How did it come to this? In those red eyes that seemed about to ignite at any moment, I helplessly melted away.

“…Miss Aria Bertin.”

The seductive baritone tickled my ears. The atmosphere, already heated to the point of breathlessness, intensified as he stepped closer to me. Unable to bear the increasingly intense heat, I turned my head away, but those alluring red eyes continued to follow me, refusing to let go.

“Look at me.”

Long, elegant fingers gently tickled my chin. I swallowed hard. It was rare for him to initiate physical contact from the start.

“This, this is…”

“Not allowed? I’m merely following our agreement.”

His lips, neither thin nor thick, curved into an arc.

“And how many times have I told you? Call me by my name at times like this. I think it’s about time you understood…”

As I heard the man’s low voice, my vision suddenly tilted, and before I knew it, my face was buried in his broad, firm chest. Thump, thump. The sound of my heartbeat echoed all the way to the tip of my chin.

It was only a moment later that I realized that sound was my own.

“Aria.”

Feeling his hot breath tickling me, I tightly shut my eyes. The desire for this situation to end and the wish for it to continue just a little longer clashed, making me feel as if my insides were being squeezed tight.

“Ah!”

I let out a short moan at the stinging pain I felt on my nape. It was rare for him to be this rough.

“Y-Your Grace…”

“Shh.”

As I closed my mouth following his command, a soft sensation moistened the area where I had felt pain just moments ago.

“Haa…”

A strange sound escaped my lips. He chuckled softly, then cupped my cheeks and kissed me. His flesh invaded between my instinctively parted lips.

Ah.

I fell into the illusion of being swallowed whole. His strong, firm tongue ravaged and explored my most tender parts, not giving me a moment to regain my senses. Having lost all semblance of self-control, I pressed my body against his, feeling warmth bordering on heat.

When he finally separated from me. Even after experiencing it several times, the unfamiliar excitement filled me up, blurring my vision red. I barely caught my breath.

The man keeps his boundaries well, so he’ll end it here today too. And he’ll leave the room without looking back. Because he and I weren’t lovers. It was just a relationship to alleviate the inevitable side effects that occur whenever he uses black magic. That was all.

So to him, I was probably…

‘Just a commoner he happened to be indebted to.’

I hiccupped as I opened my mouth.

“Your Grace, are you alright?”

Silence fell. I felt uneasy on my own. Usually, by this time, the man would have completely recovered from the side effects of black magic, regained his composure, and left after a brief word of thanks.

But silence? It wasn’t a good sign.

“No.”

I inhaled sharply. It seemed the man’s condition was worse than I had thought. I had heard he’d been pushing himself lately… Was it so bad that even a passionate kiss couldn’t properly alleviate it?

I gathered my courage and took a step towards the man. His body stiffened.

“…What are you trying to do?”

“I’m going to hug you.”

I answered honestly.

“This works best, doesn’t it?”

Although I was too embarrassed to do it often, it was true that the calming effect was more pronounced when I approached him first. I summoned my courage and wrapped my arms around his chest, hugging him tightly.

I could hear the sound of an irregularly quickening heartbeat. Since I had regained my composure, this time it must be his. Every time I gently stroked his back, covered only by a thin shirt, I could feel the taut muscles tensing under my touch.

‘…It’s hot.’

I closed my eyes. The heat emanating from him seemed to gradually transfer to me. With only thin fabric between us, every change in him was transmitted to me in its entirety.

“Y-Your Grace?”

I called out to him with a trembling voice. It was because he, who had stiffened under my touch, had begun to move again. But there was no verbal response.

No, his movement itself was the response.

The man’s hands caressed my nape and then moved lower. The collar, which could hardly be called thick, was quickly opened.

I gathered my courage and opened my eyes. Emotions were as elusive as whispers on that flawless visage, seemingly carved from marble by the Creator’s own hand. Just as I thought he seemed like a different person from the one I knew.

A wet sound echoed explicitly. As I felt the moist sensation on my collarbone, my face flushed involuntarily. He had never made such intimate contact before. Our interactions had always been limited to hugs and kisses, and until now, those two had been enough.

But today, the man seemed to have different thoughts.

A shiver ran through my entire body at the rough yet considerate touch caressing my back. His hands were freely violating places no man had ever invaded before. I tightly shut my eyes. If he needed it, I would give it to him.

Because this man, to me…

“Ah, aah!”

A flash of light appeared before my eyes and my whole body jerked. When the man twisted my n*pple once more, a sound I didn’t think I could make escaped my lips. I trembled. It was difficult to comprehend what was happening to me.

The man let out a soft laugh.

“Sensitive here, aren’t you?”

“That’s…!”

My breath quickened at the man’s movements. I couldn’t control my body in the face of this pleasure I was feeling for the first time in my life. I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to regain my senses, but it was in vain. The questions filling my mind were of no help in the current situation.

Why was he doing this?

Why was he, in a situation where he could simply satisfy his own needs and leave, taking pleasure in my enjoyment?

I barely managed to reach a conclusion.

He’s not in his right mind. Because he’s under the threat of going berserk due to black magic, he can’t make rational judgments. That’s why, with a thought process incomprehensible to a normal person, my br*asts…

‘No way!’

My eyes widened. The man who had been meticulously twisting and pinching my ar*ola had now taken my n*pple directly into his mouth. I tightly closed my parted lips. Otherwise, I felt I might let out helpless moans. I gritted my teeth and endured. Only then did I realize that pleasure could also be poison.

The man rolled my b*east in his mouth before moving lower. Everywhere his lips touched, a thrilling shiver ran through me. As he gently grazed the underside of my b*east with his teeth, I had to struggle once again to hold back a moan. And below that…

Fortunately, what I feared didn’t happen. When I grasped the hem of my skirt with trembling hands, he stepped back with an expression as if he had just woken from a dream.

It was as I expected. The man I knew, even under the influence of black magic, wasn’t someone who would violate a woman.

I quietly stepped back and looked at the man. His face, which had been expressionless, was now flushed red up to his ears. My face was probably the same. Even if it was to alleviate side effects, today’s actions…

“…Your Grace.”

I called out to him carefully while fixing my disheveled clothes.

“Are you alright now?”

“Thanks to you.”

A low reply came.

“I’m glad.”

I forced a smile and waited for the man to leave, but he just stared at me intently without saying a word. I moistened my lips.

Although we had shared intimacy several times to alleviate the side effects of black magic, he had never reacted like this before.

And it was the first time our contact had been this intense.

‘Don’t dwell on it.’

I steeled myself. I didn’t have the luxury to worry about the man’s sudden whims. After all, I had a child to take care of.

“I’ll… be going now. I promised Elodie I’d read her a fairy tale before bed.”

The man’s eyes hardened.

“You’re leaving already?”

“Yes.”

I answered briefly.

“…I’d like you to stay a little longer.”