Sunlight poured down onto the sea’s surface visible through the glass window. White nets of spray danced and swayed on the water’s surface. The nets, catching the sunlight, scattered delicate light like they held thousands of crystals.

The cabin’s height rose and fell in rhythm with the undulating water. The ticklish swaying added to her heartbeat.

On a bright morning, Lev and Solaith had entrusted themselves to a nobles’ pleasure cruise. Lev spent the entire morning glued to the cabin’s window frame, gazing at the sea she’d longed so desperately to see.

The itinerary Solaith had planned began at the southernmost tip of the lower territories of the Demaret peninsula inland. He had connections with a luxurious foreign vessel that combined trade and tourism, and as soon as the ship entered the continent this time, he boarded with Lev.

Before boarding, they’d stayed for several days at a family home in Demaret’s lower territories. 

After receiving warm food and lodging at the home of the child whose burns Solaith had treated, and playing with the child, the regretful time of departure had arrived before they knew it.

“Angel sir. And pretty miss. Farewell.”

Regretful farewells create new beginnings. The two boarded the pleasure cruise and looked forward to the start of a new life. 

Since it was a ship he’d arranged in advance from his time at the imperial palace, the journey of several days was comfortable from the start.

“Solaith, where are we going?”

Solaith wrapped his arms around Lev’s back as she gazed at the blue world outside the cabin window.

“We’re crossing the West Sea to Edaive on a distant continent.”

“Edaive?”

“Yes. A quiet, peaceful territory famous for its green meadows and sheep ranches.”

Solaith looked down warmly at Lev’s eyes, mixed with curiosity and anxiety, as she emerged into the outside world for the first time in fifteen years.

“You can attend the academy you said you wanted to visit, and you can also run a personal business.”

At the word academy, Lev’s heart pounded.

Though she hadn’t decided what work she’d do, she had a dream of contributing to the world through activities with good influence. She wasn’t confident she could accomplish it with no education and limited knowledge, but the word academy gave her hope.

“It’s a small territory, but it’s famous for an academy rivaling the capital’s. The landowner is someone deeply versed in scholarship.”

Lev’s eyes were already shining. Like a girl on her first day of school, stars sparkled brilliantly in her eyes. He added while stroking Lev’s hair lovingly.

“It’ll be the perfect place for us to live. But if you get tired of country life, please tell me. We can return to the imperial palace anytime.”

“The imperial palace?”

“Yes. Actually, I requested the status of deposed prince because I didn’t want interference… but my parents are waiting for me to be reinstated anytime. A few days ago I received a letter from my aide saying Father cried because he missed me.”

A broad smile emerged. What a relief.

Lev had been constantly worried that Solaith might have built an emotional rift with his parents. 

Because it seemed he’d severed ties with the imperial castle and turned to the temple because of her, Lev had been tormented by guilt, but hearing his words, she felt relieved.

A stubborn son receiving strict parents’ love—it didn’t suit the Solaith she’d come to know, yet somehow it did suit him and was endearing. Lev’s heart fluttered at the thought of starting a new life in the territory her lover had chosen for just the two of them.

‘If we go there, will there be less misfortune, less sadness?’

Even in the bosom of the Holy Spirit, she’d lived a life filled only with question marks. Some inexplicable anxiety remained in her heart, shaking her.

The dream she occasionally had continued lately too. The dream with the white snake and red apple. The snake’s fangs were so sharp, and the sadly crying apple was always pierced by them, meeting an unhappy end. 

The snake’s sharply slit eyes—the depth of that cruelty was unknowable, and though the two eventually disappeared high into the sky, where that end was couldn’t be gauged either.

Most of all, not knowing the dream’s meaning was frightening. She tried to deny and suppress it, but the question that slowly raised its head was frightening. The question of whether the apple and snake might be substituted for herself and Solaith. 

No, it’s just a dream. Seeing this made her think she hadn’t yet become strong enough, that she needed a little more time.

Then, her chest throbbed.

‘Ah… come to think of it.’

That certain time the sister had mentioned. No wonder her heart was pounding and her liver felt cold. Recalling that it had been nearly two weeks since blood last appeared, Lev slightly furrowed her brow. Then Solaith, who’d been stroking her hair beside her, asked.

“Sister. Are you feeling unwell again?”

He was a man who noticed immediately from even the smallest crack in her expression. He examined Lev’s complexion with troubled, curved eyes. Then he lowered his gaze to look at her painful area.

Above the dress she’d hastily thrown on, the swollen flesh was half-protruding.

“M-my body…? No. I’m fine…”

Lev turned her head away again like a fool. Then the man’s pitying expression followed.

“The stabbing pain still continues. If it’s all right… I can examine it now.”

The pain engraved on her body from birth required periodic divine power to cure completely. Solaith made an anxious face, unable to heal his beloved.

“No. After you did it once before, I got much better. It’s just a small pain.”

A body already entrusted once. There should be no embarrassment in entrusting it again, but Lev feared the broad daylight that would illuminate her and Solaith clearly.

She was ashamed to expose her lewd br*asts to his retinas under such clear sunlight, and to have them kneaded. It felt like the whole world would watch her body with eyes wide open. The daytime air that would brush her n*pples seemed like it would feel colder than the night air.

Then Solaith said with a resolute expression.

“Sister, to uproot chronic pain, periodic healing is necessary. We need to put it to sleep before the pain worsens.”

“…”

Lev adjusted the front of her dress supporting her chest. The cotton warmed by melted sunlight had grown warm. If she removed this warm warmth and exposed her body to him.

Heat rose shyly from her cheeks where red hair swayed gently. Truly, she was nothing less than luscious fruit. Solaith barely suppressed the fishy smile about to flow out and maintained an impassive face.

“Then, briefly… I ask you. Your Holiness.”

Though her violet eyes avoided him toward the window, his golden eyes didn’t miss it.

That’s right. That’s what you should do. 

The man felt the joy of moistening his throat in a state of extreme thirst and reached his hand toward her.

Before long, warmth warmer than sunlight enveloped her chest. Fingers covering a wide area grasped her br*asts without difficulty.

Long, large hands seized her br*asts entirely, like grasping something precious. Lev kept her head turned and squeezed her eyes shut.

“You don’t need to be so stiff.”

A very gentle voice coaxed, but strangely, Lev stood ramrod straight with both fists clenched tight.

To give her br*asts to a man and be comfortable—it was too contradictory.

Hic. When he began gently kneading her br*asts, she involuntarily drew in a breath. The two masses of flesh were endlessly crushed by his firm fingers. Between the tightly interlocked fingers, the swollen br*asts protruded as though about to spill out.

“Ah… mmm…”

Lev unconsciously raised her head. A vulgar voice flowed out between her parted lips. Then, seemingly gaining momentum, he pulled down the dress covering her br*asts with one hand.

Because the shoulder straps were firmly fixed, the silk collar hid between her under-br*asts, making the br*asts stand out even more. It felt like the two masses of flesh were lifted toward him.

“D-don’t… stare like that…”

When Lev inadvertently glanced and saw his burning gaze, she pleaded. He looked at her br*ast mounds with eyes so passionate he seemed ready to devour them with his gaze alone.

“How can I not stare at such a beautiful place?”

He savored her to his heart’s content, seemingly venting his frustration at not being able to look directly at her intimate flesh until now. Now his fingers kneaded without restraint, watching how her large br*asts played elastically in his grasp.

“Ah, beautiful?”

Having only heard the insult of lewdness, his voice felt unfamiliar.

“Yes. These br*asts, swollen voluptuously like they’ll completely quench my thirst for you, are beautiful.”

Lev’s face turned bright red again and she squeezed her eyes shut. It was hard to listen to his vulgar words with both eyes open.

Lev, trembling with her chin raised, looked both pure and, in her own way, extremely lewd. He enjoyed watching her up and down while pinching her protruding peaks.

“Hngh!”

The peak caught by the man’s fingers soon had to be twisted this way and that.

“Haa! Why, that… that place. That’s not a painful area.”

Solaith nonchalantly said while pulling her n*pples.

“I don’t do things halfway when healing. I tend to touch thoroughly, even around the affected area.”

It was true, so she couldn’t refute it. Meticulous and thoughtful Solaith would examine other areas of the sick people who came to the temple.

Because of the tips stretching out long, the large br*asts swayed like water balloons, drawn by the tension.

The feeling was strange. Her breath came in gasps and the pinched n*pples complained of pain. Moreover, peculiar pain surged from the br*ast roots being pulled roughly.

But it wasn’t unbearably painful. The acts he performed gave her a strangely mysterious sensation.

“Hngh, ngh… mm. Aah…”

Lev now sighed with her eyes closed. Until he grasped her n*pples and moved them roughly left and right, making her br*asts sway.

“Hng! Solaith! Aah!”

The two masses of flesh struck each other where they met in the valley. And his hot gaze struck the area being crushed where they met. The feeling became so strange she tried to grab his arm, but the man was relentless.

“How does it feel? If you dislike it, I’ll stop.”

Though he wore a considerate expression, Lev saw the cunning hidden behind it. She didn’t want to be caught up in his scheme, but she had no grounds to say she disliked it. 

The br*asts striking each other with slapping sounds felt good. The lewd yet strange act, the movement teasing her, was both shameful and ecstatic.

“Good…, good… No. I dis… like it.”

For a moment, Lev, who’d almost said it felt good, was startled and quickly reversed herself.

Then Solaith’s expression fell.

“You dislike it?”

He looked genuinely hurt. Then, saying he was sorry the treatment was too intense, that he hadn’t anticipated she’d dislike it, he withdrew his touch.

“Well…”

When the hand tormenting her n*pples fell away, coldness instantly covered her chest. The br*asts already traced the remnants of warmth, seemingly missing the touch.

But the problem was something else. Lev, with heat piled layer upon layer in her body, suffered from unbearable thirst. Heat gathered in her reddened eyes, making them moist.

Standing by the warm window with both br*asts exposed to the man, the woman gathered courage and said.

“Solaith, I don’t dislike it. I want… t-touch me…”

Shall I do it again then? When he asked with a small smile, Lev nodded.

Then unhesitating hands covered her again. Force strong enough to make her squeal seized her br*asts. Then he kneaded strongly enough to crush n*pples and flesh together.

Lev, stiff like a subdued small animal, barely maintained her position while receiving the attack. When the pleasant sensation poured out again, her body trembled and flinched.

“I was worried you might dislike it, but I’m relieved. I was going to implement a treatment method devised only for you, and I was concerned I might not be able to do it for you.”

Saying this, he slipped his hand under her br*asts and caressed them ticklishly. When the fingers that entered under her br*asts scraped down the flesh, pleasant goosebumps rose.

This time he gently scraped down her upper br*asts with his fingertips. 

The fingers that touched the top, bottom, and both sides in turn stimulated by circling the entire br*ast, but never came to the center. He was caressing every part of her br*asts except the n*pples.

“Haa, I feel… strange.”

Lev spoke, unable to endure the surging exhilaration.

“Indeed. I wonder why?”

With a very reverent and holy expression, he continued the br*ast caress devotedly. He poked, supported the under-br*asts and gently shook them. He persistently tormented only the areas excluding the n*pples.

Earlier he’d handled them roughly enough to pull them around with his index finger. Now he wouldn’t even touch them with his fingertips.

“Hngh, the, the center.”

“The center?”

“The center is…”

Tingle tingle. Her central peak cried out, seemingly begging to be touched. Lev tried to express her thirst with her whole body, but her tongue wouldn’t obey.

Finally, the man’s fingers began gently scraping around the n*pples with the edge of his nails.

“Haa, the center too… p-please… do it, Solaith.”

“Where is the center?”

“Hic… You’re mean. You’re teasing…”

Only then did Lev realize the man had been playing with her, and though tears welled up from the sense of betrayal, she couldn’t protest against the overwhelming pleasure.