Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: Black Knight
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The Imperial Crown Prince had rescued his fiancée—or lover, perhaps—and returned to the capital...
"Finally, that fool's given up on fruit too high to reach and is marrying a dwarf. I can't tell if that's a blessing or a curse."
"He's my son, but his tastes scare me to death."
"They've already consummated their relationship, so there's no backing out now. What am I supposed to do?"
"Out of all the high elves in the world, why pick a dwarf? I just can't wrap my head around it."
I stuck out my tongue at the letter overflowing with my brother's grumbling.
If he knew his nephew was enjoying it...
His brother would faint dead away.
Whatever the case, Luna was thrilled at the news of the Crown Prince's marriage.
"Boobie... boobie."
And very much so.
"Hehe, I knew I could count on you, Aiden."
*Smack smack.*
Luna rubbed her cheek against my bare chest.
"You saw that letter, right?"
"I'm just healing you?"
I asked her, who wore a blissful smile.
"You look so happy."
"Of course. That pervert Crown Prince is finally gone. And..."
Luna licked her lips.
"Now it's just you and me, alone?"
When the Crown Prince was around, we'd make love once a week or so, at our house.
Each time, it was like bedding a wild beast.
By contrast, now we chatted like this in my room every single day. Not bad at all.
As I set the letter aside and pondered my reply for tomorrow...
She gently caressed my member.
"Aiden, today I want to do it while kissing."
"We did that last time too."
Since the Crown Prince left, she'd been making up for lost time, clinging to me relentlessly. It was exhausting.
"This time's different."
She gripped my stiff shaft and rubbed it against her folds.
"Haa... this is so addictive."
As Luna slowly engulfed my member...
"Hehe..."
She nestled into my arms.
"So warm and hard."
"We do this every time."
"Still, I want to stay connected to you like this always."
*Smack!*
Luna planted a kiss on my cheek.
She pointed to her own cheek with a finger.
"Won't you give me one?"
I had no idea why this icy woman turned into such a coquettish tease in bed.
"Of course."
*Smack!*
Soon, she wrapped her arms around my neck...
*Slurp...*
And began kissing me.
Ah... gonna be a long night again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Several months later.
As spring bloomed with flowers, word arrived from the capital that the Crown Prince was engaged.
It had all worked out nicely in the end, but...
"Haa... the work just never ends."
I sighed at the stack of documents before me.
The Grand Duchy's finances were in far better shape than before.
The costs from the initial development had been more than covered by the yin-yang wine, and guilds were slowly moving in, generating steady revenue.
But separate from that...
"Why are there so many more papers?"
New ventures meant more documents to review—and more for me to write.
"If only I had a computer and a printer."
Handwriting everything was pure hell.
As I face-planted into the desk...
*Knock knock.*
"Come in."
*Creak.*
"Sir Aiden. Posture."
I straightened up at Luna's voice.
*Click.*
Once the door shut, I shot her a sullen glare.
"What?"
Last night, she'd wrung me dry five times when I'd begged for just once.
As if determined to collect on every missed night.
She was insatiable on weekdays.
Thanks to that, I was wiped out today, so my tone was sharp.
And she knew it, averting her eyes slightly.
"Well... the Black Knight's coming."
"Oh?"
The Black Knight.
Luna's childhood betrothed, a Swordmaster.
Not so much a love match as an arrangement between the Valmore family needing an heir and the Black Knight's house aligning interests.
His family was a branch of the Valmores.
The previous Grand Duke had betrothed them young due to the boy's talent, but...
The regent broke it off, and rather than help Luna surrounded by enemies...
He'd abandoned her.
While he grew stronger to save her...
She'd eliminated her foes and seized the Grand Duchy.
In short... Luna had no reason to hold good feelings for the Black Knight.
"Why's he coming?"
"Probably that old duel promise?"
In the original story, after Luna took the Grand Duchy, the Black Knight proposed.
Disappointed by his past actions, she refused, and they settled on a duel.
Both Swordmasters, top-tier warriors.
Luna won.
Loving duels with the strong...
She showed mercy to the despairing Black Knight.
One more chance: challenge her again when he was confident of victory.
That's how he exited the story.
"Uh... you'll win again, right?"
"Heh, what do you take me for? Even against another Swordmaster, the gap between us is huge. Don't underestimate the head of the main house."
Luna smiled faintly.
She drained me nightly, but after all we'd done together, I'd grown attached.
The thought of losing her to someone else was unbearable.
"You're really confident? He's a Swordmaster too."
"What do you take me for? I won't lose to that coward."
Her red eyes burned fiercely.
My brother once mentioned that when the regent unilaterally ended the betrothal...
He'd planned to intervene in the Grand Duchy over it.
Luna had hoped for that in the original.
A regent—not Valmore blood—breaking a family promise was sure to spark backlash.
To the nobles, the regent had overstepped; even the Emperor intervening wouldn't faze them.
But he hadn't.
Maybe that's why Luna saw the Black Knight as a coward.
...Fair enough.
Knowing all this made me suspicious, so I just chuckled awkwardly.
"Haha..."
"And I want to marry the man I love."
I firmly told Luna, who slyly took my hand.
"Day off today. Hands off."
"Hng..."
She pouted up at me.
No joke.
Unicorn horn kept my stamina endless, but she wrung me all night.
Elixir or not, no ill effects was terrifying.
Wait... not sleepy? All-nighters, work, repeat.
Swordmaster stamina?
Wish she'd apply it to state affairs.
"So when's he arriving?"
A wrinkle formed between her brows at my question.
"Around next month?"
"Huh? That's sooner than I thought."
"He's in the Empire's south now. Probably that long."
Knowing it'd take time eased my mind a bit.
"Hmm..."
This was the chance to shake off the Black Knight.
"How do we get him to withdraw his proposal?"
Luna replied to my serious question with a playful lilt.
"Hmm... kill him this time?"
"What?"
Killing a Swordmaster guarding the Empire!
Her radical words left me stunned.
"That's..."
"No legal issue. It's a duel."
Her red eyes gleamed menacingly as she smirked.
"Ah... no way! What if the Emperor marks you for it?"
She shook her head at my worried plea.
Luna flashed a chilling smile I'd never seen.
"Swordmasters are precious to the Empire, but duels to the death? Even the Emperor can't guarantee safety."
"Still..."
No way? She's not serious?
"Well... if you say not to kill him, I won't. But you sure? I'm winning now, but someday I might lose. Then he could take me."
"You could lose?"
She shrugged.
"Not this time."
I pondered her words.
Kill or spare?
I'd rather avoid killing if possible.
"But he's Valmore branch, right? Killing him outright..."
"Doesn't matter with trash like that."
A Swordmaster from the same house.
Having him alive would help the family and Duchy...
"He doesn't value the house anyway. Wandering knight, right? No loss to the family."
Was it my imagination? She seemed eager to kill him.
No faint smile otherwise.
Probably resentment from him not seeking the Emperor's aid before.
Whatever. She clearly despised him.
"His reputation's been a thorn too."
"Why spare him last time then?"
She'd beaten him before and let him live.
Even offering another challenge anytime.
What changed?
"Duel with a strong foe was fun back then? Coward before, but Swordmaster now. Learned from it."
"And now?"
She opened her mouth matter-of-factly.
"Now I've got someone I love. Him persisting is a hassle."
"Ugh... let's think on it slowly."