Chapter 194: Another Man’s Name
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194: Another Man’s Name
“You were muttering ‘Kyle’ in your sleep…”
Suddenly, my throat went dry.
“It’s not that he was in my dream… actually, the one in my dream was you, Loik.”
“Then you were with me in your dream, yet you were looking for Kyle?”
As Loik lowered his head, the shadows receded from his face, revealing eyes narrowed with intense scrutiny.
“I heard you’ve only met Duke Kyle once.”
“How do you know that, Loik?”
Even I hadn't been sure of the count.
“My brother-in-law told me.”
His voice sounded deeply piqued.
“Did you miss a man you’ve only seen once so much that he appeared in your dreams?”
“It was just a nonsense dream.”
I made a hurried excuse, but his stiff expression didn't soften. Loik looked at me with a stern gaze.
“You’re married to me now. You shouldn't be looking elsewhere.”
“Well, of course!”
“Not even in your dreams.”
Realizing that the excuse of not seeing him in the dream wouldn't work, I shut my mouth. Loik let out a sigh of disappointment, as if he couldn't hold it back any longer.
“Just what exactly did you like about that guy?”
Faced with this sudden interrogation, I demurely folded my hands.
“Do you know? Even if you lined up every single Blenheim knight, you wouldn't find a bastard with a worse personality than that Kyle jerk… that man.”
Was it really that bad?
Then again, Kyle, the male lead of the original novel, was a rather prickly type.
“He’s a man who is light-years away from being kind.”
“It’s not like I like him or anything.”
I poked Loik’s cheek, which was puffed out like a sulking pufferfish.
“He’s someone I barely even know.”
Despite my answer, the tension in Loik’s brow didn't relax. Suddenly, his long fingers began to unbutton his shirt. With impatient movements, he bared his chest and pressed my hand against his hard pectoral muscles.
“Feel it,” Loik said seriously. “Annette, don’t you like my chest?”
Muttering with a grave face, he added that if it came to this, he had no choice but to seduce me with his body.
“I guarantee you, my body is much better than Kyle’s.”
He proudly puffed out his chest, claiming there was no comparison between him and a guy who just played at being a knight in the capital. His large hand covered mine, gripping his firm chest.
“If you ever happen to think of Kyle, make sure to remember this sensation. This all belongs to you, Annette.”
I wondered if this man had eaten an Elfberry or something. Embarrassed by his shameless words, I tried to pull my hand away, telling him that was enough.
That was when Loik murmured, “There are even marks here that Annette left the day before yesterday.”
Looking closely, I saw faint scratches on his chest, as if they had been made by fingernails.
“Did… I do that?”
When I asked in a daze, Loik replied with an innocent face.
“Who else but Annette would be touching my chest?”
I clamped my mouth shut in embarrassment.
“I’ll heal it for you.”
Since healing Lucion, I had become capable of easily treating minor wounds. Just as I reached out to erase the scratches, Loik grabbed my wrist.
“Leave it.”
“It’s okay. A small wound like this isn't tiring at all.”
“It’s not that. I just don’t want the traces Annette left to disappear.”
My face flushed bright red at his words.
“Tr-traces? These are wounds…!”
“They’re proof that Annette enjoyed herself, aren't they?” Loik said, sounding somewhat proud.
Unable to deny the truth, I bit my lip in bashfulness.
“Since things have turned out like this, I’d like you to leave some more today.”
Muttering shamelessly, Loik rustled the covers and slid inside. The area below his waist, pressed close against me, had somehow been worked up for quite a while. Something radiating intense heat through the fabric kept prodding my stomach.
I turned red with embarrassment. Even for newlyweds, was it normal to do it this often?
“If you’re very tired, we’ll only do it once.”
“You said only once the day before yesterday, too…!”
But before I could finish my sentence, Loik was already on top of me.
“Then twice.”
Wrapping his large frame around me without leaving a single gap, Loik cradled the back of my head and kissed me deeply. The wet, lewd sound of rubbing lips echoed through the room. Sliding his tongue in, Loik explored every corner of my mouth in an enchanting swirl.
Before I knew it, his long fingers had slipped deep inside my negligee. After fondling my skin for a long time until my whole body felt like it was melting, Loik let out a ragged breath.
“Annette, I am yours from head to toe.”
His thick voice vibrated lowly.
“I’ve given you my body and my heart, so you shouldn't even spare a glance for any other guy but me.”
The arms holding me tightened with strength.
“You can promise me that, right?”
A thick sense of possessiveness dripped from his piercing eyes. Was he really that bothered by Kyle? I had thought he was half-joking.
“Loik, you’re such a fool.”
I wrapped my arms around the neck of the man who was anxiously licking his lips.
“With such a wonderful husband, where else would I look?”
At those words, Loik’s expression softened slightly.
“Then you’ll completely forget about Kyle, too?”
“Who’s Kyle?” I tilted my head. “Was there someone like that? I don’t really remember.”
Only then did Loik let out a small chuckle.
“Just what do you eat to be this pretty, Annette?”
Nipping my lower lip, he loosened his waistband.
“It seems doing it only once will be impossible.”
Soon, Loik locked his fingers with mine and began to slowly consume me. An indescribable, tight sensation arose from below my waist. As I furrowed my brow, Loik bit into my soft flesh and nibbled around it to soothe me. As his waist, pressed against me without a sliver of space, began to move, pleasure gradually spread through my entire body.
The gentle movements grew increasingly intense.
“Haah…!”
Rocking helplessly up and down, I couldn't help but let out a moan. Hot friction heat rose from our constantly clashing skin. Pressing his body against mine, Loik incessantly whispered my name.
Annette, Annette.
Every time his rough voice echoed in my ear, my body heated up further. My vision blurred into white at the movements that were more violent than usual. Every time the heat gathered below my solar plexus exploded, my body convulsed of its own accord.
“Loik…! Wait… Ah!”
When I finally reached my third climax, I deeply scratched Loik’s chest, which I had been gripping as if to push him away. Only after my ragged breathing subsided did I notice the red lines drawn across his chest.
“Oh no, I’m sorry!”
Loik smiled and stroked the heated scratches.
“I like them. They’re like stamps.”
“Stamps?”
“Like those viewing cards you made.”
“No, I didn't do that on purpose…!”
Loik wore a somewhat triumphant expression.
“At this rate, I think I could fill seven stamps a day in no time.”
As I cried out in embarrassment, Loik’s eyes curved suggestively as he leaned down again.
“Leave some on my back this time.”
“Wait! We’ve already done it three times…!”
But my cry was quickly swallowed by Loik’s sweet kiss.
*
A carriage traveled along a countryside road.
Saintess Constine frowned at the sunlight streaming through the window and moved to the shade. Her rare pale-violet hair swayed whenever the carriage jolted. Her bored grey eyes were clouded with fatigue.
— “Since the Saintess isn't properly demonstrating her influence, voices doubting the Grand Temple keep arising, don't they?”
Constine recalled the conversation she’d had with the High Priest, who had been rebuking her.
— “Isn't the problem fundamentally that the holy power the priests gather for me is woefully insufficient? If I were seen performing a miracle even once, people would worship the Saintess even if I stayed still.”
No matter how she thought about it, her final words seemed to have properly provoked the High Priest.
— “The priests are already doing their best. I, too, am pouring more than half of my holy power into the Saintess, yet I find myself questioning if the Saintess is truly fulfilling her duties.”
‘Go on a pilgrimage of blessing to announce the Saintess’s continued strength.’
In the end, Constine had no choice but to follow the High Priest’s command. Since she was a fake by birth, she had no power of her own anyway.
— “Go to Pogen Temple, bestow blessings personally, and properly show that the Saintess, who has inherited the Goddess’s will, is always with the North as well.”
He had spoken with formal courtesy, but his meaning was clear: go to the North and suppress the spirit of the ‘fake saintess,’ the Grand Duchess.