Only the sound of splashing water could be heard in the large bathhouse lit with candles scattered throughout. Divlik sat in a bath built with high-quality bricks against one window. The water level reached just below his chest when seated, and the tub was large enough for four adults to stretch their legs comfortably.

It was like this everywhere. Excessive and abundant. With a tub this large, only the maids filling it would suffer. At least there were no signs of frequent use. Perhaps it was used on special occasions for the emperor and empress to bathe together, like today.

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared with a thunderous sound as if the sky were collapsing. The Yarden Empire often experienced such unexpected darkening of the skies before spring fully arrived.

Divlik slowly turned his head to look through the window on his right. The sky beyond was now filled with black storm clouds.

Good weather. If a torrential downpour began here, it would truly match the tragedy Eva was about to face. Having dismissed all the maids who had been attending his bath, Divlik rested his arms on the edge of the tub and looked up at the dark ceiling.

It was time. No more hesitation, no more thinking. He would end the long journey here.

Knock, knock. After the knocking sound, Eva opened the door and entered the bathroom. Divlik straightened his posture from his reclined position.

“You came quickly when called.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for your satisfaction, Lord Divlik.”

“This place certainly creates such an atmosphere.”

Eva moved her steps quite well, following the sound of water despite her eyes being covered with black cloth.

Divlik looked at Eva with a satisfied expression. Her thin gown in the dim light revealed her body as if she wore nothing. The darker-colored tips of her perky br*asts, the pubic hair covering her intimate area between her thighs, and even the shadows of her cleavage formed by her full br*asts. It showed how desperate Eva was.

Divlik silently laughed at her more explicit attire than the gown she had worn when intoxicated last time. If only she had gracefully accepted being embraced from the start…… He knew she would end up in an even worse state after resisting.

Divlik regretted that he couldn’t properly see Eva’s eyes—the eyes of someone who would desperately try to hide her feelings of humiliation while attempting to seduce him. If he removed that cloth covering her eyes, he could see Eva’s trembling gaze, but not yet, not yet.

“So what do you plan to do?”

Divlik was feeling somewhat troubled again. He had intended to leisurely observe Eva’s actions, but…… on this dark night as rain began to fall, just watching Eva remove her gown to enter the bath under the dim candlelight made his heart race.

The sight of the thin fabric flowing down along the curves of Eva’s body created a strong urge to stroke with his own hands every inch of skin that cloth had touched.

“Someone told me that simply revealing my body before a man would be sufficient seduction.”

He couldn’t lie and say it wasn’t true. Despite having been in the arms of men multiple times—the emperor’s embrace and even former lovers—for some reason, Eva still exuded a pure aura that seemed pristine and transparent, as if she had never encountered a man. At the same time, revealing her experience appropriate to the situation, Divlik unconsciously swallowed dryly at the sticky sensation felt between her n*pples—hardened like when she felt cold at the hot springs before—and her pelvis spreading wide to the sides.

In a situation like this, with both of them completely n*ked facing each other, would there be any man who wouldn’t be desperate to embrace Eva’s exposed body?

“I’d like to say it’s not true, but it certainly is.”

Since Divlik clearly intended not to give in easily, he could stop at acknowledging that she was sufficiently seductive. But if Finn had been here, he would have lost his reason, forgetting that Eva was his lord Divlik’s woman.

“I’m glad.”

“Will you come into the tub?”

“I will.”

As Eva slowly walked along the path she couldn’t see with her covered eyes and stepped into the bath, the ripples of water tickled Divlik’s already seated body.

The sensation of water that had just touched Eva was so warm and soft that Divlik couldn’t help but make an audible gulping sound, as if Eva’s body had touched his own.

Hearing that sound, the corners of Eva’s mouth turned slightly upward. She seemed to think this attempt would be successful.

If asked whether she had succeeded, Eva had already succeeded abundantly. Divlik was ready to give up everything.

Wasn’t this enough? Hadn’t he pushed her far enough? Was there any reason left to pretend indifference while watching Eva try to seduce him, other than to hear her sigh?

Divlik created a large ripple in the water and felt his lower body automatically tense just from looking at Eva sitting across from him.

Eva roughly brushed back her hair, wet only at the ends, and several strands that hadn’t been pushed back clung to her chest. The water streaming down from her hair, passing over her areolas and gathering at the tips of her n*pples before falling, drew a low moan from him.

“I told you to seduce me and satisfy me, so why are you sitting over there?”

“I was trying to start seducing you  from here, Lord Divlik.”

When Eva smiled flirtatiously in response to his question about why she sat so far away, Divlik felt as if his reason might completely fly away.

It was then that Divlik first believed Eva’s claim that she knew her position. A woman who would know that lies wouldn’t work in this area wouldn’t fabricate her feelings. Eva would excellently moan with a satisfying body in his arms. At that thought, Divlik just wanted to bury his face in Eva’s bosom and howl like a beast. Forgetting all intentions, he just wanted to lose himself in Eva’s body.

Was there any reason not to? Was there anything more to gain by suppressing his impulses here?

“I already said you’ve succeeded in seducing me.”

“Was it enough?”

“Enough that my body is ready to embrace you.”

Imagining the pleasure that would arise from embracing Eva’s body, he now wanted to escape quickly to the other shore where nothing mattered anymore. Divlik confirmed his lower body, which was swelling even more than his visible reaction showed, and reached out toward Eva, unable to suppress the surging impulse any longer.

“Come here, closer.”

He knew she would be determined since he had told her to seduce him, but he hadn’t expected her to go this far. Eva leaned forward and began crawling on her knees toward Divlik. Her br*asts, half-submerged and swaying in the water, and the very posture of her bending forward couldn’t have been more seductive.

The water rippled greatly due to Eva’s approach. As Eva’s body drew closer, Divlik trembled as if electrocuted by the intensifying waves.

From the beginning, this shouldn’t have been dragged out for so long. What was all this for?

“Would you allow me to touch your body, Lord Divlik?”

“There’s no need to ask for my permission for everything in this matter, Eva.”

Eva, who had come right in front of Divlik, knelt and gently caressed Divlik’s cheek, then stopped with her lips just barely touching his, close enough to tickle.

“I said seduction was enough.”

Even after going this far, it seemed that actually carrying out her resolution wasn’t simple. Eva still appeared tense, as if Divlik might push her hand away, but now it was Divlik’s turn to be desperate for this time not to be interrupted and to run to the end.

He wanted to pounce on Eva’s lips immediately. The feeling of wanting to watch Eva try unsuitable seduction methods had disappeared, and now Divlik was merely restraining himself from embracing Eva’s waist before him, his insides burning and his mouth dry.

“Is my seduction sufficient?”

Even Eva’s insignificant words sounded excessively stimulating.

“It’s sufficient. Now try to satisfy me.”

Divlik embraced Eva’s waist like someone who had waited a lifetime for this moment.

Feeling Eva’s heated breath on his lips as they overlapped with hers, Divlik opened his mouth to accept Eva’s tongue and instantly regretted it. If just the deep entanglement of her soft, supple tongue with his own made him dizzy, how could he have thought that sharing his body with Eva wouldn’t be good?

It should have been like this from the beginning. Instead of waiting for her to undress herself, he should have forcibly stripped her and made her moan in pain under his body all night, then killed her before dawn. His dozens of regrets returned to that thought. Yes, that’s what he should have done. He had the option of ruining Eva in an instant and subjugating her simply with his body…… At this rate, he might be the one begging for her permission, gasping for breath and showing humiliation.

That couldn’t happen. Divlik separated his lips from Eva’s and playfully bit her neck slightly. Eva, who had been gasping for breath after the kiss, showed no sign of disliking being bitten on the neck.

“Ahh.”

Divlik’s lips traveled down to Eva’s collarbone and then bit her n*pple, which he had been desperate to take into his mouth since first seeing it. While licking and sucking around one br*ast’s n*pple with his tongue, he powerfully squeezed and released the other br*ast repeatedly, circling the ar*ola and n*pple with his fingers and occasionally pinching them.

“Hnngh. Hnn……”

Eva made surprisingly satisfying sounds at Divlik’s lips leaving intense marks around her br*asts. Each time her br*asts were bitten and grabbed, Eva continuously released rough breaths along with erotic moans, wrapping her arms around Divlik’s neck and pulling him closer to her chest.

“Your response…… pleases me greatly, Eva.”

“Haah. I’m glad my actions please you. Hnng.”

Soon, along with loud thunder, rain like a downpour began to fall. Listening to the sound of rain violently hitting the window, Divlik exhaled deeply in Eva’s embrace. His manhood, which had been swelling for some time, had now grown to the point where the veins stood out prominently, causing pain.

“Eva……”

What Divlik found in Eva’s heated embrace wasn’t just simple desire. Longing or sanctuary. He felt as if he had finally found a place to rest after searching his entire life, to the point where he even felt like crying.

Could he cry? That it was all over now. Could he let himself go now, saying he had done well to get this far?