“Ariel!”
It had been just over a day, yet how could she be this happy to see him?
Merrien shouted loudly at the sight of his back as soon as she arrived at the mansion entrance. She didn’t need an escort from the guard knights.
She rushed out the moment the carriage door opened.
“Merri.”
That gentle, soft voice. This was exactly what she had been waiting for.
Feeling her tear ducts filling, she tightly closed her mouth.
She ran straight into his naturally outstretched arms and embraced him.
Fully enveloped in his embrace, taking in his scent, her tears finally burst forth again.
Agnes, who was getting out of the carriage right after her, had already returned to his adult male form and stared at the two of them before turning his head away, pretending to dust off his clothes.
The dog leash from the carriage had already been put away, lest Ariel might see it.
Smack-. Despite being quite far away, Agnes turned his head sharply at the clear sound.
Ariel wiped the tears streaming down Merrien’s cheeks, then began kissing her—first on the cheek, then the nose, then the forehead, and finally on the lips.
After momentarily receiving his kiss in a daze, Merrien pushed him away.
“…This isn’t the time for this!”
“Why not? We agreed to do this when I returned.”
Of course, Ariel merely uttered these shameless words while embracing her even more tightly.
He must have been born without any sense of shame.
Fortunately, the servants around them, including Agnes, were quick-witted. They desperately pretended not to see by turning their heads away or pretending to do something else.
‘Sigh, even if I push him away, he’ll just cling more.’
Merrien sighed, despite having shed tears of joy at seeing him just seconds ago.
With her body not just embraced but practically buried in him, invisible to those around them, she spoke.
“Ariel. I’m certain Forcite is the culprit.”
“Mm-hmm.”
She spoke firmly as if she had discovered something significant, but his immediate response came without any reaction.
…Could he have known already? No, rather than that, he seemed to be happily watching her lips move.
Agnes, who had been pretending to look at empty space, had apparently kept his ears open and naturally chimed in.
“The same energy as the object found on the high-level magical beast is flowing through the Prince.”
He had approached stealthily without making a sound.
Ariel glared at Agnes, looking him up and down with the intensity of someone ready to unleash a curse, but Merrien chimed in first.
“That’s right. But it was similar to the energy I felt from Nes.”
“This guy?”
“Yes. Honestly, I’m not sure what exactly felt similar. Nes’s energy is soft and warm, but Forcite’s energy was ominous, like something terrible was about to happen.”
Soft and warm. At those words, Ariel’s eyes narrowed sharply, then soon his lips curled into a crooked smile.
His extended index finger pointed at Agnes.
“This is definitely a magical beast.”
“What? I told you I’m not!”
Despite his expression, his voice was full of mischief, but Agnes shouted back even though he knew this. It was truly something he didn’t want to hear in this situation.
Seeing him panting with sudden excitement, Merrien urged Ariel.
“Ariel. This is no time for jokes. The Emperor has collapsed.”
“The Emperor?”
“Yes. According to Nes, Forcite’s energy was pressing down on the Emperor.”
Merrien quickly relayed the message, not knowing where this unfocused man might divert the conversation next. It was the only way.
Indeed, he seemed to think this serious talk was worth listening to, as he stared off into the distance with a grave expression.
“Did the imperial citizens curse at you?”
But what came out of his mouth was an unexpected question.
“…How did you know?”
“The carriage is dirty.”
Ah, she had rushed out without even thinking of covering it up.
Merrien turned her head. What Ariel had been looking at was the dirty carriage and the servants cleaning it.
“It’s fine. Nothing serious happened.”
She whispered that she was really fine while patting Ariel’s chest. She heard the sound of teeth grinding from above her head, but she deliberately ignored it.
Smack-.
Soon, something moist touched the top of her head and pulled away.
Before she could cover her head with her hands, Ariel’s lips repeatedly touched and withdrew.
This display of affection with such a calm gaze was incredibly embarrassing.
[♥ 138]
[♥ 142]
…Including her rapidly increasing heartbeat.
In the outer garden of Duke Hartez’s mansion, only the unmistakable sounds of smack, smack echoed throughout.
Although no one was looking at the mansion’s master, silence fell as if everyone already knew. Not even the sound of cleaning the carriage could be heard.
The dazed Merrien only managed to protect her crown after realizing his lips had touched and left her head dozens of times.
She raised her head with a dignified expression, but her face turned bright red as she belatedly understood the atmosphere.
“…This isn’t the time for this!”
Even though she shouted, she was still tightly embraced with her entire body pressed against his.
Ariel, seeming reluctant, smacked his lips while stroking her head where his hand rested.
Then he casually pointed to the side.
“It’s fine. Agn… Nes seems to have noticed something.”
Agnes was covering his eyes with his large hands Clearly wanting nothing to do with the sight before him, he had turned more than half his body away.
Agnes moved his lips, which were the only part visible under his hands.
“I’ll go to the Tower and do some research.”
That was it.
Agnes snapped his fingers with his eyes closed and disappeared from sight.
It seemed like he had been holding a small piece of paper in his other hand, though when he had picked it up was unclear…
“He left so suddenly.”
Merrien muttered dejectedly. He had been a reliable comrade who had just swept through the Second Prince’s palace with her.
As if Agnes’s teleportation was a signal, the butler, who hadn’t said a word until now, gestured busily.
The servants who had been standing still as if under a spell began to move. They resumed tending to the carriage or gardening.
Among the murmuring people, there was one who remained still.
Ariel’s gaze, still fixed on Merrien, grew profound.
“Then shall we go inside and continue our conversation?”
“…What conversation?”
She had a bad feeling about this.
His gaze fixed on her lips was chilling. Merrien rubbed her arms.
The moment she closed her eyes, a snap! sound pierced her ears.
When she opened her eyes, thinking “surely not,” she found only Ariel and herself alone in a room.
*** 
“…Ariel, wait a momeeent.”
“Why.”
Why, he asks. No matter how she thought about it, this was… Merrien tried to remove his hands from her waist, but when their eyes met, she flinched.
His blue eyes, deep as the ocean, were not only darkly colored but also stirring with something profound. After a moment, they became as calm as a still lake.
He seemed to have difficulty even hiding his thirst that had built up continuously over the past day or so.
His eyes, as if directly reflecting his tumultuous inner thoughts, continued to hold various emotions.
Yes, I understand you’ve been waiting! But still!
Merrien tried to avoid his direct gaze, but she couldn’t continue her thoughts any further.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
She didn’t even know when the shoulder straps of her dress had slipped down. Ariel’s tongue slowly licked across her exposed collarbone.
Her whole body shuddered from the sensation of being thoroughly examined, and she tried to push him away. Instead, her wrists were firmly caught, revealing he had anticipated her resistance all along.
His hands were not just warm but hot.
Whether from tension or excitement, his palms were drenched in sweat, soon dampening her wrists.
When she slowly opened her eyes, the bulging veins on the back of his hands came clearly into view.
‘When on earth did we get onto the bed…’
They had definitely been standing when he teleported, but somehow they were now sitting side by side on the bed, bodies pressed together. It was maddening how he clung to her as if he couldn’t bear to be separated even slightly.
Her heart was beating rapidly, differently from how it had been pounding before.
Sweat trickled down her neck and even down her back.
Though whose sweat it was remained unclear, Ariel’s clothes also became soaked, and soon the bed sheets were damp.
Haa, both their breaths quickened.
Ariel, who had been burying his nose in her collarbone, raised his head and hurriedly devoured Merrien’s mouth.
Merrien no longer had any thought of resistance. Her mind had long since gone blank.