Chapter 242: Like Cutting Water
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 242: Like Cutting Water
“I haven’t fully forgiven you yet, Loik.”
Annette muttered in a sulky voice.
Loik bit his lip to hide the corners of his mouth from twitching upward.
Annette hadn’t quite forgiven him, but she had been generous enough to allow him into bed to hold her while they slept.
“Don’t get too excited. I’m only holding you because you need to recover quickly.”
He had truly thought he’d be sleeping alone tonight.
Loik nodded, a smile of pure bliss spreading across his face.
After some restless fidgeting, Annette eventually burrowed into his chest as if she were giving in.
He was relishing the warmth against his chest, idly stroking her soft hair, when he felt a sudden heat against his skin, followed by a damp sensation.
The small back he held in his large hands began to tremble.
The moment he realized something was wrong, a sob suddenly burst from Annette’s lips.
“Ugh… waaaah!”
Startled, he pulled her back to look at her, only to find her eyes brimming with tears. Sorrow overflowed from her clear, transparent gaze, uncontrollable and raw.
“A-Annette! What’s wrong?”
Despite his frantic questioning, Annette kept her mouth shut, letting out only piteous sobs.
“Hic, ugh…!”
“Please, don’t cry.”
Seeing the tears streaming down her cheeks made his mind go blank.
“Why are you crying, hmm? Are you that angry? Do you hate me? Is that why?”
He pulled her hands toward his chest, urging her to hit him more until her anger subsided, but Annette only continued to sob.
It had been better when she was simply angry. Seeing her weep like this felt as if his heart were being torn out of his chest.
After a long while of coaxing and soothing, Annette finally managed to speak through her hiccups.
“I… hic… I can’t even sleep anymore unless I’m in your arms…!”
It felt as if he’d been struck by a heavy blow. His head spun.
Loik managed to force out a choked voice.
“…I really am a bastard.”
Unable to find any other words, he simply held her close, patting her back. He murmured promises over and over that he would never do it again until Annette finally lifted her head.
Her crying had finally subsided, but unshed tears still clung to her eyes.
Fearing that his hands might chafe her delicate skin if he kept touching her, Loik gently pressed his lips to her damp eyelids.
The only thing reflected in those shimmering blue eyes was Loik himself.
I’m the only person Annette has to lean on.
His heart ached with the realization of just how foolish he had been.
“I was wrong.”
Seeking her sincere forgiveness, he followed the trail of her tears with soft kisses. With every light touch of his lips, he poured out his irrepressible affection and adoration.
And when his lips finally reached the corner of her mouth…
Annette hesitated for a moment before tilting her head slightly, meeting his lips directly.
Their hot, wet lips welcomed each other, clinging together with a soft, supple pressure. The breath he had craved for so long tasted sweet—far too sweet.
Loik clenched his fists, fighting the urge to be impatient as his hands searched the empty air.
Then, Annette grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him toward her. It was a desperate, hurried gesture, as if she were starving for him.
The moment he felt those slender arms clinging to him, Loik’s patience snapped.
He wrapped his arm around her lithe waist and lunged forward as if to devour her.
In an instant, their tongues tangled fiercely, and their ragged breaths mingled in a dizzying blur. Searing heat passed between them incessantly.
Loik sucked greedily at her soft lips, his hand firmly supporting the back of her head to keep her delicate neck from snapping back.
“Ha… ah…!”
Annette let out a moan, unable to control the rough breaths escaping her.
Seeing her chest heave, a sharp ache throbbed below his waist. From the moment he had laid down in bed with her, his body had already revealed its ferocious nature, radiating a scorching heat.
Kisses alone were no longer enough.
I want to swallow her whole.
Loik’s large, calloused hands swept ruthlessly over Annette’s sweet skin. Even as his fingertips traced provocative paths across her body, his hot lips persistently stimulated her most sensitive spots.
Driven by his unusually desperate movements, Annette panted breathlessly, her fingers tangling in his hair.
The room grew stiflingly hot, filled with the sounds of heavy breathing and wet friction.
Loik let out a low growl, his tongue tracing every inch of her from head to toe, like a beast stripping the flesh from its prey.
Finally, her back arching in a near-convulsion, Annette bit Loik’s lip.
At her pleading, broken voice, Loik slowly lowered his body onto hers.
“…Kuh!”
The mere act of becoming one sent a violent jolt of electricity through him, like being struck by lightning.
Loik held her small body tight and began to move his hips.
Annette wrapped her arms tightly around his thick neck, her limbs trembling. It was as if she were determined never to let him go.
That gesture was so incredibly lovely that he couldn’t contain his emotions.
Amidst the sweet heat that felt as if it would melt his entire being, Loik’s movements grew faster and faster.
“Ah… hng…!”
Every time her moans reached his ears, a dizzying ecstasy washed over him, blurring his senses.
The energy of their union began to coil hotly beneath his solar plexus. His lower abdomen burned with an uncontrollable fire.
Enchanted by her flushed, ecstatic face, Loik kissed her endlessly. All the while, his powerful hips drove forward like a racehorse sprinting toward the finish line.
And finally.
The massive, condensed heat exploded.
At the peak of his climax, Loik pulled Annette’s trembling body into a crushing embrace. The tremors he felt along with his heavy breaths were agonizingly sweet.
He buried his face in the crook of her soft neck, holding her close. Annette’s fingertips, still tingling from the afterglow, tenderly stroked his hair.
Thanks to the sheer amount of holy power Annette had poured into him while he slept, his battered body had recovered significantly.
The fact that he had recovered this much meant the dragon had likely regained some of its strength as well.
To think that dragon brat was sharing Annette’s energy.
The more he thought about it, the more his blood boiled, but since he was the one who had caused this, he had no one else to blame.
— “Were you trying to make me a widow!”
A widow.
He hadn’t realized Annette had even thought that far.
But no matter what happened, he would never leave her alone.
I will kill the dragon and survive, no matter what.
He was reaffirming his vow when Annette spoke.
“I’m not entirely over my anger yet.”
Annette, who had been playing with his black hair, suddenly shot him a sulky look.
And here I thought you just embraced me so lovingly.
However, knowing his own guilt, Loik didn’t dare talk back. Instead, he rubbed his head against her like a spoiled child.
Annette puffed out her cheeks, as if to say such “cute acts” wouldn’t be enough.
“Then, if I do many more cute things, will you forgive me?”
“And how exactly are you going to do ‘many’?”
Despite her scolding tone, her eyes were filled with anticipation. Loik whispered in a low, smooth voice.
“I’ll show you that all night long.”
“W-Wait a minute…!”
Loik swallowed Annette’s cherry-like lips before she could protest further.
When it came to “cute acts,” he was truly confident in his abilities.
* * *
Polly, a maid at the Grand Ducal townhouse, began her day in a state of extreme tension.
Though she had been employed by the Grand Ducal family for several years, this was her first time receiving the couple.
A master rumored to be a “Monster Duke” and a mistress known as a “Wicked Villainess.”
To make matters worse, the Grand Duke’s first appearance had been nothing short of shocking. He had arrived at the townhouse on a stretcher, drenched in blood.
He’s a terrifying man. I must make sure I never stand out.
She had absolutely no desire to lose a limb for accidentally offending the couple.
At least it’s a relief that the maid from the North is in charge of attending Her Highness.
Thinking of the blunt-faced maid with freckles, Polly was cleaning a window frame when she spotted the Grand Duchess out for a walk in the garden.
The Grand Duke was trailing right behind her.
Trailing?
Polly tilted her head.
Something about the Grand Duke’s back reminded her of a puppy following its owner.
Of course, no puppy in the world was the size of a house.
Are they perhaps keeping their distance?
The Grand Duke followed exactly two steps behind the Grand Duchess. When she stopped and whipped around to look at him, he flinched and lowered his head.
Or maybe they had a fight?
Fascinated by the strange sight, Polly stopped cleaning and watched the two of them.
“What are you doing?”
A group of maids passing by with linen baskets followed Polly’s gaze out the window.
As the Grand Duchess resumed her walk, the Grand Duke silently followed again. When a low-hanging branch got in her way, he lunged forward to lift it for her.
The Grand Duchess passed by him regally, without even a hint of hesitation.
Then, she suddenly turned back to speak to him.
What is she saying?
Driven by curiosity, Polly cracked the window open slightly, and the faint sound of their conversation drifted in.
“Why do you keep following me from behind?”
“I was afraid I’d be an eyesore to you, Annette.”
“Should I step back another foot?”
“Two feet?”
“…Come here. I want to hold your hand.”
At those words, the Grand Duke’s face brightened instantly.
To see their terrifying master wearing such a relaxed, melting expression…
The maids’ faces flushed, feeling as though they had witnessed something they weren’t supposed to see.
The Grand Duke gently interlaced his fingers with the Grand Duchess’s and gave the back of her hand an affectionate kiss.
The Grand Duchess watched him for a moment, glanced around her, and then stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips.
When she looked down again with a shy expression and started walking, the Grand Duke was led along helplessly by their joined hands.
One of the maids let out a long, envious sigh.