Like yesterday, he sat casually in an armchair, slowly turning a crystal glass of hard liquor in his hand.

He’s already wearing just a robe, and the long opening at the front revealed his firm chest muscles.

“Would you like a drink?”

“…No.”

He didn’t offer twice and downed his drink in one gulp before standing up.

“The festival will begin next week.”

He added.

“What? Festival?”

“Of course we must have a festival now that Kramer territory has a mistress. I’m sorry it was delayed due to the subjugation.”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, he had mentioned something like that when she first arrived.

“I thought it would be better in spring than winter, so the timing was pushed back.”

“I see.”

Ah, I was going to ask about going to the Imperial Capital…

“You probably want to go to the Imperial Capital, but I’d like you to be patient a little longer.”

Constantine spoke as if reading her mind.

“I’m still concerned about the Prince to send you alone.”

“……”

The Prince…

After their unpleasant final meeting and her safely completing her marriage to Constantine, she had actually pushed thoughts of him to the back of her mind.

“We’re already married, what could happen?”

He couldn’t make the Duchess of Kramer into a Hebeta, could he?

“He is… quite persistent.”

But Constantine disagreed.

“Even though the Hebeta matter fell through, he’s not the type to let go of personal revenge.”

“…Revenge?”

What did I do wrong to deserve revenge?

“I misspoke. Rather than revenge… Well. He’s not the type to let go of his resentment when things don’t go his way.”

Isn’t he really strange, Prince or not? It was already infuriating that he tried to make her Hebeta without her consent, and now he’s harboring ill will because it didn’t work out?

While this mentality was completely incomprehensible to Saena’s common sense, she couldn’t ignore Constantine’s analysis. He would know the Prince better than she did from their interactions, so he wouldn’t be saying this without reason.

“Haa…. I understand.”

But setting aside her own situation, is it alright for someone like that to become Emperor?

Though she hadn’t lived with much interest in politics, even her brief personal opinion suggested he didn’t seem fit to be a king of a country. Moreover, Macfeyden wasn’t just a kingdom but an empire. As an imperial citizen, she began to worry about the future.

“Instead… though it might not be much, is there anything you desire?”

Constantine asked in a slightly subdued voice.

“Pardon?”

“If there’s anything you want, anything at all, I’d like you to tell me.”

Anything I want…

Is this another of his compensatory remarks?

Already harboring considerable dissatisfaction with him, seeing that polite and composed face only made her anger flare up again. Why?

“Hmm, let’s see.”

Saena put down the paper and pen she was holding on the table and looked at him.

“Ah, yes. I do have something to ask.”

“What is it? Whatever it may be.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything.”

“That’s good.”

Saena smiled sweetly.

“I’ve been finding the nights too short lately.”

“…Pardon?”

“And your proactive attitude has been lacking.”

“……”

“This isn’t just for my benefit, right?”

Saena languidly added while staring directly into his bewildered eyes.

The content is quite extensive to copy down in just a few days.

For smooth translation, don’t we need to work meticulously, without missing even a single particle?

“So every night.”

“…..”

“Until I’m satisfied.”

While Constantine was always the one who spoke in ways that invited misunderstandings, she could do it too.

“I’d like to take my time– if you don’t mind.”

Saena looked up at him and smiled more gracefully.

“Is that alright?”

She could see his composure crumbling at that smile.

Seeing his expression tinged with bewilderment brought her a strange satisfaction.

‘Why am I acting like this?’

Even though she couldn’t understand her own feelings, somehow, she couldn’t stop.

Her earlier resolution to stop tormenting him had already evaporated, leaving only a peculiar sadistic desire to keep provoking him.

Perhaps it was because she wanted to break the still-life-like calmness that Constantine kept showing in front of her.

“Shall we start from today?”

So she couldn’t stop.

“Well then, I’ll need your active cooperation with undressing, please.”

Constantine stood up without any particular response.

Though his movements seemed somewhat stiff, he didn’t stop halfway.

After taking off his robe, he turned around and sat on the stool. It was the same chair they had used yesterday for the same purpose, with no backrest.

Perhaps because it was night, his unbound white hair fell long, covering his back.

From behind him, Saena gently gathered Constantine’s hair together. The texture of his hair felt as fine and soft as that of a well-groomed noble lady. Enjoying the sensation, Saena combed through his hair with her fingers while gripping it.

The more she did this, the more visibly tense his shoulders became.

“…Saena. I’ll, I’ll do it myself.”

He moved his hair away from her touch, gathering it himself and draping it over one shoulder, showing his back again.

‘Is hair also included in the areas that shouldn’t be touched?’

There’s no tactile sensation in hair though?

Meanwhile, she noticed a strand of hair that must have fallen out while she was combing it earlier, stuck to his back. Saena slowly extended her finger to pick up that single strand.

Her fingertip barely grazed him, but she could see the muscle where she touched twitch.

When he turned to look at her with what seemed like a sigh, Saena showed him the hair between her fingers.

“I was just removing this.”

“…..”

Seeing his expression filled with tension made her smile leak out again. Saena added with a smile.

“Since it’s a human body with curves, I’ll need to touch some parts to see the distorted areas properly.”

“…..”

“I won’t touch with bare hands.”

Though she hadn’t brought gloves, she could wrap her hands in cloth to touch him.

“…Understood.”

He answered in a notably lower tone than before.

* * *

These nights continued for several days.

Apart from her goal of breaking his composure, Saena put great effort into this work.

“Hmm, I can’t see well here, so I’ll need to lower your pants a bit.”

“…Yes.”

Haa. She thought she heard a short sigh, but maybe it was her imagination.

But the pattern at the very bottom of his back was partially hidden by his pants. Saena took hold of his pants’ waistband with her gloved hand and slightly pulled it down.

Though she could visibly see his side muscles contract with a twitch, there was no helping it. If she let go, it would cover the pattern again, so she kept it fixed while diligently tracing the pattern with her other hand.

“…Just a moment.”

At first, she didn’t hear his voice.

“Saena, let’s… take a break for a moment.”

He said again with a choked voice.

“We’re almost done. Just a little more…”

Saena answered mechanically while continuing to copy the pattern.

“No.”

But he couldn’t endure that little bit longer and quickly pulled away from her.

Without even looking at her.

Constantine hurriedly stood up, putting on his robe while adding urgently.

“The rest, let’s do it tomorrow, tomorrow.”

Still without looking at her, he left for the reception room.

Her hand that had been holding his waistband hung in the air momentarily as he disappeared quickly like someone who suddenly needed to use the bathroom.

‘Did I hold on too long….’

Saena gathered her work materials and writing tools as she lowered her suspended hand.

‘Should I reduce the time from tomorrow?’

What she had copied so far was actually enough material to research for quite a while.

The remaining patterns were mostly tangled in bizarre forms that were difficult to copy anyway.

But…

While research was one goal, she felt that without maintaining this point of contact, Constantine would once again distance himself and their relationship would become rigid.

“Sigh.”

In truth, these times weren’t entirely easy for Saena either.

Looking at his well-defined muscles often caused her trouble.

Sometimes she would forget about the patterns and be invaded by intense images of how it felt to be in his embrace, or how those muscles moved when he was passionate.

How difficult it was to regain her composure each time that happened.

‘Ah.’

As improper images threatened to invade her mind again, Saena shook her head.

‘…I should at least say goodnight before going to bed.’

But when she went to the reception room, he wasn’t there.

‘Could he have gone outside?’

‘Did he suddenly remember something urgent to take care of?’

But given Constantine’s usual tendencies, it seemed unlikely he would attend to business matters in just a robe.

As she tilted her head and was about to turn back,

“Haa.”

She heard what sounded like a gasping breath. Along with the sound of rushing water.

Startled, she looked around and noticed a door. It was another bathroom.

After leaving in such a hurry, he’s suddenly bathing? In such a rush that he couldn’t even close the door properly? This was probably not really about bathing, but rather…

“……”

While Saena didn’t dare peek through that gap, she could naturally picture him forcing his body to stay under cold water.

Thanks to that, her mind automatically recalled the memories from a few days ago, and Saena’s face couldn’t help but turn bright red.

This was the result of her desperately trying to provoke him while pretending to be bold.

‘Right… I must not touch anyone.’

Though he pretended otherwise with her, in the end it was just pretense—he hadn’t actually become more composed.

He was still very much a man full of desire, and it became clear that he simply couldn’t touch Saena due to some unknown secret.

‘I…’

What did she want to do?

Her mind was noisy with thoughts splitting in two directions.

As the resolution in her head kept conflicting with what her heart wanted, it became too difficult to act consistently,

Saena fled to her room on unsteady legs.