Chapter 90. Duke Blanche’s Grand Plan

As the patient became compliant, Aster’s touch grew more persistent. His lips trailed from mine to my neck, collarbone, and upper chest. It was obvious where this was heading.

I twisted my waist at the sensual act continuing over the thin negligee.

“Ash.”

“It’s in the way.”

He murmured, playing with the underwear covering my chest. In that brief moment of deciding whether to remove it, he slipped his hand into the negligee and unhooked the bra.

“It must be uncomfortable to sleep in.”

“Well, who’s uncomfortable?”

“The patient needs to breathe.”

“You’re the one who made it hard for me to breathe.”

“That’s why I’m sharing my breath with you so sincerely.”

Aster pushed his breath into my mouth forcefully while skillfully removing my underwear and dropping it to the floor. The outline of my lush ar*ola became visible over the negligee.

He kissed it. I thought he would just strip it off and devour me, but he was holding back quite a bit.

“Did you know?”

“Hmm?”

“Kissing with clothes on is more exciting.”

“……”

“Because your body is more visible under the wet clothes.”

“You’re like a pervert.”

“You only realize that now? Camilla, you’re more naive than I thought.”

Aster didn’t deny it and smiled brightly. It seemed that not stripping off my clothes was a visual stimulation conceived in my man’s sly and lewd mind.

I said as I took off his jacket,

“Then let’s see how great it is.”

With those words, I kissed his shirt. As I persistently licked his right chest, I sighed softly.

“You’re right.”

The white and red n*pples revealed under the wet white shirt seemed to stir the hidden lust within me. I lightly twisted his n*pple.

“No, it’s more exciting than I thought.”

Aster grinned at my admiring voice. He then placed his hand over mine. At the same time, he kissed me.

Led by his hand, I began to caress various parts of his body. Somehow, that sensation made my whole body tingle and excited.

“Haa, Ash…”

Before I knew it, I started to explore every corner of his body, as if being guided by him. Sometimes pinching, sometimes scratching.

Meanwhile, Aster raised my negligee and positioned himself. Just as my hand was about to grasp his pillar.

“I’d like to wait longer, but I’m a bit impatient.”

Aster grabbed both of my hands with one hand and lifted them. At the same time, he slipped between my legs and lightly licked my earlobe.

“Ah!”

As Camilla’s insides were penetrated, she let out a shallow scream. With her hands tied, only her waist jerked. Her legs trembled.

His p*nis was always too big and thick to get used to.

It didn’t need to be this big and thick.

I cursed his excellent p*nis for no reason and shook aimlessly. It was because he started licking my chest after passing my lips.

“Haa! Hng!”

“Tasty.”

“Ash…!”

“People don’t need to have such sweet sweat.”

Aster mumbled nonsense while licking every corner of my body. He left a clear kiss mark on the yet-to-heal bruise and smiled contentedly.

“It shouldn’t disappear. I made it.”

“You…”

“I’ll make sure it never disappears for the rest of your life.”

Aster made a dangerous promise and thrust deeply inside me. My body moved in sync with the familiar rhythm.

He pushed me until I was exhausted, then wiped my body thoroughly with a wet towel and gave a foreboding warning.

“If you ask to do it in a rough place while you can’t even handle this, it’ll be troublesome.”

“Hng…”

“If we do this in a rough place, rumors will spread all over town. That the young ducal couple of Blanche has a very active s*x life.”

Aster had a habit of speaking vulgar words in a refined manner. As he dressed me back in my clothes, the mess from earlier vanished without a trace.

He hugged me tightly and said.

“Besides, here… it’s your room, so it’s filled with your scent, which made it hard for me to control myself.”

“Let’s not do it in rough places then.”

“Well, I don’t think that’ll be the case anymore.”

Aster softly caressed my back while making an ominous rebuttal. I might have unknowingly provoked something in Aster.

It felt like a wave of naive provocation had suddenly surged in.

I had a sudden feeling that every space I encountered in my life might be tainted with my wild affairs with him.

* * *

Meanwhile, Duke Francis returned to the laboratory, leaving the collapsed Camilla behind. He was concerned about the magic circle that had flashed when Camilla collapsed.

The magic circle, which had shown no response when he checked, activated just by Camilla’s approac. He thought it wouldn’t activate without a special trigger, but he was caught off guard.

However, Camilla had no internal injuries. She looked calm, as if she had fallen asleep. But she was clearly under the influence of the magic. It was something that needed to be confirmed with Camilla herself.

Duke Francis tried infusing mana into the magic circle just in case, but there was no change.

“As expected, there’s no reaction.”

This meant that the activation wasn’t simply due to mana. There seemed to be a correlation between Camilla and the magic circle.

After thoroughly investigating the surroundings, Duke Francis returned home to find that Camilla had already woken up.

“Father.”

Camilla ran over as soon as she heard Duke Francis had arrived. Aster was with her.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“It’s alright. But can you tell me what happened?”

“Pardon?”

“There were traces of the magic circle activating when you approached it. It seemed to react only to you.”

“Ah.”

Camilla hesitated at her father’s question. She didn’t know how to explain the strange phenomenon she had experienced.

It was even harder after she struggled to explain it to Aster multiple times. Just calming Aster, who was terrified at the thought of me being in pain, had drained me.

But having explained it once, I could explain it more skillfully this time.

“It felt like my heart was in pain, and then it seemed like my soul was leaving my body. I thought I was going to die, but then I saw a strange scene.”

“A strange scene?”

“I saw Duke Blanche and Aster together from Marco’s perspective. As soon as I realized that, I could even feel Marco’s emotions.”

“Hmm.”

“Just in case, Aster and I compared what we saw, and it was all true. If my guess is right, he seems related to the Maved Stone.”

“Then capturing him might give us some clues.”

Father turned as if he would immediately go capture Marco Almand. I grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Wait. There’s something to check first.”

“Something to check?”

“Marco Almand seemed to owe his life to Duke Blanche after almost dying ten years ago. He also seemed to have a weakness held by the Duke.”

“Ten years ago?”

Father reacted strongly to the mention of ten years ago. It was the year my mother died, so it was natural.

“Yes. He might be related to the incident that day. He feared the Duke but didn’t respect him. He wanted to kill the Duke while he was being beaten, so I’m sure.”

“But how can you be sure of Marco Almand’s true feelings? Besides, he’s a wanted man and he won’t show himself easily.”

“There’s no need for you or me to move.”

“Do you have a spy planted?”

“More reliable than a spy.”

When I confidently said this, Father tilted his head, looking puzzled. He didn’t seem to understand what I was saying. I looked at Aster and spoke.

“The Duke told Aster that if he captured Marco, he would tell him what he entrusted to the Black Shadow.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes. The Duke seemed to trust me quite a bit after this incident. I’ll stay close and probe Marco.”

Is there anyone more reliable than Aster? He had presented Marco to lower the Duke’s guard. Probing him would be easy.

Father asked Aster, looking skeptical.

“Won’t it be dangerous?”

“Even if it is, I’ll do anything to cure Camilla. Even if it costs my life.”

“Nonsense. Don’t even think about making my daughter a widow.”

It was harsh, but in reality, it was a warm warning to be careful. Knowing this well, Aster grinned.

“Thank you for your concern.”

“It’s not concern.”

Feeling awkward, Father cleared his throat and turned his head. But he couldn’t hide his reddening ears.

‘He’s embarrassed.’

I watched the harmonious relationship between the two with delight.

* * *

Camilla was forbidden from entering the laboratory for safety reasons. Having already fainted once, Aster and Duke Francis jointly stopped her. Thus, Duke Francis was in charge of investigating the magic circle.

From that day on, Aster received full support from Duke Blanche and began his duties as the next head of the family. He had gained the Duke’s full trust by finding Marco before the Imperial Knights.

Meanwhile, Marco was being punished for failing to manage the distribution of Linux properly. Though it was under the guise of protection, he was tied up in an underground prison, waiting for death.

He was even beaten like a dog by the Duke every night, making his situation worse.

Aster tried to approach several times, but the security was tight. There seemed to be a reason for keeping him locked up without killing him.

Blanche experienced a storm of events as if an earthquake had struck.

Duke Blanche not only refused to release Paris from the detention center but also removed him from the family registry. Knowing he wasn’t his biological son, he couldn’t allow him to use the Blanche name.

After being expelled from the family, Paris had few options. His only lifeline, Isabelle, was also confined to the Blanche villa and being forced to divorce.

Due to the Duke’s unreasonable demand for alimony, Isabelle was also strongly resisting. She wasn’t the type to crumble easily. Her firm stance suggested she was considering a divorce lawsuit.

Last week, she even hired a lawyer to confront the Duke, making the atmosphere in the castle extremely tense.

It was during this tense time that the Duke spoke to Aster.

“Things are chaotic inside and out. It’s giving me a headache.”

“It’s probably because it’s hard to avoid the Imperial family’s reprimand due to the Linux incident.”

“Yes. Especially with the evidence in hand, even cutting off ties is difficult.”

Thanks to the raid on the Almand Merchant Group, it became publicly known that Marco was involved in the manufacturing and distribution of Linux. The issue was whether Blanche knew about this.

Duke Blanche was claiming ignorance. To divert public attention, he had even spread rumors about a massive divorce lawsuit.

People were more interested in Isabelle’s fraudulent marriage than the illegal drug distribution. The public was keen to see how Paris and Isabelle would be dealt with.

A high-ranking noble like Blanche had been scammed. The family, which was already rumored to be swindlers, now had the additional label of being a family deceived in life.

Adding one more dishonor didn’t impact them as much as the initial blow. Instead, the Duke decided to become shameless.

He intended to frame himself as a victim to escape the situation. Aster spoke.

“Did the task you assigned to the Black Shadow go well?”

“Ah, that task.”

The Duke muttered while swirling his wine glass. The experiment was successful. It was good news amidst all the ongoing troubles.

“Yes. You should know about it now.”

With those words, the Duke stood up.

“Follow me.”

Aster followed the Duke. He headed towards the underground prison where Marco was confined. Despite the stench of blood, Aster didn’t flinch.

Marco was bound to the wall, not moving at all. He looked even more emaciated than the first time Aster saw him, likely due to insufficient feeding.

The floor was soaked with dirty water, and the dim light from a thin candle barely illuminated the surroundings.

The Duke unlocked the iron door with a key and entered. As he poured oil and lit a fire, the area brightened.

Only then did Aster get a proper look at Marco’s condition and sighed lowly. His body was covered with scars that had healed and reopened. Moreover…

‘So that’s where it was hidden…’

Aster frowned at the red stone embedded in Marco Almand’s chest. He had always wondered why the red stone wasn’t embedded in Marco Almand’s tattoo.

Now he saw that its location was even more critical. Judging by its size, it wasn’t just a substitute like the others.

When the Duke poured water on Marco, the dust covering his body washed away, revealing the red stone more clearly.

The Duke pointed directly at the red stone and asked.

“Do you know what this is?”

“I don’t.”

“Yes, I suppose you wouldn’t. It took me a long time to get this.”

Duke Blanche smirked, not expecting an answer. Marco, now conscious, looked at Aster with unfocused eyes.

Judging by his gaze, it seemed he had something to say to Aster, but he didn’t respond immediately.

“Is this related to the task you assigned to the Black Shadow?”

“You’re smart.”

Duke Blanche grinned as if Aster had hit the mark, then took out a dagger and twirled it. Without warning, he slashed Marco’s chest.