[Between Sincerity and Misunderstanding]

People’s hands and feet moved busily as they built embankments against the increasingly heavy rain. The rising river water began to surge frighteningly. The tranquil scenery seen during the day had completely disappeared, and now they were struggling to block the bluish, surging water amid the thick raindrops.

“Your Grace! We’ll handle this!”

“What’s the point of standing around? The more hands we have, the sooner we’ll finish.”

“You seemed to be in a hurry earlier……”

Bruno, the knight commander of the Grand Ducal household, joked with a grin. Having spent a long time together, they maintained proper respect but occasionally exchanged such lighthearted banter.

“It wasn’t me who was in a hurry, but someone else.”

“Pardon?”

“……Stop chattering and get to work? My wife is afraid of thunder, you know? I need to finish quickly and go back to her! Everyone, hurry up!”

“……”

Bruno tilted his head momentarily at Rian’s suddenly changed tone, then shrugged and moved, carrying a boulder as large as his own body. Once he was gone, Rian, left alone, pretended to lift another stone and muttered.

“Don’t pop out whenever you feel like it.”

“I don’t want to come out in places like this either if I can help it. Thunder will strike soon. Hurry.”

If Belita had seen this, she would have slapped his lips, but Rian carelessly muttered to himself and began to move busily as if they had reached an agreement. The two personalities in one body carried heavy stones and looked at the embankment being filled with sandbags between the rocks. It looked like it would be sturdy enough not to collapse with ordinary rain once they added just one more layer.

Rumble CRASH-!

“Eek!”

A thin scream of a startled woman was heard at the thunderous sound. At that moment, the heavy stone fell from Rian’s hands with a ‘thud’ as voices overlapped in his head.

“Let’s go.”

“No.”

“We’re done anyway!”

“Since we’re done, we just need to finish up and go right away.”

“Just have them finish up!”

“It’ll be over soon.”

“Crazy bastard. I really wish we had two bodies. Then I wouldn’t have had to share Belita with a bastard like you.”

“Let me make this clear, she’s my wife. And I protect my wife’s well-being. So why don’t you just disappear now.”

“I saved your pathetic as$, and now you think you’re the master? Ha! That’s not even funny.”

Rian’s face twisted grimly as he kept muttering while picking up the fallen stone and moving it. Then, looking up at the sky, his expression turned cold.

“This won’t do. You need to sleep.”

“What?”

“Just fall down and sleep, you bastard.”

Thud!

“Ugh!”

“Your Grace!!!”

Bruno rushed over in alarm as Rian suddenly and inexplicably smashed his head against the stone he had just put down.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah…. No, I’m not. Can you finish up here?”

“What? Oh, yes. But why suddenly……”

Rian wiped away the blood flowing from his forehead and suddenly staggered.

“Your Grace!”

“My head must not have fully healed. Suddenly feeling dizzy…. Urgh.”

“Oh no, escort His Grace!”

Two knights who rushed over quickly supported Rian. Holding his forehead, Rian patted Bruno’s shoulder and said, “Finish up well. I’m counting on you,” before heading to the carriage.

“Don’t worry and go inside!”

Rian only raised one hand in response to Bruno’s confident answer and quickly boarded the carriage. Only after ordering the coachman to hurry did he sigh. Frowning at the ominous sight of the sky emitting flashes of light, Rian felt his insides burning with anxiety.

Upon returning to the residence, Rian headed straight to Belita’s room without paying any attention to the wound on his forehead. The butler, startled by Rian’s appearance, followed him anxiously.

“Your Grace, there’s blood on your head.”

“It’s fine. How’s my wife?”

“She seems to be sleeping. Your Grace, I’ll call Sir Font right away.”

“No need. I’m fine, so don’t worry about it and go about your business.”

Rushing like a foal with its tail between its legs, Rian hurried to Belita’s room, but despite his urgent steps, he paused in front of her door. Using the corridor window as a mirror, he roughly wiped the sticky blood stains from his forehead with a handkerchief before carefully opening Belita’s door.

The peaceful atmosphere in the room finally put his mind at ease. As her pleasant scent tickled his nose, the corners of his mouth lifted involuntarily. Fortunately, she seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep; gentle, purring breaths could be heard from the slender figure lying on the bed.

Carefully removing his coat, Rian headed to the bathroom, took a quick shower, and slipped under the covers with Belita without a stitch of clothing. As he felt her warm body temperature, his frozen body seemed to melt languidly. It had been worth cracking his forehead.

“I was so worried I even cracked my head to get here, yet you don’t even open your eyes.”

“……”

“I told you to wait n*ked, but here you are all bundled up?”

“……”

“You’re just a woman who never listens, aren’t you.”

Her white skin looked unusually pale today. While grumbling, he placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature, wondering if she was sick. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to have a fever, so he stretched his arm to enclose her small head and pulled her curled-up body close. As her breath scattered from those red lips that were so close, his body began to stir.

“Haah…. You’re not pretending to be asleep, are you?”

“……”

“I’m dying to wake you up.”

“……”

He sucked on her slightly parted red lips before releasing them and staring at her face. It was strange yet not unpleasant that the woman who had once been so busy running away in fear was now sleeping so peacefully in his arms.

He hadn’t meant to frighten her, but at first, he’d been so annoyed by how she trembled like she’d seen a monster whenever she looked at him. It reminded him of people who had looked at him like a monster when he was young, and he had poured out the same nasty temper on her that he’d shown them.

But now, that woman who used to only tremble was becoming quite stubborn and even occasionally resorted to physical violence. Despite still having those frightened rabbit eyes, she spoke her mind and showed unexpected strength in surprising ways, which he found admirable. Was that why? He seemed to be falling for her more and more.

“Is this really love…? Is this feeling I have for you truly that emotion called love that I thought was so trivial?”

Though he had expressed it to her, honestly, he still felt dazed. Having never received or given such an emotion, he couldn’t determine with certainty whether what he felt now was truly love or not.

“It’s fun, but…. It’s also not fun. How exactly am I supposed to know what that emotion is?”

Carefully brushing aside her light blue hair that had fallen, Rian kissed her eyelids. He kept wanting to touch her, to feel her. He wanted to press his lips against hers, mix their body heat, and consume her breath. His heart was beating wildly, and he thought about her all day, curious about her, but he still didn’t know if this was that trivial emotion called love. He wanted to ask someone. Whether his current feelings for her were love or not.

Or maybe he was just temporarily enchanted by this fascinating woman.

“Perhaps this is more accurate for now. I know this feeling. I like you, Belita.”

“……”

“Tsk, you’re really a terrible woman.”

He pulled her sleep-laden, limp body closer and held her. Her breath tickling his nape made his toes curl. He grew increasingly impatient with the desire to wake her. He wanted to hear her voice, always ready with a retort. Above all, what he desperately wanted to hear was her moans as she sobbed on his c*ck.

“Look, you make me h*rny even while you’re sleeping. So it’s not my fault.”

Rian’s eyes quickly filled with lust. As her curved body touched his chest, his lower body immediately became aroused. The arousal he had been suppressing since the afternoon ignited instantly. When he slightly released the body he had been holding tightly, her full br*asts shifted to one side, revealing a lewd valley.

“I’ll just suck your br*asts. So try to endure it. If you don’t wake up while I’m sucking them, I promise not to touch you anymore.”

It was a line drawn out of conscience. After all, he couldn’t possibly insert his c*ck into a truly sleeping woman. But Rian had two consciences. And he was the personality closer to evil rather than good.

The corner of Rian’s mouth lifted crookedly.

He licked and sucked on her slightly parted, plump red lips before gradually moving to her neck. He removed her nightgown while licking downward as if drawing a picture with his tongue. He inserted his tongue into the deeply cut cleavage, fluttering it around before pulling the thin strap below her shoulder. Her full br*asts, which somehow looked even larger than usual, seemed particularly delicious today.

“What’s this? Do your n*pples get hard even when you’re sleeping?”

Her n*pples stood er*ect, sticking up tightly. He flicked them slightly with his fingertips, kneaded them, and then twisted them. At that moment, Rian’s mouth corner stretched into a wide grin as her body twitched. Pretending not to notice, Rian lowered his face and gently rolled his tongue around her n*pples while observing Belita’s expression.