3. Crimson (Part 3)

There’s a big difference between not knowing what to expect and knowing what awaits you. After somewhat pushing Alexander at breakfast and extracting his promise, Eirin headed to the study late at night, unable to calm her pounding heart.

The amount she wrote today was several times more than usual. It was more than she had written in the last two weeks. Not only that, but unlike the writing she had done before, where she would constantly scratch her head and flip through reference books due to her lack of knowledge, the novel she wrote today seemed to be alive and vibrant, like a painting. The scenes were not just about sexual encounters.

She was able to beautifully express the female protagonist’s nervous feelings as she gazed at the male protagonist, as well as her heartfelt emotions. The content that she had previously written in a rather rough manner was now recorded differently under her pen.

So… she wanted to hear from Alexander once more.

As Eirin walked down the dimly lit hallway, she shook her head the moment she stepped into the darkness.

No, that’s a lie. A complete lie.

Let’s not lie in the middle of this empty place.

Eirin placed her hand over her lips. It still tingled where he’d touched her yesterday.  When Alexander and Stefan had acted as if her staying home was nothing exciting, Eirin had to admit they were right – reading novels was about the only joy in her mundane life. Going for a walk in the fields with Victoria on a nice day would be the only slight accent in her dull life.

But now, Eirin had an adventure that she couldn’t share with anyone. Sneaking out of her bedroom at night to meet a man – and not just any man, but Alexander.

An incredible adventure awaited her.

While it was just a matter of listening to his stories, her heart was pounding. Standing before the study door, she took a deep breath, her palm pressed against the heavy wood. The study was not far from her bedroom, yet her breathing had become labored.

On the other side of this door was Alexander.

And who knows what might happen today.

At that moment, a deep, rich voice whispered near her ear.

“Aren’t you coming in?”

“Ah!” 

Alexander.

Jumping up in surprise, Eirin clamped her hands over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Turning around, she saw his smiling lips glimmering in the moonlight. With her hands still clamped over her mouth, she whispered softly.

“I was planning to go in.”

At her words, Alexander twisted the doorknob and held the door open for her. Stepping inside, she groped with a fumbling hand to illuminate the study. The dim lamplight revealed his figure.

“Thank you for coming.”

“I’ll be here whenever you want me to.”

He smiled wryly. Alexander’s smile cut sharply through Eirin’s heart.

“Th-thank you. Th-thank you so much.”

Eirin repeated the words like a parrot, taking a step back from him.

Today, Eirin had chosen an outfit that was less revealing, following Alexander’s advice from yesterday. She wore a dark satin dress that did not expose her chest too much. However, the delicate fabric still clung to her soft curves, accentuating her form.

Once inside the study, Alexander gestured to the brown leather sofa.

“Please, have a seat, my lady.”

“Thank you.”

Carefully walking over, she plopped down on the sofa, leaning her back against the hard backrest and opening her notebook. The pages were filled with questions she wanted to ask him today.

I shouldn’t ask anything too strange this time, like yesterday.

Eirin scanned the list, crossing out the questions she deemed too inappropriate.

“This one… no, I can’t ask that. This one… maybe later. And this one.”

As Eirin was editing her list, Alexander stepped closer and peered into her leather notebook from a distance.

If left as is, the ridiculous list would be revealed to him.

Eirin hurriedly tried to cover the notebook, but Alexander’s hand was faster, grabbing hold of it.

When his hand caught the notebook, Eirin looked up at him.

“Don’t look at it.”

“Are you shy about this when I’ve seen much more?”

Eirin’s face flushed red.  The phrase “much more” contained various meanings. Alexander had seen her racy novels, her intimates, and… well, things that should not have been shown.

Remembering her own improper behavior the previous day, Eirin swallowed hard. As soon as she took her hands off the notebook, Alexander’s piercing gaze fell upon the pages. One by one, the questions she had been too embarrassed to show anyone were laid bare before him. Alexander began reading them aloud.

“First question: When do men become… aroused? Second, what kinds of conversations do men and women typically have before sexual intercourse…” 

Hearing him verbalize the questions was far more mortifying than simply him reading them silently.

“Alexander.”

Eirin’s eyes narrowed as she glared up at him, but he chuckled and read the last question.

“And… how a man’s… ‘there’ looks. So you’re curious, are you?”

“You, you… man!” 

Eirin raised her voice sharply in anger, her face flushing. Seeing her react this way, Alexander let out another amused laugh. His typically aloof and haughty demeanor seemed unusually languid and mischievous in the study at night.

“Weren’t these the questions you wanted to ask me anyway?”

“No, that’s not… I was just curious before, so I had written them down.”

Alexander tapped the notebook lightly with his fingers as he spoke.

“So you were curious about these kinds of things before? Don’t worry, feel free to ask me anything if it’s to improve your ‘Spanish’. Learning is a good thing, after all.”

Is he trying to tease me?

Eirin narrowed her eyes slightly, suspecting ulterior motives, but Alexander simply raised his eyebrows.

“I’ll be happy to answer anything for you.”

There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, but Eirin decided to be bold. If he was willing to answer anything, she might as well ask what she had been most curious about – the part that had stumped her while writing.

“Then I won’t hold back. How do men typically converse with women at night?”

Novels usually depict the male and female protagonists professing their love to each other. Eirin’s own writing had been influenced by such stories, often involving declarations of love or descriptions of the beauty of the night. 

However, based on her experience the previous evening, there didn’t seem to be much time for poetic exchanges amidst the intense tension, when one could barely catch their breath.

“Converse?”

“Well, you see, the books I’ve read often have the characters profess their love….”

As she said that, Eirin’s eyes widened, realizing she had inadvertently revealed that she had been reading such scandalous material, not just writing them.

Fortunately, Alexander didn’t seem bothered by that. He simply placed a finger under his chin, as if contemplating the right way to have such conversations.

“What kind of conversation, you ask?”

“…Yes.”

“Eirin.” 

He reached out and grazed her small ear with his fingers. Whenever he sweetly spoke her name while caressing her like this, a shiver ran down her spine.

“You have such a beautiful face.”

“Ah…”

“And your red lips are so tempting.”

“——.”

When Eirin pursed her lips, unable to find the words, he leaned down and nibbled lightly on the nape of her neck. It didn’t hurt, but the tingling sensation was greater than the pain.

“Mm!”

“Your soft skin feels like silk against my lips.”

Every movement of his lips sent shivers through her.

The content of his words was no different from the lines of the protagonists in the novels. But hearing them spoken by Alexander, with his intense gaze piercing her, was an entirely different experience. His fingers wrapped around her exposed shoulder, and even that light touch felt like electricity jolting through her body.

Eirin looked into Alexander’s eyes. The clear, luminous blue had darkened to a deep navy, like a raging sea.

It wasn’t the words themselves that mattered, but rather who was speaking them and how.