Claude felt like laughing at discovering a perverse tendency he hadn’t known about himself, but he didn’t withdraw his hand.

After hesitating, Flora spoke in a small voice.

“……It’s hot.”

That thing, which had clearly hardened, was extremely hot. Meanwhile, the hand that had been toying with her chest slid down below her navel and stopped at a certain point.

“And?”

“My lord, that’s……”

Flora asked in confusion as Claude spread her thighs apart with both hands despite her attempts to close them.

“Is that all you have to say?”

Claude, who had been licking her sensitive area with his tongue, let out a soft laugh and dug his other hand between her two legs. Her body completely froze.

When he placed his large palm against her intimate area, her soft skin clung to it. His palm slowly caressed the still-dry inside. Wherever his hand passed, heat flared up intensely.

The gentle caressing gradually changed into a more aggressive action. Her back involuntarily arched at his stroking movements. Feeling something flowing downward, Flora bit her lower lip.

“This part is quite hot too. Getting wet so quickly.”

Claude tilted his delicate jawline and smiled slightly.

While pressing against her entrance and maintaining subtle pressure, moisture gradually seeped out. Only after wetting her sufficiently did Claude remove his hand.

When he lightly pushed her shoulder, Flora lay completely on the bed despite the minimal force.

As Claude raised his upper body and threw off the robe he had been wearing, his rock-hard abs were revealed. His thick forearms and muscles developed over years were beautiful enough to make even Flora admire them.

Claude embraced her slender waist, pulling her close, and carefully pushed himself into her. The sensation—narrow yet maddeningly hot and soft—strongly struck the man’s entire body.

Their connected parts tingled instantaneously. Even while gasping for breath and clinging to the collar of his robe, Flora complied with his wishes. It felt as if her mind was melting into pure white from the pleasure overwhelming her body.

“Haa……”

Flora continuously let out moans amid the boiling ecstasy. Soon even the breath that escaped between her lips was completely devoured by him.

Claude, who had been persistently entangling with her stiffened small tongue, slowly raised his eyelids.

“Your tongue…… stick it out more.”

He spoke while their lips remained pressed together.

As she slowly complied with his instructions, his tongue deeply penetrated and thoroughly licked the inside of her mouth. The kiss intensified, and the hot flesh thoroughly ravaged her insides.

He pressed his lips against her slender neckline and hollow collarbone, putting strength into his waist. Eventually, his beast-like body, silhouetted against the moonlight, moved dynamically.

Her ribcage, pinned under his solid and firm body, rose and fell. He drove into her so forcefully that she couldn’t think of anything else.

When she tried to turn her head away, embarrassed by the kiss while making eye contact, his firm hand grabbed her chin and held it in place.

“Don’t turn your head away.”

Claude carefully examined her expression. Both of her cheeks were flushed red. Her blue eyes, full of moisture, rippled like the surface of a calm water where a stone had been thrown.

It was an utterly satisfying sight.

* * *

Claude rubbed his eyes while deeply buried in his office chair. Heriot sighed and asked his master, whose face showed strange fatigue.

“Did you not sleep again yesterday? You seemed to be sleeping better these past few days. Did you not take your medicine?”

“The medicine I have now has no effect anyway.”

“Then perhaps you should seek out a renowned physician again. How long will you continue to suffer like this? Since Flora stays up all night watching over you, let’s use this opportunity to look for various new solutions.”

Heriot, unable to directly suggest that he should stop relying solely on medicine and perhaps seek mental counseling, let out a deep sigh. He felt somewhat sorry for his master who was still bound by the past.

However, at his subordinate’s grumbling, Claude was recalling last night. In truth, he had long ago found the best method to fall asleep.

When he embraced Flora, the noise ringing in his ears subsided. His mind became strangely peaceful, and he could get a good night’s sleep, which even cleared away his persistent headaches.

He had only encountered an unexpected obstacle.

The problem lately was that he would spend the entire night entangled with her body without any intention of sleeping.

Strangely, she was a woman he constantly wanted to touch. Though he had initially regarded her merely as a means to alleviate his insomnia, the more he embraced her, the more unsatisfied he felt, and thirst arose.

Seeing her clear face as she obediently nestled in his arms even while breathing heavily, he would indulge in her again like he’s intoxicated by an addictive drug. To the point where the restraint he had prided himself on was nowhere to be found.

After thoroughly taking her body that so strongly stimulated his nerves all night long, he would not only feel physically refreshed but also achieve a fullness enough to cover all the emptiness he possessed.

Recalling the tears that had welled up in her reddened eyes last night, he felt his lower body tighten again. Just imagining the sweet heat rising from her plump lips made his throat sting with thirst.

The sweet scent emanating from Flora wasn’t like a subtle floral fragrance. Nor was it like a sweet dessert. Though he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, it was captivating enough to make his insides burn hot with the desire to endlessly devour her, despite finding it irritating.

Even the marks left from biting into her soft flesh were pleasing. The urge to taste the marks he had created again and to bite and swallow them without leaving anything behind was directed only at her.

Claude’s eyes narrowed as he recalled last night’s impressions.

I’ve completely lost my mind.

That was the only expression he could find to describe his current state.

He was honestly bewildered, as this was the first woman to make him so aroused. Who would have thought he would personally confirm the answer to the question of whether she could endure well in bed?

Flora’s stamina was as impressive as his own abundant energy. Even when driven to the point of fainting, she received him well without a single complaint. Sometimes he even suspected that she might be treating the act itself as a form of training.

As a result, his body, never satisfied with just once, would burrow into her until he was tired of it, leading to a situation where for several days, far from getting proper sleep, he was actually consuming more energy. It was almost laughable that the woman he had chosen to have peaceful nights had now become the cause of a new insomnia.

Nevertheless, Claude was confident in his rational side. At least his desire for her wasn’t as vulgar as that of dim-witted men whose judgment was clouded by obsession with women. Even his maddening desire was merely a light emotion that would surely fade away before long.

At that moment, the sound of papers being slapped on the desk brought him back to reality.

“You still need to review the state affairs.”

Heriot gestured to the pile of documents stacked high, saying it was no use making excuses about insomnia. It was an enormous amount that made Claude sigh.

“Why are there so many?”

“They all came up from the territory. It seems to be about repairing the embankment that collapsed due to last year’s rain.”

The Heinst family’s territory was located in the south, a day’s journey from the capital.

It was land with quite fertile soil, known as the largest granary in the south, making it an estate envied by other nobles.

“I thought that was already finished?”

The end of his elegantly extended eyebrow rose for a moment.

He had first received the report a month ago. If heavy rain fell again, they would inevitably suffer greater damage, so it was strange that the issue hadn’t been resolved yet.

“Viscount Wecker should be able to handle things like this on his own.”

Currently, the territory management was entrusted to Viscount Wecker, a vassal family and long-standing local dignitary of the region. Most matters were handled within his authority, so it was puzzling that documents that needed approval had come up to him.

“It seems to be a financial burden.”

“Tell them to proceed with such matters immediately without waiting for my permission in the future.”

“More importantly, they say they’re severely short on manpower. That area wasn’t completely spared from the damage of war either, so it’s understandable they’re short on men.”

Claude, about to set his quill pen on the opened document, pondered for a moment. Come to think of it, using the embankment issue in the domain as an excuse to redeploy the knights wouldn’t look like a bad move.

“It’s about time to summon them.”

“……Do you mean Baren?”