Chapter 84

The more the pleasure built, the more Louise trembled.

Suddenly, he lifted his upper body, gazing down at her slender waist and smooth, pale back. Her hair, shimmering like moonlight, swayed with every movement. The feel of her skin against his left him almost blind.

“Louise.”

Barely holding onto his sanity, he took deep breaths, focusing on awakening every one of her senses.

“…!”

As her moans reached their peak, his heart pounded like it was about to burst. He couldn’t stop until she did. Slowly, he channeled healing energy into her body, bit by bit. Whenever they made contact, he had to heal her gradually. Louise felt only pleasure, as any pain melted away with the magic.

His own growing euphoria was becoming almost unbearable.

“…!”

Finally, her voice rose to a climax before coming to a sudden halt. Her body, which had been writhing moments before, collapsed onto the bed like it was melting.

“Louise.”

Breathing heavily, he pulled her into his arms. She seemed completely drained of strength, unable to move a single muscle. Her name spilled from his lips repeatedly.

“Louise.”

“Haa… ha, Alec…”

Louise’s breathing was ragged. As the room grew dimmer, signaling the dawn, she murmured:

“Where… did you learn all this?”

“…You don’t need to learn.”

His face flushed slightly as he replied. Hugging her tightly, he kissed her hair, cheeks, and lips. He felt that if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to quell the heat still burning inside him.

Just thinking about her made him want to do more, but today, he held back.

“I didn’t know…”

“…You’ll know soon enough.”

“You… mmph.”

Louise couldn’t finish her sentence as he captured her lips again, kissing her deeply while caressing her body. The sensation of their bare skin pressing against each other made her mind dissolve in bliss.

Louise wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer.

“Alec.”

Her dazed violet eyes wandered, searching for him.

Even in that moment, he couldn’t help but caress every inch of Louise’s body. Why did it feel so good?

Even after everything, he wanted to experience more of Louise, to gently touch her bare skin and quench the burning thirst they shared.

“Thank you.”

“….”

Louise, overwhelmed with emotion, embraced him tightly and gently stroked him back. She pressed her lips against his chest, a soft sound escaping as she kissed him.

“…For not hiding anything from me today.”

“….”

With a contented smile, Louise quickly drifted off to sleep, as if she had been drawn into slumber.

***

“Ugh…!”

As soon as I opened my eyes, I stretched widely.

It was already bright daylight outside.

I sat blankly on the bed, waiting for the lingering sleep to fully fade.

After blinking a few times, my mind felt unusually clear, and my body felt light.

Hmm?

I stood up from the bed.

After indulging in each other until late last night—no, early this morning—I should have been suffering from body aches.

There’s a lot to do here in the north, but I can’t keep dragging around a sick body…

Yet my legs moved lightly, as they always did.

There wasn’t even a hint of muscle pain, and I felt refreshed.

“Ah… Why does my body feel so light?”

It felt as if I had just received an incredibly soothing massage, with energy surging through my whole body.

“How strange.”

After two nights of such intense passion, it seemed like my body had already adjusted.

His hands, which had felt oddly soothing as they massaged me, must have had some kind of special effect.

Remembering the overwhelming pleasure and satisfaction from last night made me want to smile again, but I forced myself to take a long, deep breath.

After changing into my outer clothes and having breakfast, I soaked in a bath.

Today was an important day—it was my first time inspecting the territory as the Lady of Grand Cali.

I wondered what the people of the north thought about the sudden appearance of their new lord.

It was too soon to make an official appearance, but even if I approached them gradually, I doubted they would easily welcome me.

“It’s all done, my lady. You look truly beautiful today.”

Jane, having draped my cloak over my shoulders, stepped back slightly and smiled contentedly as she admired my reflection in the mirror.

I felt a slight flutter in my chest as I gazed at myself in the mirror, but I quickly turned away.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes, my lady. The master is waiting for you as well.”

‘The master…’

Hearing the word referring to Alec made my face flush a bit.

I pressed my gloved hand to my cheek.

Why was my heart racing and my body trembling?

Was it because I was about to inspect the estate, or because I’d spent the night with him and would be seeing his face again?

I took a deep breath and gracefully descended to the first floor.

As soon as I made my way down, I could feel his gaze shift towards me.

“…Alec.”

I forced a small smile as I met his eyes.

His gaze wavered slightly.

I felt the same way, but I struggled to keep eye contact with him.

‘Oh dear, this is embarrassing.’

It wasn’t as if it was the first time I’d seen my husband’s face, yet seeing him blush too made my heart race even more.

Was it because we had given in to our instincts so much last night?

Even though we’d been married for three years, we hadn’t been that close, and after going through what felt like a primal act of breeding together, it left me feeling rather shy.

I bit my lip slightly and lowered my gaze.

Perhaps it was because I was bundled up in warm clothes and a fur cloak, but I felt like my body was heating up.

“Louise.”

It was just as the carriage we were in had started to move.

When he called my name, my eyelashes fluttered as I looked up.

“Yes?”

He was gazing at me with a somewhat serious expression.

He carefully parted his lips.

“I’m curious about how you’re feeling.”

“Ah…”

Honestly, my body didn’t feel like my own.

Not because I was in pain, but because I’d had a new experience.

I felt like I had a completely different body, and I hugged myself lightly with both arms.

“Well, I feel much better than yesterday. I guess I’ve already adjusted?”

“…”

His eyes wavered again at my words, but he quickly regained his composure and responded.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“…”

I smiled at him.

For the past three years, he hadn’t fulfilled his duties as a husband, but last night and the night before made up for it.

He had done so well that I could forgive the past three years.

I turned my gaze slightly towards the window of the carriage.

I wanted to do something for him as well, but nothing particularly good came to mind at the moment.

I had wanted many things from him in the past, but he had never asked anything of me.

As I watched the rough, snowy landscape pass by, I softly opened my lips.

“Do you think the northern people will accept us as their lords?”

“Pardon? Oh, well…”

He touched his chin thoughtfully before answering.

“Even if not as lords, there does seem to be someone the people of Grand Cali already follow as a leader.”

A leader?

Pondering the word “leader” for a moment, I asked.

“Do you mean the wild men who live in the snowy mountains near Kanak?”

Near Kanak, there was the towering Kalanysh Mountain, which no one could easily cross.

It was so high and vast that it felt more like a mountain range, as if a god had built a massive barrier.

No one knew what lay beyond those countless mountains because they were so treacherous.

The problem was that there were unidentified beasts living in those snowy mountains.

Sometimes, these beasts would descend from the mountains and brutally harm or even devour people.

Fortunately, the wild men who lived at the base of Kalanysh Mountain were trusted because they protected the people from these beasts.

I didn’t know much about the north’s affairs, but I had heard about this during a recent visit to Kanak.

Alec seemed to know about the wild men as well, nodding slightly.

“Yes, there are quite a few of them, and the northern people seem to rely on them a lot.”

“Then they probably won’t welcome us much.”

Not only would they be unwelcoming, but they might even be hostile.

If I were a northerner, living well on my own, I wouldn’t be pleased if the central government suddenly sent a lord.

In the capital, they barely knew that such people even existed.

“What kind of people are the wild men here?”

I wondered if Alec might know.

After all, he had even studied ancient books that contained paths from hundreds of years ago.

He finally let out a faint sigh and answered.

“Perhaps because they live in such harsh conditions, they don’t seem to be very kind people.”

“Re-really?”

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