An Unexpected Temptation
The scene shifted back to the drawing room where Isabella and Tiara were waiting.
As allies who shared secrets and aided one another, they were busy exchanging the information they had gathered and discussing their next moves.
"Right, then. We can leave that matter there. By the way, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"
"Hmm? What is it? Why do you look at me so?"
"I'm talking about your face. In the middle of our conversation, you pulled a piece of paper from your robes, looked at it, and suddenly started smirking. What's with that weird expression?"
"Fufufu... Oh dear, it seems I let it slip onto my face without realizing. I have just received some rather splendid news, so you must forgive me."
Tiara felt a prickle of annoyance at Isabella's unusually—almost sickeningly—bright and positive reaction, but she couldn't help but feel curious.
"...Hmph, acting so out of character. What kind of news is it anyway?"
"Oh? Indeed. Come to think of it, this is information that you, too, would undoubtedly find intriguing."
Tiara had only thrown the question out casually, but Isabella smiled as if she had been waiting for it.
"This is none other than news regarding... Rofel Teufel."
Pronouncing his name slowly, syllable by syllable, Isabella gently waved the paper she had taken from her robes.
There was clearly some kind of image printed on the paper she held, but it was difficult to make out from this distance.
However, the moment Tiara focused her gaze and caught a faint glimpse of the image, she gasped in shock and lunged toward Isabella.
"Wait...! That paper, is it Rofel's? What is that? Where did you get it?"
The man in the photograph—with his messy black hair, dark eyes, handsome face, and reliably sturdy, muscular build—was unmistakably Rofel Teufel.
Yet, if it had been a normal picture of him, Tiara would have had no reason to get this worked up.
The reason she was practically vibrating with agitation and demanding answers from Isabella was because his appearance in the photo was anything but ordinary.
"Ah, ah~ You mustn't handle such a precious photograph so roughly. If you do not calm down, I cannot bring myself to show it to you."
"Urgh...! Give it to me...! You... you wench...!"
Using telekinetic magic, Isabella made the photo float in the air, keeping it just barely out of Tiara's reach.
Tiara flailed her hands, reaching up with both arms like a cat batting at a toy, trying to snatch the floating paper.
Only after Isabella had teased the princess to her heart's content did she finally let Rofel's photograph drop into Tiara's hands.
Having finally secured the photo, Tiara gasped, "R-Rofel... took a picture like this...? N-No way...!"
In the photo, Rofel was clad in a scandalously skimpy piece of fabric that left vast expanses of his bare skin completely exposed.
On top of that, his pose was incredibly suggestive. Even holding the photo in both hands right in front of her face, she could hardly believe her eyes.
As a member of the imperial family—and the Emperor's daughter, no less—it was a thoroughly indecent image that she should never have laid eyes on. Yet, she couldn't tear her gaze away, staring intently at the photo with a face flushed bright red.
She snapped her head up, her eyes wide as she stared at Isabella.
Though Tiara was too stunned by the photo's contents to speak, Isabella instinctively understood that she was asking where the picture had come from.
"The source of the photograph is Rofel himself. He sent it to me. We have not been able to see each other for a long time since the end of the semester. So, merely to soothe my longing, I made a simple request for him to send a picture of himself. I never expected him to send something so provocative and seductive. When the image first materialized on the paper in my robes... ah, truly, even I doubted my own eyes."
"I-Is that true? R-Rofel took this photo himself and sent it...?"
Tiara found it hard to believe Isabella's words.
However, while Isabella was prone to exaggeration and boasting, she never outright lied.
Which meant... this photo was exactly what she said it was. Rofel had posed like this and captured his own image.
At that realization, her gaze drifted back to the photo, examining Rofel's figure in detail.
In the photo, which only showed his upper body, the first thing that caught her eye was, naturally, his face.
His messy hair, damp as if soaked in sweat, clung wetly to the contours of his face.
Beneath it, his half-lidded dark eyes looked moist, carrying a strangely sensual yet pleading quality.
His face was flushed red as if he were highly aroused. The combination of all these details made his expression in the photo look...
Gulp. Just looking at it made her unconsciously swallow hard.
And it wasn't just his face; his body was in an equally shocking state.
The garment he wore was nothing more than the plain T-shirt he usually favored, but for some reason, it had been stretched and pulled in every direction, exposing his bare skin.
The rolled-up sleeves fully exposed his thick, well-trained forearms and prominent veins, while the collar was stretched so low that his chest and nipples were visible.
With his sweat-slicked, gleaming chest and abdominal muscles on full display, the sight could only be described as thoroughly obscene.
It didn't end there. Bright red marks that looked exactly like lipstick stains were scattered across his exposed skin.
"D-Did he draw these lipstick marks himself...? But really... it's just the shape of lips on skin... yet it's so incredibly stimulating...!"
Crucially, the pose Rofel struck in this highly stimulating and indecent state was the crowning touch of the photograph.
Lying on a bed with both arms raised above his head, his posture screamed vulnerability, awakening a primal urge in whoever looked at it.
Furthermore, the bottom of the photo was cropped just high enough to tease the edge of his groin, fueling the imagination and heightening the arousal.
In short, Rofel's appearance in the photo was the very essence of a male in heat on a bed, practically begging to be pounced on and devoured.
"R-Rofel... to think you had such a side to you..."
Tiara had always felt a strange, subtle sensuality from him, but she never imagined it would go this far.
She was shocked to find herself breathing heavily and growing slightly wet down below just from looking at a picture.
"Fufufu, you seem to like the photograph quite a bit. Well, I happen to have made plenty of copies, so I shall generously let you keep one."
"Y-You! I'll admit that this is really Rofel and that he took it himself. But! But why would Rofel send a picture like this to you? Did... did something happen between the two of you?"
"Hmm, explaining it is simple enough, but it is rather tedious. Well, seeing is believing, as they say."
Saying so, Isabella used her magic to materialize another piece of paper in the air. This time, it wasn't a single sheet, but a folded letter.
"It is a letter we exchanged. If you read his reply very carefully, you will understand exactly what transpired between him and me."
Tiara quickly snatched the letter and read it thoroughly, absorbing every single word as if analyzing a piece of classical literature.
...Marriage... marriage talks... worries... I have decided on my lifelong partner... I will take responsibility for your entire life...
"Marriage... marriage talks... worries... What? He decided on a lifelong partner...? Wait... no way... He's going to take responsibility for your entire life...?"
The contents were, for all intents and purposes, a passionate marriage proposal.
"Ah... A-Ah... Ah...!"
Having finished the letter, Tiara collapsed to her knees, completely forgetting her dignity as an imperial princess. She stared blankly into space, muttering in disbelief.
"How could this be... How could this be... Rofel... how could you..."
"Indeed, indeed. It must be quite a shock. You, who always boasted before me, have been utterly overtaken. But what can one do? This was his choice, after all."
Isabella made an exaggerated gesture, practically dripping with mockery.
"Oh my! Come to think of it, our discussion is finished, is it not? In that case, I shall take my leave. I wish to meet with the man who proposed to me as soon as possible. Ah, that letter is also a copy, just like the photo, so feel free to keep it."
Leaving behind a devastated Tiara who sat with her head hung low, Isabella departed, her triumphant laughter echoing down the hall.
"Just wait a little longer, Rofel. Fufufu... to think you would seduce me so aggressively... I shall answer your lustful request with all my heart... ♥"
Possessing an intellect as brilliant as her magic, her mind was racing faster than ever before.
Though she had lived as a virgin until now, ever since she first fell in love with Rofel Teufel, she had spent countless hours thinking of ways to please him.
She was highly aroused, imagining all sorts of positions and acts, fantasizing about how she would tease and play with him.
"...Achoo! Ugh... Seriously, the hot water in this dormitory is so unreliable. If the facilities for lower nobles are like this, I wonder what the commoner dorms are like? And besides, it's supposed to be spring, but what is with this weather? The mornings and nights are basically winter..."
Rofel, having just finished his shower, muttered as he stepped out of the bathroom.
After Seraphina had taken her liberties with his body, he had felt the need to wash off the sweat and lingering scent.
...He was a bit concerned about the photo he had accidentally taken and sent to Isabella earlier...
But deciding to cross that bridge when he got to it, he put it out of his mind for now.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded at his dormitory door.
"Huh? Who is it? Ah... come to think of it, the supplements Elisio said he was sending by mail should be arriving around now. The guard said he'd leave any deliveries right in front of the door... I'm not fully dressed yet, but I should quickly bring it inside."