That day too, Kaiden came to the bedroom late after the sun had set. Dana saw that today’s Kaiden was wearing only bottoms without a top. No, actually she couldn’t see properly.

Startled, Dana kept her gaze as far from Kaiden as possible, looking only at the floor as she finished her prayers and lay down in bed. Then she immediately turned to her side, her back to Kaiden.

Until just now she hadn’t thought much about it, but it felt hot again. It seemed that this summer, the nights were the hottest.

‘No, that’s natural.’

It was now during Solsita’s festival period. It was when the summer heat reached its peak.

‘But shouldn’t it cool down a bit after sunset at least.’

The heat just wouldn’t subside.

‘What should I do…’

The bed rippled slightly as Kaiden lay down. The blanket rustled a bit. Kaiden’s scent, still unfamiliar to her, wafted over strongly.

While trying not to notice that scent, Dana worried.

After returning from her conversation with Taras earlier, Dana had felt a sense of crisis. Taras’s suspicions, his thoughts, everything made her anxious.

‘What should I do…’

All afternoon after returning from meeting Taras, she had thought about what to say to Kaiden. What was most needed in this situation, how to resolve this anxiety. How to convince him of the need to escape from the danger that seemed about to befall her at any moment.

But no matter how much she thought about it, she wasn’t confident she could say it without sounding strange.

‘How should I say it…’

The most awkward situation since returning to the past had arrived.

‘I need to say it quickly before Kaiden starts pleasuring himself…’

As she lay curled up thinking, she heard moaning sounds from behind.

“Hng, uh…”

Kaiden was pleasuring himself again.

Dana thought with a dejected face.

‘It’s already too late…’

Dana felt the bed repeatedly tilting to the side. She heard Kaiden’s moans. She squeezed her eyes shut then opened them again. She was troubled. If he was already pleasuring himself. Would it be better to speak right now.

‘Should I speak later, it’s a bit awkward right now…’

Having seen Kaiden pleasure himself all night before and knowing his act had just begun, she considered waiting to speak later. But thinking about it, that seemed even stranger. After listening to the sounds of self-pleasure all along and then suddenly…

Finally, Dana made a decision. It was an embarrassment she would have to go through once tonight anyway. Thinking that the awkwardness would only grow the longer she delayed, she decided to just have the conversation now. Dana suddenly turned her body toward Kaiden, whom she had been facing away from.

“Kaiden.”

And then he froze.

“Ah.”

Dana had thought Kaiden would be pleasuring himself with his back turned to her. But that wasn’t the case.

Kaiden was lying on his back while pleasuring himself. He had turned his head to look at her, and his hand seemed to be lowered. The reason she couldn’t be certain about the position of his hand was because she desperately looked only at his face, unable to look down.

Kaiden’s dark blue eyes were fixed on Dana. With furrowed brows, he had his mouth open, letting out moans. Dana’s eyes, having turned to face Kaiden, met directly with his eyes that were watching her. Dana froze with her mouth open. Her breath stopped.

“Kuh, uh…”

Heat rushed up from her frozen face. While she unconsciously kept her mouth open, unable to continue speaking, Kaiden turned his head with a moan. Turning away from looking at Dana to face the ceiling, he answered.

“Hng… Yes.”

Dana couldn’t understand. Was it okay to show such a sight? She swallowed hard. Kaiden’s arm kept moving. She could see his shoulder heaving and firm chest muscles flexing with his arm’s movements.

“Um… please don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say. It might sound strange, but it’s something I must say now.”

From Kaiden’s perspective, it was already a start that invited misunderstanding. He continued pleasuring himself while answering.

“I’ll listen… and decide whether to misunderstand or not.”

Dana couldn’t properly hear his words because of this overwhelming situation. His profile, his moving arm, and… she couldn’t bear to look any further down. Dana felt more embarrassed and heated. The cruel woman who had spoken to a man pleasuring himself asked in a trembling voice.

“Shouldn’t you focus on the other person when having a conversation?”

Was it okay to continue pleasuring himself while talking with her… No, was it okay for her to see him like this…

Kaiden suddenly turned his body toward where Dana was lying. Dana gasped and curled up in surprise. Just as Dana was lying on her side facing Kaiden, now Kaiden too was lying on his side facing Dana. He held himself down below while facing Dana.

“Please speak.”

He spoke while still holding himself below. Dana saw Kaiden’s face right in front of her, experiencing pleasure alone. She kept her neck fixed, looking only at his face.

The sweat beading on his forehead, his furrowed brows, his clenched mouth, and eyes that seemed to target her. The Adam’s apple moving under his tense jaw and his continuously heaving arm…

Dana’s mouth went dry. Sweat pooled in her palms. Thump, thump. Her heart was racing.

“Um… earlier today, I met my brother.”

“Hah, huh…”

“He asked… why we don’t have relations at night.”

Kaiden was watching Dana while pleasuring himself. His arm kept moving. Dana became increasingly confused. This was a situation that hadn’t existed in any male-female relationship she had been taught about. A woman trying to have a conversation, and a man listening to her words while pleasuring himself in front of her…

And in front of such a Dana, Kaiden too was confused. From the moment Dana turned to face him in bed.

He couldn’t stop. The moment Dana suddenly turned over, her scent overwhelmed him completely. Dana lying on her side facing him, the collarbone visible through the neckline of the curled-up Dana’s clothes, and what might or might not be visible below that…

‘Damn it…’

Just that alone made him so aroused…

Though he shouldn’t look, he couldn’t turn his eyes away because he wanted to see. He became even more heated when Dana asked him to focus on her. To think they were lying in bed facing each other. If he didn’t resolve what had become *rect with his hand, he felt like he might climb on top of Dana right away.

Even if Dana saw him as lewd, he absolutely couldn’t stop. He was afraid yet curious about how she would view a man who finally showed his vulgar desire in front of her, after she had pretended not to notice him secretly pleasuring himself behind her back.

When she directly faced a man desperate to feel pleasure while desiring her, when she could no longer avoid it.

Rather, he hoped Dana would react to this shameful display. He hoped she would say something, do something. To a man who had been constantly thrown into her indifference and non-response…

“For now, I just made excuses, but. Anyway, he might become suspicious. That we…”

“…Haven’t consummated?”

Dana closed her mouth and nodded.

“And he thinks you contracted with the Divine Beast because you married me.”

Dana sighed repeatedly, feeling truly frustrated to the point of going crazy. Kaiden caught Dana’s breath while pleasuring himself. His desperate hips wanted to buck wildly.

“Kuh.”

“He should have sent me to a different marriage partner, but since my brother is really someone thoughtless enough to attempt such a thing…”

“Wait. What did you just say?”

Kaiden’s hand stopped. Dana flinched in surprise. Kaiden’s face, which had been pleasuring himself while watching her, was now distorted savagely. Looking at Kaiden, whose heat had instantly cooled, Dana answered with a troubled expression.

“You shouldn’t interrupt when someone else is speaking. My brother is thoughtless…”

“No, before that.”

Dana rolled her eyes and then repeated what she had said as she recalled it.

“He should have sent me to a different marriage partner…”

Kaiden suddenly sat up from his lying position. And he threw away the handkerchief he had been holding along with himself. Dana startled backwards slightly in surprise. She could barely hear Kaiden muttering. What did that dog say?