Chapter 12

She had no idea what was going on as she struggled in his arms, and Terence carried her to his room and shut the door.

“Your Grace! What on earth is this…”

Set down in the middle of his room, Elina was so flustered she could only stare up at him.

Terence, seemingly more anxious at her reaction, nervously rubbed his gaunt cheeks and spoke.

“I’ve been dying inside every day since you disappeared, and now you say you’re leaving the Grand Ducal castle too. Did you think I could accept this? Hm?”

“Disappeared! I just… I just used my overdue vacation.”

Watching Elina act as if she remembered nothing of that night made Terence feel even more desperate. Was she just going to pretend it never happened? He couldn’t allow that.

The time he’d spent agonizing over her only deepened his obsession. He strode over to Elina, gently touched her soft cheek, and growled.

“That night, I’ll ask why you left me, Elina.”

“What…”

Elina’s eyes, which had been wavering in confusion, turned to shock. Realizing what was behind his relentless behavior, her lips trembled, pale.

“You knew…?”

“How could I not recognize you?”

His reply, spoken as if it were obvious, made her heart constrict. The fact that he’d known she was the masked woman from the very beginning drained all color from Elina’s face.

“If you knew all along, then why…”

“I figured you had your reasons for hiding.”

If Elina had realized he knew her identity, nothing would have happened that night. He feared losing her, and for whatever reason, they would have kept their distance.

He actually thought it was for the best. Now, it didn’t matter what Elina’s intentions were that night.

The feelings he’d held back for so long were now bursting out uncontrollably. He was determined to keep Elina by his side, no matter what.

Meanwhile, Elina, shocked, only wanted to escape this situation. She felt betrayed that he’d pretended not to know and still become physically involved with her.

Now, she dreaded what he might say next. If he said he’d only wanted her once, she knew she couldn’t bear it.

Even if, by some miracle, he felt the same way she did, a commoner like herself could never truly be with him.

High noble marriages were like major business deals. The former Grand Duke couple would surely oppose it, and no matter how she struggled, she could only ever be his mistress.

Now that things had come to this, there was only one outcome. She had to leave him. Fighting back tears, Elina forced out each word.

“That night… let’s just pretend it never happened.”

“…What?”

When the words she’d feared came from her own lips, fire flashed in Terence’s eyes. He blocked Elina as she tried to turn away from his touch.

“Elly. Did I do something wrong that night? If so, tell me. Next time, I’ll do better.”

Mistake? What mistake? If he meant pretending not to know while playing with her, Elina had something to say about that too. She looked at him with resentful eyes and poured out the words she had been holding back.

“Let me go! Why do you think I went there? You played with me first, Your Grace.”

“You’re the one—do you really think I didn’t know what you felt coming there…? You’re the one who reached out to me first, Elina. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize you? Hm?”

Terence’s resentment grew as well. She had always pretended not to know his feelings and avoided him. On the night of the masquerade, though her seduction was clumsy, he thought Elina had finally opened her heart to him, even just a little.

The deep sense of fulfillment he’d felt when holding her was still vivid. Regardless of his confused mind, the heat in his lower body had been burning since earlier.

“Until you say you won’t leave, I won’t let you go. I’ll grant whatever you want, just stay here.”

Stay in Terence’s bedroom? If she got trapped here, the rumors would be inevitable. If that happened, she’d never be able to escape him.

Even now, seeing his face, the walls she thought she’d built up were crumbling. She wanted to flee before she broke down any further.

Elina, almost on the verge of tears, spilled out the words she’d buried.

“Just keep meeting other women like you always do. You’ve lived so promiscuously…”

Elina had no idea Terence had gone there because of her. So the fact that Terence attended the masquerade was still a shock she couldn’t believe.

The Terence she knew had always seemed far removed from that kind of behavior; even his retainers worried about his succession because the Grand Duke Callium was so ascetic.

He’d accepted her own seduction so easily, so surely he’d been even more so with other women. She tried to convince herself it didn’t matter, but deep down, it hurt, and she only realized her sense of betrayal when she saw his face.

Lost in her emotional turmoil, she didn’t realize her logic was leaping, and she criticized him.

“Promiscuous and vulgar. You’re really awful… Please, let me go!”

“…What?”

It was the first time he’d ever heard such accusations. Holding Elina, who was nearly struggling to escape, fire flashed in his eyes.

He turned her around, grabbed her chin, and tilted her head down. At the sudden kiss, Elina’s body froze in shock.

It was a rough kiss. He pressed her so fiercely that she barely had time to breathe. He devoured her, savoring even her gasping breaths.

Elina’s tightly closed lips finally surrendered under his persistent movements. His thick tongue swept across her sensitive mouth, and forgotten sensations began to bloom warmly in her lower belly.

“Hngh…”

Ever since that night with him, she couldn’t forget his kisses. Surrendering to him was irresistible.

Without realizing it, Elina responded to his kiss and quietly closed her eyes. Terence, pleased by her submission, stroked her neck gently with his supporting hand.

The quiet room was filled with the wet sounds of their mouths. Elina, busy receiving his tongue and gasping, felt a soft cushion at her back and realized she’d been laid on the bed.

She stared wide-eyed at Terence, but he was busy nibbling at her lips as if nothing was amiss.

Elina snapped back to her senses. This wasn’t the time, but her heart crumbled at his kiss like a sandcastle.

She turned her head to avoid his lips, but Terence calmly moved his mouth to her neck.

She tried to collect herself, but Terence’s persistent caresses, having learned all her sensitive spots from their previous encounter, left her gasping beneath him.

“Hngh, ah…”

“Haah, Elina.”

“No, hngh. No…”

She shook her head in weak resistance, but it was no use. She met his dark, sunken eyes with trembling ones.

Before she knew it, his large hand had slid down and lifted her skirt, invading below.

“You’re this wet, and you’re still thinking of leaving me?”

“Ah, ahh…”

The wet sounds were shameless. Every movement of his hand made Elina writhe with sensation. Biting at her neck, he slid his fingers into her slick entrance and whispered.

“You called me promiscuous? Fine, I’ll show you just how vulgar and wild I can be, Elina.”

His fingers moved faster, stroking her inner walls. Her hips lifted on their own with each thrust. Elina quickly reached a shallow climax, spilling her juices and throwing her head back.

“Hngh! Ah!”

Confirming her climax, Terence withdrew his sticky fingers from her entrance. He put his glistening hand to his mouth, then stripped off his clothes in front of her gasping form.

As he pulled down his underwear, his er*ect member sprang up, reaching past his navel. He tore Elina’s dress and devoured her cherry lips again.

“Haah, hngh…”

Elina panted, letting herself be led by him. Every time she tried to speak, his lips silenced her.

Terence roughly caressed her delicate body, not giving her any chance to refuse. Her full br*asts were kneaded in his large, rough hands, and red marks quickly bloomed across her pale skin.

After thoroughly exploring her, he aligned his swollen member with her entrance and moved his hips.

“Haa! Terence. Hngh!”

Elina screamed at the sudden intrusion. Her thoroughly prepared entrance easily swallowed his thick member. As his tip pushed inside, stretching her inner folds, Elina shuddered and gasped.

“Haah, ngh…”

The sensation he’d longed for since she left returned, and sweat formed at Terence’s temples. Her tight walls clung to him, hindering his movement.

He kissed her all over, calming her ragged breaths, then gently moved inside her.

“You’re the one squeezing so tightly.”

“Hngh, ah! Aaah!”

“If you wanted to leave, ngh, you shouldn’t have tempted me.”

He growled between thrusts. His well-built torso rose and fell, and his firm hips flexed with each movement.

Elina could only moan helplessly under his relentless rhythm. The stimulation at every spot made her mind melt.

“Ah, ngh! Ah, aaah, haaah!”

The rising pleasure made it impossible to think. Terence hugged her tightly as Elina arched her neck, crying out. With each thrust, his sac slapped against her perineum.

Her constant juices made everything slippery. Foam formed at their joining, soaking their hair.

As Elina convulsed in climax, Terence hugged her tightly and released inside her.

“Wait, hngh, no, ngh, haaah!”

“Nggh, Elina…!”

Her vision flickered, and she felt a ringing in her ears. L*stful thoughts swept away all the confusion in her mind. Elina’s thighs trembled endlessly, and her entrance, after he withdrew, gaped and spilled milky fluid.

“Haah, hngh… Terence. Wait, ah! Ngh…”

Just as Elina opened her mouth to speak, her chin tilted back again. As her climax faded and her body relaxed, Terence grabbed her thighs and entered her once more.

His member plunged so deep she couldn’t even moan, her lips trembling.

Terence, loving her, wiped sweat from her forehead and leaned back.

“Should I get you pregnant, Elina? Then you won’t be able to talk about running away anymore.”

“Ngh, no, aaah!”

Her mouth opened as his member thrust inside. With each passionate movement, her lower belly bulged and flattened.

Tears welled at the corners of her reddened eyes, wetting her golden eyelashes, and her br*asts, kneaded in his grasp, heightened her arousal. White foam formed on her drenched entrance, adding to the sticky sounds.