Chapter 36 – Back to Napolia

“Hng! Ah! Ah, mm!”

…She must be crazy.

“Ah, stop, really… ah, mm! There!”

This wasn’t just “like” being crazy. It was crazy.

“Your mouth and body aren’t in sync, Amber.”

Just crazy…

Amber looked at the man she’d been glued to for so long, feeling empty when apart. He was satisfied, staring at their joined bodies, even tracing their connection with his fingers.

“Ah!”

Then, without warning, he moved his hips again, sending her back into pleasure… and Amber, without time to catch her breath, cried out under him. Then Dieldo said, “Spread your legs more,” or, “Amber, you feel so good…” as he cl*maxed and got hard again.

He had endless stamina. Amber even wondered if he really was a d*ldo.

“Seriously, you’re not a d*ldo, right?”

“I’m special for a d*ldo.”

“…I’m joking.”

“And I make real s*men.”

“I said I’m joking!”

“I’m joking too.”

“Then why are you hard again?”

She’d lost count of how many times. And he didn’t finish quickly, so for her—just a researcher—it was exhausting.

In the end, Amber gave up, arms and legs limp.

“I can’t…”

She mumbled into the pillow, and he pulled her into his arms. His firm chest pressed against her back, his lazy sigh settling over her head.

“Sleep.”

“It’s a shame…”

“Why?”

“Just… today.”

Amber glanced around the room. She remembered herself from months ago, running away. Back then, this place felt so unfamiliar.

But after Dieldo came, it started to feel like a haven. Then, she never wanted to leave.

But time passed, and now it was a place filled with memories.

Being here with Dieldo was happy and joyful, but it didn’t have to be this place.

Anywhere could be her place now. She could stand on her own, not relying on things, people, or places. Soon, after a short break, she would start new research… this time, in the Kingdom.

With those plans in mind, Amber declared,

“I can’t stay here forever.”

“Why, what’s wrong with staying?”

“I don’t want to do that.”

“You’ll take me with you, right?”

“Are you free to go?”

“Do you have money?”

Before she knew it, Dieldo had sat up and was carefully cleaning her body. By the time her body, soaked with fl*ids and sweat, became fresh again, Amber rubbed her sleepy eyes and suggested they go outside.

“There’s something I want to see.”

Dieldo seemed reluctant, but, unable to resist Amber’s request, he came outside with her.

And, once outside, it was Amber who was shocked. She couldn’t believe that from morning until well past midnight, they’d done nothing but that. Seeing the sky at dawn, she finally realized.

They really had only done that….

And she had enjoyed it. No, no, no, no…. She wished she’d stopped sooner…. That was the pattern. Amber thought of how she’d been so deeply immersed in this irrational and unproductive act, then shook her head vigorously to clear it.

As Amber walked down the quiet dawn street, she brought up something she’d been curious about.

“How did the royal marriage… turn out?”

Dieldo replied as lightly as if he were just swinging their joined hands.

“It’s broken off.”

“Oh.”

“The negotiations went well.”

The word ‘negotiation’ brought up unpleasant memories for Amber, and she suddenly frowned and glared at him.

“Speaking of which.”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“I won’t.”

Unless someone had a hobby of swallowing poison or dying and coming back to life. Dieldo hated pain too. He just thought escaping from the d*mn royal marriage and getting revenge on those who tormented Amber was a clever trick he could get away with.

Well, thanks to that, the young Marquis was expelled from their estate, and the fact that ‘the Prince was nearly poisoned to death in the Empire’ gave the Crown Prince a good excuse…. In a way, he’d also earned a favor from the Crown Prince’s side.

Anyway, he had finally come to his senses.

Even Petricks was impressed when the person he served announced he would take care of the estate and start a new business, and he was delighted at the thought of being assigned to proper work. “I was the top graduate, but I’ve only done things unworthy of that title…” he added.

At that moment, Amber warned him like a child sulking.

“If you do that again… I won’t ever see you again.”

“Mm.”

Dieldo replied lazily, hugging her, and then confessed to change the subject.

“I went to the research presentation.”

“Our research presentation?”

“What other research presentation would I go to?”

Dieldo looked at Amber, who was shaking her head, as if he found her cute, and added,

“I met Merin too. She recognized me even in disguise.”

“What did she say?”

“She said if I weren’t a Prince, she would’ve hit me with a broom.”

“Grandmother, really….”

Amber shook her head.

Chatting quietly, they finally arrived at the spot where they’d watched the sunset before. The sun was slowly rising, tinting the surroundings in purple. Swoosh, swoosh. The waves crashed with white foam. The shimmering, scattering water was enchanting. Standing before that enchantment, they stopped.

And Amber spoke.

“I think I was afraid of loving someone.”

He could feel her confession, that she was scared because she liked him.

“I didn’t want to be the only one sacrificing, the only one giving my heart and being left behind.”

“….”

“I was afraid of getting hurt and being abandoned. There’s no such thing as a relationship without pain in this world, but I was really foolish, wasn’t I?”

“I was even more foolish.”

Dieldo agreed.

“If I’d known I’d meet you, I wouldn’t have thrown my life into the gutter.”

“The gutter….”

“It’s true.”

“Dieldo.”

Someone calls a name, someone is called. Amber looked back at Dieldo and smiled. The rising sun blushed softly on her face. To him, she looked truly lovely, lovely, and lovely again.

And then, she accepted.

“You’re the best thing I have.”

In other words, she was telling him she would have him. Willingly.

Just like before, ‘Take me in,’ ‘I want you to have me’—she finally answered him.

Dieldo couldn’t help but hug her tightly. In that state, he spoke in a voice tinged with emotion.

“Amber. I’ll become a proper person now.”

Amber’s hand touched his back. As she patted him, he rubbed his face against her neck, murmuring her name.

“You already are.”

“No.”

“Stop putting yourself down.”

“Mm. Because I’m the best thing you have.”

Once, the d*ldo and the buyer who watched the sunset together were now ready to start together, just as they had once ended. Ordinary but special Amber Serentano, and the formerly useless but now valuable Dieldo Edem Keit Otranie.

While watching the sunrise together, they exchanged words that anyone would call nonsense if overheard. And the conversation turned a little naughty, continuing even on the way home.

“I’m sleepy. But I don’t want to sleep.”

“I’ll help you sleep.”

“I said I don’t want to. And now I can sleep fine without that. Actually….”

“Actually what?”

“Never mind. Anyway, that’s not the point anymore.”

“But how long are you going to keep speaking formally? Why are we suddenly being so distant?”

“Just because.”

“Of course, that’s exciting in its own way.”

“….”

“It’s even better mixing it up. Thinking about it, I’m getting excited again. Ah.”

By the time they reached the door, Amber couldn’t help but say, “Hey, stop it.” Dieldo was pleased, of course. He said the term ‘hey’ was oddly arousing.

The scandal of a Princess falling in love with an imperial attendant and turning the Kingdom upside down two hundred years ago would, in the distant future, be replaced by the scandal of a Prince who fell for a researcher. That researcher becoming famous as the youngest professor was not so far off.

When a gossip reporter requested an interview, Dieldo Edem Keit Otranie, who was both a Prince and the richest Lord for five years, reportedly said this:

1. How did the two of you meet?

“As a tool and a buyer.”

No one but the people involved understood what he meant. Anyway, that’s how it was.

〈Prince or Tool〉 End