Chapter 35

No matter how many times he released, Karel found himself desperate to push his member into the narrow opening of the woman’s body again. It was almost maddening.  

Under the glaring light of the bathroom, he gazed at the woman’s face, and his emotions grew complicated. As if to banish her face from his view, Karel pulled her closer and captured her lips. The kiss was gentle, as his earlier fervor had been sated during their previous union. He carefully avoided her split lips and torn mouth, focusing solely on her lower lip with a cautious kiss.  

The woman obediently met his lips, as he desired. She wrapped her arms around his neck and moved slowly up and down.  

When Karel’s hand pulled her closer, it became a form of embrace.  

“You said you’d warm me.”  

“Pardon? What do you mean?”  

Startled by his low voice, which escaped from their entwined lips, the woman pulled back and asked.  

“My bed. You said you’d warm it for me.”  

It was a reference to an awkward proposition from long ago. The woman’s face flushed red once again. Her disheveled bangs no longer covered her face, so her blush was vividly visible even without brushing her hair aside.  

Yes, she was a woman who flushed so easily. Her face, her body, even down below.  

Even with that face, only this woman turned red like this.  

“It’s cold outside.”  

Thrown into the cold, I somehow managed to survive and return.  

Even when I tried to cast myself away, I ultimately came back alive.  

The sole reason was… to ensure you wouldn’t be left behind.  

For you.  

No, for myself, because I’ve never desired anyone other than you.  

Karel voiced the thoughts he had during the days and nights he spent escaping the dragon’s lair and traversing the Gray Mountains.  

“Shati.”  

“Pardon?”  

“Your name.”  

Perhaps because he hadn’t expected to say it aloud, Karel’s voice carried a hint of hesitation as he continued slowly.  

“Let it be Shati.”  

When he finally concluded, his blue eyes shone darkly, like a deep abyss.  

Caught off guard, the woman was unable to grasp the complexity of his emotions beyond his expression. She merely blinked in confusion.  

‘What is your name?’  

‘…Please, Sir Knight, give me one.’  

Though she had mustered courage to say it, no reply came. She assumed it was because she had overstepped. He wasn’t her father or mother, just a fleeting connection for a few nights. How could she dare ask such a noble man for something as significant as a name?  

She had lived without a proper name until now, so it wasn’t particularly important to her.  

Yet, it was important.  

After her grandmother passed away, her name had disappeared along with anyone who would call it. If she were to have a name again, it had to come from someone truly special to her.  

Not from any of the unsettling men on the list of villagers who whispered about her.  

Her one night with Karel had been the sole choice of her life, so if she were to receive a name, it had to come from him.  

But she thought it was merely a burden to him, and his lack of response was natural. To him, she was just one of many women who warmed his bed.  

So she wasn’t disappointed. It was the obvious outcome of asking for something so undeserved. Just as she had assumed he had discarded the crude gift she had given him when she didn’t see it hanging from his sword belt.  

And yet, he remembered.  

While she wrestled with the overwhelming gratitude and emotion, Karel quietly observed her reaction, as if gauging her response. The faint light of the lantern reflected in his eyes, shimmering in his dark blue gaze. The interplay of light within his eyes became a manifestation of his desire.  

The same desire he had when he sought her out, Karel now conveyed through his gaze, commanding her to accept it.  

Just knowing he wanted something from her made her throat feel hot.  

“…Shati, yes.”  

The woman cautiously repeated the unfamiliar word, as if reciting it.  

Like a child rolling candy around in their mouth, she savored the name he had given her.  

Shati, Shati. It sounded lively and lovely somehow.  

Does that mean he sees me that way?  

Or perhaps there’s some sort of meaning behind it?  

As she silently mouthed the name several times, pondering the gift she had received…  

“Why? Don’t you like it?”  

Karel’s low voice broke the silence. The faint wrinkles on his brow suggested he was far from displeased.  

After observing his expressions for days and nights, she had come to vaguely understand the emotions that crossed his face.  

She interpreted it as hesitation—an awkwardness stemming from her delayed response, as if he felt he had done something foolish.  

“N-No, of course not.”  

She replied hastily. There was no way she could dislike it. It was given by the man she had chosen, the one who had saved her from the hellish nights of Magiella.  

Shati, Shati.  

Jonathan becomes Johnny, Thomas becomes Tommy, Greta becomes Retty. It felt like a nickname.  

Shati, Shati…  

“Shati, I like it.”  

She, Shati, smiled bashfully.  

Her face, flushed from the heat of the evaporating bathwater, and the excitement of holding him within her, lit up with an innocent smile.  

Karel had never seen such a face before.  

When he thought it was radiant, his heart raced in a way he had never experienced. But without questioning why, Karel tilted his head and captured her lips again.  

It was likely just guilt over his impulsive actions.  

Her violet eyes disappeared from his view.  

Shati wrapped her arms around his neck.  

***

Thin rays of sunlight pierced through the layered windows, splitting the room. The storm of Magiella that had threatened beyond the outer walls had long subsided, leaving the surroundings quiet. Even with her eyes closed, Shati could sense the brightness of the room, and she woke with a start.  

Wait, wait, wait—this is the physician’s house, and this is… the physician’s bedroom!  

She had completely forgotten that the physician had sold her to Randolph for a few gold coins, along with a few nights in this house. Instead, Shati was mortified at the thought of having disturbed the home of the respected village physician. Only now, with the darkness and clouds of Magiella’s night cleared, did she notice the state of the room.

The man sleeping beside her might not care, but for Shati, who had lived her life as a servant, all of this was something that needed to be tidied up.  

Carefully lifting Karel’s heavy arm, Shati sprang to her feet and gathered the linen stained with last night’s traces. She carried them to the bathroom, meticulously wiped up the water that had overflowed from the tub, placed the linens in the laundry basket, and set it outside. Returning to the room, she began organizing the whiskey bottles scattered across the floor, along with the torn chemise.  

It was then that she noticed Karel’s cloak, crumpled like a carpet.  

The fabric, as black and heavy as his hair, was adorned with fur of a color she had never seen before. Most notably, beneath the cloak lay a blanket, and beneath that…  

‘Ah, the floor must be soaked in blood…’  

Shati froze, unable to bring herself to touch it.  

The memories of three days ago came rushing back all at once.  

Only then did she feel the dull ache in every corner of her body. Muscles she had never had to use during lonely nights screamed in protest. She had spent hours receiving the man’s weight, bent over with her legs folded, crushed against the bed’s headboard, the console, or the tea table. She had endured in unfamiliar positions, trembling in climax multiple times, and her body couldn’t help but be shocked.  

To compensate for the time he hadn’t been able to visit her, the man’s member relentlessly sought her out, recovering its hardness and thickness each time. It violently stirred her insides, as though her pelvis had been widened by his girth, leaving her sore and creaking.  

Though she had spent nights with him before, they had never been continuous, night and day. It was as if he needed to bury himself inside her to survive, leaving her no choice but to accept him.  

Even amidst her brief reflections, a tingling sensation spread below her navel.  

Am I truly the lewd witch Sir Knight said I was?  

Caught in her naive thoughts, Shati shook her head vigorously. This wasn’t the time for such distractions. There were mountains of tasks she needed to tend to immediately.  

‘Ah, what should I do about this?’  

She had never cleaned blood soaked into wooden floors before. 

Could I use that expensive whiskey, just as Sir Knight had done?  

As she struggled to piece together her fragmented thoughts, she stood idly.  

Bang! Bang! Bang!  

The sound of someone knocking on the door echoed from the landing below the stairs.  

It was still early—who could it be?  

Now that she thought about it, she could faintly hear the murmuring of people outside. Though the shutters were tightly closed and thick curtains drawn, the sound of a group gathering was unmistakable once she noticed it.  

‘Ah, come to think of it, didn’t Sir Knight leave someone outside…?’  

It seemed Sir Knight had left the lord’s son, Randolph, out there.  

As if to confirm her thoughts, faint sunlight seeped in, illuminating the hallway. Drops of blood were scattered along the floor, leading toward the stair landing. It was undoubtedly the trail left by Karel as he carried Randolph’s corpse.  

Over the past three days, during her occasional trips to gather food, she hadn’t noticed it. Then again, it had been night the entire time.