“We don’t know that.”

Lexion’s brow furrowed. He felt tired, perhaps from fully unleashing his special ability after a long time.

“We return to the imperial palace.”

After instructing the knights to handle the aftermath, the aide mounted his horse and followed Lexion.

* * *

Estelle paced anxiously around the room, stamping her feet. He was so persistent when she didn’t need him, yet nowhere to be found when she actually did. Her heart, which had been racing anxiously, gradually calmed down as time passed.

Estelle, exhausted before even broaching the subject, tried to gather her weary spirit. Who would have thought that asking him for a favor would be so nerve-wracking? She had never been this tense even when taking her own life.

She sat in his luxurious chair, rifling through the stacked documents and playing with the feather pen on the desk, but Lexion never opened the door.

“Sir, when will His Highness return?”

Estelle asked the knight standing guard at the door.

“I believe His Highness is currently in an important meeting.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know that myself. I understand that all knight commanders were urgently summoned by His Highness’s order.”

“He won’t be coming today, then.”

“That I cannot……”

Looking at the knight’s uncomfortable expression, Estelle suddenly became curious. Come to think of it, this was an unfamiliar face.

“Where did the knights who were here before go?”

“I have been assigned to guard the Saintess from now on.”

“So suddenly?”

“I don’t know the details either, but I understand there was an issue with the previous knights.”

“What problem?”

“I heard that His Highness disciplined them for neglecting their duty to protect the Saintess.”

‘What did I do without even knowing it?’

Estelle tilted her head.

“My skills are not at all inferior to theirs, so please don’t worry.”

Being told that the person monitoring her had excellent abilities was not at all good news for Estelle. She smiled awkwardly and politely thanked him.

After eating the dinner brought by the maid and as darkness fell outside the window, Estelle gave up on seeing him today. She had finally mustered up the courage… It was disappointing, but there was nothing she could do.

True to his word, the knight watched her with hawk-like eyes until she fell asleep, not even going to the bathroom once, as if he couldn’t care less about her privacy.

Estelle, who no longer had the energy to be angry at this familiar treatment, quietly fell into a deep sleep under the knight’s watchful eye. However, not long after, she had to open her eyes due to a strange feeling.

“……!”

Red glowing eyes were watching her in the darkness. So very close. Estelle, whose heart felt like it would burst out in shock, tried to scream, but a cool palm covered her mouth.

“Estelle, it’s me.”

Lexion smiled with his eyes as if to reassure her, but Estelle’s pupils couldn’t have been wider. Would anything change because it was him? The fact that he was an uninvited intruder in her bed remained unchanged. No, the fact that it was him made it even more frightening.

“Calm down.”

After examining Estelle’s expression, Lexion didn’t remove his hand.

“I don’t mind, but if this is discovered, it won’t be good for you.”

Son of a b*tch. Estelle cursed him with her eyes. He had done perverted things before but never crossed the line… Now he was finally trying to force himself on her.

Estelle’s violet eyes filled with tears. Though it wasn’t unfamiliar since she had mixed bodies with him countless times before the regression, at least then they had been husband and wife, and there had been no coercion…… No matter how much she tried to remain calm, she couldn’t help feeling miserable.

Should I bite my tongue…… But she soon abandoned the thought. Human vitality is surprisingly tenacious. Injuring the tongue would only cause tremendous pain; she couldn’t die instantly.

Through repeated regressions, Estelle had mastered the ways of dying. She couldn’t bring herself to do something that would obviously result in her bleeding profusely, unable to eat or sleep, while being bedridden for a long time.

‘And he wouldn’t let me die so easily.’

Estelle’s empty eyes, as if she had given up on life, were covered by her eyelids. Seeing her go limp as if she had lost all strength, Lexion seemed to understand what she was thinking, chuckled softly, and removed his hand.

“Miss Estelle, I can tell what you’re expecting, but that expression would make even an er*ction wilt. So I cannot fulfill your request.”

“What expectations would I……!”

Her eyes, now revealed again, sparkled with life as usual, making Lexion wear a satisfied expression.

“I apologize for sneaking in, but I pushed myself too hard today and didn’t want to wait until morning.”

Lexion gently cradled the back of Estelle’s head and pressed his body against hers.

“So let’s make an exception just for today.”

Only then did Estelle notice his aura flickering in the darkness. He had used his special ability…… His unstable aura, like the waves of a night sea, surged as if it would swallow him.

“……”

As if to prove he truly had no other intentions, Lexion took no further action. Estelle, who had been tensing her neck, slowly rested her head against his chest.

Only the sound of his beating heart could be felt, and silence flowed for a while. As she worried about what to do if he fell asleep like this, Lexion quietly called out to Estelle.

“Did you eat your meals properly?”

“…Why do you care?”

“Estelle, isn’t it tiring to be so prickly about every little thing?”

“You don’t need to answer.”

“Why do you hate me so much?”

“…You’re not really asking because you don’t know, are you?”

“Hmm… I really don’t know.”

Estelle didn’t bother to point out each of his rudeness. Judging by his mischievous chuckle, he clearly seemed to know.

“It’s nice having you here.”

As his special ability quickly stabilized, Lexion murmured in a languid voice. At that moment, the favor she needed to ask him suddenly came to Estelle’s mind. The atmosphere wasn’t bad. Now was the perfect time. But before her lips could move, Lexion spoke first.

“I heard you met that youngster Alexis.”

The name of her friend from his lips made Estelle tense up again. It was like a conditioned response. Whenever Lexion brought up Jeff, an argument always started. It was like the preliminary skirmish in their married life before the regression.

“Ah… yes. We ran into each other by chance……”

“By chance.”

Lexion’s mood seemed displeased as he rolled the same words in his mouth. It seemed that the formula remained the same even now when they weren’t married. For Estelle, who needed to ask him for a favor, it felt like her heart was shriveling. So she added an explanation as if making an excuse.

“We just exchanged simple greetings.”

“Did you purify him?”

“……”

Ah… Estelle intuitively felt it. If she said yes, he would be extremely angry. But she couldn’t say no because there were knights who had witnessed them. Besides, Lexion’s tone was certain.

“His aura… looked so precarious…… It seemed impolite to pretend not to see it… Really, I only did it lightly.”

“I’m glad to see you know you did something wrong, judging by how unlike you it is to make such long excuses.”

“I was showing humanitarian mercy.”

“Estelle.”

His voice was gentle. But Estelle was sure his eyes would be hardened.

“You are now mine.”

Lexion lowered his head and embraced Estelle more tightly. Feeling suffocated by the constricting force, Estelle pushed against his chest, but his body, covered in firm muscles, didn’t move an inch.

“I find it troublesome when you can’t wait and flirt with another bastard in my territory. If you were to suffer some damnable act because of that, I would become a laughingstock.”

“Th-that’s just your conjecture. His Grace the Duke treated me well, he was a very polite gentleman.”

“Because of that polite dog-like behavior, I had to cut off a loyal subordinate who had been under me for a long time.”

“What do you……”

Lexion buried his face in her luscious silver hair and whispered.

“Men are all the same. They wear kind faces while harboring filthy feelings of wanting to strip and devour you.”

Feeling the heavy heat from his lower abdomen pressed firmly against her, Estelle trembled.

“B-but you clearly said you wouldn’t!”

“Since you don’t know much about the male species, I thought I might teach you even if I’m not aroused. If you’re under my protection, you only need to worry about me. You shouldn’t have made me look foolish by doing unnecessary things with other bastards.”

“Ah… Y-Your Highness!”

Estelle drew in a breath as she felt his hand caressing her thigh.

“I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable! I won’t, I won’t ever do it again!”

Seeing that his intimidation had worked and a favorable answer came back, Lexion removed his hand from her thigh. If words defending Jeff as a decent man had come from those small lips, he would have used that as an excuse to give her a harsher lesson. The sight of that proud face streaked with tears, begging beneath him, would have been quite pleasing.

“Really! Really!”

Whether it was survival instinct or not, it was both endearing and somewhat disappointing that she knew so well how to escape at the most critical moments.