“…….”

Kailen’s gaze turned toward Collen.

“Yeah, honestly, the more I learn about that woman, the more uneasy I feel too. In a way, she doesn’t seem completely beyond sympathy.”

However, when Collen kept bringing up Adeline, a chill slowly began to settle in Kailen’s previously calm blue eyes.

“…….”

That’s far enough.

The sharp edge warning him not to overstep made Collen pause momentarily. But if not him, who else could say these things to Kailen? 

Thinking of their greater cause ahead, he forced out the words he’d been swallowing all this time.

“But Kailen, our Bel… no, not just Bel… what about your family who left so meaninglessly? Did they all deserve what happened to them? So just be yourself like you usually are…”

“Collen.”

Before Collen’s rather earnest plea could even finish, Kailen called his name and let out a brief scoff.

“So that’s the level you see me at.”

Kailen, who had been quietly smiling while fastening his cufflinks, stood before Collen. His deep blue eyes glinted eerily.

“Pathetic enough to cling to whatever that woman might bring.”

No harsh words were exchanged and his tone didn’t change, but his dark pupils gleaming with crimson asked whether Collen really measured him at such a level. Only then did Collen’s expression harden like stone.

“…….”

Collen had grown up poor, suffering hardship precisely because of his intelligence that didn’t match his station. Even now he lived half-risking his life, so he had considerable initiative and boldness.

However, he instinctively knew now was a time to be cautious.

Kailen’s shadow fell over Collen’s bowed head.

“Yes, Collen.”

Collen had even brought up Bel, his younger sister who died pitifully at a young age, but far from his words getting through to Kailen, he was getting a sharp reaction instead. Collen’s fists clenched tight watching Kailen, his mouth pressed shut.

“Now that I hear it, your words aren’t entirely wrong. There’s some logic to them. Even a muddy pit becomes kindling once it dries.”

Kailen slowly raised his hand and lightly patted Collen’s shoulder a couple times. It looked like encouragement at first glance, but there was an odd force in his fingertips.

“However, when and how I use it is for me to decide. Not you.”

He was comparing the woman to rotten filth, saying she didn’t seem entirely useless, hoping she’d be worth at least a handful of ash.

The treatment was so wretched that even Collen, a third party, found himself furrowing his brow.

A faint smile formed on Kailen’s lips looking down at Collen at an angle.

* * *

It was dawn, the blue twilight deepening like mist had settled. At that hour when dew seemed about to fall, the doors of the Belliche family mansion opened.

Kailen had returned.

The head butler, seemingly roused from sleep, was lightly dressed. His eyes widened in surprise at his master returning at such an hour.

“Returning at this dawn hour. Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m fine.”

Kailen answered briefly and crossed the mansion’s hall. The head butler followed, taking his outer coat.

“Shall I heat water if you’re going to shower?”

“Yes, please prepare that and then go rest.”

“Yes.”

Kailen left his luggage in his room, briefly soaked in the water the head butler had heated, then put on a robe.

His heavy footsteps then headed toward Adeline’s bedroom where she would be sleeping. Walking down the corridor, Kailen mulled over what Collen had said a few hours ago.

‘…Now that she’s by your side, haven’t your feelings changed?’

It was definitely crossing the line, that.

But still.

‘Feelings changed…’

Maybe it’s not entirely wrong.

Adeline, who had become his wife, was more chaste than he’d thought, more innocent. Her appearance wavering at his every word brought Kailen a twisted pleasure.

Twisted or not, at its core it was still pleasure. Before marriage, he never thought he’d feel such a positive emotion.

In that sense, maybe things had changed.

Thinking this, Kailen slowly opened the door to the room where Adeline slept. The room he’d expected to be shrouded in darkness was unexpectedly bright.

Not that Adeline was awake. She appeared to have dozed off and fallen deeply asleep, sitting propped against the headboard.

There was a book on the blanket covering her legs, so she must have fallen asleep while reading.

In that position, isn’t it uncomfortable?

How dull can she be, showing it even in this. An incredulous chuckle escaped Kailen as he opened the door wide and stepped inside.

True to expectations, she seemed deeply asleep—Adeline didn’t move even when Kailen turned off the light. He watched the sleeping Adeline for a moment in the darkness.

In the dawn light coming through the window, her round forehead, neat eyebrows, and plump lips stood out prominently. 

He’d felt it since their school days, but she was an exceptional beauty. However, her characteristically tacky sensibility contrasted with that, making her look even more ridiculous.

In that sense, the princess before him was hopeless.

Kailen removed his robe and laid it on the bed bench.

The rustling sounds seemed particularly loud, perhaps because it was dawn, but that only applied to Kailen. She remained asleep.

Kailen climbed onto the bed where she slept soundly, completely n*ked. Then he lightly tapped Adeline’s cheek.

“Dear, are you asleep?”

Asking a useless question to wake her, he lifted the blanket covering her lower body. Her body, clad in a thin slip, was fully revealed.

Perhaps due to the different cold air, Adeline finally opened her eyes.

“Mm… Kailen?”

“Mm, it’s me.”

He grabbed the chin of Adeline, who was still buried in drowsiness and blinking slowly, tilting it upward, and her hazy eyes gradually found focus.

“Today… didn’t you say you wouldn’t come in?”

Kailen answered with words he didn’t mean.

“It’s already been three days. You said you were waiting. You fell asleep reading while waiting for me today too, didn’t you?”

“Well, that’s true, but Kailen.”

Adeline looked at him, then flinched when she noticed he wasn’t wearing anything. However, when he gently caressed her br*ast over the slip, she couldn’t refuse.

Kailen pulled down the strap draped over her shoulder, revealing her full br*ast, then immediately pressed his lips to it.

“Ah!”

“Does your body temperature rise when you fall asleep? You’re especially hot at times like this, and it feels good.”

How many times had their intimacy started this way already? Adeline was flustered this time too, but she didn’t push him away.

Instead, she wrapped both arms around Kailen’s head. She’d been thinking deep down that she missed him just this afternoon.

Besides, didn’t he wake her up first this time? It was less startling than before.

When his tongue wrapped around her n*pple and sucked, her lower belly began to churn. Soon lewd sucking sounds filled the room.

He pressed her br*ast firmly with his large hand, raising it, and sucked hard like a baby seeking its mother’s milk.

“Ha, Kailen…!”

“You feel it even with this hiding inside? The inside is firm though.”

“Mmm.”

He sucked and pulled at her inverted n*pple like he’d extract it any moment. Adeline clung to his neck, twisting her body. Having her br*ast sucked made her strangely unable to control her waist, and between her legs tickled.

But Kailen didn’t bring his hands anywhere near her thighs. Instead, after sucking for a while, he moved his lips upward, showering kisses on her nape and ear.

When his breath fluttered close, goosebumps rose from her ear as though numbing her. But Kailen extended his wet tongue and traced along the curve of her ear.

“They say ears are erogenous zones too, but my wife seems sensitive all over.”

“It, it tickles.”

“Doesn’t it feel good though? Hmm?”

Adeline trembled involuntarily, looking at him now gripping and tightening around both her wrists.

Before, he’d just inserted and thr*st as he pleased, but today he was being docile, caressing without even penetrating, leaving her completely scattered.

But she also felt more affection than before, making her heart tingle.

‘I really did miss him.’

Even like this, Adeline was genuinely happy. So she wanted to feel and accept what he was doing.