saving. Couldn’t he have just undressed her gently? She didn’t have the courage to say that to his face. She’d be lucky if he didn’t scoff at her.

Debating whether to wear her dress without any undergarments, she felt a piercing gaze from the side.

Ashites, displeased with her expression as she worried about her torn chemise, was the source of the gaze.

‘You could just ask me for help.’

He had the memory span of a goldfish, forgetting his own behavior from the previous night. If Lysith knew his thoughts, she would have been dumbfounded.

Unaware of his gaze, Lysith was deep in thought.

‘Guess I’ll have to wear it… What should I say if Eve asks what happened…’

She had already stayed out for a night, so Eve would undoubtedly ask what happened. She couldn’t exactly say, ‘I slept with the Master of the Magic Tower.’

Unlike Eve, who would be excited thinking there had been progress, nothing had changed between them. They just had s*x.

Gathering her tattered chemise, Lysith walked over to her light purple dress, which she had struggled to take off last night. But as soon as she took a step, a faint light surrounded her, and her chemise was restored to its original state.

Looking at him in bewilderment, Ashites spoke with a sullen face.

“What?”

“……”

“You could have just asked me for help.”

‘Like I’d ever ask you for help.’

But she was grateful nonetheless. At least she had one less thing to explain to Eve. Despite her gratitude, Ashites still looked sullen even after she thanked him.

Not knowing why, Lysith ignored him and put on her dress. She had seen the maids dress her, but following their steps felt awkward, and the dress was uncomfortable in places.

Watching her struggle with the dress, Ashites was surprised by her behavior. Wasn’t she supposed to say something like, ‘You took my first time, so take responsibility…’ after sleeping together?

Though they had made a deal, Ashites hadn’t fully trusted her words. She seemed desperate at the time, but…

In truth, from his perspective, the deal itself was impulsive, and it wasn’t until he took a cold shower that he realized she might use this first experience to demand something from him.

So, he had planned to scoff and kick her out if she made any demands…

But she showed no such signs and was busy struggling to get dressed with him still in the room.

It felt like he had become invisible, like a figure from ancient times who had used an invisibility spell.

Ashites, caught up in this strange feeling, finally came to his senses when she spoke to him after giving up on properly putting on her dress.

“Thank you.”

“…What?”

“I said thank you. I’ll be going now.”

Is she really just going to leave?

Ashites, who vaguely thought he would listen if she asked for something, sat there n*ked on the bed, blinking in confusion.

Then, snapping back to reality, he hurriedly grabbed her as she was about to leave the room.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“…I’ll take you back.”

As an excuse to hold her back, it wasn’t bad. But Lysith’s face clearly showed she was thinking, ‘Why would you?’

Despite her expression, Ashites quickly dressed himself using magic and threw the white robe he had worn over her. Once she reluctantly accepted and put on the robe, he led her out of the room.

Following him, Lysith felt her plan had worked perfectly.

Men like him usually thought similarly. They expected a woman to demand something or cling to them after their first experience, as most women in this world did. But Lysith wasn’t from this world and didn’t place much significance on her first time.

That kind of sentiment was more for men.

Her plan was to act contrary to his expectations, making him feel like something was off, and it seemed to have worked.

This plan was only possible because she trusted his behavior from the previous night. He held her tightly in his arms even in the morning. He didn’t release his hold on her until she asked him to.

‘Is this what they call emotional attachment through physical contact…?’

It was a world she found hard to understand. She didn’t have any special feelings for this man she had been intimate with the previous night.

The man, seemingly intending to take her back to her mansion, called for the carriage he had arrived in once they reached a secluded area. Then he turned to look at her standing quietly behind him.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“Something to say?”

Not a single thing, she thought, furrowing her brows in genuine confusion. Then, as if she had an idea, she clapped her hands together.

“Oh.”

“Yes.”

“When should I come for the magic tool experiment? And where should I go?”

“……”

Ashites, who was at a loss for words, mumbled that he would let her know later and quickly got into the carriage.

Of course, there was no escorting involved.

Lysith, who expected nothing, felt no disappointment. She simply grabbed the handle and climbed into the high carriage. Seeing this, Ashites looked dissatisfied.

As she carefully arranged her robe and dress, Lysith noticed his expression and widened her eyes. He quickly turned his gaze and knocked on the carriage door to signal the departure.

* * *

She expected no escort when getting off, but he quickly got out of the carriage and offered his hand to help her down.

At her request, the carriage had stopped near the back gate of her mansion.

“Then I’ll go inside now. Thank you…”

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

What now? What is it this time?

He had been looking displeased the entire ride, staring at her face. She couldn’t tell what he wanted to say.

When she couldn’t stand his gaze anymore and asked if he had something to say, he ignored her question, making her give up on understanding him.

Ashites, unaware of her internal sighs, looked at her blank face and grumbled.

“Why don’t you smile? You’ve had a gloomy face since yesterday.”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, her passive skill was still on. She had turned it on in the hallway after leaving the banquet hall and never turned it off, so it made sense he hadn’t seen her real face.

If he wanted a smile, she would give him one. Lysith quickly turned off her passive skill and awkwardly smiled.

Even though she did as he wanted, Ashites frowned and shook his head, making a strange face. Witnessing his reaction up close, Lysith snorted inwardly and turned her passive skill back on. She whispered a quick goodbye and turned to leave.

And she silently cursed him. Whether she smiled or not, he had a problem with it…

“Wait a minute.”

“Yes.”

How many times was he going to stop her from leaving today? If he had something to say, he should just say it quickly.