As the dim moonlight crossed the room, a suffocating silence enveloped the two people.

Carlos silently stared at Uriel. In response, Uriel’s lips curled slightly.

She assumed he had fallen for her.

Feeling confident, Uriel’s fingers slowly moved to a more intimate area. Her fingers, touching Carlos’s thigh, began to move up and down slowly.

“I’m sure you’ll be satisfied.”

In a seductive voice, her fingers finally reached for Carlos’s center.

Snap.

Carlos grabbed Uriel’s wrist. Startled by the sudden restraint, Uriel looked up at him with confused eyes. And even in the darkness, she met his eyes, burning red.

Uriel’s body stiffened. Those eyes were neither lost in lust nor enjoying the situation. It was as if…

“I get that you’re in heat.”

His gaze was like someone who had seen something filthy and dirty, like a rat rolling in sewage. Soon, Carlos’s grip on Uriel’s wrist tightened. A short gasp escaped from her lips.

“But isn’t it too vulgar to visit your mistress’s husband dressed like this?”

“Th-that…”

Uriel’s body began to tremble at Carlos’s voice, which was more chilling than cold.

Something had gone terribly wrong. She had been told he’d lose his senses and take her under the influence of the drug. Clearly, the plan had failed.

As Uriel bit her lip and avoided his gaze, he pulled her wrist.

“Be careful.”

He whispered a warning in a low voice.

“The queen may have lost the use of one leg, but you could end up losing both.”

At the chilling threat, Uriel’s face turned deathly pale.

Instinctively, Uriel bowed her head and pleaded.

“I-I’ve committed a grave sin. I-I was just…”

“Get out.”

Her legs, supporting her weight, began to go numb. He shook off Uriel’s hand and delivered his final words.

“Don’t ever appear before me again.”

“Y-yes…!”

Terrified, Uriel hastily gathered the robe strewn on the floor and left the bedroom. As the door closed, Carlos let out a low breath. It seemed like he was holding back anger.

“Disgusting creatures.”

He knew from the start why they had sent their daughters to serve the queen, but he hadn’t expected them to act so blatantly and crudely.

Despite their hatred for illegitimate children, they were willing to have their daughters bear one for power. They were all rotten, just the same. The hypocrisy of the nobles amused him, twisting his lips.

In his life, there could be no illegitimate children. It was a decision he had made even before becoming king. He had no intention of letting his children suffer the same misfortune he had.

So, he needed to make sure such things wouldn’t happen again.

“Sigh…”

Carlos let out a heavy sigh, feeling very weary.

He couldn’t sleep because of nightmares, and as soon as he opened his eyes, some woman was bothering him.

Everything was exhausting. Since returning from the war, he hadn’t had a single day of peace. He was constantly on guard against Joseph, who was always trying to eliminate him, and he prepared for a coup.

After successfully staging the coup, he was consumed with restoring the fallen monarchy. Exhaustion washed over him. He couldn’t even remember the last time he slept peacefully.

He always felt like he was being chased by something.

Carlos dragged his tired body to the bed and sat down. As he leaned his arms on the bed and moved his neck, something caught his eye.

Between his legs was his er*ct member.

“Damn it.”

Even though he spat it out, it seemed he had already ingested a little of the aphrodisiac, causing the er*ction.

And as soon as he realized it, his previously dormant desire began to surge. If he had unknowingly drunk all the wine, he might have really taken that woman.

Frowning as if he was disgusted by the thought, he narrowed his brows. Unfortunately, his er*ction showed no sign of subsiding. It wouldn’t go away unless he released it a few times.

Tsk.

Carlos clicked his tongue shortly and loosened his trousers. His hardened member sprang out as if it were expanding.

At the tip of the stiffly er*ct organ, a clear liquid was already oozing out.

Carlos let out a low curse, followed by a hot breath escaping his lips.

With no time to waste, he wrapped his hand around the angry sh*ft. Then, as if he was handling overdue tasks, he began to slowly stroke up and down.

“Haa……”

Tap, tap, tap.

Did the obscene sound quietly echo in the room? As the movement of his hand sped up, white liquid spurted from the tip of the sh*ft. Only then did Carlos gaze indifferently at his now lifeless organ.

It was a perfunctory act of self-pleasure. There was no significant enjoyment or pleasure derived from it.

Soon, he straightened his pants and stood up, looking around for something. He was searching for something to wipe his s*men-stained hand.

As he glanced around the bedroom, his eyes caught a white handkerchief. It was a handkerchief Ines had gifted him.

He stood silently for a moment, staring at the handkerchief, before moving towards it. Picking up the handkerchief from the nightstand, Carlos fell into thought.

Rolling the small piece of cloth in his hand, he pressed it to his nose, forgetting its original purpose. Though it was just a plain cloth with no scent left, he buried his face in it and took a deep breath.

It was as if he was trying to find traces of someone he once felt.

“Haa……”

Carlos soon let out a long sigh. His breath was hot, thanks to his elevated body temperature.

At the same time, his slightly softened organ began to stand er*ct again.

He wanted to embrace Ines. He wanted to explore her body and thrust his organ inside her.

With his eyes closed, Carlos began to picture Ines in his mind and started stroking himself again. His touch was softer and somehow more urgent than before.

“Ines……”

He intermittently murmured the name of his absent wife. Along with the regular tapping noise, the sound of flesh rubbing echoed.

While pleasuring himself with his face buried in the handkerchief, he soon opened his eyes as if it wasn’t enough. Not long after, he resumed his halted actions, wrapping his organ with the handkerchief.

Carlos let out a short breath at the rough texture of the handkerchief. It was just a small piece of cloth, yet it was enough to remind him of the inner walls of the woman who once clamped tightly around him.

He imagined the tightness of Ines’s insides that seemed like they could snap his organ at any moment. As he recalled thrusting his hips between their closely pressed bodies, he began to speed up.

The white handkerchief was being roughly crumpled by his hand. The scent of Ines’s hair and her skin, which used to get caught in his fingers, scattered at the tip of his nose.

As the regular noise of flesh hitting and intermittent moans raised the temperature of the room.

“Ugh.”

As his hand’s movements quickened, a low moan escaped through Carlos’s clenched teeth. Then, the white, sticky liquid and the handkerchief intertwined messily. The handkerchief, soaked with his s*men, was in a complete mess.

The noble lady’s handkerchief was now splattered with the seed of a dirty bastard. With an inexplicable sense of guilt, Carlos brought the ruined handkerchief back to his face.

Somehow, it seemed like the scent of their past intimacy lingered at the tip of his nose.

“…Ines.”

The base desire that even self-pleasure couldn’t satisfy was somewhat relieved by the sense of guilt as if he had violated her. Perhaps pleasure had come fleetingly. Soon, a sense of futility and emptiness washed over him.

“Ha.”

He let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it. To think he was pleasuring himself with a mere handkerchief the woman had given him meaninglessly.

If it had been another man, he would have already been in bed with the young girl who had tempted him earlier.

He found himself pathetic for being aroused by just a piece of cloth. He couldn’t tell if it was because of the medicine or if he was just a dog in heat for Ines.

His grip on the handkerchief tightened. The white handkerchief crumpled helplessly in his large hand. He felt like something less than a beast. It was the worst.

He had no choice but to admit it.

That he had lusted after Ines, both then and now. No, that he only lusted after her.

Biting his lip, he threw the handkerchief he was holding onto the floor. He hated himself so much for this. He despised himself for pleasuring himself while thinking of Ines after dreaming of his deceased mother.

‘For just one woman, I left my mother and went to war.’

The guilt that lingered deep in his heart turned into an auditory hallucination, echoing in his ears.