“Breti, lift your hips.”

Karsten spoke as he held her waist. At his words, Breti tried to move her body.

“More… more. That’s it. You follow instructions so sweetly, don’t you?”

When at last she lifted her hips just as he wanted, Karsten showered her face with kisses, then pressed his lips firmly to her sweet mouth.

“Hhh….”

From the moment they became one, a low moan slipped from Breti’s lips. Hearing it, Karsten’s eyes flashed.

“Do you like it?”

When he murmured softly into her ear, Breti’s body shivered. Karsten, who had her completely under his control, once again looked down at where their bodies were joined.

“Look, Breti—we’ve become one like this.”

At the sound of his provocative voice, both her cheeks flushed deep red. Karsten smirked and brushed his lips over her cheeks repeatedly.

“Breti.”

He whispered softly into her ear once more. Overcome with pleasure, Breti’s body trembled.

“Jena.”

“Ahh…!”

“My little bird.”

When he called her by his middle name, Breti’s body responded with even greater honesty.

A faint smile touched the corner of Karsten’s lips.

“You’ll be mine forever, Breti.”

He kept whispering into her ear.

Then, all at once, Karsten felt as if his body were floating in midair. The next moment, he saw someone—identical to himself—lying with Breti, locked in the act of making love.

Sensing something was wrong, Karsten tried to speak, but it was as if his throat had been sealed shut. Not a single sound could escape.

“Karsten, don’t even dream of it.”

💙💙💙 💙💙💙

It was in the early hours of the morning.

Karsten jolted upright in bed, startled. He was drenched in cold sweat, as though waking from a nightmare. Wiping the moisture from his brow, he muttered a low curse.

“D*mn it.”

Lately, Karsten had been having the same dream every night.

In it, he was holding a n*ked Breti in his arms, not letting her rest for even a moment—relentlessly tormenting her, pouring out every last drop of his desire.

But in the end, his soul would be torn from his body, leaving him utterly powerless. His body remained there, joined with Breti—while he could only stand and watch.

“Why am I having dreams like this…?”

The raw vividness of it—so real it felt as if he had truly experienced it—repeating night after night, was enough to drive him mad.

Why in the world was he dreaming such a thing?

In his dream, the man holding Breti was undoubtedly himself—and yet, paradoxically, he felt it wasn’t truly his own form.

It was as if he had become someone else entirely.

‘What is this…?’

Since the rainy season had ended and the sun had returned in full force, Karsten no longer suffered from bouts of sleepwalking. It should have been a relief.

And yet, from time to time, he still found himself waking from dreams like the one tonight.

After splashing some water on his face, Karsten rose from the bed. He pulled on the robe draped over the chair beside it and stepped out onto the balcony.

The dark night sky glittered with countless stars, so brilliant it seemed they might spill down at any moment.

But that beauty did not hold his gaze.

Instead, his eyes were fixed on the balcony connected to Breti’s room.

A strange, incomprehensible feeling surged over him like a tide—something ticklish, unfamiliar, and perhaps even faintly tender.

At times, he wanted to hold on to it. Other times, a contradiction swept over him, warning that he should not let it continue.

Caught between those opposing currents, a thought suddenly crossed Karsten’s mind.

[A marriage contract between a noble or royal and a commoner is not valid.]

It was the law of the Pensia Empire: not only did it forbid unions between royals and commoners, it also forbade unions between nobles and commoners.

With it came an unwelcome memory tied to his own birth.

Karsten was not Meliover’s true-born son. He was the child of Cariel—Meliover’s husband—and Psyche, the commoner woman Cariel had truly loved.

Cariel had broken the Empire’s laws by proposing to Psyche, but the Pensia Cathedral refused to recognize their marriage.

Despite his best efforts to overcome this obstacle, Psyche could not bear to cause him any more trouble.

If it hadn’t been for her, he could have married a noblewoman and lived a respectable life. Because of her, his future felt ruined.

And so, without a word, Psyche vanished from his life.

Months after she left, she discovered that she was pregnant with Cariel’s child.

“My precious child. This mother will protect you.”

Instead of despairing at the thought, Psyche was overjoyed at the prospect of bearing a child who would resemble the man she loved. After carrying his child for ten long months, Psyche gave birth to Karstern alone.

However, she could not endure the agony of labour. Before she could name her child, she died.

The news soon reached Cariel. Having already lost Psyche, Cariel was living like a broken man and was destined for an arranged marriage.

“This child… Are you saying he is truly Psyche’s son?”

In his ruined state, Cariel held his son in his arms. Only after embracing the boy did he realize he could not afford to remain so shattered.

He confessed the truth to Meliover—that he had a child, and that the woman he had loved was the one who bore him.

“Meliover, I had someone I loved. Although she has passed away, she left behind a child. I cannot marry you as though nothing had happened.”

He expected her to break the engagement without hesitation. But Meliover’s answer was different.

“Then let us raise him as our own, Cariel.”

Cradling the child in her arms, Meliover smiled brightly as she spoke.

“Cariel, what do you think of the name Karsten?”

“Meliover, I cannot burden you with such a responsibility.”

Time and again, Cariel tried to persuade her otherwise.

“Cariel, the truth is… my body makes it difficult to bear children. I mean… I can’t give you a proper heir.”

Even as she confessed her failing health, she drew the newborn Karsten closer against her.

Cariel tried many times afterwards to convince Meliover, but she never wavered. Ultimately, the two got married and Karsten grew up surrounded by Meliover’s boundless love.

Even after his younger sister Laterna was born, Meliover’s affection for Karsten never changed.

Karsten was twelve years old when it happened. While on holiday with his family in the south, he found out that his birth mother was still alive.

“…”

Having learned about the tragedy that befell his parents, Karsten was determined not to let it happen again.

‘It’s nothing.’

He had no wish to dwell on the reason for his dreams or the strange, incomprehensible emotions stirring within him.

Karsten quickly pulled his gaze away from Breti’s window.

As he returned to his room, he saw the balcony door to Breti’s room open.

A brisk, chilly wind blew in and Breti pulled her robe tightly around her.

Her eyes, as if drawn by a magnet, found their way to Karsten’s room.

Since the rainy season had ended, not a single drop of rain had fallen.

‘Why won’t it rain…’

There were countless nights like this, when she couldn’t sleep for hoping the rain might come—nights when she would step out onto the balcony and look toward Karsten’s room.

Whenever she saw the clear sky, she couldn’t hide the hollow feeling inside.

She looked at Karsten’s window with a faintly resentful gaze.

‘Why has His Highness been acting this way toward me lately…?’

It felt, somehow, as though he had turned cold again—like when they first met.

At times, it even seemed as though he were avoiding her, and the thought left her heart aching.

Recalling his distant behavior, tears slid down Breti’s cheeks.

“I don’t want anything from you, Your Highness.”

You can think of me as your sister.

Or not.

Even if you see me as nothing more than a doll in your possession, that’s fine.

So please…

“Just don’t avoid me.”

Wiping away the tears on her cheeks, Breti gathered her robe around her and stepped back into her room.