“But I can’t hear it properly—”

“I can hear everything, so just stay still.”

‘Oh, so only you have ears? I want to hear it too!’

Frustrated, Raylin whipped her head around to glare at him.

And then she froze in shock.

The distance between them had somehow shrunk even more than before—far closer than when she had already been at a loss about what to do.

So focused on Catherine, Raylin hadn’t realized that she had quite literally burrowed into Aiger’s embrace with an almost obsessive persistence.

“Ah, um… uh.”

Realizing this too late, Raylin hurriedly placed her hands on his chest, intending to push herself away.

At that moment, the veins on Aiger’s arm, which had been wrapped around her waist, bulged, and their noses brushed together.

In the dark blue of the winter night, tiny flecks of fresh spring green began to appear, one by one, and soon they intermingled.

The instant she became aware of how close they had become, their noses already grazed.

And in the next moment, their lips met.

As she inhaled, his breath mixed with hers, prompting Raylin to instinctively retreat.

But Aiger chased after her, tilting his head slightly, deepening the kiss, leaving her no room to escape.

She couldn’t tell whether the moment their gazes locked had lasted too long or too little.

The moment her eyes reflexively shut, she was completely swept up in the force of his relentless kiss.

“Raylin.”

Still pressing their lips together, Aiger called her name. Seeing the hazy green of her eyes, he kissed her again without hesitation.

As he subtly shifted the angle, his lips brushed over hers, coaxing them apart slightly. The contact made her already flushed lips deepen in color.

Whenever she gasped for breath, desperate to inhale even a little air, he relentlessly chased after her lips, allowing no room for distance.

“Hah… ha…”

Barely managing to steal a breath, Raylin inhaled sharply, only for Aiger to capture her lips once more before she could fully recover.

With the kiss growing deeper, Raylin had no time to steady her spinning thoughts. Instead, she clung to his chest as if it were the only thing keeping her grounded.

By the time his tongue slipped past her lips, pushing and prodding in search of more, she had stopped struggling to escape and instead was unconsciously tangled in his breath.

No one had expected this kiss, and yet, within the confines of the small space, the heat between them rose rapidly.

As her slender neck tilted further and further back, Aiger placed a firm hand at its base, supporting her. Despite already being pressed so close together, he pulled her waist even tighter against him.

Their chests, fully pressed together, pounded in sync, their heartbeats drumming wildly.

Wasn’t this enough to make her heart burst? The intense vibrations coursed through her entire body, leaving her legs weak and her toes tingling.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, due to the extreme narrowness of the space, their legs were tangled together, preventing them from collapsing in an unsightly heap.

“Eh… Aiger.”

The moment Raylin barely managed to utter his name—

Sweet.

His breath, carrying a scent so sweet it felt like her tongue might melt, tickled her damp lips.

As Aiger’s pupils narrowed like those of a predator, he once again stole Raylin’s breath.

As if no matter how much he consumed, he would never be full; as if no matter how much he drank, he would never quench his thirst—he devoured her whole, pressing and overlapping their lips over and over.

“Ha…”

As a low sigh was transmitted through their connected lips, his voice flowed into Raylin’s dazed ears.

“Just a little more.”

No, stop… she tried to push him away, but instead, her arms wrapped around his neck.

The sound of panting breaths, the thudding heartbeat that seemed to have moved to her ears, the occasional moan escaping between them, and even the low growl that rumbled from his throat—

Didn’t someone once say a first kiss tasted like strawberries?

Absolutely, definitely not.

As her vision blurred into a hazy mist and her senses were overwhelmed by the dizzying sensations invading her, Raylin found herself drawing breath from him.

The faint scent of osmanthus, which had always lingered subtly, now bloomed more strongly than ever, and Aiger inhaled deeply.

“Uh, ha… haah haah haah.”

As Raylin gasped for breath in desperation, Aiger lightly licked her lips before trailing downward, placing a kiss on her chin as if pecking at it.

The moment his hot breath brushed against the line of her neck and his lips landed on her fair skin—

“Ah, my apologies for keeping you waiting!”

Arian’s voice, which had been distant until now, suddenly rang out close by, and the focus returned to Raylin’s half-lidded eyes.

Click.

With the sound of a latch being released, the door swung open, and Arian’s chatter poured in all at once.

“You may come out now! Haha. It took longer than expected. Well, work never goes exactly as planned, does it? This time, the client was particularly troublesome and tried to commission a filthy job for dirt-cheap.”

Wearing his usual smirk, he noticed Raylin stepping out first and tilted his head in curiosity.

“Are you alright? Your face is awfully flushed. Was it too hot in there? I did install a temperature control function, so that shouldn’t be— Huh? Huh? My lady? Where are you going?”

Before he could even attempt to stop her, Raylin dashed out, leaving Arian staring after her in bewilderment.

“Was it too cramped…?”

Since he had designed the space solely for his own use, even with the expansion function, perhaps it had still been too tight for two people?

Reflecting momentarily on his magic, Arian soon shook his head and turned to Aiger.

“The compensation my lady promised—His Highness will be the one to pay, correct? You two are engaged, after all.”

Under normal circumstances, Aiger would have kicked Arian for his blatant attempt to hold him responsible for his lover’s words, despite knowing full well their engagement was purely political.

But instead, Aiger simply nodded.

In fact, he even seemed pleased.

Sensing that something was off, Arian instinctively stepped back, rubbing his arms as goosebumps formed.

Something had definitely happened between those two inside.

However, seeing the usually ruthless predator now wearing a thoroughly satisfied smile made his curiosity evaporate completely.

No, rather, he had a very strong feeling that knowing any more would spell disaster for him.

For once, Arian wisely kept his mouth shut, refraining from his usual snide remarks.

Even though this was technically his own room, he found himself cornered to one side, grimacing, while Aiger paid him no mind.

Pressing a thumb against his lips, Aiger exhaled a breath that had cooled slightly but still carried heat.

His heart pounded as if it had relocated to his lips.

Staring at the empty space Raylin had vacated, he slowly clenched his fist.

“If only I had a little more time…”

At Aiger’s murmured words, Arian flinched visibly.

“What a shame.”

Glancing at Aiger for any hint of his mood, Arian cautiously spoke up.

“Should I have kept the wild lady of Sillion restrained for a little longer? Did you fail to gather the necessary information?”

“Yes. I should have kept her for a while longer.”

Of course, both of them knew that wasn’t the real reason, but neither voiced it aloud.

Aiger’s gaze swept over the spot where Raylin had disappeared as he finally spoke again.

“Now, let’s discuss the compensation my fiancée promised.”

***

“Did you hear?”

“Hm? Hear what?”

In a bustling port city some distance from the capital, the eve of the grandest, largest trade ship’s completion was in full swing.

The townsfolk, as if being rewarded for their months of toil, indulged in food and drink without restraint, and visitors from outside joined in the revelry.

Lively music blended chaotically with the laughter of children running around, while a man, pride swelling in his chest from having contributed to the ship’s construction, blinked as he paused mid-sip of his beer.

“Ah, well, you were at the construction site all the time, so you might not have heard.”

It wasn’t the woman who had first spoken that resolved his confusion but the vendor selling skewers beside her.

“Something happened?”

“Oh, something happened alright.”

Teasingly drawing out the moment, the vendor only resumed speaking after finishing flipping all the skewers.

“The lord here has been utterly wrecked.”

“Huh? The lord has been… wrecked?”

The man, who had been nodding along and mumbling the older man’s words, widened his eyes as if they were about to pop out.

“Well, even if we talk loudly, it’s so noisy today that it probably doesn’t matter.”

The older man casually added another skewer to the man’s plate and continued speaking.

“You know that a very high-ranking person has arrived, right?”

“Of course. I even saw his face. Not just once, but many times.”

At first, the man had boasted with a sense of superiority about seeing a lofty figure that others could not even dream of. But soon, he downed his beer with a bitter expression, as if he had just bitten into an unripe persimmon.

That noble from the capital—wasn’t he called Duke Lucart?