Is it so heartbreaking to be told to hide behind me when there’s an assassin? Should I have told her to step into dangerous places? No matter how upset she is, that’s a part I can’t concede.

Yet worriedly, I can’t take my eyes off her.

“Lord Cedric.”

What broke his contemplation was Arne’s weak voice.

“It’s difficult to go to the Ipellita Garden today, so let’s go next time.”

Arne slowly raised her head, and light returned to her eyes.

“Can you teach me how to use the spirits’ mana today?”

“Now?”

“If it’s alright with you.”

She really was a strange woman. There were many women who wanted to go to the Ipellita Garden with Cedric, but none who brightened their eyes more at using spirits’ mana.

Moreover, it was a bit inconvenient here and now. Yet, he couldn’t say no.

For fear that her head might drop again.

“I’ll say it again, but I’ve never formally learned it.”

“That’s okay.”

Cedric exhaled deeply, running his hand through his hair. He couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Why are you laughing?”

“I think I’m just a man who can’t resist a beauty. I want to grant all your wishes.”

“…Usually, people with red hair and red eyes aren’t called beauties. Silver hair too.”

“You’re pretty to my eyes. Even when you chew on a bite-sized bread for a long time at the banquet, when you lose balance every time the carriage bumps, even when you startle at my voice.”

So that must be why he keeps smiling and looking at her.

“Even now.”

Cedric rubbed the blood splatter on Arne’s face. The dried blood melted and flowed down.

“Seeing that you’re pretty even when you’re covered in blood, I might really be crazy.”

“…You have unique tastes.”

Cedric tilted his head slightly and slowly rubbed the blood stain on Arne’s lips. His voice, lowered with fatigue, flowed with a decadent atmosphere.

“I guess that’s the kind of man I am.”

Arne closed her mouth that had been moving. Cedric’s knuckles traced along the blood stains. Warm hot spring water flowed along her neck and collarbone. White hair strands caught between his fingers. They repeatedly slipped out of his hand and came back in with the water’s flow.

As the blood stains on her hair dissolved, red ripples spread like a mirage. Cedric suddenly grasped her hair.

“Rein did mention something like nature affinity, but the principle is the same. It’s about connecting with spirits and borrowing their power. They say it’s tricky because each spirit has different reasons and conditions for lending their power, but that’s not always the case.”

Arne’s eyes sparkled. That gaze is quite blind. Perhaps with a hint of desperation. Like when she grasped his cravat.

“Spirit users mainly call the state of connecting with spirits ‘communion’ and the promise to maintain the connection ‘contract’. That’s all. Since it’s difficult to connect directly with spirits, they practice with plants, animals, nature, and humans that have spirit mana.”

Cedric stroked the hair in his hand with his thumb.

“The easiest way is to practice with a friendly, communicative human who has spirit mana.”

“Like you?”

“Something like that.”

“The first step is to feel the spirit’s mana. The second is to hold that mana in your body and repeat it until you can perceive the spirit. Finally, you become friends with that spirit.”

“Is it over when we become friends?”

“For me, it happened naturally, so that was the end.”

Arne looked at Cedric with a slightly annoyed expression.

“Happened naturally. I guess this is what they call a genius. It feels that way.”

“That doesn’t sound right coming from you, who’s been called a genius mage since childhood.”

“I suppose you’re right.”

Arne smiled faintly.

“But how do you feel the spirit’s mana? Is this natural too?”

“You can either feel my mana inside your core or feel it directly yourself.”

Cedric held out his hand. White spirit mana rose up. As Arne carefully reached out, the mana touched her fingertips. It felt strange.

“And how do I hold it?”

“Mental communion takes a long time, so the easiest way is through contact. Like now.”

“Ah.”

“The fastest method beyond this is blessing.”

Cedric just looked at Arne without saying anything. The hand that was touching the mana core now supported Arne’s waist. As his hand on her waist tensed, a tingling tension also ran through Arne’s back.

Arne’s chest rose and fell with her breath. As their gazes deepened, Cedric adjusted his grip and interlocked his fingers tightly between Arne’s.

He tilted his head. His red eyes, still facing Arne, simmered quietly. His approaching face stopped just in front of Arne’s lips. Her breath trembled.

Cedric kissed Arne’s core while maintaining eye contact. As Arne’s chest rose sharply, Cedric’s lips pressed against her, slow and smearing. It was hot and hazy.

The slow, tingling movement continued. His firm hand gripped Arne’s waist even tighter. Arne’s fingers, held by Cedric, twitched.

It felt strange as his soft, moist lips completely enveloped the core and rolled slowly.

Perhaps it was because of what had happened here in the past. As her fingertips curled inward, Arne blinked rapidly.

She inhaled sharply as her pink n*pples, prominent through the wet white fabric, brushed against Cedric’s chest.

“Ah.”

She bit her lip belatedly, but her eyes met Cedric’s as he raised his head. Hot breaths intertwined between their almost touching lips.

As silence fell, Cedric and Arne’s eyes flickered. While the veins on the back of Cedric’s hand bulged and Arne’s chest rose and fell rapidly, neither averted their gaze.

Suddenly, the hot water splashed violently, and Cedric cupped Arne’s cheeks, pressing his lips against hers. Arne’s mouth opened, welcoming Cedric’s urgently advancing lips.

Like beasts licking each other’s wounds, they hurriedly sucked, bit, and overlapped their lips. Arne closed her eyes and accepted him more deeply. His hot tongue was sweet.

At that moment, red mana rose over Arne’s chest. At the same time, the holy water-infused hot spring water splashed up, stinging.

“Ah, ugh.”

Cedric’s urgent hands lifted Arne and placed her outside the hot spring. Following the splashing holy water, Arne’s delicate skin quickly swelled as if burned.

It was extremely rare for holy water to cause such a sensitive reaction in ordinary people. Unless they were a demon’s contractor. This was the kind of reaction one might expect from someone who had just opened their demonic power and didn’t know how to handle it.

‘Is she extremely sensitive to demonic power? I didn’t know it would be this severe. Or is it because of exposure to the Grand Duke’s immense demonic power?’

Tears welled up in Arne’s eyes as she gasped in pain. Soon, as red mana rose once more, Arne, with hazy eyes, pulled Cedric’s tie and kissed him.

“Your…”

The softly intruding lips were excessively sweet.

“Cedric, hold me. It feels like my whole body is burning.”

Arne’s whisper, as she clung to him without giving him time to think, rang dizzily. As the demonic energy in the air intensified, Arne gasped and whimpered. Cedric’s tightly clenched fist trembled.

If he dropped her into the holy water-infused hot spring now, she might faint from pain or her heart might stop. But if left alone, she might go mad with demonic energy or break through the barrier and grab any man…

At that moment, Cedric’s eyes lit up with fire as he tore Arne’s dress and kissed her. He sucked in the round br*asts exposed through the torn fabric. Soon, his knuckles slid inside her dress, rubbing her cl*toris, making her wet and slick.

If it was unavoidable anyway, it was safer for her if it was him, who could turn back time with demonic power. Or perhaps he had already succumbed to this temptation who whispered to him in a thin voice.

As Arne kept urging Cedric on, he soothed her while unbuckling his pants. The moment his already hard member sprang out, red mana also rose in Cedric, causing him to groan.

His whole body tingled. It felt as if his thighs, lapped by the holy water-filled hot spring, were being scraped away. His consciousness wavered, then snapped back to clarity with the sting of holy water, over and over.

‘Perhaps this is better, as I can at least maintain some semblance of sanity.’

With a low moan, he pushed his fingers into her wet entrance. As he rubbed the protruding nub of her s*x with the blunt part of his palm, a moan escaped Arne’s lips.

“Ah.”

Her sweet voice nearly deafened him. He could feel the soft inner flesh and bumpy surface enveloping his fingers. The sensation of her tightening around his entering and exiting fingers made him want to insert something else immediately.

Love juices flowed along her flower-like entrance, trailing down her white b*ttocks. Unable to hold back, he rubbed his thick gl*ns against her entrance, and Arne wrapped her arms around Cedric’s neck.

“Cedric, hng… It feels like my whole body is on fire.”

Cedric’s breathing grew rough at the voice whispering in his ear. As he pushed the tip of his gl*ns slightly into her red inner flesh, Arne threw her head back and bit into Cedric’s shoulder.

“Hnng.”

It was still overwhelming. Soon, the gasping Arne whispered into his ear again as if entranced, and Cedric thrust his member in completely.

“Ah…”

Arne’s body stiffened for a moment and trembled. A dizzying sensation of being split apart settled coldly. As their eyes met, Cedric’s red eyes wavered.

“Cedric, you said you’d come to me.”