It Would Have Been Enough to Wash Together
“Oh my.”
“My, oh my.”
At the maids’ gasps, Regina could only flush red. The marks left all over her upper body, along with the bite marks scattered here and there, laid Conrad’s possessiveness bare.
The maids who would soon be reassigned to the Empress's Palace looked delighted. The better Regina, as empress, got along with Conrad, the higher their own standing in the imperial palace would surely rise.
“His Majesty dotes on Her Majesty the Empress terribly.”
“He does.”
Regina had no words to add to their conversation, but the maids were different. There had even been whispers that Conrad and Regina had spent the night together, but that it had been nothing more than a formality. Some rumors went so far as to claim that his late arrival to the morning state council had been nothing but an act.
No one could say where the talk had started, but its malicious intent was obvious enough.
Now I can deny it for certain.
The maids made up their minds. Palace rumors spread like fire across a dry field, and they intended to make use of that power of word of mouth themselves.
“My love for her has never changed, from the beginning until now.”
Conrad strode into the bath chamber.
Regina, who had been sitting in the tub, startled and sank beneath the water, while the maids hurriedly bowed their heads.
“If that weren’t true, why else would I have given her the crown of empress?”
Conrad added, making it clear that he had chosen Regina regardless of politics.
“Feel free to let everyone know how much I love the empress.”
The maids lowered their heads, flustered and honored at once.
The women who had sworn loyalty to the imperial family treated silence as gold.
But now that the emperor himself had given them permission so openly, this time would be an exception.
“All of you, leave us.”
After bowing deeply to Conrad, the maids scurried out of the bath chamber.
They would spread this irresistible news throughout the imperial palace.
Conrad approached Regina, who was staring at him with widened eyes. He stepped into the tub, paid no mind to his trousers getting soaked, and leaned down.
Regina inched backward to avoid him. Each time she moved, the rippling splash of water teased Conrad’s ears.
She retreated until there was nowhere left to go, and then her back met the wall.
“It’s not even sunset yet…!”
“That hardly matters. Isn’t it about time your mana was running dry? Kissing alone must have its limits...”
Conrad’s lips curved as he stared at Regina’s flushed face, unable to tear his eyes away.
“Besides, we’re newlyweds.”
No one could say a thing about them being glued to each other whenever and wherever they pleased.
Conrad murmured as he seized Regina’s body. Drawn by the force pulling her toward him, Regina ended up pressed against his solid chest and hard torso.
Heat spread through her in an instant. Mana flowed into her, stinging and making her breath come hot and fast.
Unable to push him away and with nowhere to put the heat building inside her, Regina let out a shaky breath.
“Ahh…”
When an uncontained sigh slipped out, Conrad extended his tongue and licked her lips.
“Sweet.”
He kept his mouth against hers, the breath he exhaled over her lips turning strangely intimate. Before she knew it, Conrad had seated her on his thigh and was gently biting the curve of her ear.
“Mnh!”
“Even here.”
His mouth moved from her ear to the soft lobe, then down to the slender line of her neck.
He sank his teeth into her skin, leaving a red mark, and Regina let out a fragile moan.
“W-wait, hnng!”
Regina’s arm weakly pushed at Conrad. Unlike last time, he yielded to her shove and drew back a little, putting some distance between them.
Their bodies had only separated slightly, but it was enough for her to recover a little composure.
“I haven’t washed yet.”
“Then we’ll just wash together.”
Conrad curved his eyes and reached for the cloth lying beside the tub.
He rubbed it against the soap the maids had prepared, then gripped Regina’s waist.
“Now then, where should I start?”
“I can do it mys— ahh!”
The cloth in Conrad’s hand brushed against the tip of Regina’s nipple. As he circled and rubbed the swollen peak, the sensation drew an involuntary moan from her lips.
“Of course I know my empress can wash herself.”
After all, she had spent years marching around the frontier with an army. That much was only natural, Conrad added.
With one hand that wasn’t holding the cloth, he gently stroked the body stiffened by tension, then moved again.
“But this time, I want to wash you myself.”
“Conrad, ahh!”
Conrad’s hot hand touched the nipple that had been rubbed by the cloth. He rolled the tip under his palm before seizing her breast.
Regina felt as if her throat were burning dry. It took no time at all for the heat in her chest to spread through her entire body.
“Here too.”
The cloth, now thick with lather, caressed her breast to his heart’s content before sliding down over her stomach and lower.
The sensation of the water-soaked cloth dragging between her legs made Regina’s head tip back. Her white neck was laid bare, and Conrad’s lips found it at once.
Unable to bear the ache, she tightened her grip on his shoulder. Her nails left crescent-shaped marks in his skin.
Mana seeped in from where their skin touched, slowly consuming Regina’s whole body. Unable to endure the fierce stimulation, she twisted as if to flee from it.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Conrad’s hand tightened the moment he noticed.
There was desire in the low voice whispering near her ear. Regina flinched.
His hand, firm around her waist, slipped lower again between her legs, and tension stiffened her entire body.
“You’re not escaping.”
“Hah, I-I’m not trying to run... ngh!”
With Conrad teasing the tip of her tongue, Regina couldn’t get the words out properly. His tongue forced its way into her mouth, tangled with hers, and their mixed saliva spilled between them.
Regina swallowed it all.
Saliva she couldn’t tell was his or hers ran from the corner of her mouth, and the obscene sound of lips colliding rang unmistakably through the bath chamber.
“Haa, ah—”
The unfinished moan spread through the room.
Conrad bit the tip of Regina’s tongue, then slowly let her lips go. The tongue that dragged languidly over her lower lip was wickedly sensual.
The fingers inside her curled, and below them a surge of slick wetness spilled out all at once.
Unable to endure the stimulation, Regina staggered and gave herself over to him completely.
“It’s lovely when you stay so still in my arms.”
Conrad caught her limp hand and brought his lips to her fingertips. He nipped at the tip, then extended his tongue to lick it clean.
“Hngh!”
The thick finger that had forced its way into the slit below moved in and out.
The slick, wet passage accepted his fingers easily, pulsing as it swallowed them over and over.
When one finger became two, then three, a heated breath slipped from Regina’s lips. It was the second time she had felt this, but it still felt foreign.
“Con, Conrad, ah!”
When Conrad pressed down with his thumb on the red pearl that had emerged from the split between her folds, a fierce wave of sensation crashed over her.
Her parted lips could not even manage a proper moan. The red tongue inside them caught Conrad’s gaze as if it were trying to lure him in.
It was a red so vivid it looked as if biting it would release the sweetness of fruit.
It makes me want to swallow her whole.
No matter how many times their lips met, the thirst would not subside. If he bit down and swallowed her like this, would it ease that hunger just a little?
After a moment’s hesitation, Conrad merely pressed his lips lightly to hers.
If I push too hard, she’ll run.
Perhaps because mana and aura had been exchanged between them, Regina’s inner flesh was burning hot. Conrad kept thrusting his three fingers into her with practiced ease.
As the sensation drove deep and then pulled away, Regina could only part her lips soundlessly. Her mind was so fevered she could barely think straight.
Her head was spinning.