Chapter 5 Part 2

He waited for Melissa’s reaction. He knew she admired him, called him her ideal and her world. She might not like to hear of his sordid past.

The little girl who used to smile brightly at him, seeing him as a fellow bastard child, was now different. Just as his parents had sold him for five hundred silver coins, love was a thing that discarded a beautiful shell when it became tiresome, rejected someone who didn’t fit together neatly, and abandoned those who annoyed.

Melissa’s expression was hard to read. Every time she approached, he felt like he couldn’t breathe. This sensation was never pleasant.

Standing one step away, Melissa turned her body in the direction he was facing. She stood there, eyes closed, letting the sea breeze wash over her. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and then her voice came, clear and calm. The sea-colored light of her eyes was revealed.

“I’ve seen you standing on the watchtower.”

Her voice cracked a little with tension but sounded gentle.

“Even from afar, I could tell you were staring at the empty sky. If I may say so, it was heartbreaking.”

He wasn’t sure which day she had seen him, but it probably wasn’t a special one. He usually stood on the watchtower thinking only of the landscape stretching to the horizon and devising tactics. And yet she said it was heartbreaking.

“I know what it feels like to stand alone.”

He remained silent. He wanted to hear more of her gentle words.

“I have no memories of my parents. I only have faint impressions… just a feeling. My mother died shortly after I was born. She was executed. So I know nothing about my father.”

Alexander had no intention of blaming Melissa’s mother, who had plotted rebellion while serving under Lutelros. Bergritz had already grown weak, and threats like that were commonplace. But he was curious about the motive behind the rebellion. After all, no one knew the reason.

A long time ago, the Gallandia family, along with Bergritz, led the charge against the spirits during the war, and based on that, they remained loyal to Bergritz for centuries. Their crest symbolized following their lord faithfully, even for personal reasons. Given that Gallandia’s influence was weak, they likely didn’t rebel just out of ambition to take over Bergritz.

“My grandfather was quite reserved. Even when he sent me away as a hostage, he didn’t say a single kind word. Only now does he tell me he misses me.”

He wondered what her expression would be if she knew it wasn’t her grandfather but Boris who said he missed her. Whatever it might be, he didn’t particularly want to see it. It was bound to be troublesome.

While Alexander was thinking indifferently, he felt her gaze.

“Alexander.”

Melissa was looking at him steadily. Sunlight fell softly on her cheek and eyes.

“You stand atop a dragon, but honestly, when I see you, I think of a hawk. A lone hawk, always flapping its wings.”

“…”

“How do you think a hawk that never rests and keeps flapping its wings looks?”

“Who knows. Pathetic?”

“It looked sad.”

She leaned against the rampart and smiled faintly.

“Isn’t it strange? At first, I admired you, thinking you were at the highest place. But when I realized you were ultimately alone, I was reminded of my childhood. You seemed to be wandering endlessly. You looked so directionless.”

Alexander tilted his head.

“More, more I…”

Their lips met. They touched lightly, without holding each other, just lips against lips.

Melissa seemed surprised at the touch, but she didn’t pull away. Alexander had been ready to catch her if she had.

“This wasn’t my intention.”

Their lips met again, deeper than before. As her closed lips gently parted, his tongue traced the seam and then lightly nibbled her lower lip before pulling away.

Excessively sweet. Desire flared like a blaze. The impulse to strip the woman’s lower half right here and interlock only there clashed with the desire to peel her slowly, watching her redden.

“I just…,”

she finally pulled back, tilting her head.

“I just wanted to comfort you…”

Instead of criticizing her for trying to comfort him, he raised his hand to cradle the back of her head.

Caught off guard, she gasped, and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, capturing the teasing words she was about to say.

The soft flesh of her inner walls was consumed by his breath and tongue.

Compared to how gently it started, the kiss grew fierce, as if to lick her throat.

Melissa, unable to breathe, let out muffled whimpers.

His was bigger and rougher than hers. She struggled against the kind of kiss she’d never even imagined in her dreams.

He was skilled. When Alexander transferred his saliva, she had to swallow it.

As he grew more intoxicated, she was forced to give in.

Breathing was no exception.

Her head was twisted and pressed down, and she could only breathe when he allowed the slightest gap.

Before she knew it, her hips were lifted by him, and Melissa was clinging to his neck.

He sat her between the gaps in the castle walls, groping her thin shoulder blades and waist.

He didn’t release her lips. The thought that this was wrong struck her when his hand wandered around her stomach. A little lower and it was between her legs, a little higher and it was her chest.

“Ah, no…”

Finally, the moment his hand grazed her chest, she startled and opened her eyes.

He hadn’t closed them at all, it seemed, for they met his golden gaze head-on.

He looked like a beast gauging where to bite first. Every muscle in her body tensed.

Melissa barely managed to turn her head like a cowering animal.

He bit her soft earlobe as if to show off, breathing heavily.

“Since I’ve received comfort, I’ll return the favor, sister-in-law.”

A man who was about to take everything away dared to say he would return the favor.

He whispered with his lips pressed against her cheek. His rough breath tickled her skin.

“Tell me what you want. Just say it.”

The son who had ignored his father’s pleas acted politely toward the woman who was to become his sister-in-law.

In truth, he was only pretending to be polite.

His lips curled mischievously, showing his white teeth.

“And I will extract even more from you.”

In her trembling gaze, something glittered on the ground.

It was her grandfather’s cane ornament. Apparently, she had dropped it during their kiss.

A wave of intense guilt pressed down on Melissa’s heart.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, I just… I need to go…”

“Where to?” he said.

“You won’t be able to avoid me no matter where you go.”

Melissa mustered all her strength and pushed him away.

He allowed himself to be pushed.

She hurriedly picked up the ornament and turned to leave the watchtower.

“Running away again?” he said from behind her, standing alone.

Melissa paused for a moment, then fled with reddened eyes without looking back.

***

After Alexander had left, ignoring him, Leopold continued to kneel in the central hall.

Hours passed, but no one went to find the absent master, and no one stopped the man who had once been poised to become the head of the Bergritz family.

Thus, the servants and retainers in the central hall merely stood there, exchanging anxious glances.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Alexander returned around midday. His stride was smooth, without hesitation. The cloak draped over one shoulder fluttered like a flag.

Seeing this, Boris whispered to the chamberlain beside her,

“He came back sooner than expected. That’s a relief. I was getting hungry.”

“Good heavens, Boris!” the chamberlain exclaimed, shocked, giving Boris a light smack.

But what startled him wasn’t the chamberlain’s surprisingly gentle strength. To others, Alexander might have looked much the same as when he left, but to Boris, something about his aura seemed subtly different.

A bit more… relaxed, perhaps?

“Chloe.”

Alexander passed by the kneeling Leopold as if the morning’s events had never occurred, calling for the butler. Unlike the others who were merely watching, the expressionless Chloe stepped forward.

“Prepare a meal. I’ll dine with my father.”

He pulled out a pocket watch from his waist and checked the time.

Click, click—the lid of the watch opened and closed with a satisfying sound.

“Make it in 30 minutes.”

“Yes, sir.”

The butler’s mind spun at how to coax the chefs into preparing something in such a short time.

Alexander lifted one corner of his mouth in a smile.

“No need for a fuss. Just keep it simple.”

“…Yes, sir.”

“Ah. My sister-in-law is in her room, so prepare a separate meal for her.”

Having said this, he headed for the door deeper inside the central hall.

As the butler tried to follow, Alexander suddenly stopped, swept his gaze over the others, and said,

“Don’t just stand there like idiots. Clear out.”

***

Melissa, worried someone might see her swollen lips or the flush that couldn’t be hidden from her cheeks, hurried into her room and lay down.

In her hand, she clutched her grandfather’s cane ornament tightly.

Among the countless imaginations she had while in the residence, a first kiss was never one of them.

She hadn’t cared about it and hadn’t expected it to happen with him.

He was good at it—he must’ve done it a lot.

Gripping her jaw, she tensed and then loosened it, recognizing even in her own clumsy, uncontrolled self that he was skilled.

Did she look like a fool, swept up in it all?

‘Ah, how pathetic.’

Tears streamed down her face as she raised her right hand.

When she had reached the watchtower, her hand hurt as if it had been burned by flames.

The same distinct mark as on Alexander’s hand was still faintly glowing there, as if beckoning her to open the gate to another world, to slay the dragon.

She couldn’t stop crying, disgusted at her own body that knew her place as a hostage, disgusted with herself for almost giving in to his temptation.

***

The meal was laid out as extravagantly as possible within 30 minutes.

The servants in the grand dining room were all lined up in silence.

A silence fell between the father and son.

While Leopold couldn’t even lift his cutlery, Alexander was slicing the fried mullet and popping it into his mouth. His sharp canines gleamed.

As he continued eating in silence, Leopold had no choice but to pick up his spoon.

The sound of cutlery scraping softly and the silent chewing of food echoed through the dining room.

Alexander kept eating like a starving man. The way he devoured food resembled a leopard tearing into its prey rather than a person.

“How much do you need? And what else?”

“Hack, cough!”

In the middle of the meal, Alexander suddenly asked.

Leopold choked and had to thump his chest and gulp down water.

While his father struggled to catch his breath, Alexander sipped wine and finished his meal.

Leopold wiped his mouth and looked at his grown son.

The gentle, young boy who used to follow him was nowhere to be seen.

Yet, even so, he looked like a child.

He spoke with difficulty.

“…I don’t need much.”

“Please, speak freely.”

“…But…”

“It’s an order. Didn’t you come here to play father and son?”

Alexander smiled.