Before she even realized how it happened, breakfast was over.

The place he dragged Serine to afterward—embarrassingly enough—was the bathroom.

“You dirtied me, so wash me.”

What kind of nonsense was that?

Serine turned to leave. But the bathroom door was firmly locked.

Her heart dropped, as if she were lying in a pitch-dark bedroom after a night of sleep paralysis, not a single light in sight.

“Don’t be like that. Come here.”

The man resting his chin on the edge of the bathtub tilted his head. His cheek pressed lazily against his forearm, his once-sharp eyes softening into a languid smile.

“Scrub my back.”

His wet skin gleamed and his black hair clung damply to his body. There was something almost bewitching about him, reminiscent of a water spirit luring people in to devour them.

Yet the arm and shoulder that hung over the edge of the bath were densely packed with muscle. Even the slightest movement made him seem overwhelming.

With trembling hands, she picked up the soapy cloth and began to rub his shoulder.

Her head was spinning — she couldn’t tell whether it was from the heat of the bath or the heavy, languid scent in the air.

“Don’t you want revenge?”

She realized he was speaking through the subtle vibration of their touching skin.

“You must hate the family that doesn’t believe you.”

The corner of his lips curled. He was clearly testing her.

“The day after the ball, Marquess Penrose sent someone to me. He asked what happened that night.”

“…My father?”

She had tried not to react, yet the question slipped out anyway. She knew well how deeply her father hated Valoid. Still, she hadn’t expected him to send someone to confirm the truth.

“Don’t misunderstand. I told them exactly what happened. I swear it on the royal name I bear.”

“Did you really tell them the truth? Everything that happened that day?”

“I did. There’s no proof, but I also said it seemed like something Suzanna Penrose orchestrated.”

“……”

“I’m curious. Since I went that far, Suzanna Penrose must have been punished, right?”

Serine couldn’t answer.

The only one who had been punished was her.

“Poor Serine.”

A damp hand brushed against her cheek. She was too stunned to even think of pushing it away.

Even though Valoid’s testimony matched hers, her family had chosen to ignore it.

“Penrose has already made their choice. Even after hearing the truth, they decided not to believe you.”

“……”

“Now it’s your turn to make a choice—for yourself.”

“…And that choice is you?”

“Yes.”

His temptation clung to her torn heart like sticky glue.

“I’ll take care of everything. You just have to take my hand.”

“…What exactly are you planning to do?”

“Well. Since they already call you a disgrace, why not become one for real? A stain on the family name that will never fade.”

His smiling face blurred through the rising steam. Submerged in the bath, he looked like something that had just crawled out of sin itself—horrifyingly alluring, and just as cruel in the way it tore at her heart.

“Come here.”

With one hand, he pressed gently against her back.

“If you’re going to cry from now on, cry in my arms.”

His body was pressed against hers, still burning with sensual heat, every inch of him as hard as stone. Yet, as if detached from that desire, he held her quietly and gently.

No one had ever embraced her like this before, offering her such solace.

She knew his intentions weren’t pure.

And yet… it felt warm.

Why did it have to be his arms?

“I said let’s have some fun, but all you do is cry.”

Valoid softly clicked his tongue after whispering something sweet. Then he realized that Serine was positioned in such a way that he couldn’t see her lips. Was there no way to pry open her ear?

On impulse, he bit the rim of her ear.

Her slender body jerked in his arms, but he tightened his grip and slowly and deliberately pressed his tongue into the small opening.

As expected, it was small. Only the tip of his tongue could slip inside. Still, something about it stirred his appetite.

He pushed his tongue in and out at a languid pace. A slick, almost venomous moisture gathered, leaving her ear damp and glistening. He prodded the pale curve repeatedly until the surrounding skin turned red.

As he moved his tongue faster and faster, Serine shuddered, unable to endure it any longer.

“Hng… ah… please, stop. Please stop…”

He wanted to thrust.

But not into this.

The light faded from Valoid’s eyes.

His hand, steeped in a darkened greed, slid over her soft body before gripping her shoulder.

“Ah!”

Her tilted body slipped into the bathtub. Her face, hair, and clothes were soaked through in an instant.

As she flailed, a strong grip seized her.

By the time she regained her senses, she was straddling Valoid, who lay half-reclined in the tub.

“So this was your plan from the start….”

“Yes.”

Without hesitation, he admitted it and closed his hand over her chest through her soaked clothes. He cupped her completely, pulling her soft flesh inwards before teasing her with his thumb and forefinger.

At his firm grasp, a sharp, unfamiliar sensation shot down to her lower abdomen. Startled, she inhaled deeply, her chest rising with the breath.

“Are you trying to seduce me?”

Without pausing, he buried his face in the hollow of her chest. His tongue traced slow, deliberate paths while his hands continued their restless movements. Even through the thin, wet fabric, the heat of his touch felt unbearably vivid.

“Haa—!”

Her body jerked involuntarily as the pressure increased. He steadied her, pressing her down against him and holding her in place.

Something stirred beneath her — long, smooth and insistent — shifting as if searching for its place. She leaned back instinctively, but as he moved his leg, her body slid forward again.

A faint, breathless sound escaped her lips.

“Don’t fidget like that.”

“I’m not—!”

His hand moved lower, brushing aside the soaked fabric. The sensation alone made her tremble.

“Warm… and not just from the water.”

“Ah—!”

Her breath caught in her throat as the sharp, sudden sensation washed over her again. Its unfamiliarity made her flinch, but she couldn’t escape it.

He shifted slightly, causing the water to slosh around them and exposing their skin to the cool air. This heightened every sensation, making every touch sharper and more impossible to ignore.

His movements remained unhurried and almost playful, as if he were testing her reactions.

“You’re more sensitive than I thought.”

“A—ah… no… please…”

Her voice trembled, weak, as if she had already lost control.

But she had chosen the wrong person to plead with.

“Ah—!”

He lowered his head again, his touch relentless yet controlled, as though he were savoring each of her reactions.

The warmth of the bath and his touch combined to create an overwhelming sensation, making her whole body feel as if it were melting. She trembled in his arms, her breathing becoming uneven and ragged.

“Does it feel good? You react so easily.”

“Aah—!”

Her voice broke, unable to form anything coherent anymore.

“Did you really think you could live as a refined lady with a body like this? How boring.”

He was excessively skillful. He easily cooked Serine, swallowing her whole in one bite. In the wet and slushy depths, Serine could not hold out for long.

“Hwaaah!”

His p*nis forced its way inside her, pushing through her tightly contracting interior. As expected, having a foreign object inside her lower abdomen was agonizing. However, perhaps because her body had relaxed in the warm bath, the pain was much less intense than the previous two times.

“You’re tightening too much. I can’t even move.”

He lowered his hand to touch her private parts. The mucous membrane was stretched to accommodate such a large p*nis and was pitifully taut.

His fingers grazed over it, caressing her cl*toris. Each time he pinched and scraped the small patch of skin where all her nerves converged, she was blinded by flashes of light. It felt as if someone had grabbed her by the hair — she couldn’t focus.

“Aah! Ah! Stop!”

“I haven’t even started thrusting yet, and you’re already in such a state.”

Her insides contracted and gripped his p*nis of their own accord. Even without him moving, her belly pulsed with a sweet vibration. Her internal walls, pressed down by his overwhelming size, cried out in ecstasy at the sensation.

When he pressed firmly down on her cl*toris and twisted, her inner folds shivered and she cl*maxed. Her hot, pulsating inner walls constricted around his p*nis, almost suffocating it.

“How brazen of you. Did you just m*sturbate using my c*ck?”