Chapter 9 (Part 1)

Flash, lightning struck. Through the barred window, the winter wind, heavy with moisture, swept in.

Edan sat on the bed inside the room, his foot propped up, anxiously staring out the window.

Would she be okay?

It had been three days already. It rained all day yesterday and today.

Rumble… The sound of thunder echoed from far away in the sky. Tonight was yet another stormy night.

Schultz died instantly.

A human life was so fragile. Just once, he really wanted to kill him, but it only took one swing.

Though he had countless stories of delivering death throughout his life, this was the first time Edan had taken a life with his own hands.

He was immediately placed in solitary confinement. The acting lord, Madam, was so shocked that they decided to hold a formal trial after some time had passed.

The servants, who secretly rejoiced at Schultz’s death, hoped to somehow drive out the collateral family elders and the bishop and acquit Edan. Hence, they claimed the underground prison was unusable and confined him to this solitary room.

In the old days, when the castle was bustling with servants, it was a room where they isolated those who committed minor offenses to reflect. For the servants, the crime of assassinating the head of the collateral family was about that serious.

He was served meals equivalent to what the servants ate. Soup made from leftovers from the guests’ table, and dry wheat bread.

But that wasn’t what was important…

For the two full days he had been confined in this room, Edan couldn’t properly eat, worried about Ellenia.

Last night, the storm raged fiercely.

Unable to lie down and sleep comfortably, Edan crouched on the bed all night, watching the flashing sky through the bars. Yesterday, today, and even during the day, it rained continuously without a break.

At such times, the image of her when he first returned came to mind. Trying to forget the hallucinations that nights like these forced upon her, the sight of her lying sprawled, showing her plump buttocks, with her face a mess from crying.

Even when lightning struck, he worried about her; when the sky was gloomy, he worried about her; when it drizzled, when it poured, he worried about her.

‘And thinking about the harm the bishop and the Opellus might cause…’

Her desperation, clinging to him, guiding his hand to her br*ast, wrapping her slender legs around his waist…

Even while worrying about her, he became aroused, which could only be explained by the vigor of his young body.

Edan buried his gloomy face in his knees.

‘Leni and Greta must take good care of her.’

He had no regrets about Schultz. He had roughly anticipated the situation since reading the letter sent by the bishop of Nux. It was just frustrating to have fallen for that old fox’s trick.

‘I should have stayed by her side no matter what.’

He had stayed to help her, but in the end, he only made things worse.

‘Again, because of me…’

She was left alone.

She would be suffering because of him, becoming even more haggard from spending the past few days alone.

Her ribs below her chest, collarbones below her neck, spine beyond her back… all the grooves he used to lick or tickle were becoming more prominent as she got thinner due to the bishop and Opellus’s stay.

He missed her.

On the day he first entered the audience chamber, her faint smile seemed like a reward for his years of hardship. When he kissed her palm, when he covered her ears and bit her lips, when he pressed himself into her exhausted body…

When she smiled with a dimple on one cheek, lifting one corner of her mouth, he began to desire her heart, which he dared not covet before.

Even though he knew it was difficult to hope for that.

Even though it would complicate his feelings if it really happened.

As his sigh deepened, clinging to his knees.

Click, click.

The sound of iron friction came from the door.

Startled, Edan lifted his head. 

Was it a hallucination?

The friction sound continued for a bit longer. Creak, the hinges groaned as the door opened. Edan stared at the door, forgetting to blink.

The light from a lamp brought in from outside began to brighten the surroundings.

“…Madam.”

It was Ellenia. She staggered in, looking pale and haggard from enduring the harsh weather alone all day.

Filled with worry and surprise, Edan was about to jump up.

“Were you bored?”

Placing the lamp on the floor, Ellenia hugged his neck. Though her weight was light as she fell into his arms, Edan thought her embrace was firmer and more solid than any warrior’s.

…This delicate and fragile woman was worried about him.

With a heart full of emotion, he embraced her back. His eyes felt warm.

It had been nearly ten days since the collateral family and the bishop arrived, during which Ellenia had grown even thinner than when he first arrived in Tarnu.

Though she wore a thick winter gown over her tunic, he could clearly feel the bony ridges of her spine as he touched her back. As he traced those ridges for a long time, he realized he had missed that feeling.

He missed her.

Edan slowly pulled one hand away to caress her cheek. Her skin, pressed against his ear, felt rougher than he remembered.

If Leni and Greta’s care were enough, she wouldn’t have been so sick for the past ten years.

As his touch guided her, Ellenia’s face turned to him. Her jaw, now more slender, her soft skin, her prominent but not sharp cheekbones due to her pallor, and her deep, moist blue eyes.

Edan’s thumb followed her eyebrow, brushed her forehead, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Ellenia simply felt his actions. Like being drawn by static electricity, she unconsciously leaned her head against his hand.

Edan stroked her face for a long time. Her sharp jawline, her teary eyes, her petite nose, her round forehead, and her well-maintained platinum hair.

His fingers, which had been lingering around her face, stopped on her left cheek. It was the side that dimpled when she smiled. He gently cupped her ear and slowly rubbed the area with his thumb.

His voice, which hadn’t been used in a while, came out cracked.

“I wasn’t bored.”

“Really?”

“…I missed you.”

It was a confession that had been building for many years. Words he never thought he would say…

Ellenia’s eyes quickly filled with tears. Wanting to keep her face in his eyes for a long time, Edan gave in to his desire.

The kiss was long and deep. Edan had never kissed Ellenia more than necessary. His kisses always teased her, made her anxious, and heightened her senses, but never more than that.

Except for the first night they spent together.

His kisses always stopped at the point where she was just wet enough, only as much as she wanted.

But today, the kiss was long.

Holding the back of her head with his big hand, he acted as if he wanted their mouths to merge into one.

He swallowed her lower lip, then both lips at once… Clinging to her desperately, as if he could only live by inhaling all her breath. He bit her teeth as if trying to swallow them, and his tongue delved deep into her mouth.

He licked and licked the part of her face that Schultz had hit. Normally, he would avoid touching her face out of caution.

Ellenia felt it sting and suffocate her… but she clung to him, matching his entwining tongue. She wrapped her arms around his neck, didn’t let go of his lips, slipped her hand inside his tunic to tickle his chest, and stroked his er*ect p*nis.

She needed him, not just because he provided enough pleasure to forget the rainy weather.

Ten years ago and even now, it had only been this man with green eyes.

Then, his movements, which seemed like they would devour her chin, nose, and ears, suddenly stopped. His eyes filled her vision as she slowly opened her eyes.

His hands, which had been caressing her neck and back, slipped under her tunic to grasp her br*ast. Even while doing so, his gaze remained fixed on her face.

Unlike when he usually avoided showing his face during f*replay. As he gently lifted one of her br*asts, squeezed it a bit, and rubbed the n*pple that had hardened from the cold, his eyes never left hers.

Worried about any hint of reluctance on her face…

“Is it okay?”

He slowly circled the hard peak with his finger. It was slow, but his touch felt unusually hot, making Ellenia think he was holding back a lot.

Without hiding his young face, his hand slowly caressed her body.

“This place is dirty, cold, cramped… and I’m in this state.”

His fingers, which had been teasing the edge of her br*ast, tickled her sternum as they moved down, lingered around her navel, and then reached her pubic area. Throughout all this, Edan’s gaze never left her face.

Just receiving his gaze made Ellenia feel like he was penetrating her deepest part. That’s why she was already wet when his fingers reached the entrance of her private area.

Edan’s face, which never looked away, was filled with a kind of desperation.

“Ellie, I want to hold you.”

The wet sound came from elsewhere, but his dry eyes seemed to be filled with tears.

Ellenia knelt and hugged the back of his head. Lowering her head, she showered him with kisses, and his hardened member touched her knee.

A fierce thunderstorm raged.