His eyes were sincere. His pupils sank deeply as he made a genuine oath.

Yes. I can believe him for now. For now.

This incident was her misjudgment and her mistake.

“I’m… sorry.”

He gave a refreshingly bright smile. It wasn’t the situation for such a smile, yet he did it anyway. Really… had he become a fool? Still, he seemed to have become smarter than before about everything except matters related to her.

Yvonne, who was taking a sip of tea because her throat was dry, suddenly froze.

That means… the wedding night.

This was bad. Now that he had proven he hadn’t been going to Rose House, there was no reason to postpone the wedding night any longer. What should she do?

If he demanded to have their wedding night tonight, she would have no reason to refuse anymore. Should she just… close her eyes and get it over with? Would this peace now be broken? Sigh… suddenly, with a heavy sigh, tension rapidly gathered in her eyes.

Leon kept his eyes fixed on Yvonne. What she was thinking in that small head of hers was as clear as if he could hold it in his hands.

“Well then, our bedroom……”

As soon as he brought up the subject, Yvonne was startled. Surely not in broad daylight? Her eyes froze severely.

“Let’s keep using it as we have been.”

Ping, his words bounced off without entering her mind. She was too frozen to process them. She couldn’t properly hear what he had said.

“You want to… use it now?”

That’s how it sounded to her. She swallowed hard repeatedly as her eyes shook wildly.

Even her shaking purple eyes looked mysterious to Leon.

“No. I said let’s keep things as they are.”

What?

She mouthed the question silently. She couldn’t tell what she had missed hearing.

“Yvonne.”

Leon gently called her name as if trying to soothe her.

“Just because I’ve proven myself doesn’t mean I’ll immediately share a bed with you, so don’t be afraid.”

Real…ly?

Leon stood up, facing Yvonne who still looked at him with distrustful, frightened eyes. Then he moved to sit beside her. She immediately flinched as if her body had sprung up.

“Instead, you should receive some punishment.”

Pun…ishment?

Naturally, her gaze went to the whip hidden between the newly arranged bookshelves in the study.

He gently took her face in his hands and turned her gaze back to him. Her even more frozen eyes met his.

“And I’ll receive a reward.”

Is wielding the whip a reward for him? Is that it? His unfamiliar new expression confused her.

Smooch.

Yvonne’s body jumped high in shock. Just now… Leon’s lips had touched hers. It happened in an instant.

“I’ve held back a lot……”

His voice became a bit husky. Is he saying he’s held back on whipping her? But why did he kiss her with that “smooch”? Yvonne’s mind wasn’t functioning normally and was just wandering. Leon was completely disrupting her thoughts, leaving her disoriented.

“I should get this much as a reward.”

His lips approached her again. He was once more using that difficult way of speaking. That way of speaking that couldn’t be understood immediately.

His lips touched Yvonne’s stiff lips and gently brushed sideways. She couldn’t breathe properly. Her body was becoming increasingly rigid.

“And this is your punishment.”

With those final words, Leon’s lips pressed firmly against hers. Before she could purse her lips, he parted them first and entered. Gasp.

Her breath stopped. Suddenly she was receiving an intense kiss from him like that day. His tongue, dancing as if thoroughly stirring everything up, was too hot.

Is… this a reward for him… and punishment for me?

“Not focusing again?”

He exhaled breathlessly, quickly uttered those words, and then lunged at her again. He roughly entered her mouth, which was blankly open. Mmm….

She was more surprised by the sound she made. Is this… my voice?

Before she knew it, she was on his lap. She hadn’t done it herself. Leon had embraced her and moved her, pulling her closer.

Perhaps because they were in the quiet study filled only with sunlight, the moist sounds of their lips meeting entered her ears clearly. This kind of kiss… it was the second time. No, it was hotter and more passionate than before. Leon’s movements were rough yet stimulating. His movements, like a bursting dam trying to taste her to his heart’s content, became increasingly urgent and intense.

“Yvonne.”

He separated from her lips, kissed her entire face, and then whispered her name hotly in her ear. She felt something hot spreading throughout her chest. Her body felt strange.

Mmm….

Once again, an erotic sound escaped her lips. His lips were tenderly licking her ear. All the while, he kept calling her name against her ear. His hot breath and gasping sounds stimulated her more sensitively. To think he would kiss her ear like this. But it was too erotic. Heat was rising from the tips of her toes.

When she unconsciously gasped, Leon dove back into her parted lips. With her head tilted back, Yvonne’s body, fully accepting his expressions of affection for the first time, began to tremble more and more. It wasn’t from fear or tension. It was a trembling from being enveloped in a strange heat, not knowing what to do.

But he too was trembling in the arms that held her. He was trembling like he’s having a seizure, enough for her to feel it. He was completely captivated by her. More precisely, by her lips that he was passionately tasting.

Once again, she was being drawn into Leon’s passion as he completely dominated and invaded her lips as if unable to separate from them.

At this moment, it was certain that Leon’s passion and desire were directed solely at her. Whether he couldn’t be satisfied or was satisfied, low and heavy moans repeatedly escaped from his mouth as well. His hands, which had been embracing her, gently yet firmly caressed and gripped her body, but she didn’t stop him. She couldn’t stop him. She didn’t know how he had made her so heated up like this, but it was impossible to think rationally about anything.

Although this was only the second time they had kissed like this, Leon was doing it for too long. It seemed like he would continue until she was exhausted. But now, rather than being tired, she was in a daze. Not because it was too stimulating. Not because the heat was rising. Just… she was dazed by the fact that she could be like this with Leon again.

Leon, who had barely separated his lips from hers, looked at her from very close. His deep eyes were relaxed yet filled with heat. His passion, still not cooled, was clearly visible.

He just kept looking at her like that. With burning eyes.

As her rapid breathing subsided and the heat inside her gradually cooled, her reason slowly returned. His moistened lips were right there, close to her. Her own lips would be even more so. But….

It wasn’t as unpleasant as their first kiss. That’s not to say it was good. She still couldn’t adapt to such intense kisses with Leon. She just… wasn’t as afraid as before. Can one get used to even this?

Leon, perhaps thinking she was surprised, gently kissed her forehead, which still felt unfamiliar. She knew his body was still rigid from the unabated heat, yet he was restraining himself. He was suppressing his desire, trying not to push further. She had thought that with such burning desire, he would release it like a beast.

She was curious about how much more he would surprise her. Was it okay to have such expectations?

“From now on, you’ll receive punishment like this. Remember that.”

If this was punishment, there was no reason to be afraid anymore. It was much better than being whipped. It didn’t hurt and left no wounds.

“And you receive rewards like this?”

Her voice, like his, was hoarser than usual. That’s because she had been so thoroughly attacked by him.

“Your hair is all disheveled.”

Leon said with a voice tinged with laughter as he tried to fix her hair with his hands. For some reason, that sight was amusing. She just burst out laughing.

“If a husband kisses his wife and this happens, who would say anything?”

Leon smiled brightly as if trying to cool the heat, playfully using those terms again.

Right. In the past, how many times had her hair been disheveled from being roughly grabbed by the hair? She had never imagined Leon would mess up her hair while being absorbed in kissing her. Who would imagine such a thing unless they were crazy? But that day had come. Human affairs are truly mysterious.

“Eve. Eve.”

Suddenly the study door opened and Emil’s voice was heard, startling her. Oh no. Right now we’re… I mean, with Leon like this….

Turning her head with stiff movements, she saw Emil frozen in place, not even blinking. His gaze was fixed on the two people embracing each other.

“I apologize for the intrusion.”

Suddenly speaking in a formal voice, he hurriedly left and firmly closed the study door.

Pfft.

Leon burst into laughter first. Emil’s voice and expression were indeed quite funny. It was the first time seeing him like that. Then Yvonne also burst out laughing.

For a brief moment, the study was filled with the laughter of the two people.

This too was a first. The employees who heard their laughter flowing out of the study were surprised but smiled.

They were employees who wished that only such laughter would continue to fill the place.

* * *