Although she was on the carriage seat, there was no pain. Nergal climbed over Ir without hesitation. She had thought it was good that the seat was wide, but now that they were lying down, it became just like a narrow bed. While flustered by his sudden action, Ir pondered over his last words.

‘You’ll receive it now?’

He had answered as though he rightfully deserved that reward. Which meant….

“Don’t tell me Your Highness has been taking care of me…”

“Of course.”

Nergal answered, finding it strange that she hadn’t known until now. Ir was dumbfounded by his response.

‘You did all that yourself, Your Highness?’

She had thought it odd that there were hardly any servants around. While they had certainly been by her side constantly when she was sick, after she opened her eyes, they were only seen when bringing meals or tidying the bedding.

She had assumed Nergal had ordered minimal contact, but it turned out there hadn’t been anyone else from the start.

“I said I would take proper compensation.”

Nergal’s hand slipped inside Ir’s collar. She had been wearing multiple layers due to becoming sensitive to cold since getting this body. Though the clothes hastily prepared by Nergal’s subordinates weren’t of poor quality, they were Lagash style. In other words, they were easy to remove.

With just a few movements of Nergal’s hand, Ir’s chest was fully exposed. The cool air on her bare skin made her shiver. Unconsciously, Ir raised her arms to cover her chest. Though it was certainly her body, it still felt unfamiliar in these moments, as though she were looking at someone else’s intimacy.

Perhaps displeased with her action, Nergal grabbed her arms and pushed them aside. She tried to resist a little, but having neither reason nor right to stop him, Ir soon relaxed and surrendered her body to him.

Seeing Ir turn her head away as she went limp, Nergal clicked his tongue softly.

“This makes me feel like some ruffian forcing himself on you. I’m only taking what you offered to give.”

His words were true. The contract had begun, and hadn’t she just said with her own mouth that she wanted to show her gratitude?

“I never said I would offer my body though.”

“I never said I’d accept anything else.”

“…”

Ir closed her mouth at Nergal’s retort. Indeed, she always lost when arguing with him. Even when making reports at the imperial palace, she had talked back a few times when feeling wronged. When she did, Nergal would return it with criticism a hundred times harsher than what she had said.

“Do as you please. Since I’ve already promised my body anyway, I thought you might prefer something else.”

All she had was this newly acquired body. Wasn’t that why she had offered it as payment for the contract?

Nergal smiled at Ir’s response. His smile wasn’t mocking, but rather seemed genuinely pleased, making Ir’s eyes widen. It was absurd to see him smiling like a boy after undressing her and exposing her chest. Even more absurd was how her heart had momentarily fluttered at that smile.

“I don’t do anything that puts me at a disadvantage. You should know that better than anyone.”

“…That’s true.”

Ir quietly averted her gaze.

“I intend to achieve my goal while also finding pleasure, so I hope you’ll stop worrying about such things.”

At the word ‘pleasure,’ Ir recalled the beautiful women she had sometimes guarded. The women who entered the palace as playmates for the royal family were mostly skilled in bed.

“…I’ll try my best.”

If she had known this would happen, she should have listened more carefully to the stories about nighttime activities that those women had teased her with. Just as Ir was regretting having dismissed those conversations, Nergal spoke.

“I look forward to your effort.”

Laughing audibly, Nergal kissed her right then. His tongue entered her mouth more skillfully than two days ago. This time, Ir didn’t struggle and accepted him.

Was it because this too was a physical act? Having done it once before, she could receive him much more skillfully than the first time.

Though breathing was still not comfortable, Ir carefully drew breath between his sucking and licking movements.

She didn’t know what he had eaten before getting in the carriage, but there was a fresh, cool taste on the tip of Nergal’s tongue. It seemed to be from one of the herbs chewed after cleaning one’s mouth. Perhaps it was due to the slight sweetness that lingered at the end, but she even felt a bit of regret each time his tongue wrapped around hers and pulled away.

Nergal’s tongue gently sucked and coiled around hers. Her body, now accustomed to kissing, quickly responded to other sensations as well.

A throbbing sensation spread in her lower abdomen while a strange tingling traveled up her feet. Even though this was the second time, she couldn’t get used to this feeling at all, and Ir ended up struggling with her arms that he had pushed aside.

Perhaps noticing this, Nergal wrapped her wandering arms around his neck. Ir had no choice but to embrace his neck and endure the stimulation he was giving her.

The second kiss was slower and more intense than the first.

If last time Nergal had entered frantically and stirred up her insides, this time he tasted her slowly, like someone savoring a flavor with leisure.

He would nibble on her lower lip, then scratch her sensitive palate with the tip of his tongue. As she realized that even such places could feel ticklish, Ir tightened her arms around his neck even more.

Nergal would poke at the back of her throat as though he wanted to go deeper, then pull back to tease her lips. This made Ir even more tense. She couldn’t tell when he would dive deep again.

His straight nose bridge lightly bumped against Ir’s nose. Chup chup. The sound of wet flesh intertwining was quite lewd.

Just as Ir was starting to relax, growing somewhat used to this kiss that was different from the first time.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Nergal’s hand grabbed her exposed br*ast. Her br*ast, which had slid to the side due to its weight, filled his hand completely.

“Ugh, hng!”

There hadn’t been any particular sensation when her chest was exposed. So she thought she wouldn’t be too surprised by whatever he did, but the feeling of his hand and body heat enveloping her was far more dizzying than expected.

Nergal’s hand lightly scratched the hardened peak of her br*ast.

“Ah!”

At the same time, Ir stiffened and trembled like someone struck by lightning. Though it was just his finger barely grazing past, her vision flickered as if lightning had struck her.

Seeing Ir’s reaction, Nergal pulled away from her lips he had been sucking on and muttered,  letting out a moan.

“More sensitive than I thought.”

‘Than I thought’? Did that mean he had thought about this before?

Usually, she would have immediately asked him about the question that came to mind. But now she couldn’t think straight. Because Nergal was squeezing her br*ast with force.

“Ah…!”

A tingling sensation spread along with mild pain. This made Ir gasp with her mouth open. But Nergal paid no mind and continued kneading her br*ast. Her fair br*ast escaped between his long fingers. Nergal trapped her now redder n*pple between his fingers, rubbing and moving his hand that gripped her br*ast widely.

“Hnng…!”

Unable to bear her flickering vision anymore, Ir finally closed her eyes. The knight’s teaching that one must keep their eyes open even when a sword comes to their neck didn’t cross her mind now. She had to take in these sensations she had never felt in her life before, without any preparation.

Her protruding n*pple became even harder. Nergal twisted it, then pressed down with his fingers. Then he would caress it with his palm as though he were pleased.

“Ah, uh, unng!”

Wet moans began to mix into Ir’s continuing gasps. Startled, Ir released her arms from around him and covered her mouth.

She couldn’t believe that sound had come from her.

Nergal watched her for a moment before moving his hand again. This time he grabbed both br*asts.

His previously rough hands moved even more lewdly. He would grab them, lift them up, press down with his palms while making large circles.

It was just holding a part of the body. During sparring, she had grabbed opponents with more force than this and shaken them. Compared to that, this should be nothing….

Then Nergal lightly pulled at her n*pples. As her shapely br*asts were lifted in his hands, pain mixed with tingles washed over Ir.

“Mmph, mm!”

Ir shook her head while covering her mouth. If it had been just pain alone, she could have endured it somehow. Enduring pain was what Ir was most confident in. But the strange pleasure mixed in with that pain was something Ir had never experienced before, so she had no choice but to be completely at its mercy.

Nergal, who had been toying with her br*asts, spoke.

“Don’t hold back your voice.”

His low voice sounded like a beast’s cry echoing in a cave. Though it was a strong command, Ir shook her head. Tears that had welled up from pleasure wet her eyes.

Don’t hold back her voice? That was impossible.

As Ir stubbornly kept her hand in place, Nergal’s eyes narrowed. The burning passion made his blue eyes darker.

“Ha….”

Letting out a languid breath, he ran his hand through his hair. The cool carriage interior had already grown hot with the heat they were both releasing.

“Are you going to keep holding back?”