Chapter 111. Three Kisses

A tingling sensation started at my fingertips and seemed to spread through my entire body via my veins.

Even without looking, I could tell my face was as red as a ripe tomato. A wave of heat surged over me.

A strange and unfamiliar sensation.

“Ha, don’t do it.”

I said, curling my fingers.

But Mihail didn’t listen at all and held my hand even tighter. His lips moved from my fingers to my palm, wrist, and then up the tender skin of my inner arm.

His approaching lips, leaving small kisses, felt like they were leaving hot burns.

“Ugh… I told you not to, didn’t I?”

My instincts were flashing warning signals.

It felt dangerous.

I had no idea what might happen if this continued, especially sitting between a man’s legs, on the bedding I had just laid out, being this close…

“If it’s the light of purification, I can…”

“Not that.”

“……?!”

When I tried to pull my hand away, Mihail pulled my wrist toward him with even more force.

At the same time, he wrapped his other hand around my back, trapping me as if in a cage, preventing me from pulling away.

“Who told you to hide in a place like this without a word?”

His soft voice carried a thorn. Mihail slowly lifted his head and met my eyes.

His teal eyes seemed half-turned.

“Wh-who told me, rather than that…”

“Searching everywhere, poking around, asking questions, wandering.”

I swallowed dryly.

His demeanor was unusual.

During the day, with Claude beside him, he was busy with a power struggle among men, but now it was different. Mihail was expressing the emotions he had accumulated over the half-year I had disappeared.

“Do you know what it feels like to long for something you can’t reach?”

“I-I don’t know.”

I don’t know, so let go of me!

I twisted my body once more to escape Mihail’s grip.

But…

Snap!

He suddenly grabbed my forearm and pulled me with strong force. The already close distance closed even more rapidly.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

“What are you doing?”

“Miss Sera is mine. I will make you come to Sahar completely.”

What a creepy thing to say.

…I barely had time to think before my mind went blank.

The series of actions as Mihail tilted his head diagonally slowly registered on my retina. Beneath his half-closed eyelids, his teal eyes seemed lost in their own world.

He resumed kissing from where he had left off.

On my shoulder, collarbone, neck…

The three quick kisses left my brain paralyzed.

Swoosh…!

“Ah.”

“Gasp!”

What just happened?

I was so shocked I gasped.

What on earth did I just do?

Why is one of the supposedly great three heroes acting like this? And why is there a red handprint on his pale face?

My runaway mind slowly returned.

Oh, dear God.

The guy I sometimes thought was like a demon now wore the face of a boy. He looked bewildered, wearing an innocent expression of someone experiencing something for the first time.

Mihail slowly turned his head toward me, covering his cheek with one hand where he had been slapped. He asked with his eyes. What was that slap for?

“No…”

I stammered, my voice choked with embarrassment.

Um, but now that I think about it, isn’t it strange?

Why am I shrinking back as if I’m the one in the wrong?

I allowed him to touch my palm because Mihail liked the light of purification so much, but today he suddenly acted weird.

He put my fingers in his mouth, kissed up my arm, and finally touched my neck.

I was about to logically explain the reason for the slap but stopped and composed myself. I wanted to argue honestly. ‘Sir Andantino suddenly acted like a pervert with his eyes turned!’ I wanted to say that.

But seeing Mihail’s face soaked in shock, I was at a loss for words again.

What is this guy?

When he’s flustered, he looks as beautiful as an angel!

The atmosphere was so poignant, like an angel fallen to the ground due to injured wings.

His pure platinum hair, teal eyes like emerald lakes, and the most beautiful face God could have created… with such an expression.

You really can’t ignore visuals. It made me feel like I did something wrong.

Damn it.

But I didn’t do anything wrong!

Get a grip, Seraphina! Don’t you remember there’s a lunatic inside that angelic exterior?

“I told you to stop.”

In the end, I spoke firmly.

Ignoring what people say and doing as you please was annoying. No matter how handsome he was or how much of a revered hero he was, I disliked it.

Especially concerning this type of physical contact.

I’m a woman too, you jerk!

“You slapped me for such a reason?”

“For such a reason?”

“Do you know how much I yearned for you while I couldn’t see you…”

“I said no.”

I was upset.

When I say stop, you should stop.

Is your emotion the only thing important?

If you treat me as a purifier, I honestly have nothing to say, but I’m not a fool, and this wasn’t it. Sitting here between Mihail’s legs like this…

“Do you mean… you don’t like it?”

At that moment, Mihail asked back in a voice filled with shock.

I looked at him directly.

He seemed to be in shock first from being slapped and then again from hearing that I didn’t like him.

Good.

Taking this opportunity, I made it clear so that he would never be mistaken again.

“I am not your possession, Sir Andantino.”

* * *

Caw, caw.

The sound of seagulls crying came from afar.

I slowly opened my eyes, feeling the morning sunlight streaming through the curtains flicker across my face.

“Sigh…”

I let out a sigh as soon as I opened my eyes.

I felt so restless it was driving me crazy.

“This can’t be real, seriously.”

Is it true that I slept under the same roof with the three heroes?

When I think about it, it’s not the first time, but it doesn’t seem right to compare it to the incident at the Imperial Palace about three years ago. Back then, I woke up in the same bed because I was drunk.

What should I say?

That day was an accident.

But not now.

I offered them rooms with a clear mind and even laid out bedding.

“I wonder if they slept well.”

Even though I laid thick fabric on the floor, their backs might have hurt. I was concerned yet annoyed with myself for worrying.

Why should I care about uninvited guests?

“Ugh, seriously.”

I got up from the bed and stared intently at the closed door, then tousled my hair with both hands.

“This is crazy, crazy.”

What is this?!

After being confessed to by Johann, I yelled at Cyril for fainting, and I slapped Mihail for trying to kiss me.

Not even a day after reuniting, I became awkward with two out of the three…

It’s astonishing.

What kind of face should I show when I open that door?!

It was ridiculous that I felt uncomfortable in my own house, unable to go out freely. It was truly a situation that only made me sigh.

But what can I do?

I can’t stay holed up in my room forever.

Without even fixing my tousled hair, I got off the bed. It felt like my mind was in chaos even though I had just woken up.

There were too many things happening yesterday.

If there’s any silver lining, it’s that things aren’t awkward with Claude yet, I suppose?

<You perverted bastard!>

Well…

I can’t say there wasn’t any incident at all, but since Claude’s face was buried in my chest, he doesn’t have much to say either.

It wasn’t intentional anyway.

“Let’s forget it.”

If things become awkward with the last one, I might really suffocate.

As the thought crossed my mind, the sensation of Claude’s face buried in my chest came vividly, making me feel strange, but I tried to shake it off.

“I said forget it.”

I placed a hand on my chest, patting it as if to reassure myself that everything was fine. Then I opened the door.

“It’s nothing. It was just a simple accident… Huh!”

“You’re awake.”

“Y-Your Grace?”

Was it because I was just thinking about it?

Seeing Claude standing in front of the door startled me so much my heart almost jumped out.

I must have been really surprised. The pounding sound echoed throughout the house.

“W-what’s the matter? So early in the morning?”

“Ahem.”

Claude didn’t answer my question. Instead, his gaze landed on my hand resting on my chest and then moved away.

…Or was it? Did he look at my chest instead of my hand?

This guy.

What are you thinking?

Even though I had just been recalling yesterday’s events, I became suspicious of Claude’s impure intentions.

“I thought it needed to be clarified.”

Then Claude passed by me and entered the room. Seeing him enter someone else’s room so fluidly, I said something.

“Why are you entering someone else’s room without permission?”

“I always have.”

“When…!”

Oh, did he?

Now that I think about it, he did the same at Hilton Castle. Although he did knock.

“I was just about to go out anyway. I’ll go and…”

Click.

At that moment, Claude turned around and reached out to close the door. I ended up standing between him and the door.

Startled, I opened my eyes wide, and Claude started to tidy my disheveled hair with both hands.

Unfamiliar with the touch, I quietly closed my mouth in surprise.

His rough and rugged hands moved very carefully through my hair.

“Sorry.”

A deep voice fell from above my head.

I looked up at him with puzzled eyes.

He apologized yesterday too, but for what exactly…

“Was it hard because I wasn’t kind to you?”

“……?”

“Did you run away because you were hurt?”

“……?”

This crazy guy, what is he saying,…?