“S-stop.”

“I need to loosen you up a bit more.”

With an impatient expression, Cassion moved his finger vigorously, and the moment Alicia reached her cl*max, he pushed his manhood in, seemingly having waited for this moment.

“Hiss!”

Even though they had made love several times before, accommodating his large, rigid p*nis was still challenging. Alicia’s head involuntarily tilted backward.

“Still so tight.”

Cassion’s face contorted slightly. He exhaled deeply, then thr*st his p*nis in without hesitation.

“Ahhh!”

When their bodies fully connected, Alicia’s body trembled and a m*an escaped her lips.

She expected him to start moving his hips right away, but he didn’t. Instead, Cassion whispered in her ear.

“Say it again.”

“W-what?”

Alicia asked him with a pained expression.

“What you said earlier.”

“Earlier?”

Alicia tilted her head to one side. What was he talking about? After pondering for a moment, her face flushed red.

“I-I already said it.”

“I want to hear it again.”

It had taken courage to say those words, so they wouldn’t come out easily again. At that moment, Cassion thr*st his hips upward.

“Ah. Mmm.”

“I’ll be gentle today, so please say it once more.”

Despite never having been gentle before, Cassion boldly lied with a shameless face.

When Alicia didn’t respond, he thr*st into her again. Her body shook from his rough movement. 

She could feel he was deliberately using force. It seemed he would continue this way if she didn’t give him the answer he wanted.

“I-I want you.”

Alicia gathered her courage again and said what Cassion wanted to hear. His face seemed to freeze momentarily before breaking into a smile.

She thought he might be gentle now, but in that instant, he moved his hips. Thump. His movements remained intense.

“Y-you said you’d be gentle…”

“I wanted to keep my promise, but I can’t control myself. Why are you so seductive?”

As soon as he finished speaking, Cassion moved his hips vigorously again with a shameless expression. In truth, Cassion had thought winning her heart would come later. 

He had planned to marry her first and then capture Alicia’s heart.

That had been his plan, but now hearing the woman he thought had no feelings for him say she wanted him, he could barely contain himself.

He had wanted to confirm Alicia’s feelings, even if it meant lying. He had only asked to hear her feelings once more, but those words ended up arousing him instead.

“I’ll move as gently as possible.”

He lied with a composed face. Instead, he lowered his lips to deepen their connection. Their tongues intertwined, exchanging breaths, saliva, and warmth.

Simultaneously, Cassion continued his fierce hip movements. Thrusting like an unleashed beast, Alicia eventually seemed to surrender, wrapping her arms around Cassion’s neck, and their lovemaking grew even more intense.

The sounds escalated toward cl*max. Faster, rougher, their breathing also quickened.

“Ahhh. Mmm.”

“Ugh.”

When they reached their peak simultaneously, their bodies collapsed together. Haa, haa. 

Breathing heavily while looking at each other, they entangled their bodies again before even feeling the afterglow of their cl*max.

Unable to be satisfied with just once, they were about to begin their second round when a knock sounded from outside the door.

“What is it?”

“Lady Shifield has a visitor.”

Who could be visiting so early in the morning? Cassion answered with obvious annoyance in his face.

“Tell them to come back later unless it’s urgent.”

“W-well.”

“Who is it?”

When the butler hesitantly revealed the unexpected visitor’s name, Alicia and Cassion couldn’t help but be surprised.

If not today, they might never meet this person. After hesitating briefly, Cassion reluctantly had to let Alicia go.

* * *

“What did you say? Lady Shifield knocked you unconscious? F*ck, does that make any sense? Can’t you speak properly?”

At that moment, Henry was mercilessly kicking the knight he had employed.

After visiting His Imperial Majesty and returning home, he never expected such absurd news to be waiting for him…

Alicia knocking out a knight and escaping? That made no sense whatsoever.

With the knight, the only witness, spouting nonsense, Henry’s anger became uncontrollable, making it difficult to manage his emotions.

Though he had only recently become wealthy, he didn’t want to be inferior to nobles and wished to live similarly to them, at least in appearance. 

So he tried to employ a comparable number of maids, servants, and even knights despite lacking the qualifications, but the reality was completely different.

Having never managed an estate before, he didn’t know how to do it properly, and the discipline among his servants and knights was lax.

No matter how much money he paid them, they didn’t show deep loyalty. When he tried to force their loyalty, many ended up quitting.

So Henry had no choice but to compromise and maintain the current situation. He had been patient until now, thinking that once he became a true noble, they would no longer disrespect him.

But now this insignificant knight was treating him like a fool and an idiot, how could he not be angry?

“It’s true. Please believe me. Lady Shifield knows how to fight.”

How could a woman who feared men knock out a knight?

Henry firmly believed the knight was lying. How could a delicate, gentle woman overpower him?

He must have helped her escape!

No matter how he thought about it, Alicia evading the knights guarding the door and escaping on her own made no sense. So Henry could only think that this knight had conspired with Duke Lowden and was now making up ridiculous excuses.

‘D*mn it! What’s so great about being a noble? How dare you disrespect me!’

Suspecting there might be more traitors but unable to identify them, Henry could only take out all his frustration on the knight who had lost Alicia.

When that didn’t quell his anger, he had to summon Lady Shifield, who was still staying in the capital.

“Alicia is your daughter. Go and bring her to me immediately!”

Henry threatened Lady Shifield as soon as he saw her face.

“Henry, you’re the one who lost Alicia. She probably went back to Duke Lowden’s residence, so how am I supposed to bring her back?”

“You’re her mother. She’ll come if you call her.”

“Why are you being like this? You know very well I’m her stepmother, so why are you treating me this way?”

Lady Shifield, who had rushed over at Henry’s summons, could only be bewildered by his unreasonable demands. Hadn’t she done exactly what he asked by detaining Alicia when she was to have an audience with Her Majesty the Empress?

She had risked danger by helping to kidnap Alicia, even putting lemon scent on her dress, and now he wanted her to produce the girl.

‘You lost her yourself, and now you’re taking it out on me!’

“Before I do anything, you need to keep your promise.”

“Which one?”

“You said you’d cut my debt in half if I did what you asked. You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

Lady Shifield had her own grievances against Henry. She had done everything he asked, yet he still hadn’t fulfilled his promise about her debt, so why should she continue following his orders?

“If you can bring Alicia to me, I’ll make sure you don’t have to repay the entire debt, so bring her to me right now.”

“Really? But how can I trust your word?”

She should have been happy about being able to clear her debt, but Lady Shifield couldn’t feel that way. How could she trust him when he was already pretending not to remember his promise to cancel half the debt?

“I’ll write a debt cancellation certificate for the promised half right now.”

Henry immediately drafted the certificate and stamped it with his seal.

“Will this do?”

“Of course. So what do you want me to do?”

“It would be best if you brought her to me immediately, but if that’s not possible, at least secretly give her this medicine.”