Chapter 6 – Denial

“Hah…!”

Aaron Denicar woke up drenched in cold sweat.

It was still dark and silent before dawn. Dazed, Aaron stared straight ahead.

His burning body didn’t feel like his own. He could almost hear his pounding heartbeat.

“What kind of dream was that…”

The vivid memories of the dream brought intense self-loathing. Shameless scenes played out in his mind. He wanted to stop recalling them, but it was impossible.

Aaron mouthed silently.

‘They said dreams came from the subconscious. If so, did it mean that deep down, I wanted to be molested at a massage shop and have s*x?’

‘No way!’

Confused, Aaron felt a strange sensation and pressed his lips together. He threw off the sheets with force, then froze in shock.

The lower part of his thin silk bedding was soaked.

“Damn.”

He hadn’t felt the need to touch himself. Yet he must have been holding back for a long time, judging by how wide the wet area was.

But at his age, a wet dream? And in such a strange, perverted situation?

Aaron grimaced. The woman who had toyed with him in the dream came to mind.

“That woman…”

He could almost hear her clear, bell-like laughter, like a witch.

But strangely, he couldn’t recall her voice clearly. Meanwhile, her clumsy yet seductive touch was vivid in his memory.

She’d sucked his n*pples, gripped and shaken his member. And then… Even the sensation of her soft flesh came back, making him hard again.

“Haa…”

Aaron groaned in despair. As he replayed the dream, his body grew hard and stood er*ect. His cheeks flushed with a strange heat.

‘No. I’m not aroused. Absolutely not!’

Chewing on bitter humiliation, Aaron slowly buried his face in his palm. A gloomy voice slipped through his fingers.

“This is such crap.”

Aaron didn’t want to admit that he’d been excited by such a shameful situation.

He tried to erase the image of himself begging to finish in the dream. Of course, she hadn’t heard him.

‘Ah, this isn’t the time.’

Aaron hurried to clean the soiled sheets and bedding. He couldn’t let anyone else handle his damp underwear, so he took care of everything alone without calling for help.

A short while later, Aaron returned to his bed with a gloomy face. Looking out the window, the relentless night was still far from over.

He hesitated to try sleeping again, worried that the dream would return. Aaron did not want to dig into the bottomless abyss of his own desires.

Even thinking about it, he knew it wasn’t the kind of dream he wanted to have. Aaron didn’t consider fulfilling s*xual desires to be an essential part of life.

Even when he saw a beautiful woman, he only felt a sense of aesthetic appreciation, not a desire to make love. He wasn’t particularly obsessive about cleanliness, nor did he have any interest in men.

He’d always just accepted that as his nature and hadn’t thought much of it.

And yet, to find himself in a depraved dream, rutting like a beast, and then waking up having forgotten the woman’s face…

He couldn’t help but feel a sense of self-loathing. Thinking so, Aaron gripped the blanket tightly and shook his head.

‘No. It’s just one dream, no need for all this self-pity.’

People sometimes have strange dreams. It must have been a one-time, rebellious fantasy.

Maybe some desires had built up without him realizing. Maybe he should have relieved himself occasionally.

Resolving his feelings, Aaron cautiously tried to sleep again.

But he didn’t know.

That from that night on, this shameless dream and the wicked, strange, and lewd woman would keep appearing in his dreams to torment him.

***

Aaron straightened his uniform again in the waiting room.

In the full-length mirror, he saw his own satisfactory appearance. He glanced out the window at the familiar courtyard under the blue sky.

It was the day of the military academy’s graduation ceremony. Having graduated a few years ago, Aaron had been invited back to give a congratulatory speech.

His black hair was slicked back with mousse, his forehead neat and clear, thick, well-shaped eyebrows framing sharp blue eyes that stared back at him from the mirror.

His dark navy uniform, perfectly pressed and tailored, suited him well. Aaron fiddled with the silver buttons on his sleeve, making sure his appearance was immaculate.

“……”

Staring at his reflection, Aaron recalled his teenage years.

Back then, he was about ten centimeters shorter, still had peach fuzz on his cheeks, and genuinely believed in the goodwill of those around him.

He was the young Duke who discovered that a friend, whom he considered close, was plotting a coup and intended to use Aaron as their figurehead. Having executed his closest friend himself, Aaron had built a wall around his heart ever since.

After adopting a cynical attitude and dealing with everyone accordingly, he began to see through the intentions of those trying to win his favor.

The nobles, who wore pleasant masks, were actually filled with envy and jealousy, secretly hoping for the downfall of the young royal. Life was so dull for them that they took pleasure in others’ misfortune as if it were a sport.

Nowadays, there were hardly any nobles who wished for Aaron’s ruin, but his attitude toward people remained unchanged. Sometimes, he felt a little lonely, but changing his ways now would not be easy.

Aaron wore a bitter smile, then quickly composed his expression.

‘Let’s just get on with it.’

After checking every detail down to the decorations on his shoulders, Aaron left the waiting room.

A school official waiting outside bowed and started to lead the way.

Aaron followed with long strides, but suddenly, something felt off.

‘What is it? What’s strange?’

He pushed aside the uneasy feeling and arrived below the podium. Even as he heard the announcer introducing him, Aaron felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

“Now, cadets. For our final graduation speech, we welcome the distinguished graduate of our historic academy and Protector of the North, Duke Aaron Denicar!”

As the cheers surrounded him, Aaron put on a polite smile and stepped forward.

Then, among the cadets, someone caught his eye. Their unruly appearance made him frown.

A hat pulled low and crooked, no coat to be seen. Beneath the brim, only a mischievous, sly grin was visible.

Seeing the lower half of the face, a sense of dread washed over him.

‘No way…?’

Ignoring the ominous feeling, Aaron composed his face with solemnity.

About a hundred graduating cadets and even more family members. Reporters searching for stories at every graduation—all eyes were on Aaron.

When the applause welcoming him died down, he slowly began to speak.

“Dear graduates—”

Just then, someone abruptly stood up among the seated crowd. It was the female cadet with the peculiar, unruly outfit who had caught his eye before.

Without hesitation, she boldly walked toward the podium, and no one tried to stop her. Like a ghost, everyone remained silent.

Aaron was flustered. Goosebumps crawled up his skin. At the same time, his body wouldn’t move at all.

Only then did Aaron realize this wasn’t reality. The déjà vu he’d felt all along was because of this.

“Hello, Your Grace.”

The woman approached and slowly removed her hat. She was shorter than he expected.

Soft brown hair fell down, releasing a sweet scent like apple jam. Her eyes were covered with a black lace blindfold.

“Ah, no…”

Recognizing her voice, Aaron sighed under his breath.

She was the mysterious woman whose face he couldn’t remember after waking from that dreadful, sinful dream.

To the confused Aaron, she felt strangely familiar, but he still couldn’t identify her. It was as if some strange magic was protecting her true identity.

“It was pretty good last time, right?”

Seeing the woman’s triumphant smile, Aaron was certain. This dream wasn’t simply the result of his own subconscious.

It was definitely the witch’s magic—she who had supposedly vanished over two hundred years ago.

“This… witch…!”

If there was any comfort, it was that he could speak, at least a little.

Aaron gritted his teeth, hands pressed to the podium. Even in his own dream, he couldn’t move, and it seemed to be the witch’s doing.

The witch crept closer.

Aaron looked around, hoping to appeal to the dream’s bystanders for help. If he could defeat the witch, maybe he could escape the nightmare.

But nobody reacted. As if the witch was invisible to them.

It was Aaron’s dream, but all power belonged to the depraved, perverse witch.

“……!”

By then, the witch was pressed up behind him. Her arms wrapped around his waist, slender but unmistakably firm. Soft flesh pressed against his back, making his earlobes burn.

He had no experience, but he wasn’t that young anymore. To get flustered just because a chest touched him… He felt a wave of self-loathing.

Through his stiff shirt, her greedy hands wandered.

“There are so many decorations, it’s hard to touch you. Looks good, though.”

The witch grumbled.

Aaron, still gripping the podium, had to endure her relentless actions. When her hand touched the buckle, his eyes squeezed shut.

Clink.

“I can’t be the only one to see such a fine thing.”

His perfectly fitted trousers loosened.

“How does it feel to have your buckle undone in front of the junior cadets?”

Biting his lower lip at her provocation, Aaron muttered,

“No, not here…”

“Really?”