“Excited.”

“Pardon?”

“Tell me to get excited.”

The handsome man before her pestered her again without a hint of shame, not batting an eye. Ariana couldn’t grasp the meaning behind the smile in his eyes.

“Excite…… What?”

“You know. What you used to do to me.”

‘When did I ever tell you to do…… such a thing?’

As the man approached her one step at a time, Ariana retreated until she could go no further.

The man’s eyes gleamed with an even more sinister light as he watched her back hit the wall.

“Just do it. Give me an order.”

“I mean, when did I ever give you an order……”

The stranger acted with a familiarity as if he knew her well.

He was too close.

This fact made Ariana extremely uncomfortable, but the man didn’t seem to care.

“Sit, wait, eat. You used to order me around a lot.”

Do it.

It seemed like coaxing, threatening, and the devil’s whisper that paralyzed human reason all at once.

What was certain was that this man wouldn’t back down until ‘that word’ came out of her mouth.

Ariana squeezed her eyes shut. She thought she could never bring herself to utter such a vulgar word.

Yet contrary to her will, her voice rang clear and distinct in her ears.

The situation felt so surreal she could hardly believe it was her own voice.

Now, in the midst of her father’s funeral, an uninvited guest had suddenly appeared, forcing his way into the annex to spend the night with her.

“Look here.”

The man’s breath touched her ear as she kept her eyes closed. When she opened them with a start, her hand was already captured in his large one.

“If you’ve tamed something……”

The man’s languid laughter.

Not knowing where her captured hand was being pulled, Ariana’s reason scattered like distant hazy smoke.

Thump. Thump.

Ariana’s hand touched the man’s bare chest under his shirt.

Thump. Thump.

The man’s rapid pulse felt almost tangible against her hand.

“If you’ve tamed it, you must take responsibility, right? Master.”