“It’s fine. As you know, the two little bells hanging above ring whenever the door opens. That doesn’t matter at all. I want to hear what you have to say right away.”

“Understood.”

Feeling he’d worried unnecessarily, Hersion cleared his throat briefly and followed Meriel. Once the two entered the break room, Meriel quietly closed the door and made tea for Hersion.

“Thank you.”

Meriel sat down across from Hersion. After taking a sip of tea to wet her throat, she asked impatiently.

“Tell me. What happened all this time?”

His complexion looked fine, so it didn’t seem like anything major had happened. Accepting this, Meriel swept her hair back to listen carefully to Hersion’s words. Hersion calmly conveyed the situation to Meriel.

“When His Majesty the King went on a tour of the Rita Empire, our Rüharen Knights secretly escorted him, so I couldn’t contact you. I’m sorry, miss.”

“Secretly?”

“Yes.”

“His Majesty the King toured the Rita Empire?”

“That’s right. Since it was also kept secret, the citizens couldn’t have known.”

“Ah…”

Meriel felt terribly sorry that she had misunderstood Hersion all this time.

“I’m sorry. Without knowing that, I misunderstood you, Commander. I thought you were avoiding me.”

Meriel smiled awkwardly after finishing her words. Meriel tried to appear composed on the outside, but Hersion was the one who was startled and waved his hands.

“What? What are you saying? I missed you so much.”

“Still, I’m sorry. I ended up misunderstanding.”

Hersion, who hadn’t expected such a misunderstanding, soon felt deeply apologetic toward Meriel. Hersion deliberately cleared his throat and answered a beat late.

“From your position, it was understandable.”

“I see.”

Meriel continued to feel sorry toward Hersion and soothed her heart with tea and clearing her throat for a while.

“Since it was a secret mission, private contact was absolutely forbidden, so I couldn’t reach out to you. But Miss Meriel. Even in the Rita Empire, I never once forgot about you. I mean it. Sending Derek was meant to tell you not to forget me, but it seems I only made you worry more.”

“Knight Commander Hersion…”

His softly whispering voice was pleasant to hear. The voice settling in her ears after so long seemed to quickly warm her mind that had been cold with a pile of misunderstandings.

“I missed you, Miss Meriel.”

“I, I did too.”

Hersion smiled warmly and briefly kissed Meriel’s lips. As soon as their lips parted, he whispered earnestly.

“Please let go of your misunderstanding.”

For a while, their gazes overlapped. Continuing to look at him made her feel awkward about having misunderstood him, so Meriel looked away first.

‘Either way, the misunderstanding is cleared up, right?’

Belatedly, Meriel felt relieved. Hearing about the situation that made it impossible for Hersion to contact her made her nod automatically. 

She still felt sorry toward him, but she was incredibly happy that the misunderstanding was cleared up and, more than anything, that they could reunite with him safe.

Meriel suddenly pulled Hersion’s nape and kissed him deeply. Without anyone taking the lead, their tongues intertwined.

After the sweet and intense kiss ended, the two faced each other and caught their breath. Meriel panted and whispered softly in Hersion’s ear.

“Do you have time?”

“Of course.”

At Hersion’s immediate answer, Meriel smiled brightly. He’d come to see her anyway, so naturally he had plenty of time.

With a smile on her face, Meriel briefly kissed his lips again, then brought her face close enough for their breaths to touch. Then, gently stroking from Hersion’s forehead down to his nape, she whispered in a seductive voice.

“I won’t let you go home today! I won’t let you go until I’m satisfied. I love you.”

Her tearful appearance was cute, but Hersion, feeling this was more like Meriel, let out a low laugh and showed his agreement.

“I love you too. However.”

“However?”

“…Please be gentle, miss.”

“Well, we’ll have to see about that.”

Meriel giggled and led Hersion to the bedroom on the second floor. Opening the bedroom door, Meriel closed it as soon as Hersion entered.

“Please handle me carefully. Please, Miss Meriel.”

At Hersion’s plea, Meriel chuckled and firmly shook her head.

“I said we’ll have to see, didn’t I? Why do you keep asking me to be gentle today? I want to have you right away.”

“That’s, well…”

He was afraid that if he got too excited, he’d lose his reason and have such an intense time with Meriel that it wouldn’t end. That was because high-intensity tactical training was scheduled at the training grounds from the crack of dawn tomorrow.

There couldn’t be the misfortune of missing training because they’d shared their bodies to the limit. Moreover, in his position bearing the enormous responsibility of Royal Knight Commander, he couldn’t skip it for such a reason.

Hersion eventually told Meriel about his situation, but Meriel casually crossed her arms.

“I’m also a beginner, so it probably won’t be that much. My heart has already been with you many times, Commander, but I don’t know if my body will be like that.”

Meriel didn’t know where her limits were. Since that was true, even if she understood Hersion’s feelings, this answer was all she could manage.

And though she said that, she really couldn’t spend the night with the busy Hersion. She had to consider his position, and she also had to open the shop tomorrow.

“Anyway, I want to be with you right now, Commander. Quickly, hurry, let’s start.”

Already filled with excitement, Meriel was panting, so she unconsciously urged him, cutting off her words.

“Then, please. Miss.”

Holding the swelling sensation felt sensitively at his center, Hersion shyly requested. Even at this level, his physical response was already rushing in nakedly, craving her, so he had no idea what it would be like when he reached his peak.

“For the Royal Knight Commander to be so timid. Only in this way, of course. You know that makes me want to have you even more?”

“Miss…”

Finishing her words, Meriel boldly grabbed the upper part of Hersion’s top. She tried to take off his clothes, but the fabric surrounding this solid body didn’t come off easily.

“It’s not working well.”

In the novel, the female protagonist seemed to take off the male protagonist’s clothes well. With that thought, Meriel tried again to undress Hersion but found it difficult.

When the embarrassed Meriel laughed awkwardly, Hersion felt embarrassment rising again like last time, in contrast to the situation where throwing off his clothes immediately wouldn’t be enough. Still, wanting her to undress him, he deliberately took off only his arm parts himself.

Only then did Meriel, blooming with a smile, tap Hersion’s broad chest.

“You’re quite perceptive, aren’t you? You know that makes you even more attractive?”

Displaying full satisfaction, Meriel completely removed Hersion’s top. Behind the cloth being stripped off, his sensual, solid abs were revealed prominently.

“What a nice broad chest. Really, you don’t have a single inadequate spot.”

Intoxicated with pleasure, Meriel belatedly realized she had unconsciously referred to Hersion as “you.”

“Ah, I was rash. Commander.”

“It’s fine. I’m rather happy about it.”

“Really? Still, I thought I might have been rude… Well, fine. I’ll have you.”

“As much as you want. I want to have you too, miss.”

“Today I’m going to work harder to have you, though?”

Chuckling, Meriel tapped Hersion’s chest. Slowly, their lips drew closer.

The two shared affection with one more deep kiss. Then, at some point, led by Meriel, lip marks began to be imprinted here and there on Hersion’s chest.

Each time Meriel’s lips touched him, Hersion moaned faintly. As their breaths gradually grew hotter, wherever Meriel’s kisses passed, the heat transmitted from her lips aroused pleasure.

‘Sweet.’

Savoring Hersion’s body scent, Meriel wanted to explore him more boldly. Meriel kissed Hersion’s lips once more, then grabbed the top of his pants and tried to pull them down. She wanted to undress his lower half too.

She wanted to seduce everything—the thighs surrounded by solid muscles like they were angry, and the large thing at the center above them.

Meriel grabbed and unfastened Hersion’s pants buckle. Then, grabbing even his drawers, she pulled the clothes down.

When the lower garments had slipped down to his thighs, Hersion spread his legs shoulder-width apart to prevent the clothes from going down further. Though he’d spread them as an improvisation, hoping Meriel would undress him completely, Meriel was insanely satisfied.

“Really, truly. To already reveal such a sight.”

Meriel muttered, looking contentedly at his already enlarged member. Meriel exhaled a breath soaked in pleasure and removed Hersion’s lower garments completely.

The moment the clothes being gently removed by tender hands finally reached his ankles, Hersion lifted one foot at a time to part with his lower garments.

Meriel looked up at Hersion at his wit and smiled brightly without a sound. Driven by the impulse to spend intense time together, she gestured to Hersion to lie down on the bed.