2.8

“Goodness! Did you get completely soaked in the rain?”  

Mia asked with wide eyes as soon as Leon arrived at the mansion, drenched.  

“The rain started suddenly.”  

“Don’t tell me… is that why you have a fever?”  

A fever? 

Leon didn’t feel unwell. He wasn’t hot or cold either. His body felt fine, so he didn’t understand what she meant.  

“Your face is red. It looks like you’ve got a fever. It’s the first time I’ve seen you look sick, my strong brother.”  

“….”  

Leon couldn’t respond to her comment about his flushed face. He felt as though he was losing his mind.  

Perhaps it was because he had tasted those soft lips and felt her enticing curves just moments ago. The sensation of her supple, smooth skin lingered vividly in his hands.  

What am I even thinking…?

Leon shook his head, trying to suppress his instincts.  

“I’m not sick, so there’s no need to worry.”  

He refused Mia’s hand as she tried to check his forehead and headed straight to his bedroom. He needed to change his clothes and wash up.  

“D*mn it.”  

The moment he entered his room, Leon cursed under his breath.  

“Ha… What am I doing? Let’s stop here for today? I must be out of my mind.”  

He despised himself for leaving room for what had happened today to occur again in the future.  

In truth, it was the first time he had ever felt such a strong desire to explore someone’s body. It was also the first time his mind and body were so out of sync.  

The problem was that the object of his desire wasn’t someone he loved.  

If they were in love, he wouldn’t feel this lingering discomfort. But the fact that he kept feeling this physical urge without emotional attachment left him confused.  

He knew he needed to be cautious, yet his reason kept losing to his instincts. Her clumsy, awkward actions made him feel like he was about to lose control.  

Her attempts at seduction were bold, but her kisses and caresses were so unskilled that they irritated him even more.  

If I undressed her, she’d probably look shy, wouldn’t she?

The more he thought about her, the more absurd it seemed.  

He headed to the bathroom to wash off his soaked body. He poured water over his head several times, trying to drive away the ridiculous desires filling his mind.  

But no matter how much water he poured, it was useless. The memory of her touch made his body heat up.  

He had tried to act cautiously and protect her purity.  

So why… where did it all go wrong?

At this rate, the resolve he had worked so hard to maintain would shatter. And that wouldn’t be good for either him or Ellen.  

“This won’t do. I need to end this.”  

It would be better to end things with a woman he couldn’t take responsibility for.  

Though he had previously acted indifferently, waiting for her to end things first to preserve her honor, Leon had reached his limit. He couldn’t face Ellen anymore. He was even afraid of what desires might consume him the next time they met.  

He had planned to wait for her to break things off, but he couldn’t do that anymore. So, he decided he would end things first and spread the word that she had left him.  

Yes, that’s the best course of action.

* * *

Ellen’s smooth skin and rosy n*pples were enticing. Her well-proportioned figure was incredibly alluring.  

Leon lowered his lips to her n*pple. The softness of her skin was intoxicating. He didn’t know how many times he had sucked on her pink, enticing n*pples.  

Every time he sucked on her firm chest, it bounced up and down. The sight of it made him feel like he was losing his mind.  

‘D*mn it.’  

In the end, Leon wrapped his arms around her waist. Her slender waist felt as though it might break in his hands.  

Madly and recklessly, he explored her chest. The more Ellen’s m*ans escaped her lips, the more he felt like he was going insane.  

Though it seemed like he was boldly exploring her body, he found himself beneath her as he continued to caress her chest.  

‘Is this not enough?’

The woman looking down at him began to undress herself. Then, she started to rub her intimate area against his body. The sensation was indescribably pleasurable.  

‘Stop!’

Even as he succumbed to the pleasure, Leon let out a desperate cry of denial that filled the space around them.  

No. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.  

Leon kept denying it. 

No, no!  

No matter how much he struggled, his desires wouldn’t subside, and he felt an overwhelming sense of despair that he couldn’t escape the pleasure consuming him.  

“!”  

At that moment, Leon opened his eyes.  

“D*mn it.”  

Realizing he was in his bedroom, he cursed again. It had been a long time since he last had a wet dream.  

Perhaps it was because of the unconscious desires revealed in his dream, but he had done something he hadn’t in a long time.  

Yesterday, he had denied his instincts, but now his dreams were tormenting him.  

To think I imagined rubbing against her like that…  

Leon looked down at his aroused body. Though it occasionally reacted on its own, this was the first time it had responded to a specific woman.  

Were her lips and sensual body really that stimulating? 

The *rotic thoughts caused his body to heat up. His instincts kept trying to paralyze his reason.  

“Was I sexually frustrated?”  

A hollow laugh escaped him. The woman who had been on his mind constantly had now followed him into his dreams to torment him.  

“What is it about her?”  

Leon removed his pants and grabbed his already damp arousal. Slowly, he moved his hand up and down.  

He tried not to think of anyone specific, but Ellen’s image kept surfacing. Especially the way she shyly and clumsily tried to kiss him—it made him swell even more.  

“Ha… It’s just instinct.”  

He tried to convince himself that it wasn’t because of Ellen, that it was just a normal reaction to a woman’s body. But he couldn’t.  

He tried to erase Ellen’s image from his mind, but it wouldn’t go away. Instead, the sensual movements he had seen in his dream seemed to embed themselves in his memory.  

“Miss Novary! Ah… ugh.”  

Though he tried to deny it, Leon eventually groaned lowly, calling out Ellen’s name in desperation.  

Before heading to the training grounds in the imperial palace, Leon visited the temple.  

He needed to calm his mind, rid himself of distractions, and return to a state of emptiness. He also needed a place where he could speak openly about his troubles, which he couldn’t discuss with others.  

If he sought advice from others, they might mock him for trying to protect his purity, calling him a fool.  

Thus, the temple was the only place Leon could go to uphold his beliefs.  

“God…”  

Leon prayed in the temple. He wanted to rid his mind of the temptations that kept trying to paralyze his reason.  

“Please, do not lead me into temptation.”  

He had no intention of marrying Ellen, whom he didn’t love. Therefore, he had to protect her purity.  

Thinking of her future, he knew that was the right thing to do. But the problem was that his resolve kept wavering.  

He didn’t want to become like Logan, that scoundrel. He didn’t want to be an easy man. Being compared to someone like that was unacceptable.  

But in front of her, he felt like an easy man. He found it hard to reject her temptations, and his lower body kept reacting in her presence.  

“Ending things is the right choice. Though this relationship started with deception, it shouldn’t end with hurt. Please help me control myself.”  

Leon resolved to hold onto his wavering emotions tightly. He needed to stick to his original plan.  

He prayed fervently, over and over. He believed that if he prayed hard enough, God might grant him the strength to overcome.