Click. As soon as the door closed, Saena looked for something to cover herself with, but couldn’t find a robe or shawl. Flustered, Saena climbed onto the bed while wrapping herself in a sheet.

“Co-Constantine?”

But he had already emerged from behind the partition and was staring at her with darkened eyes.

Constantine slowly approached her. As the distance between them shortened, her body trembled with tension.

‘Why am I feeling this way?’

He had never been a threat to her, but whenever he looked at her with those eyes, her body would freeze. Like all her nerves were standing on end?

“Do you know how you look to me right now… lying on the bed?”

“…What?”

She was only on the bed because she was in her underdress and needed to cover herself…?

Saena watched him approach with startled eyes.

“Ah.”

In an instant, he consumed her lips. His hot breath invaded her mouth as if to burn it.

“Mmph, mmm.”

She fell backward with the sheet still wrapped around her. Suddenly bound by the sheet, Saena couldn’t push him away and had to fully receive his kiss.

His tongue, rushing in like it was being chased, probed every corner of her mouth as if searching for something. Every time his tongue stimulated the sensitive insides of her mouth here and there, Saena’s spine twitched.

She wanted to push him away as she was running out of breath, but she couldn’t move her arms wrapped in the sheet.

“Mmng, ah…”

Saliva that had pooled heavily flowed between her parted lips. His tongue followed the flowing saliva and then engulfed her earlobe.

“Ah!”

His tongue traced the round part and moved inside, leaving moisture. The sound of his tongue exploring the inside of her ear crashed into her eardrums like thunder.

“Ngh–”

It was just her ear. Yet the sensation was too strange.

Not satisfied with that, when his tongue persistently probed as if trying to widen the narrow canal of her ear, Saena felt like lightning struck through the middle of her body.

“Ahh! Co-Constantine!”

Saena called his name while squirming with her trembling body.

“Ha, Saya…”

As soon as her hearing cleared after his tongue had blocked her ear canal, he breathed her name like a sigh.

“Uh, ngh.”

He had already started licking her neckline.

He gently nibbled down the tender flesh of her sensitive neck, then licked a long stroke up her round shoulder before tracing the hollow space on her collarbone with his tongue as if measuring its depth.

His hands had already pulled down the sheet and underdress covering her body below her shoulders, and his lips were moving toward higher ground, feeling the soft flesh yield as they followed the round mounds.

“Mmm…”

Saena bit her lips as strange sounds kept threatening to escape from deep in her throat. She gasped as the sensation of her n*pples gradually hardening became more distinct.

“Saya…”

He moved along her exposed skin, breathing her name like a sigh. A sensation like shallow goosebumps spread before her lower abdomen tightened.

Though she had been married before and wasn’t inexperienced (albeit not in this body), this feeling was new and confusing.

Saena forgot where she was. She forgot that the maid would return shortly. She was completely swept away by him.

“Cons… ahh…”

“Haah…”

He seemed to feel the same way.

The intensely passionate atmosphere between them seemed like it would be difficult to break.

Voluntarily, that is.

Pyak pyak.

But there was an intruder.

Pyak?

Something suddenly emerged from his embrace with a rustling sound, opening and closing its beak before plopping down on her chest.

It settled between Saena and Constantine, bringing silence with it.

“……”

“……”

It was the black bird that had flown away earlier in the sculpture garden.

“…D*mn it.”

Constantine rubbed his face with his palm several times as if troubled, then grabbed the bird to move it aside.

Pyak!

Though it wasn’t a real bird and made no sound, somehow it seemed like it would make such a sound as it flapped its beak, then waddled up onto Saena’s black hair spread across the bed, nuzzled against it, and sat down like it was brooding eggs.

Saena had been about to jump up as she became aware of her disheveled state, but when the bird sat on her hair, she froze, unable to move either way.

Her face reddened as he still loomed over her with dark shadows, looking down at her as if he would devour her.

“D-don’t look. My hands…”

Perhaps because she was exposed with her body bound as if restrained, she felt like appetizing prey before a predator.

Saena kept struggling to free her arms wrapped in the sheet, but concerned about the bird, she could only squirm slightly instead of making large movements. This caused her beautiful teardrop-shaped br*asts to sway enticingly.

Constantine’s jaw tightened at the sight of her in such a helplessly disheveled state, white flesh exposed and unable to resist.

“My reason… feels like it’s about to snap…”

“S-stop looking and help me get free.”

Even hearing her voice whisper almost tearfully, Constantine remained motionless like he had turned to stone. Though his jaw was getting even tighter, seemingly clenching his teeth.

“Co-Constantine.”

After a long while, he slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again.

“Hah…”

The dangerous look in his eyes had barely faded.

Constantine moved the black bird aside and pulled up her underdress. After carefully wrapping the sheet around her upper body, he helped her sit up straight.

Residual heat tingled through her body. Somehow finding it difficult to look at his face, Saena lowered her eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I keep… losing my reason regardless of time and place.”

“……”

“I truly didn’t come here for this.”

“……”

“Really.”

Unable to touch her further, he fidgeted as he made excuses.

She gradually regained her senses as well.

‘Right, yes. This is… the Princess’s palace.’

With this sudden realization, Saena looked around anxiously. She became worried that someone might notice his intrusion and burst in.

“Come to think of it, what brings you here?”

Constantine silently pointed to the black bird.

“Oh, I was worried when it flew away earlier.”

“What happened?”

“Well, I was just walking in the sculpture garden when the bird suddenly flew away.”

“Suddenly, you say?”

“While I was looking at a strange sculpture…”

It must have been Erenhorn…

Was that why? But she still didn’t understand why the black bird had to fly away.

“A strange… sculpture?”

“Yes. I think I met Erenhorn. I thought it was a sculpture at first, but I was startled when it moved.”

“…Hmm.”

Constantine raised one eyebrow slightly after hearing her words. He seemed to be thinking about something.

“Did anything happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Anything unpleasant…”

Unpleasant?

“Ah, something did happen.”

“What happened?”

“I met another Covenant master.”

“Was it… Duke Aberdeen?”

“How did you know… ah, right, I mentioned Erenhorn. Yes.”

“…How was it?”

Constantine asked with a somewhat anxious expression, but Saena didn’t notice his concern as she was recalling the afternoon encounter.

“Well…”

“……”

“He seemed quite different from what I expected.”

He was so different from her expectations that she had forgotten to show proper courtesy. Yet he still seemed like a strange person, just as before.

“You had… expectations?”

“What?”

What kind of expectations was he asking about?

“Hmm. Well… being different from expectations means you had expectations…”

“Ah, I didn’t have any specific expectations.”

“Then…”

“Just, since he’s also a Covenant master… I vaguely imagined someone dignified and solemn? Something like that.”

When words like ‘dignified’ and ‘solemn’ came up, Constantine made an odd expression. As if he’d heard something completely absurd.

“Duke Aberdeen?”

“Yes. But…”

Saena trailed off, feeling it wouldn’t be appropriate to say things like ‘he seemed like a playboy’ or ‘I thought he was a street ruffian’ about another Covenant master.

However, Constantine’s face brightened as he caught her meaning from her expression.

“I see. You truly have an excellent eye for people.”

“What?”

Was this some new form of self-praise?

Though she felt she had heard something strange, Constantine changed the subject as if what he said was so obvious it didn’t warrant any objection.

“Now that I’ve brought the bird back, please make sure to keep it with you.”

As though it knew that it was being discussed, the black bird fluttered over and settled gently on top of Saena’s head.

Pyak.

Saena froze again, startled by the bird making itself at home on her head.

“Promise you’ll keep it with you.”

“Ah, yes. I understand.”

She wanted to raise her hands to pick up the bird, but that would require pulling her body out of the sheet, so she could only roll her eyes upward.

Constantine laughed long at the sight, finding it adorable. Then he slowly approached and whispered in her ear.

“Even if I were to rumple the sheet and burrow further down… you couldn’t move right now, could you?”

“……”

W-what was he saying…

Saena looked up at him with round eyes.

“Though I’m desperately tempted to try…”

Chu. After lightly pressing his lips to her eye, he pulled back and added,

“I think the maid is returning.”

He smiled more deeply as he looked at Saena, who had turned red from her forehead down to below her neck.

“How will I wait until our wedding night…”

“……”

“Hah, I’m worried.”

Saena’s face reddened even more at the sudden mention.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at sunrise.”

He gave a long laugh, then smoothly disappeared toward the terrace.

Only the rosy flush remaining on Saena’s skin served as evidence of his visit.