Chapter 2.1 – It Just So Happened

…Well, she had expected to stay over at Luel’s place, but not like that.

As Dania reflected on the disaster of that night, her expression darkened. She slowed her steps, which had been sneaking past the shrubs to avoid being seen by Luel and his companions.

What did I do so wrong that I have to avoid him like this?

Of course, there were plenty of things she had done wrong. She had taken her teasing too far, made Luel angry, and, as a result, Luel had insisted on proving his point…

Dania’s face turned bright red. The memory of what Luel had done that night made her stomach flutter, and she could even feel a dampness spreading below.

This is driving me crazy.

Again, it was starting again.

Ever since that night, whenever she thought of Luel or what had happened, her body would react uncontrollably, trembling against her will.

Even though it had happened, it wasn’t something that should haunt her like this.

And yet, it did.

Even worse, it involved her childhood friend…

Maybe it was because they had spent the last five years keeping their distance. Whenever Dania thought of Luel, she couldn’t help but recall the rosy-cheeked boy she used to run around with, holding hands as they played in the Marchento Earldom’s garden or across the fields leading to the bishop’s residence.

That boy had grown into the academy’s most popular man, someone who socialized easily with women. And not just that—he’d become skilled in… those kinds of things.

‘Ah, stop thinking about it, seriously…!’

It was while Dania was struggling between her honest body and her conflicted heart that she heard a voice.

“Dania?”

An all-too-familiar figure approached from the direction of the library, recognizing her at once.

“What are you doing there?”

“Oh, Senior—I mean, Assistant Instructor!”

Caught in the middle of her indecent thoughts, Dania instinctively straightened her back and put on her most polite expression. She completely forgot that she had been hiding in the bushes to avoid being seen by Luel and his companions.

“Is preparing for the retake exam tough?”

“Yes, it’s so hard…”

Dania pouted as she answered the man who was approaching her. In truth, what was difficult wasn’t the hopeless studying for the retake exam, but the indecent thoughts that had been dominating her mind for the past few days.

“Is there anything I can help with? The professors know how hard you’ve been working, and they feel bad for you.”

If they felt bad, they should’ve made the exam questions easier… If I had passed the graduation exam, I wouldn’t have drunk that night. And if I hadn’t drunk, then… 

Unable to voice her complaints, Dania mustered all the social skills she didn’t have and forced a smile.

The man in front of her was Mikhail, a trainee priest from the Holy Kingdom who was working as an assistant instructor at the academy. With neatly combed golden hair and kind brown eyes, he was three years her senior and nicknamed “Bishop’s Brother” by the Theology students.

“Were you on your way to the library? If you were planning to make a notebook of your wrong answers for the graduation exam, why don’t you come to the Theology hall with me? I’m meeting Ayla and Greg there.”

“Really? That would be great, thank you!”

Ayla and Greg were also fellow students retaking the exam. Feeling as if she had just met a savior, Dania’s eyes sparkled as she eagerly accepted his offer.

Despite her pessimism about passing, she felt she couldn’t reject the kindness of her senior and assistant instructor, who seemed to genuinely care about her.

And so, she turned in the opposite direction, heading toward the Theology hall.

“Hmm?”

“Marchento, isn’t that your priestess friend over there?”

Ugh, finally!

She had unwittingly caught the attention of the very person she had been trying to avoid—Luel.

Their gazes met across a considerable distance. Flustered, Dania quickly turned her head, hoping to hide her flushed face.

Thump, thump, thump, thump. Her heart pounded relentlessly.

Even from a distance where their voices couldn’t reach each other, the moment she locked eyes with Luel’s blue ones, the sensations from that night came rushing back vividly. Much more vividly than the hazy memories she had been replaying over the past few days.

That night, what Luel had done was…

***

“That, Louis?”

Dania swallowed nervously as she looked up at Luel, who had his arms braced on either side of her. The heat radiating from him, the bulging veins on his forearms, and the unmistakable presence of a man—all of it felt foreign. The dim lighting from the lamp overhead, which cast shadows on his face, made it difficult to discern his expression or understand what he was thinking.

There were plenty of impressive women around Luel. They were all daughters of prestigious families, and they looked like works of art standing beside him. Even in the academy’s uniform robes, they wore dresses underneath and adorned themselves with elegance. Compared to them, Dania, with her roughly cut bangs, round glasses, and loose-fitting dresses, was on a completely different level.

So, this guy can’t possibly be serious about me, right?

…Of course not. He’s just joking around, isn’t he?

Normally, Dania would have meekly acknowledged her place, apologized for taking the joke too far, and ended it there. But drunk Dania had too much pride to back down so easily.

Part of her also wanted to rebel, given that her chances of passing the retake exam were slim anyway. The fact that her partner in this potential rebellion was her childhood friend, Luel Marchento, was something she conveniently decided to overlook.

What? You think I’ll just get scared and back off because you’re acting like this? Don’t underestimate me!

As Dania narrowed her eyes and locked gazes with Luel’s shadowy blue ones, she felt her resolve harden.

Perhaps Luel sensed the determination in her expression. He was the first to move.

His fingers brushed against Dania’s temple, sweeping her messy hair behind her ear.

“Relax, Dani.”

His voice, resonating softly from deep within his throat, was unlike anything Dania had ever heard before. The low, gentle tone tickled her ears and made her feel strangely vulnerable.

His piercing blue eyes, the unfamiliar timbre of his voice, and his unreadable expression—all of it was alien to her. That unfamiliarity sparked a flicker of fear in Dania’s chest.

“Are you… really going to do this?”

“You’re the one who asked me to show you.”

Asked him to… show her? Yes, she did. But what exactly was she trying to see?

“You said you wouldn’t regret it.”

“…”

“Do you regret it now?”

“N-no!”

Dania blurted out her response reflexively, and immediately regretted it. She had just cut off her last escape route with her own hands.

Holy One, is this really happening? Am I really about to lose my purity like this? And with my childhood friend, Luel Marchento?

That… private part of his… it was so…

‘That… … . gasp.’

As Dania’s thoughts wandered, her gaze instinctively dropped. What she saw made her gasp in shock.

Though the shadows obscured the details, the outline visible at the front of Luel’s pants was… far too prominent to dismiss as just a fold in the fabric.

“That, Louis?”

Luel immediately understood the situation from the direction of Dania’s gaze. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, and then…

“You’ve already seen it, haven’t you…?”

His words melted into silence as Luel leaned in.

‘A… kiss?’

His lips, as soft as they were precise, captured Dania’s. He gently pressed against her lower lip, then her upper lip, before teasing the space between them with the tip of his tongue and slipping inside.

‘…His tongue?’

Dania was so stunned she couldn’t think at all. Having lived her life avoiding all matters of romance for the sake of maintaining a pure mind, she had no idea that a kiss could be so… overwhelming.

It wasn’t difficult for Luel to part Dania’s lips and explore further. His tongue began to gently trace the soft inner flesh of her gums, as if trying to map out the roots of her teeth. Following the curve of her gums, his tongue glided smoothly.

“Mm… mm…”

The unfamiliar sensation of such an intimate movement in such a private space left Dania utterly disoriented. Even the sound of her own soft moans felt strange to her.

Luel’s tongue moved to the ridges of her upper palate, tickling them thoroughly before finally brushing against her own tongue. The moment their tongues met, he entwined his with hers and drew it into his mouth.

The unexpected sensations overwhelmed every surface inside Dania’s mouth—her inner cheeks, her palate, her tongue. Luel’s broad, firm tongue filled her mouth as it moved, spreading tingling sensations along her sensitive inner lining and even down her throat.

“Mmph… mmh…”

Dania, overwhelmed by the sensations taking over her, couldn’t figure out how to breathe properly. Holding her breath for so long left her lightheaded and dazed.

Meanwhile, Luel tilted his head slightly, their noses brushing as he adjusted the angle of the kiss. The faint creak of Dania’s glasses echoed softly as their frames shifted against each other.

That sound seemed to signal something. Luel slowly pulled back, breaking the kiss. A thin string of saliva stretched between their lips before breaking as Dania exhaled shakily.

Her flushed face, now as red as her cheeks, was visible even beneath her glasses.

Luel’s hand brushed against her lips, gathering the lingering wetness before he licked it off his own lips. His mouth, reddened from the prolonged kiss, now looked strikingly sensual.

“What’s there to see?”

With one smooth motion, Luel removed Dania’s glasses from her face. Though she only wore them to see distant chalkboards better, it wasn’t hard to notice the flush on Luel’s face as he looked at her closely.

“This is just the beginning.”