Chapter 223
Chapter 223
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: A Husband's Duty (2)
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She had lived her entire life receiving both coercive education and the highest treatment simultaneously.
The privileges granted as the Empire's first daughter.
Those privileges coexisted with light and shadow.
She was the envy of all, yet she endured harsh training to appear that elegant.
Surrounded always by retainers, she learned statecraft and tactics without ever having laid eyes on a sword.
Yet, amid all that attention, Lea was always lonely.
Because everyone's motives for getting close to her were so obvious.
They sought to climb the ranks through her, to Rozanna's line.
Their blatant intent to curry favor with the Emperor.
Thanks to that, everyone approaching her seemed like selfish opportunists to Lea.
Until she met the man standing before her now.
"..."
What an intriguing fellow.
He didn't approach her for her looks.
Nor to ride her coattails.
While everyone chased their own desires, he alone looked after those around him.
That was the man now sleeping before her: Veil Mikhail.
"You're so cute when you're asleep like this..."
But the moment he opens his eyes, how could he turn so sly and strong?
"Probably because the world you grew up in was just as harsh as mine."
Lea pulled another chair next to the leather one.
Then, she draped herself over the desk, peeking sideways at Veil's face.
It wasn't her preferred position.
Leaning forward bunched up her ample curves uncomfortably downward.
Yet Lea forgot even that discomfort, staring intently at the sly slant of the sleeping man's eyes.
"This makes me feel like I'm the one clinging desperately..."
As the Empire's First Imperial Princess, her pride stung at having come to him first, ahead of the other princesses.
But to reap sweet fruit, one must endure some sacrifice.
"You sly devil."
Well-versed in that principle, Lea reached out a delicate hand.
Like a schoolgirl overcome with curiosity for the boy next to her, she gently lifted Veil's bangs.
"You're the one who tempted me first..."
Lea's long fingers slowly toyed with the man's soft cheek.
She felt his body heat through her fingertips.
As if confirming he was human, just like her.
"Mmm..."
At the touch, the sleeping man stirred, and Lea hastily withdrew her mature gaze.
She quickly pulled her fingers back.
"Ahem!"
Lea straightened up as if nothing had happened.
Then, hands clasped behind her back, she pretended to survey the office.
"It's still so modest in here."
Muttering excuses to the sleeping man, she strolled gracefully around, observing her surroundings.
"Where did all that money go?"
She had heard he became a marquis and received his fief in gold.
Yet he still lingered in this shabby building's office.
As Lea idly brushed her fingers along a bookshelf to play it cool,
She spotted a 'golden rose' preserved carefully in a glass jar.
"This is..."
Back when he had fled to the water department instead of choosing her at the appointment ceremony.
It was a gift she herself had sent.
Come to think of it, she had personally decorated this place.
And Veil had kept everything she provided, without discarding a single item.
Treasuring the golden rose in its glass jar.
"Could the reason he stayed here all this time be..."
Lea glanced at the sleeping man.
Then, she let out a soft, amused smile, as if he were adorable.
"You're the problem, Mikhail."
The Empire's First Imperial Princess turned her head away with a prim expression.
Resuming her tour of the office,
"?"
She noticed the door to what was used as a storage room slightly ajar.
As if someone had just been there and left.
Lea entered with the graceful steps of a queen.
Then, she stiffened at the faint, blooming scent of a woman.
"This smells like Lady Miya..."
Inherently sensitive to fragrances,
She had collected the scent from Veil's shirts and sweat, sniffing it whenever state affairs stressed her out.
So she could instantly recognize Miya's fresh aroma.
"This doesn't sit well with me."
As the princess surveyed Miya's storage space,
Her eyes caught a garment hanging on a rack.
"!"
Miya's prepared secretary outfit for work.
A tight miniskirt and white blouse.
"Lady Miya had a cute side after all."
Lea pulled out the clothes and examined them impassively.
Then, she suddenly furrowed her brow.
Come to think of it, Lydia had worn a similar academy uniform once.
And her confident declaration:
「This is the outfit Veil personally recommended.」
Lea realized the man's tastes and spoke up.
"So this is your type, Mikhail."
Like a feminine wife thinking of her husband, Lea flashed a seductive smile.
Then she shut the storage room door for a moment.
"Well, after all her efforts so far, a little reward is in order."
「―――――」
How much time passed?
The door to the storage room where Lea had entered stayed shut for quite a while.
The outfit clung perfectly to Miya, but
Trying it on herself was no easy task.
First, she stripped off the constricting white uniform.
Revealing black lace lingerie hugging her luscious, soft skin.
"If you liked it enough to hang it here in storage, I suppose I should indulge you once."
Lea muttered to herself in the empty space.
Then she began slowly donning the secretary outfit.
But she hit a snag right from the start.
She easily slipped into the blouse sleeves.
But as she tried to button the chest,
"Hnng..."
No matter how she tugged and stretched the blouse, the button and hole wouldn't meet.
Miya was a fit knight, so the size was larger than average, yet hopelessly small for Lea.
"The button... Haa...!"
Lea let out a plaintive moan as she finally forced it shut.
But the gap between button and fabric gaped open, exposing everything inside.
The deep, warm valley between her breasts was fully on display.
The tightness made the bra's curves protrude starkly.
Even with the blouse on, the black lace lingerie showed through.
"Haa..."
Still, Lea overlooked it, buoyed by the achievement of fastening the buttons.
True to her father the Emperor and mother Rozanna's conquest-driven blood, she moved straight to sliding her thighs into the skirt.
Getting her legs in was fine.
But as she hoisted it over her voluptuous hips, the skirt snagged on her wide pelvis.
"Whew..."
She wriggled it up to the end somehow, but the final zipper wouldn't close.
"This is harder than devising battle plans..."
The princess tensed her lower abdomen deeply.
Then, showing the results of her recent workouts, she yanked the hips up and finally zipped it.
Thus, the Empire's soldier transformed into a secretary.
But this outfit made even walking—a queen's proud stride—difficult.
Every thigh movement tugged at the zipper, threatening to undo it.
The sensation of the demure skirt and constricting blouse made her unwittingly prim.
It gradually sensitized Lea's body.
"Haaa..."
Lea opened the door with a needy breath.
And slowly approached in the outfit the man she favored loved so much.
"This isn't just a matter of losing weight, it seems."
With every step, her hips jiggled within the tight skirt.
Every exhale brought a precarious creak from the blouse buttons.
Yet Secretary Lea pressed on.
A secretary fundamentally devoted herself to her lord.
She even donned a monocle to stay in character.
"Time to wake you now."
The princess, fully attired, breathed raggedly against the squeezing clothes.
Then she gazed down at the sleeping man like a pampered fox.
With eyes that seemed to want to devour him.
"Whew..."
Lea brought her soft lips to the man's ear.
Just as she leaned in to whisper with sultry breath...
"Lord Veil, are you inside?"
'M-Mosian...?!'
Her eyes flashed at the voice of the prime minister, old enough to be her uncle.
"I'm coming in?"
The clear sound of the door handle turning.
The princess dove under the desk, her long golden ponytail whipping like a tail.
――――――.
"What's this, sleeping...?"
The old man slowly entered the office.
He closed the door and surveyed the darkened interior with drawn curtains.
"Sleeping with the curtains drawn—classic you."
"...!"
Only after hearing the elder's scolding could I finally open my eyes.
In a daze, I rubbed my eyes at the sight of the prime minister before me.
"Prime Minister Mosian...?"
"Yes, it's me. I heard you hadn't set foot in your new office, so I came here."
The old man chuckled and pointed at me.
"Hiding in your burrow, slacking off as usual!"
"I'm sorry... Suddenly so much piled up that needed handling..."
I yawned and cleared the state documents from the desk.
"Shall I brew some tea?"
"No need. Stay comfortable there."
Only then did I settle back into the plush new chair.
"But what brings you all the way here?"
"Ah, something urgent I needed to discuss."
I shifted to focus on the old man's words.
But in that instant,
Something soft and plush brushed my knee.
"Hm...?"
I slowly looked down.
And discovered a blonde woman in lewd secretary attire hiding under the desk.
'Lady Lea...?'
"Lord Veil, is there something under the desk?"
"N-No, nothing...!! Just my shoelace came undone...!!"
Mosian tilted his head at my flustered face.
"'Your Grace'? I feel like His Majesty the Emperor himself."
"I misspoke, still half-asleep. Haha..."
Right, half-asleep, seeing things.
Let me check again.
I swallowed hard.
And slowly looked down once more.
But
The lower my gaze, the more it revealed: black stockings stretched taut over voluptuous flesh, turned skin-toned.
And the dainty toes wiggling demurely.
Elegant yet subtly alluring.
"..."
Above the dizzying stockings: a skirt stretched tight.
Plump blouse meeting neatly folded knees, with black bra visible beneath.
'No way—how is Lea under the desk right after I wake up...?'
'And in lewd secretary clothes...!!'
Lea stifled her ragged breaths.
Then, with flushed cheeks, she slowly placed a finger to her lips.
"Shh."
I raised my head as if heeding her.
If Mosian—His Majesty's closest aide—saw this, it wouldn't end well.
"The reason I came is something I wanted to ask you personally."
"I-Is that so..."
I forced a sly smile in reply.
Meanwhile, I pulled my chair closer to the desk, aware of the approaching elder.
"...!"
My knee pressed against Lea's body as a result.
So I spread my legs, letting her hide more securely.
But I soon regretted that move.
Lea, confined in the desk's enclosed space.
Crouching made the already tight lewd blouse and skirt hypersensitize her.
And in that state, as my deep pants came right to her nose,
Lea stared blankly at my zipper.
"I heard something from His Majesty."
"From His Majesty...?"
Oblivious, I focused on the conversation with the prime minister.
Unaware the dark lioness was gradually succumbing to my deep scent.
"Yes, that you experienced 'regression' like His Majesty..."
Regression.
Lea under the desk inhaled the sultry aroma at her nose tip, repeating the word.
"You heard everything, then."
"Yes, that in the past, you were actually Princess Irina's guard captain."
Irina's guard captain.
At those words, Lea—who had been savoring my scent with half-lidded eyes—
Flashed blue predator eyes from the dark burrow.
"That's correct."
As I confirmed it, Lea furrowed her brow.
And as she exhaled deeply—
―――!
One blouse button snapped off.
"The reason you two were so intimate on the stairs last night makes sense now."
Lea recalled us sitting on the party stairs, gazing at each other tenderly.
An atmosphere and look she couldn't intrude on.
A strange mix of defeat and greed had gripped her, so she listened intently.
"Yes, we cleared up all our misunderstandings and feelings. We're on very comfortable terms now."
"I see, comfortable terms..."
Mosian nodded.
Then he got to the point.
"So that means you're considering marriage with Princess Irina?"
Marriage.
Lea under the desk froze at the word.
She held her breath, gazing up at my body intently.
"Yes, that's probably how it'll go."
I answered the prime minister honestly.
Unaware of the woman under the desk's feelings.
"..."
Hearing from below that I would marry Irina, Lea's face hardened.
How dare he say that so brazenly while hiding her away.
Within her breast, the desires inherited from Rozanna began to boil.
"Well, now you're a marquis and the Empire's guardian, so you're more than qualified."
Mosian unwittingly poured oil on the fire.
Lea, already hypersensitive, drew a deep breath.
And with beastly blue eyes flashing, she stared at my pants.
"Hahaha... Thank you so much for saying that."
I expressed gratitude to the elder with a sly laugh.
Just as I tried to resume casually—
"...?"
I felt a woman's hand on my pants.
"Good, I came to confirm since you seemed close to the princesses."
"Y-You can't fool Prime Minister, after all...!"
I managed my expression and replied.
Meanwhile, Lea began caressing my thickening bulge with elegant hands.
"Hooo..."
The princess gazed up at me intently from the darkness.
Then, as if to punish, she lowered my pants zipper with lewd eyes.
As if to say, how dare you discuss marriage to another while setting me aside.
"...!"
The moment I tried to pull my chair back,
Lea gripped my knees with both hands and pressed her perky nose to my underwear.
Then she began inhaling the thick scent she craved.
Feeling my growing girth, she exhaled hot breaths freely.
With jealous female eyes I'd never seen before.
"You're the bad one, Mikhail."
Like truly hunting a male, she slipped fingers into my underwear.
The moment her saliva-filled hot lips parted,
I indulged in the first overwhelming pleasure I'd ever known.