Chapter 7.2

Once she moved into Luel’s apartment, which occupied an entire floor, his demands only grew more insistent.  

“Dania, I told you not to hold back your voice.”  

“I’m… ah, I’m not holding… ngh, back…”  

“Really?”  

“Haah…!”  

“Even now?”  

“Ah! Hngh!”  

Though Dania had grown somewhat accustomed to his intensity over the past few days, Luel, with his impressive size and skill, continued to explore her most sensitive spots with relentless precision, as if conducting a thorough study.  

“L-Luel… ah, it’s… too deep…”  

“Do you like it because it’s deep?”  

“I-I don’t know… I don’t know…”  

“You don’t know? But down here, you’re clenching around me and dripping all over.”  

At some point, Luel had pressed Dania against the wall, thrusting into her from behind with unyielding force. His hands roamed over her chest and sensitive areas, while his sultry whispers filled her ears.  

It was as if he was trying to engrave the sensation of him into every inch of her body.  

With the unrelenting stimulation from inside and out, Dania’s eyes welled up with tears, and clear fluids trickled from where their bodies joined.  

And so, for days, Dania’s voice grew hoarse as she cried out on Luel’s oversized bed, on the living room sofa where they had first crossed the line, in the bathtub, and in every corner of the apartment where they could find a position that worked.  

That didn’t mean Dania completely secluded herself during this time. Though her body had succumbed to desires she couldn’t have imagined a month ago, she hadn’t given up on her retake exams. With Mikhail’s help, she continued to visit the Theology building daily to work on review notes with her friends.  

However, there was a minor issue.  

“You’re really… ngh! You have such bad taste.”  

“You’re the one with bad taste, Dani.”  

After finishing their first round in the entryway, they had moved to Luel’s bed.  

Luel gazed down at Dania with a warm expression, gently brushing her soft bangs away from her forehead. His tender touch caused her golden strands to scatter before settling back into place.  

At the same time, he continued to move inside her, his hips rolling in deliberate, unhurried motions.  

“I wait for you at home like a poor, abandoned puppy, but you always coldly leave for your study groups.”  

“What’s so… ngh… pitiful about you? You… haah… keep yourself entertained just fine.”  

“Now, I can’t think of anything but the times we’ve been together. When I’m home alone, it hurts.”  

“Luel Marchento, you’re really… hngh!”  

Dania shot him a sharp glare, but there wasn’t much she could do. Her wrists were tied above her head with a red silk ribbon that Luel had somehow acquired.  

Perhaps because of his initial jealousy over Mikhail, Luel was especially persistent whenever Dania returned from her study groups.  

“Still… ngh… this is… too much…”  

“Too much? Do you hate it?”  

“Of course… ahh…!”  

When Luel thrust particularly hard, Dania’s chest bounced, and her sensitive peaks brushed against the ribbon tied across her body. The red ribbon wasn’t just binding her wrists but also wrapped loosely around her chest, adding friction with every movement.  

Though she could have easily undone the ribbon, her bound hands left her with no choice but to endure the teasing sensation. The more she squirmed to escape, the more her sensitive tips tingled, and her inner walls clenched around him.  

“DanI, you’re so beautiful… my perfect gift.”  

“This isn’t… ngh… a gift…”  

“No, you’re my gift.”  

“Then untie me… haah… already…”  

“I have to unwrap it slowly so I can savor it longer.”  

“What kind of… ah! Hngh!”  

Admiring the symmetrical bow he had tied, Luel continued to thrust deeply and firmly, each movement sending waves of pleasure through Dania. Her flushed face trembled with the intensity of the sensations.  

He wanted to keep her drenched in this pleasure, tied to him forever, hidden away where no one else could see her.  

If the ribbon provided tactile stimulation for Dania, it offered Luel a feast for the eyes.  

Her already stunning body looked even more captivating with the vibrant red ribbon accentuating her pale skin, making her appear even more ethereal.  

Ah, he had known it would suit her perfectly.  

The high saturation of the red contrasted beautifully with her golden hair, light green eyes, and fair complexion, making her seem like a pristine treasure.  

Would this pure and delicate Dania, with her unblemished skin, eventually leave him to take her retake exams and become a priestess?

As for Luel, he was spending his days feeling anxious, torn between wanting to cling to Dania for even a moment longer and not knowing how much he could truly desire.

He had claimed her body, but how far had he reached her heart?

And so, he barely managed to restrain himself to just a couple of times, even though he wanted to push Dania until she passed out from exhaustion. He was afraid that if he pushed too far, Dania—who had been indulging his curiosity and playing along—might suddenly run away like she had that morning, saying it was too much.

But once he had tasted Dania, she was unbearably addictive…

“I told you, I’ve been holding back for a long time.”

“Mm… liar…”

“How old was I when I first touched myself while thinking of you?”

“Don’t… ah… say that!”

Luel’s smile deepened as he continued his thrusts. This adorable little opening had probably taken him in hundreds, no, thousands of times by now, yet Dania still acted like she was pure and untouched.

Whenever he let filthy words spill from his mouth, she’d flinch in embarrassment. And when he acted like she was the most precious thing in the world, her face would flush bright red, and she’d avoid his gaze.

That was so endearing it drove him crazy—but at times, it chilled him to the bone.

What if… even though she was indulging him now, it was nothing more than a temporary distraction before she eventually walked the path of a priestess, abandoning marriage and everything else for her faith?

If that was the case…

“Well, I guess I’ll have to hold off again for a while…”

If she really became a priestess, he’d have to wait until she completed her ordination…

Feeling depressed already, Luel slowed his movements and let his words trail off.

He glanced at Dania’s face, hiding his true thoughts behind the unfinished sentence. Her flushed cheeks were tinged with the heat of climax and faint embarrassment—but beyond that, Luel couldn’t read a single thing.

If only matters of the heart were as simple as matters of the body. He wished he could seal the deal with a loud bang, as if they were exchanging vows, and declare, ‘Since we’ve already joined bodies, it’s only natural that we join lives too.’

But Dania’s thoughts remained a mystery to him.

When he sucked and nipped at that sensitive spot, when he pressed the tip of his hardened flesh against her tender inner walls, Dania always whimpered, cl*maxed, and trembled.

If only her heart were that easy to sway too.

What if… after waiting for her to complete her ordination, she still refused to marry him?

It would be easier to just ask her directly. But Luel was too afraid of hearing an answer he didn’t want—so instead, he drowned himself in the pleasure of the moment. Well… it wasn’t as if he didn’t genuinely enjoy himself.

In the silence, as their muted gasps and the soft sounds of their joining filled the room, Dania suddenly murmured:

“Then, until then… you?”

“Me?”

“You’re not going to get married?”

“Do I have to?”

Luel’s face contorted in shock at the unexpected question.

Was she telling me that, since she was going to be a priestess, I should find someone else to marry?

Was everything we’d shared until now just a temporary indulgence to satisfy her curiosity? Was my desperate desire for her nothing more than an overreach that was actually lowering my value as a suitable husband?

Maybe… I really should have held back for the sake of a perfect wedding night.

If it had come to this, the simplest solution would have been to ask Dania to marry him after her ordination.

If he smiled sweetly and coaxed her like he always did, Dania would probably soften and give in to him even then.

But Luel didn’t want Dania, who had already surrendered her purity to him, to feel forced into giving up her future too.

Even though the damage had already been done, he didn’t want to strong-arm her into changing the course of her life.

Their gazes locked in midair for a long while—but neither of them could pull an answer from the other’s eyes.

Even after Luel finished and withdrew, no meaningful conversation followed.

Whether Dania understood Luel’s inner turmoil or not, she continued to focus diligently on her studies—except when they were in bed together. She even attended study sessions with Mikhail every day.

When the retake exam was just three days away, Dania became utterly immune to Luel’s advances, no matter how much he pressed her.

Even if they were in the same house and Luel insisted that he didn’t want to be apart from her, even when he sat her down on his lap while she was studying, even when she could feel his hardness pressing insistently beneath her—even when his hot breath brushed against her neck as his mind wandered toward dangerous thoughts—Dania refused to give in.

“Dani, you know your lips stick out when you’re studying, right? Can I just have a taste?”

“……”

“It hurts so much. Can’t you touch it while you study?”

“…Do you think that’s going to work?”

“It’s true. Just thinking about you gets me hard.”

It had always been like that for him.

But no matter how much Luel teased her, it didn’t work.

That didn’t mean Dania was completely unaffected, though.

“Ugh, seriously—I can’t study like this!”

Even though Luel had promised to just hold her, his hand had somehow started to creep over the soft curves of her body.

Dania’s sharp outburst made Luel struggle to keep his smile from growing too obvious.

“If you can’t study, why not stop?”

“I have to. How can I not?”

Even as she shot back at him, her eyes remained fixed on the book in front of her. But it was obvious she wasn’t going to be able to concentrate like this. Dania slammed the book shut with a loud snap and turned to face Luel.

She sat squarely on his lap, perched atop his thighs on the armless chair cushioned with soft velvet.

“Are you going to keep distracting me?”

“…Sorry. I was trying to stay still.”

Maybe it was because Dania had been talking about becoming a priestess lately—Luel had been feeling down for days.

He had been on an emotional rollercoaster.

Whenever Dania willingly sat on his lap when he asked, he’d feel overjoyed. But when she buried herself in her books, he’d start sinking into despair again, wondering if she was slipping away from him.

When she allowed him to touch her and didn’t resist, he’d think she might see him as something more than just a friend—but when she refused to fully give in, he’d feel miserable again, wondering if it was just his own feelings that ran so deep.

“Lui.”

But the real problem wasn’t just his fluctuating moods.

“Answer me properly.”

“About what?”

“Are you going to get married or not?”

Dania’s question left Luel visibly hurt.