Chapter 3 (Part 2)

His accusation that she had recklessly climbed onto his bed wasn’t entirely true. Her presence here tonight was the result of summoning every ounce of courage she had left.

The butler had burst into the maids’ quarters late at night, hurriedly selecting five maids, including Celestia. Lined up in the butler’s private room, the chosen maids were all relatively attractive women.

‘What you are about to see and hear must never leave this room. If any of you dare gossip, you’ll never set foot near a noble household again. Consider yourselves warned.’

After thoroughly intimidating the confused maids, the butler delivered unexpected news.

‘The Duke has been drugged.’

The shock of this revelation was brief, as the butler quickly presented them with a choice.

‘The Duke needs a maid to care for him through the night. If you’re not up for it, say so now. Once I take you to him, the Duke will make the final decision.’

Two of the maids, frightened by the notoriously temperamental Duke, quietly stepped back.

But Celestia did not withdraw. She genuinely worried for Kayev and wanted to check on his condition.

It wasn’t until later that Celestia realized she had misunderstood the butler’s words. Of the three remaining maids, she was the only one who hadn’t grasped the true meaning of “care.”

She discovered what the butler meant by “care” when they stood outside Kayev’s door.

‘One of you will serve the Duke tonight. When it’s over, come to me for contraceptive tea.’

Only then did Celestia understand the situation. She turned pale, but it was too late to back out.

Since coming to the Ruden estate under Kayev’s guidance, she had resolved to repay his kindness in any way she could. Regardless of their past, Kayev was now her benefactor. Compared to the Elderly Duchess’s house where she had previously stayed, the Ruden estate was a paradise.

At first, she thought he had brought her here to humiliate her. But after spending just a few days in the estate, Celestia realized that Kayev had extended a helping hand to her in her pitiful state.

So, standing before his door, she decided that if offering her now-worthless body could help him, she would do it. Deep inside, she acknowledged a small part of her motivation was jealousy.

Even in her current miserable state, she still had feelings for Kayev. The infatuation she had felt as a sixteen-year-old girl remained in her heart, and seeing him again only made it harder to let go.

The mere thought of Kayev holding another woman filled her with a pain so sharp it felt like being stabbed.

Whether or not he chose her was uncertain, but she didn’t want to give up without trying. With that resolve, she entered Kayev’s room.

“Not answering, are you? What ridiculous excuse are you trying to come up with?”

Unaware of Celestia’s thoughts, Kayev grew even angrier at her silence.

Yes, it was always like this. His mind, already chaotic, was filled with disjointed thoughts.

Ever since he first met Celestia, everything involving her had been like this. She always stirred him up with her calm demeanor, leaving him feeling like a strange man, while she remained untouchable, like a pure and innocent swan.

Kayev was furious, though he didn’t even know exactly why. He had long forgotten that the reason he had brought her here was to protect her from harm.

Celestia Danverton needed to understand just how dangerous the world could be and how perilous men could be.

That was why he roughly tore off her clothes. Kayev wanted her to feel even a little fear from his merciless touch.

At first, that was his only intention. He planned to scare her a bit and then send her away. He hadn’t truly intended to take her.

But the moment her pale, undergarment-clad body was revealed, that meaningless resolve vanished completely.

* * *

Kayev was now kissing her with abandon.

A kiss after thoroughly tasting her below—what a mess of an order.

But he had no time to think deeply about it. His mind was practically blank. By now, his muscular, bare body and Celestia’s soft, n*ked form were intertwined like the roots of a tree.

Every point of contact was so hot it felt like his brain was melting.

“Hngh…”

Even as Kayev’s tongue persistently invaded her mouth, curling around hers, Celestia let out sweet, trembling moans.

As Celestia clung to him, desperately trying to accept him, her soft body trembling against his, something deep within Kayev’s heart ached. Even after a long time of mingling their lips, he felt no desire to pull away. No matter how much he tasted, his thirst remained unquenched.

Still pressing her small, red lips with his own, Kayev let his hand slide downward, once again teasing her chest. The sensation of her soft flesh molding under his touch was intoxicating.

As he stimulated the flushed petals of her chest and the still-firm buds, her small body, cloaked beneath his larger frame, trembled and responded.

“Ahh, Kayev, that’s too much… Hnn… Hah…”

Overwhelmed by his persistent caresses, Celestia clung to his neck, panting. Her reactions were honest.

Moments earlier, her eyes had been filled only with fear, but now he saw a familiar longing in them, and this thrilled him. The shared descent into pleasure sent shivers of delight through him, and he sank his teeth into her pale neck.

Looking back, she had always been like this. She had never hidden her feelings from him.

From the moment Celestia first met Kayev and expressed her affection, she had always been straightforward. Without subtlety or hesitation, she had attacked him head-on with her blind adoration, leaving him helpless every time.

After parting ways with her, the women who approached Kayev always had ulterior motives. Some claimed to love him sincerely, while others were stunningly beautiful, but none of them could move his heart.

No woman could compare to Celestia, who had thrown herself at him with the pure heart of a sixteen-year-old. It was only after precious time had passed that Kayev realized this.

Celestia had loved him without expecting anything in return. She had cared only for him as a person, regardless of his dire circumstances. The depth and passion of her feelings, which went far beyond the first love of an immature girl, were something Kayev only came to understand much later.

Why had she loved him so much, even though he had given her nothing in return, not even a piece of his heart when she confessed her feelings?

He often found himself blushing as he reminisced. Memories of Celestia’s unabashed expressions of love for him frequently came to mind.

But by the time he reflected on those memories, it was already too late to turn back. And so, Kayev had tried to forget her.

She was a woman he could never have, no matter how much he thought of her. Yet, whenever he let his guard down, she would suddenly appear in his mind, throwing his thoughts into disarray.

Now, that same woman was beneath him, her hips writhing and her moans escaping her lips.

The woman he thought he had lost forever was now in his arms.

It was impossible not to feel a rush of heat in his head. Though his drugged body was aroused by the softness of her skin, his heart trembled at the realization that the person in front of him was Celestia.

But now, a new worry began to plague him. He feared that his abnormal state might harm her in some way.

After all, she was so delicate and fragile. Even now, as he kissed and sucked on her lips, they felt so soft that he worried they might melt away.

Her waist, which fit into one of his hands, was slender, and her tender skin bruised easily under the slightest pressure. Her body was so different from his own, made of solid muscles and thick bones.

Yet, it was precisely that softness that he desired. Though he had never experienced it before, his instincts told him so.

Kayev could no longer suppress his rough desires. He had no reason left to think about the consequences. All that remained was unbridled passion.

Moving as his passion dictated, Kayev embraced her tightly, grinding his lower body against hers like a dog in heat. Each time his hardened skin rubbed against her soft flesh, a shiver of pleasure shot through his spine, and a wild urge to devour her completely surged within him.

“Ahh, Kayev…!”

Celestia let out another sharp moan as her skin was bitten and touched indiscriminately. From the acts Kayev had performed on her earlier, she had been unable to stop herself from letting out breathy moans the entire time.

Though she didn’t fully understand what he was doing, Celestia’s body instinctively heated up, preparing to accept the man before her.

Despite being under the influence of the drug, Kayev had been conflicted for a long time. But now, as if he had made up his mind, his actions became bolder. His fingers, which had been tormenting her chest, grew even more persistent, pinching and rubbing her n*pples until her body’s heat intensified further.

“Ah, Kayev, wait, wait a moment. My body feels so strange…”

But before she could finish speaking, her words were swallowed by his lips.

Swept away by him, she couldn’t think straight. All she could think was how strange everything felt.

The hands kneading her chest, the lips biting and sucking on her neck and chest, and her own voice letting out moans each time his lips touched her—all of it was strange.

But the strangest thing of all was Kayev, who seemed to grow more aroused as he tormented her body.

While her mind wandered, he suddenly sucked strongly on the base of her tongue. As she exhaled shallow breaths through her nose and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, his firm chest pressed against her soft body.

She didn’t dislike the feeling. The warmth of his body felt comforting. She thought it would be nice if this warmth lasted forever.

But then, as Kayev’s body, which had been clinging to hers, moved away and settled between her legs, she blankly stared at him. And then…

“Ah!”

Celestia gasped as she finally saw what had been pressing and rubbing against her thighs earlier.

“Ka-Kayev… What is that…?”

In a shocked voice, she covered her mouth with both hands.

“Why? Are you thinking of running away now?”

Though he found her reaction endearing, his impatience made his voice come out as a growl.

In truth, Kayev was suddenly struck by the fear that she might flee in shock.

“No, it’s not that… But still, it’s too…”

It was true that she felt a slight urge to run away, as he had said. The sight of that enormous, imposing object, as fierce as his piercing gaze, was overwhelming.

But under Kayev’s menacing glare, she couldn’t bring herself to say such a thing. Reluctantly, Celestia steeled herself once more.

Surely, Kayev wouldn’t kill me with that thing, would he? It was far too large and thick, with bulging veins that made it look grotesque… But wasn’t this something everyone did?

Swallowing hard, Celestia gathered her courage and wrapped her arms around his neck.

As an adult with a fiancé, she wasn’t completely ignorant of the ways of men and women. Now, the advice given to her by young maids after her engagement ceremony came flooding back into her mind.

‘At first, it might hurt a lot. It depends on how skilled your husband is… But eventually, you’ll come to enjoy it too!’

Until a moment ago, she thought she might have understood what they meant by “enjoyment.”

But now, seeing the monstrous thing Kayev had revealed, and imagining it being inserted somewhere into her body, she couldn’t help but think it would hurt.

“I won’t run away. But please, just… do it quickly. I don’t want it to hurt…”

As the saying goes, it’s better to rip the bandage off quickly. Celestia wanted to get through the painful part of the act as soon as possible.

Seeing her willingly embrace him, Kayev was half-crazed with excitement and half-dumbfounded.