Kian carried Vivianne, who was limp from the heat of the bath, out of the bathroom.

All because she was fixated on the word ‘mating.’ No, more precisely, because it turned her on.

Perhaps staying too long in the bath biting and sucking was the problem. Vivianne was still dizzy and couldn’t get her bearings.

It was puzzling why she would use the word ‘mating’ when she didn’t even have the stamina to endure his beast-like behavior.

Since he said he would wash her, he had to follow through with his responsibility. Though it was bothersome, given how she had threatened to punish the servants for even the smallest scratch, he couldn’t let her catch a cold from having s*x in the bathroom.

Kian carefully dried her body with a towel and helped her into a shower robe.

“Here, Vivi. Drink some water.”

Even in her dazed state, she nodded at the sound of her nickname and accepted the water cup. She moistened her lips slightly but put the cup down on the nightstand after barely taking a few sips. She still seemed too exhausted to gather her wits.

His first thought was that he needed to feed her something to restore her energy. Since it would take too long to prepare a meal, he hurriedly took out some chocolates from the box that Viscount Würgen had given him.

“Open your mouth. It’s chocolate.”

When he placed it in her mouth, she ate it readily like a baby bird. She smiled sweetly as the sweet taste melted in her mouth.

“…It’s delicious.”

“Want more?”

“Yes.”

“Here, keep eating.”

He left the entire box with her and pressed a towel against her wet hair to dry it.

While he was busy taking care of her, she kept reaching for more chocolates, seemingly unable to stop after having just one.

“Is it that good?”

“…Mm-hmm.”

Though her sudden informal speech was a bit strange…, he dismissed it as just her mood.

Perhaps leaving her with that 12-piece chocolate box, of which she ate more than half, was the mistake.

“You’re not a child. Save the rest for tomorrow.”

When he tried to take away the chocolate box, her hand gripped it tightly.

As if she didn’t want to let it go.

Their eyes met silently. Her blue eyes had been slightly unfocused from the heat of the bath, but this look was different.

Rather than exhaustion, it was closer to something more primal. That’s when Kian first sensed something was off with Vivianne.

Vivianne picked up a chocolate and popped it into Kian’s mouth.

As he instinctively bit down to taste the chocolate, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Amidst the heated breaths, moist lips, and mingling chocolate, he realized something was wrong.

After thoroughly sucking on Kian’s lips, Vivianne mumbled.

“Yummy.”

What is this?

…Come to think of it, Viscount Würgen had mentioned they were ‘chocolates made with rum.’

Given her unusual behavior, slurred speech, and shortened sentences, this was clearly intoxication.

Oh good lord. Even so.

He never knew someone could get drunk from the rum in chocolates.

Kian kept letting out empty laughs, finding the situation absurd even in retrospect.

Naturally, he hadn’t felt even slightly tipsy when he ate them.

Of course, he hadn’t eaten nearly as many…, no, there was no excuse – it was entirely his fault.

It wasn’t strange since alcohol tolerance varies by constitution and body size.

Since her hair was already dried, it seemed best to wipe her chocolate-covered mouth and put her to bed.

“That’s enough, time to sleep now.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“What do you want to do then?”

Vivianne clung to Kian’s neck and answered.

“I wanna mate.”

“What?”

Kian doubted his ears for a moment.

“Ma-ting!”

Ha, damn it. Has she gone mad? He barely managed to silence her screaming with his lips.

Perhaps because they always started s*x with kissing. After a long while of sucking tongues and mixing lips, she calmed down a bit. A sweet and bitter chocolate scent kept wafting from her mouth. When he let go because she was groaning for air, she stared at him intently.

Usually too shy to make eye contact, she seemed like a completely different person when drunk.

“Kian, the mole under your eye.”

“What about it?”

“Pretty.”

Whatever she found so pleasing, she kissed the mole under his eye.

…What in the world.

It was baffling.

“Why are you speaking informally?”

“……”

Most vexing of all was how she selectively avoided answering questions that put her at a disadvantage.

They say true nature comes out when drunk. It made him suspicious enough to wonder if she had been pretending to be good and gentle all this time.

Anyway, after getting the somewhat calmer Vivianne to lie down, he covered her with a blanket.

She closed her eyes drowsily, perhaps feeling the effects of the alcohol herself. As he turned to leave, she suddenly clung to his back.

“So broad. Hehe.”

Was she always this clingy… and difficult?

Though she clung to him and nuzzled his cheek like she wanted to be carried, it was quite an ordeal for him. The soft, squishing sensation of her br*asts made his lower half respond, making it impossible to get up.

She was truly troublesome in many ways. After some struggle, he finally managed to give her the ‘mating’ she so desperately wanted a few more times before getting her to sleep.

Not only that, but she kept saying strange things throughout s*x.

Things like being sorry she had no milk so don’t suck, or no, please suck again because it feels good, or that it was so itchy between her legs she felt like she would cum.

She also said weird things like why was it sticking up when it should be below her navel, and that it was too big so something must be very wrong.

…She was rambling nonsensically like she’d lost her mind. Even as he thrust frantically, aroused by her words, he vowed never to let her drink alcohol during her stay. It would only lead to troublesome situations like today.

Though spending the night biting and sucking wasn’t difficult, it was raining. Since he didn’t know when the rain might get stronger or when she might do something crazy again, he returned to his room and locked the door.

Perhaps he was tired from being so attentive. Though the rain wasn’t particularly heavy, and he usually only managed light sleep when it rained.

Somehow, it was a dreamless night.

* * *

Near dawn. When she opened her eyes, Kian was gone. Her head felt like it was about to split open. Vivianne raised her aching body and looked around.

Given how dark it was, the sun hadn’t risen yet. She had thought it was just a shower, but the rain outside was pouring heavily.

She grew anxious wondering if Kian was alright in such heavy rain.

Right. Even if she couldn’t go in, she could at least go to his door.

As she hurried to move, something caught her foot near the door. It was a shawl wet with rain and beneath it, a crushed bouquet. Vivianne carefully bent down to pick them up.

He said he saw the card.

“Congratulations, Kian.”

“Vivi.”

He had whispered it directly in her ear. As if to say he had already read her congratulatory feelings.

Next was supposed to be showing the gift, but it was too shabby. She hesitated whether to show it, and her hands lost strength.

Though she was the one who dropped the bouquet, and though she was the one who decided not to pick it up because she was embarrassed by the already ruined gift.

Kian was the one who dropped the shawl on top of it. As if he didn’t care at all about the already ruined bouquet getting crushed further.

“You’ll catch a cold wearing wet clothes.”

Right. It must have been because he was worried about her catching a cold. Wearing wet clothes would lower her body temperature and she might catch a fever.

Because he was worried she might get sick… thinking that, feeling urgent, he must have had no choice.

Though she tried to think that way, her heart remained clouded with unresolved sediment.

“How pretty.”

The empty words of admiration toward the bouquet and vacant eyes.

“The flowers are nice, but Vivi. I prefer this more.”

In contrast, when he explored her lips, his breath held clear heat and his gaze was persistent.

What he didn’t want and what he wanted.

The stark difference in temperature when dealing with those two things pierced her mind like a thorn.

The moment she picked them up, her feet wouldn’t move. No, it seemed better not to move.

Vivianne stood still for a long while, staring blankly at them before deciding to put them away.

She wrung out the wet shawl and left it in the bathroom. She thought about washing it quickly but gave up as she had no energy left in her body.

The sticky heat and clean soap scent from earlier still lingered in the bathroom.

The memory of their long bath lingered in her mind, where they cleaned yet dirtied each other.

While holding him inside her, she felt like she fully possessed him. But why did she feel so empty after it ended?

She gathered up the crushed bouquet and hastily put it in a vase. The stems were broken and petals were crushed so they could barely stand, but it didn’t matter.

Even if she would throw them away when dawn broke tomorrow. She wanted to display them, if only for a moment.

Her head felt empty and when she checked, her flower crown was gone. She remembered coming out of the bath, and eating chocolates Kian gave her because she was hungry.

After that, she seemed to have fallen asleep. Somehow her memories were patchy.

Kissing the mole under Kian’s eye, clinging to his back and nuzzling his cheek… these were things she had always imagined doing. How much she had wanted to. She must have dreamed it while half-asleep.

Her hair that had been completely wet and clinging was now dry and fluffy.

Had Matilda come by in the meantime?

No, that seemed strange given that the bouquet and wet shawl were still there.