Her lips were devoured in an instant.

Frozen in shock, Vanessa heard her own heart pounding wildly. Her reason flew away in a white blur, and only her senses remained sharply alert.

This act was more accurately described as being eaten alive rather than a kiss.

He bit her lips with anger, sucked strongly, and greedily indulged in the tender flesh inside. It tasted more of bitterness than sweetness, more of hatred than affection.

As her reason slowly returned, Vanessa struggled hard in Jurgen’s arms. Jurgen, who had been desperately savoring her breath like an unleashed mad dog, flinched slightly and raised his head.

His golden eyes, now devoid of the coldness he always wore like a layer of clothing, looked down at her with a heat like the sun. At that moment, Vanessa forgot even how to breathe.

In that brief instant, when her thoughts stopped, the kiss began again. Jurgen lifted her off the floor and kissed her in a position as if he was looking up at her.

His kiss was closer to a violent beast crashing wildly rather than being skillful. Before she knew it, Vanessa was sitting on the windowsill, clutching the curtain and gasping.

He seemed to inhale everything — her breath, her bodily fluids — like he was trying to steal them all. Vanessa’s hand slid weakly from the curtain, exhausted from the fierce and frantic kiss. Even as her frail body trembled pitifully, he didn’t stop. As if something had reached a critical point and was running out of control.

Only after suffering like this for a while was she finally able to break free from him.

“……”

In the heavy silence, the two faced each other. The sound of rough breathing, unclear whose it was, could be heard clearly. Vanessa was in a daze from the shock and the unexpected pleasure the act had given her.

Jurgen gently caressed her flushed cheeks as she caught her breath quietly. Although her temperature had risen too, his hand was hot enough to cause burns.

Slowly withdrawing his hand, he stepped back and said,

“You asked if I could live mixing bodies with you.”

“……”

“This is the answer.”

He had returned to his usual calm demeanor in the blink of an eye. He seemed like a completely different person from the man who had been desperately craving her just moments ago.

Leaving Vanessa blinking blankly, Jurgen turned his back. Vanessa stared absentmindedly at his retreating figure, and after he left the room, she carefully climbed down from the windowsill. But her legs were trembling so much that she ended up collapsing to the floor.

“……”

It felt like a dream, like she was lacking a sense of reality. Vanessa, who had been engraving the pattern of the carpet on the floor into her pupils, slowly raised her head to stare at the mirror opposite her.

Her gaze met that of the disheveled woman in the mirror.

“Huh……”

A small, hollow laugh escaped between her lips. It was still hard to believe, but she had been kissed by Jurgen Drake. The act was fierce and violent, yet unlike his usual self, it was also anxious and desperate.

What on earth was it?

It seemed too… something to be just an act committed to insult her.

“……”

Although she thought it couldn’t possibly be the case, by this point, a reasonable suspicion naturally arose.

Perhaps, that man…

✦ ✦ ✦

There was no change in Jurgen’s attitude towards Vanessa. He was cold and indifferent as always, and it was difficult to find even a trace of the passion he had shown then.

If anything had changed, it was Vanessa. She observed Jurgen like a hyena waiting for an opportunity, trying to gain even the smallest clue. Although she didn’t gain much from it.

Although Jurgen’s attitude remained the same as before, there was a subtle undercurrent flowing between the two, and the sharp-eyed knights, including Garcia, noticed this immediately.

The man named Jurgen Drake, whom most of them had revered like a king since their days as battle slaves or mercenaries, seemed like a man of iron who wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed.

That’s not to say he showed no interest in others at all, and there were clearly times when he showed human emotions like compassion.

His appearance on the battlefield was madness itself, but his appearance surrounded by children in the territory gave a different impression.

They all knew that Jurgen Drake — inhumanly strong, clearly mad, merciless in his actions, and cold — was actually a ‘good guy’ because of this.

But… this kind of matter was different from being a good person.

“…Our captain, he was surprisingly uninterested in women, wasn’t he?”

“Call him ‘Your Grace’, Norbert.”

“I’m sorry, Commander. Well, anyway, it’s really true that you see all sorts of things in life. I actually seriously wondered if His Grace might have problems with his important parts—”

Garcia sharply struck the back of Norbert’s head as he was spouting in his dialect. It was a statement deserving of a hit, but Garcia’s hand was so harsh that the loud “Oof!” sound it produced earned everyone’s sympathy.

“Ow! Why did you hit me! Honestly, it’s not unreasonable to think that way! Just think about the incident with the Princess of Turnia…!”

At the example Norbert angrily threw out, Garcia and the others looked like they were recalling something.

The Princess of Turnia — Agnes Turnia was an extraordinary young lady with the previous offense of trying to pounce on Jurgen.

“Come to think of it, that did happen……”

“Was it when His Grace had just ascended to the title of Duke? Princess Turnia tried to pounce on His Grace in the resting room of the Imperial ball. I saw that woman’s n*ked body then. It’s a thousand blessings that the Duke of Turnia didn’t pluck out my eyes—”

This time, Garcia received a blow to the back of his head from the commander. Garcia was just as careless with his words as Norbert.

“Come to think of it, I’m curious about Princess Turnia’s reaction too. I wonder what she’d say if she saw His Grace like this……”

At someone’s muttered words, everyone looked at Jurgen with subtle expressions. His appearance as he stood in front of the carriage, talking about something with Vanessa, was as cold as ever.

However, if you looked closely, you could see that there was a very subtle difference from his former self.

“Actually… I can understand why His Grace has changed. Her Highness is extremely beautiful. When I first saw Her Highness, I thought she was an angel descended from heaven.”

The one who said this was Vincent, the youngest of the knights. The older members were momentarily stunned by the fresh appearance of the boy shyly glancing at Vanessa in the distance.

The one who stepped forward to represent them was none other than Garcia. He put his arm around Vincent’s shoulder with a rather complicated expression and asked worriedly.

“Hey, man, you… You haven’t fallen for Her Highness or anything like that, right?”

“What? No, no! How, how could I dare…! It’s not like that!”

“……”

Vincent, who denied it unnecessarily strongly while blushing, seemed to have clearly fallen for Vanessa to anyone who saw him.

Garcia exchanged gloomy glances with the other knights for a moment. Then, patting Vincent’s shoulder as if to encourage him, he offered sincere advice as a senior.

“Give up early. Unless you want to spend your youth in pain……”

“What…?”

Vincent asked back in a trembling voice, but Garcia just shook his head.

Although they traveled to today’s destination, the Imperial Palace, by carriage, it didn’t take long due to the Drake family’s mansion being so close to the palace.

The Emperor’s palace, located in the depths of the Imperial City, had an overwhelming presence that words like ‘splendid’ or ‘majestic’ were not enough to describe.

Vanessa was feeling down due to the grand failure of her plan to receive help from Duke Evanwood, but the moment the carriage entered the Imperial Palace, she completely forgot even that sentiment.

Although it was clearly a place she had visited before, why did she feel newly impressed every time she came? Vanessa, who was absentmindedly looking out the window, was startled and flinched greatly at the screeching sound of the carriage stopping.

As she quickly moved away from the window and looked at the opposite side, those invariably cool golden eyes were watching her.

“We’ve arrived, so prepare to get off. Don’t be flustered.”

“Mmm.”

Being alone with him in such a narrow space made it difficult to meet his eyes as the memory of that time resurfaced.

Jurgen glanced at Vanessa, who was fidgeting with her hands while avoiding his gaze, and got out of the carriage first. Vanessa checked her appearance and carefully followed.

But unexpectedly— a large hand was suddenly extended. Vanessa looked up in surprise. The owner of that hand was none other than Jurgen.

‘……An escort?’

Vanessa, who had never received anything like an escort from him before, looked at him with a very unexpected expression. When she hesitated, Jurgen sent a silent pressure to grab it quickly.

Vanessa blinked awkwardly and gently grasped his hand. Jurgen escorted Vanessa with an attitude tinged with formal politeness. Judging by how skillful he was, it seemed he had experience with escorting, even if he hadn’t kissed before.

……Having thought that far, Vanessa suddenly realized one chilling fact.

‘This man……’

That last time, it couldn’t have been his first kiss, could it?