Saena woke up feeling a strange pressure in her lower abdomen.

“Mmm…”

She seemed to have fallen asleep just as dawn was breaking…

After the tea party ended and she dealt with various minor tasks, when she entered the bedroom, Constantine was already there waiting.

‘It’s night now.’

With a languid smile and eager hands suggesting he had been waiting, she was instantly entangled and pulled into bed. Swept up by his intensity as if he had been waiting only for this moment, Saena’s body quickly melted.

Looking at her panting for breath as if she were cute, he whispered.

‘You must focus. You said you’d focus entirely on me tonight.’

‘Ung. But too…’

He clearly had no intention of going easy.

‘Spread a little more, hmm?’

‘Ah…!’

And so for quite a while…

‘Ah, my waist.’

She had expected twice but this was too much.

Judging by the sunlight streaming through the large window, it wasn’t even noon yet. Considering she had fallen asleep after being thoroughly ravished all night by his relentless advances, she had woken up quite early.

But for that, her body condition wasn’t as bad as expected.

‘Does becoming an Oathkeeper make the body healthier too?’

Her condition was good enough to make her wonder that. However, realizing she had slept too little, she felt a psychological lack despite her physical state.

‘…Should I sleep a bit more?’

She contemplated briefly. But forcing herself to sleep seemed strange, so she decided to get up. Though she quickly realized that wouldn’t be easy either.

Saena was practically trapped in his embrace.

From the back of her head to her buttocks, no, to her toes, they were pressed together without any gap. Constantine was completely stuck to her back as if he were her shell.

The problem wasn’t just that he was pressed against her—the foreign sensation inside her body remained.

“……?”

No, it was gradually growing larger.

Feeling the strange sensation beginning to consume her lower abdomen, Saena unconsciously tensed her muscles there. Perhaps that was the wrong choice. Suddenly, it noticeably swelled inside her body.

“Hng?”

Growing in both length and girth while flaunting its presence, it reached deep inside to her sensitive spots.

Last night’s abundant fl*ids leaked out between her thighs, pushed by the flesh filling her inside. The leaked fl*id naturally acted as lubricant, making the sensation against her entrance and inner walls more vivid whenever she moved slightly. Thanks to this, or perhaps because of it, his manhood twitched and grew even larger, and each time it did, it stimulated her walls more smoothly.

Overwhelmed by the heightened sensations from early morning, Saena bit her lower lip and shifted uncomfortably.

Perhaps that was the wrong move. As soon as a low groan burst forth, a large palm wrapped around her lower abdomen below her navel and pulled her towards him.

As he pulled, he thr*st his hips.

“Ahk!”

With the space in her stomach compressed under his palm, the sensation of his massive c*ck filling her body felt like it was stirring her lower abdomen.

“Co, Constantine…”

“Haah, Saya…. Good… morning.”

He greeted her morning while nibbling and licking the back of her neck.

“Come to think of it… did you… have a good time… with your friends?”

“Y, yes…”

He asks quite early. Though Saena hadn’t had the presence of mind to bring it up first either.

“Why in the morning, mmng.”

“Lately you seem to be neglecting me too much…”

“Unng. Wh-what…”

“I have no choice but to appeal my presence like this.”

They both know this is just an excuse.

Hadn’t they done more than enough last night? Still, Saena didn’t particularly stop him and accepted the sensations he gave.

It was possible because her body condition was better than expected.

“Mmng. Ung.”

Encountering rapturous sensations and sweet body scent right after waking, Constantine hooked one of Saena’s legs over his arm and buried himself deeper inside her, where he had been all along.

The sensation of sinking deeper as if finding his place while being squeezed was soft yet hot and vivid. It felt too good to maintain clear thoughts.

The feeling of soft yet springy skin under his palm was also too good to stop kneading.

My woman, my wife. Mine.

The world where he touches her is pure without any noise.

Only her occasional thin m*ans and the sensation of her squeezing him stimulate and wake his external senses.

Swallowing his groan of admiration that made his Adam’s apple bob, he immersed himself in the sensations she gave.

* * *

The couple who spent an intense morning only came down to the dining room at lunchtime.

Saena summarized for him her meeting with friends regarding the invitation that arrived yesterday.

“So anyway, it seems we should attend. We need to decide on a concept for what to wear too.”

“It’s the perfect setting for someone planning to cause an incident.”

Even without this particular case, masquerade balls often had various incidents due to their nature. Perhaps it was inevitable since the costumes guaranteed anonymity.

“But in that case, the same conditions apply to us too.”

If they can hide their identities, so can we.

If they hadn’t known, that would be one thing, but knowing clearly that some incident would occur, there was no need to give the opposition an easy solution.

‘But what comes after is the problem…’

After the incident happens…

Suddenly, Elizabeth being ‘Hebeta’ bothered her.

That position, which hadn’t particularly concerned her before, now felt quite troublesome.

Isn’t even the Prince currently unable to be openly punished because he’s the ‘Prince’?

“About Hebeta… do you know what kind of authority and position they are guaranteed?”

The question came naturally.

“What specifically are you asking about?”

“If, for instance, we discover evidence that the Hebeta tried to kill someone or attempted to harm a noble lady’s reputation, I wonder what kind of punishment they could receive.”

Though not part of the imperial family, being a position under imperial protection meant they would certainly be guaranteed some authority, if only for the sake of imperial face.

“Ah, come to think of it, what punishment did the previous Hebeta receive?”

Thinking about it, Hebeta Elaine had tried to kill Saena too.

She asked, thinking she could roughly gauge the range if she knew what punishment she had received.

“…She received sufficient punishment.”

But his answer was somewhat unsatisfying.

“What’s sufficient punishment? I know she was broken off from engagement, but…”

Breaking off the engagement doesn’t count as punishment. The Prince would have pushed for it anyway since it had been over 2 years.

“She’s the wench who tried to kill you. She received her due.”

“But…”

She had never heard news of what punishment Elaine Barnes received.

“Was it unofficial punishment?”

Perhaps there was no official punishment due to imperial authority issues.

But Constantine slightly lowered his gaze.

“…It was closer to personal punishment.”

He answered in a voice that somehow seemed smaller than before, almost whispering.

“Personal punishment?”

What does this mean?

“…We could have raised it officially, but if we had, the Prince would have used every little thing to harass you.”

“Ah…”

The Prince would have likely done that at the time.

“But even if you handled it personally, did the imperial family just let it go? Didn’t you face any consequences?”

“Don’t worry, nothing like that happened.”

Could he have made some deal with the imperial family?

Even so, the Prince should have made an issue of it…

Seeming to read her still-confused expression, he explained with something like a sigh.

“…I had her experience the shadow prison.”

“The shadow prison…?”

“It’s Caligo’s power. One day inside feels like dozens of days. Even a brief confinement can make someone taste extreme terror.”

“Ah…”

There had been talk that Elaine Barnes seemed somewhat mentally unstable at the time, but it turns out it wasn’t from the shock of the broken engagement…

Saena suddenly understood anew why the Kramer family put Morev forward as their public face instead of Caligo.

“…Do you think I went too far?”

Concerned about how her reaction might appear, he carefully asked.

“Ah, no.”

Though he’s not the type to create unnecessary incidents or problems, he’s also not the type to show great mercy to someone who tried to kill her.

“I never even thanked you for going to such lengths for me.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for. It was only natural.”

Constantine chose not to mention that he had also taken additional measures to ensure the Barnes family lost all the compensatory wealth the imperial family had given them after the broken engagement.

There was no need to emphasize his tenacious side to her.

“By the way… why did you ask about that?”

“Hm?”

“Could it be… has the Valdez family’s Hebeta done something to harm you?”

Constantine is extremely sensitive about Saena’s wellbeing, even more than Yolly. Perhaps he sensed something.

“If not, does it look like she’s planning to?”

He asked in a voice that had dropped so low it felt chilling.

“Well…”

It would be nice to be able to say no, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case.

While it’s clear she’s planning something, it’s difficult to say exactly since they don’t know precisely who the blade is aimed at. However, it’s better to be over-prepared than to regret being under-prepared.

In the end, Saena shared with Constantine everything about what happened with Floria and her suspicions.

Surprisingly, he took it quite seriously as he listened, and they were able to form some countermeasures.