Without knowing his feelings, she innocently asked him to bathe her.

He had already claimed her body once, and from that single time, he vividly remembered where and how to touch her to make her happy. 

Though he had grown up learning restraint and self-control, he had no confidence he could endure seeing Rihana’s n*ked body with his eyes and touching it directly with his hands.

Even aside from that, he never had the ability to bathe someone in the first place. He had grown up receiving bathing assistance, but had never bathed anyone else. 

The idea of washing another person—especially a woman whose body was completely different from his own—was unimaginable.

The difference between words spoken in jest and actually carrying them out was considerable. So he politely declined, not knowing how much courage Rihana had mustered to ask him to bathe her.

“It would be better to leave it to the bathing attendants.”

At Raiden’s firm refusal, Rihana’s face hardened visibly. Following Letia’s advice, she had planned to have Raiden assist with her bath and show him seductive behavior while he washed her body. 

She had hesitated because putting theories into practice—like deliberately spreading her legs to show herself brazenly, or making fleeting touches that would escalate to intense body contact—would require considerable courage. 

But she had made the suggestion trusting Letia’s words that just being n*ked together in the bathroom would be half the battle won.

But a refusal? 

Could a slave really reject a noble’s command so naturally? Even her long-serving servants, whom she treated better than commoners, always complied with her words unconditionally. 

They were so devoted to their master’s orders and suggestions that they would accept even the lightest proposals without question. Wasn’t this the kind of habit that came naturally to ordinary slaves and servants?

Rihana looked up at Raiden, who had refused her command and was staring down at her intently.

“Why?”

“…I’ve never bathed anyone before.”

“Last time you said with your own mouth that you’d bathe me.”

“That was…!”

“Then you can try bathing me this time.”

“…Lady Rihana.”

“Why? Do you dis—”

Rihana, who was about to ask if he disliked it, unconsciously lowered her gaze and her eyes widened at the sight of his prominent bulge. Raiden’s center was protruding so much it seemed ready to burst through his clothes.

“Why is this…”

When Rihana pointed her index finger at Raiden’s center, Raiden instinctively spun around.

“I’ll call the bathing attendants.”

As he muttered and tried to quickly leave the room, Rihana grabbed Raiden’s arm. Raiden looked down at her with a troubled expression.

“This is difficult, Lady Rihana.”

“What is?”

“…”

“I just asked you to bathe me.”

“…”

“Did it get this big just from me asking you to bathe me? Why?”

When Rihana blinked innocently with a pure face, a groan-like sigh escaped from Raiden’s lips. He really didn’t understand why this woman was acting this way. Raiden lifted his head to look at the ceiling, trying to calm his member that was stirring inside his clothes.

The Emperor’s palace. Raiden began to recall the Emperor’s palace in his mind.

While Rihana practiced at the training grounds, he had been carefully checking the security status of the Emperor’s office located above the training grounds. 

The Imperial Knight Order took turns guarding the Emperor in weekly shifts, and those not on guard duty were required to train at the training grounds or stand guard at various locations throughout the palace. 

Unlike other knights, Rihana and Letia, as captain and vice-captain of the knight order, had no regular time off and always waited at the training grounds closest to the Emperor.

Rihana’s sword practice was expert-level like real combat, and she was very beautiful when holding a sword. When that beautiful body, those hands, that face came to mind, his efforts to think of other things to calm himself became meaningless.

“D*mn it.”

Raiden cursed quietly under his breath. Bathing her—it was an absurd idea from the start.

Eventually losing his self-control, Raiden took Rihana to the bathroom and, without removing his clothes, placed her in the bathtub and climbed on top of her. Despite the spacious bathtub, it felt very cramped when Raiden joined her.

Already ignited, Raiden gave her no moment’s rest and devoured and sucked her lips. The moment he felt his wet clothes clinging heavily to his skin, Raiden’s hands began removing her clothes with ghostly skill. His heart pounded frantically and his whole body burned with heat. 

Tilting her head back as he mixed his tongue hotly with hers while undressing her, she instinctively wrapped her arms around Raiden’s neck. With Rihana’s arms around his neck, Raiden roughly ravaged the inside of her mouth while quickly stripping her n*ked.

After throwing the wet clothes outside the bathroom, Raiden began removing and tossing aside his own clothes. With his neck caught in Rihana’s arms and their lips still pressed together, he skillfully undressed. 

Only after they were both n*ked did Raiden’s hands embrace Rihana’s back. Their bodies pressed together without any gaps.

The tongue that had been persistently ravaging her mouth suddenly slowed to trace her neat row of teeth. 

Then it licked her gums, the roof of her mouth, and the tender flesh inside her cheeks in turn, before drawing out her small tongue that twitched helplessly beneath his and binding it with his larger tongue. Due to the intense kiss, her body gradually leaned backward. 

Raiden carefully supported her head with one hand while roughly sucking on her tongue.

“Mmph…!”

When she involuntarily moaned from the unfamiliar pain of her tongue, he released the tongue he had been sucking hard. The brief sense of liberation tinged with slight disappointment was short-lived, as Rihana’s lips were swallowed whole by Raiden’s large mouth. Her lips, gathered like a duck’s bill, were repeatedly sucked, chewed, and swallowed.

The persistently repeated kisses made her moan involuntarily. Even though she was in water, she could feel abundant fluids gushing from her core.

She wished he would do something quickly. The thought occurred to her. Kissing like this was nice, but she needed some greater stimulation. So she released her arms from around his neck and pushed weakly against his chest. Whether he understood her feelings or not, the lips that seemed like they would never part finally separated.

When Rihana trembled slightly in anticipation of the next act, instead of advancing further, Raiden began washing her body with a sponge covered in foam. Rihana was bewildered. 

Seeing him washing her so well despite claiming he had never bathed anyone before made her feel somewhat deflated, and her heated body left her not knowing what to do.

Just when the words “don’t just wash me, do something” rose to her throat, Raiden took her br*ast fully into his mouth, preventing those words from being spoken. Raiden rinsed the foam from Rihana’s body with water while deeply licking her chest.

“Ah…”

He gently rolled the peak of the br*ast he had taken fully into his mouth with his tongue, while his other hand teased the other peak that was fully er*ect with excitement. 

He repeated kissing and rubbing with his tongue, then sucking, and sometimes pressed the n*pple playfully with his tongue. Rihana’s body twisted involuntarily from the unfamiliar pleasure.

Raiden bit, licked, and sucked her chest just as persistently as he had kissed her lips. 

Only after creating continuous red marks did his lips move down to stamp deep lip marks on Rihana’s stomach, navel, and waist. Sometimes he licked certain spots, sometimes he bit them, behaving like someone tasting delicious fruit.

Rihana couldn’t keep her composure under Raiden’s persistent and subtle kisses, continuously letting out low moans and trembling. Throughout the entire bath, she had to endure Raiden’s lips.

* * *

When she came to her senses, she was outside the bathroom. Her body had been dried by Raiden’s hands, and she was sitting at the edge of the bed receiving his touch as he dried her hair with a towel.

Did he not enter her because they were in the bathroom? 

The question arose, but she didn’t particularly show it. She was too busy admiring Raiden’s wet body as he stood in front of her drying her hair, and his frighteningly er*ect member was threatening, seeming ready to pierce her at any moment.

In fact, she was relaxed because she couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t do anything with such an er*ect member. She thought that after he finished drying her hair, Raiden would wash himself and then begin having s*x in earnest.

But contrary to Rihana’s expectations, after telling her to sleep first and going to the bathroom, Raiden took quite a while to wash and didn’t continue with further acts when he came out. He lay down properly beside Rihana wearing loose indoor clothes that could be worn like a robe. 

Then, showing no intention of doing anything more with her, he closed his eyes without touching or even making contact with her. Rihana spent the night wide awake, bewildered by Raiden’s behavior.

And the next day. Rihana, who had been in a low mood all morning, asked Raiden to bathe her again as soon as she returned home. Raiden bathed her while caressing her lips and body all over, just like yesterday. But just like yesterday, he didn’t go any further.

Rihana felt something was going wrong. So as soon as the next day came, she made a resolution. Today she would definitely make him enter her. 

Since it was a day off, she thought there would be plenty of time to seduce him. Unfortunately, Casian showed up unannounced, leaving her feeling frustrated.

Casian, who had visited the County without any prior contact, naturally had lunch with Rihana. Since she couldn’t refuse to share a meal with a guest and her fiancé who had come to her home, Rihana ate lunch with him while worrying about Raiden’s meal. 

Even after the meal, as they sat side by side in the reception room drinking tea instead of him leaving, Rihana was still worrying about whether Raiden was eating lunch or not.

“The hunting festival is coming up soon.”

Casian said as he set down his teacup.

“Yes, it is.”

At Rihana’s lukewarm response, Casian swallowed dryly. He had come to tell her that he would likely have to attend this hunting festival with the Princess as well, but it was something he really didn’t want to say with his own mouth, so his throat felt blocked.

Though he was laying all this groundwork for her sake, he had no desire to hurt her. He didn’t even want to imagine how it would feel to have his fiancé taken away by the Princess not only for the escort at the last party but also for the upcoming hunting festival. 

Nevertheless, it was something he ultimately had to say with his own mouth.

“That day…”

At Casian’s voice, Rihana lifted her head and met his eyes. When their gazes intertwined, Casian’s heart stirred.