“Ah, aah……” 

 While Nelie was letting out incoherent moans, the Duke, who had buried his face in her nape and remained silent, whispered. 

 “What shall we do about this, Miss Heich.” 

 “Wh-what.” 

 “It’s become small again.” 

 Then we’ll have to make it big again. 

 With those whispers, her whole body shook once more. Nelie, trembling from the pleasure she had never experienced before, eventually lost her mind and cried out in ecstasy. The voice was completely unfamiliar even to her own ears. The dizzying sensation of repeatedly falling from a great height ran from the crown of her head to her toes, draining all of Nelie’s energy. 

 It had been an excessively long night. 

 * * *

 “Ah……” 

 When she woke up, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted Nelie. 

 It was undoubtedly the ceiling of an expensive house, decorated with elaborate reliefs and ornamental paintings. When she rose up in confusion, she found herself changed into different sleepwear. 

 Her body had been cleaned thoroughly, as if it had never been thoroughly soaked. As Nelie blankly looked down at her body, she trembled at the marks on her chest. The petal-like love bites left on her white skin proved that what happened with the Duke hadn’t been a dream. 

 “Miss Heich.” 

 “Ah, ungh! Aah!” 

 “Spread your legs… properly.” 

 Those whispers from the beautiful Duke, and the sensations that had overwhelmed her body. How she had impulsively put her mouth on the Duke’s body and even accepted him inside. That it had even been her first experience. 

 ……Rather than feeling absurd or painful, all of it felt good. 

 At first, it had definitely hurt as if her body was being split apart. The foreign sensation had made it difficult to even breathe properly. Yet by the end, she had clung to the Duke while making sounds that were embarrassing even to her own ears. Just like the women in other illustrations who threw themselves at the Duke. 

 Every moment that his breathtaking body collided with hers, Nelie impulsively imagined drawing this beautiful face and body on paper several times over. He would make a truly perfect drawing model. 

 “……What am I thinking.” 

 A light blush covered Nelie’s face. Though she had experienced it with her own body, it still felt somewhat surreal. 

 Just as she stumbled getting up from the bed, a man casually opened the door and entered. 

 “……Duke.” 

 When Nelie called out, the Duke merely turned his eyes to look at her. In the morning sunlight, the Duke looked like a walking statue today as well. While she was dazed by that sight, the Duke spoke. 

 “Since there wasn’t a bathroom in the room, I moved you.” 

 “……” 

 “You needed to wash up, didn’t you?” 

 Considering how soaked with sweat and bodily fluids Nelie had been at the end, it wasn’t wrong. The Duke had only shed a few drops of sweat despite such long and intense lovemaking. But to hear such words, words that seemed to show concern for her, from a famous Duke who appeared in newspapers…

 It was surprisingly considerate for someone of high status. The nobles Nelie knew were all rural lords who never showed their faces to their territory’s people and were only known for punishing others. 

 “Yes, but……” 

 While Nelie was stumbling over her words, unfamiliar with this feeling, the Duke clicked his tongue lightly and continued. 

 “It’s not a suitable place to live.” 

 “Ah.” 

 “You call that shabby place a room?” 

 Though his expression was somewhat harsh, she felt somewhat happy that he had noticed. Nelie’s boarding room was a storage room in all but name. 

 ‘He seems more human than I thought.’ 

 Though his tone was cold, it felt strange to think that someone so beautiful and high-ranking would worry about her situation. The Duke she had always thought of as inhuman somehow felt like a person of flesh and blood just like her today. Nelie curled her fingers at the ticklish feeling and answered. 

 “It’s…… manageable though.” 

 “Manageable?” 

 At his openly skeptical comment, Nelie hurriedly added as if making an excuse. 

 “Yes. Jerome and others help me out a lot.” 

 “……Jerome?”

“He’s my colleague.” 

 Indeed, Jerome had helped Nelie a lot while she stayed in that cramped room. Sometimes he repaired the leaking roof with boards, brought leftover food from the Academy cafeteria, and occasionally refilled the straw in her worn-out, sunken mattress……. 

 The moment she recalled that, she thought of the mattress soiled with the fluids she and the Duke had spilled yesterday. How the mattress had sunken from their overly intense lovemaking. Nelie’s face quickly turned red. 

 ‘I don’t want Jerome to see that.’ 

 Jerome must have been worried about her. The situation would have been relayed through the publisher, and he probably tried to enter her room first to check on her well-being right after the Duke left the newspaper office. 

 Thinking about what he would see and sense upon entering that room, belated shame washed over her. The room had poor ventilation, so the distinct musky scent of their coupling would still linger. Recalling how she had come undone on that bed made even Nelie’s white nape turn red. 

 “Um, may I go back now?” 

 “……” 

 “They might be worried.” 

 The publisher probably wouldn’t worry. He’d be relieved that he had sold her out and survived himself. But Jerome and some other employees might be concerned. Above all, she needed to return quickly to clean the room and remove the evidence. 

 “You want to go back.” 

 “Yes.” 

 “To that man.” 

 Though something felt odd about his tone, since it was true she was going back to where Jerome was, Nelie simply nodded. That’s when it happened. The human-like impression the Duke had been giving off suddenly dissipated before Nelie’s eyes. 

 ‘Huh?’ 

 As she was taken aback by this, the Duke, lifting just one corner of his mouth while maintaining his statue-like expressionless face, spoke. 

 “What for?” 

 “Pardon?” 

 “Even now, you should leave that animal den and enter House Tevant’s welfare facility, Miss Heich.” 

 “……A welfare facility?” 

 “We operate several facilities under the Duke’s name.” 

 “……” 

 “There are places for women like you to go as well.” 

 It sounded like charity. The ticklish sensation from earlier subsided somewhat. His words made her feel like a homeless vagrant from the streets. 

 ‘No, rather……” 

 Instinctively, she had an even worse feeling that made her uncomfortable. Just as Nelie was about to say something–

 “If it’s work you need, they can arrange that separately there.” 

 “……” 

 “Or do you plan to draw more illustrations of me next time?” 

 “Duke.” 

 “Vulgar and lewd illustrations? I don’t think that’s work befitting a proper lady.” 

 Hearing those words, sweat seeped between her already clenched fingers. In an instant, she felt like a woman who had done something unspeakable. 

 ‘Well, that’s not wrong, but…’ 

 Though it wasn’t a profession she could proudly boast about anywhere, it was both Nelie’s means of livelihood and a skill she wanted to hone someday. Until the publisher had pressured her, she had never released artwork that would invite public criticism. 

 ‘I……” 

 Nelie’s mouth gaped open. With the feeling of being dragged down as if her ankles were bound, she couldn’t grasp how to respond. Just then, something dropped in front of Nelie. 

 Clink. 

 The sound of coins colliding came from inside the heavy purse that had fallen. The moment she heard that sound, Nelie’s body instinctively froze. 

 “Use that to buy contraceptive medicine.” 

 “Medicine……” 

 “I came inside you, and that was my mistake.” 

 “……” 

 “I absolutely detest the idea of bastard children.” 

 “Ah.” 

 Now she finally understood what this uncomfortable feeling was. 

 Beyond feeling like a vagrant, she felt like a cheap pr*stitute. A woman who drew lewd illustrations to seduce a noble, repeatedly engaging in indecent behavior. 

 Even as Nelie’s ears reddened with shame, the Duke spoke casually. 

 “You may go now, Miss Heich.” 

 “……” 

 “Make sure to buy and take the medicine.” 

 She recalled the sensation of his fluid flowing down her thighs from between her legs. Nelie’s reddened eyes slowly turned toward the Duke. The Duke’s face remained inhumanly beautiful and impassive. 

 Instead of answering, Nelie kept her mouth shut. 

 Honestly, her pride was severely wounded, but she didn’t want such a sudden pregnancy either. 

 ‘I can barely take care of myself, let alone a child.’ 

 If she wanted to prevent it, she would need to visit doctors and buy contraceptive medicine as the Duke said, but medicine was inherently expensive. Since coming to the city, Nelie hadn’t even considered visiting an apothecary or doctor despite catching colds several times. It would be difficult to obtain expensive contraceptive medicine when she barely earned enough for living expenses. 

 ‘……Get it together, Annelie.’ 

 Putting her dignity first and refusing the money, then being unable to buy medicine and ending up pregnant… She couldn’t risk such danger. 

 Nelie eventually bit her lower lip and picked up the purse. The Duke deepened his smile as if he had expected this. Seeing that nasty smile reminded her of countless scandal articles about the Duke.