“So you still have some awareness that you’re my fiancé.”

Casian’s face hardened instantly at her words. He knew exactly what she meant. His current appearance could hardly be called that of a man with a fiancée. 

Everything he did was for Rihana’s sake, but he couldn’t reveal the truth yet, so he had no choice but to endure her sarcasm and mockery. If he could save her life, he could bear this kind of misunderstanding and humiliation hundreds of times over. 

Once time passed and her safety was secured, he could clear up all the misunderstandings then.

The current situation—having to stay with Melissa while some other b*stard clung to Rihana’s side—was quite pathetic and irritating, making him act uncharacteristically underhanded, but none of that mattered. 

Not if it guaranteed a safe future with Rihana. So he spoke with a calm expression to Rihana, who was sneering at him.

“I hope you understand as well.”

Hand over that slave to the Princess. Even without saying it aloud, his eyes conveyed the message clearly, and Rihana’s eyes blazed with fury. This was unreasonable beyond belief. 

Rihana looked aghast at the absurd and despicable demand that came from Casian’s mouth.

“And this is a command from Her Imperial Highness, the Princess of the Empire. Who would dare defy Her Imperial Highness’s command?”

“…!”

“Isn’t that right, Rihana?”

The corner of Casian’s mouth curved up crookedly. That smile made his handsome face look even more attractive, but Rihana found his good looks newly irritating. 

If he were a man with ordinary looks spouting such dog-like nonsense, she would lose all affection for him immediately, but even now, thanks to that face, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him completely.

He definitely wasn’t this kind of man before. The Casian she knew wasn’t. Or maybe she had been blinded by love, pretending not to know even while aware of what kind of man he was.

Rihana unconsciously clenched her fists, unsure whether the pathetic feeling was directed at him or herself. Just then, Melissa, who hadn’t been able to take her eyes off Raiden, murmured in a daze.

“Yes, I, the Imperial Princess of this Empire, command it. The slave owned by Countess Ariella shall attend to me for one night.”

Defying the Princess’s command was impossible. Especially for someone like herself, the head of a family that served beside the Emperor.

Rihana had no choice but to agree and part ways with them. As she walked toward where the silver deer might be, she silently shed tears, feeling miserable about being unable to refuse something she despised. 

Unaware that she was crying, Raiden looked around searching for the silver deer until Rihana sniffled, finally making him lower his head to look at her. The moment he saw her tears, he stopped walking entirely and grabbed her arm, bringing her to a halt.

“Why…”

His surprised eyes trembled faintly. Rihana hung her head low, avoiding Raiden’s captivating blue eyes that seemed ready to draw her in.

“Lady Rihana.”

“…”

“Rihana.”

When she didn’t respond, he called her name again. Rihana lifted her head to look up at him.

“Why are you crying?”

Watching Raiden ask with a completely puzzled expression, Rihana’s mouth trembled before her face crumpled and she finally burst into tears like a child.

“I’m sorry. I…couldn’t protect you…”

At her tearful response, Raiden’s blue eyes grew even deeper. He pulled the crying Rihana into his arms, holding her against his chest. When his large hand patted her back, Rihana’s sobs grew louder. 

Raiden bit his lower lip with his teeth while looking around, spotted something, and simply lifted Rihana up in his arms. Carried by Raiden, Rihana buried her face in his broad shoulder.

Taking the sobbing Rihana who clung to his shoulder, Raiden walked somewhere with steady steps and leaped up onto a stone wall connected to the seaside. 

At his sudden jump, Rihana lifted her head and looked bewildered as she watched Raiden enter a small, secluded cave behind the stone wall.

“Can’t let anyone see you crying.”

He meant he had brought her here temporarily so the hunting festival participants wouldn’t see her tears.

Upon entering the cave entrance, he immediately pulled out a light stone used for night hunting from his clothes and made it float in the air. The dark cave became bright. 

When Rihana wiped her tears with the back of her hand and walked a little further inside, Raiden wrapped his arms around her from behind, stopping her steps.

“You shouldn’t go too far in.”

“…Why?”

“Because low-level magical beasts live there.”

When she turned her head to look at Raiden with an expression that asked “Really?”, Raiden gently wiped her wet eyes with his thumb and said,

“Of course, you’d be safe with me here.”

“…Didn’t you hear Her Imperial Highness say earlier that I’m the Empire’s greatest swordsman?”

“I heard.”

The moment Raiden answered, Rihana’s expression immediately turned tearful again.

“…I’m sorry, Raiden.”

After bringing up the Princess’s name herself, she looked grief-stricken at that very name. Raiden found her somehow endearing, and his mouth naturally curved upward.

“I’m powerless…Sigh, I really hate this… but since it’s a command from Her Imperial Highness…”

Tears streamed down again. 

Just imagining it made him sick. Raiden gently stroked the head of Rihana, who muttered quietly, and bent down to kiss the top of her head.

“It’s okay.”

At Raiden’s gentle tone, Rihana lifted her head and glared at him with wet eyes.

“I’m not okay, you fool.”

At her words, spoken while lightly tapping Raiden’s chest with her clenched fist, the corners of Raiden’s mouth twitched involuntarily. But soon, the smile completely disappeared from his face because of Rihana, who buried her face in his chest and whined complainingly.

“I hate other people touching you. Doing with other people what we did together—I really hate it.”

‘This is quite dangerous.’

At Rihana’s whining, his already tense lower body began to frighten him with its arousal. 

It wasn’t enough that this woman, who usually wielded her sword with an expressionless and sometimes stern-looking face, was showing tears that stirred his protective instincts—the reason for those tears was that she hated the thought of someone else touching Raiden. 

Even a monk who had trained for over a hundred years would have gotten an er*ction in this situation.

Raiden slipped his fingers into Rihana’s silky hair and gently caressed it. He wanted nothing more than to lay her down right there, strip off those frustrating clothes covering her beautiful body, and take her immediately. But he couldn’t do that, and he shouldn’t, given his position.

A Countess from a foreign country serving as the Emperor’s guard knight. Moreover, wasn’t she the fiancée of the Marquis whom Duchess Pellentes had said they needed to win over to their side? 

Of course, he had been the first to reach out to the Marquis’s fiancée because he disliked the Marquis’s trashy private life, and he had thoughtlessly taken her until now.

In any case, now that the boundaries of their physical relationship had become ambiguous, if he didn’t draw a clear line, it would become a problem for both of them. 

Rihana seemed to intend to become the Marquis’s wife after all. So he was trying his best to maintain self-control, but Rihana said something that would make any self-control crumble in an instant.

“Rai, that thing of yours keeps poking my stomach.”

Without needing to be told, it was clear that what Rihana was referring to was Raiden’s p*nis. 

Stimulated by her words, Raiden’s p*nis began throbbing even faster, and Rihana lifted her head to look at Raiden with wet eyes.

“Can I… lick it?”

Rihana asked him while pressing her chin firmly against Raiden’s chest. Raiden’s pupils shook precariously as he looked down at her.

“I want to lick it.”

Rihana’s seductive hand slipped inside Raiden’s pants and grasped his member that seemed ready to burst at any moment.

* * *

Casian stood firmly in place until Rihana and Raiden disappeared from view, only looking down at Melissa after they were gone. Melissa stood there blankly, like someone who had lost her mind.

“Your Highness…?”

At Casian’s call, she finally snapped back to attention.

“Ah, yes…?”

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

When Casian asked her in a gentle tone, Melissa’s hands visibly gripped the hem of her dress. Casian stared intently at her hands.

“Lord Casian.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“The command I just gave to Lady Ariella…”

Melissa stopped mid-sentence and bit her lower lip with her teeth. Casian reached out and gently pressed her lip to free her lower lip from her teeth.

“If you bite like that, your pretty lips will get hurt, Your Highness.”

Melissa stared at Casian with eyes that quickly became moist.

“I love you. I only love you.”