Warmth in the Darkness
Rene shivered in the warm water, her mind a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts. 'It's... warm... No, this isn't the time. I need to get the drug out of me...'
The mysterious substance's purpose was clear enough to the sharp-witted princess. 'Ugh... should I try putting a finger in? No... if I bleed and my fiancé notices, it'll be a disaster.'
She abandoned the idea of inserting anything, her virginity far too precious to risk. The thought of a fiancé whose face she had never even seen made her hesitate. 'What should I do?... Ah... that might work.'
She glanced around cautiously, wary of unseen eyes in the shadows. The thick, impenetrable darkness reassured her—no one could possibly be watching. With that small comfort, she spread her legs as wide as she could manage inside the tub.
'It's so tight...'
But there was no avoiding it. The aphrodisiac Arthur had scattered was slowly heating her body from within. A soft, involuntary sound escaped her.
“Hngh...”
Fighting against arousal was unfamiliar territory for Rene. She carefully washed her most intimate area with the warm water, trying to rinse away the drug. The lewd posture and actions—things she had never done in her life—filled her with shame. Yet at the same time, her heart began to race wildly.
'If I rub too hard, it'll just make me more frustrated. Gentle this time...'
As she cleaned herself, her finger accidentally brushed against her clitoris.
“Haa...”
The moan slipped out naturally, unbidden. Embarrassment burned her cheeks, but she couldn't stop. 'I want to... I want to cum so badly...'
The mere thought sent a fresh wave of heat surging through her core. 'This... this is torture.'
Having lived as the Emperor's cherished daughter, far removed from anything resembling sexual torment, she felt utterly lost. Her reason and instinct warred within her—one voice urging her to stop, the other screaming to rub harder, to produce more fluids and wash the drug away completely. She shook her head violently.
'No... I can't... I mustn't... going faster will only make the frustration worse.'
“Mmmh...”
She bit her lip and continued with gentle strokes, but it only made her burning body ache even more desperately. She prayed that the overflowing arousal fluid and the drug would dilute and wash away into the water.
“Haa... haa...”
Once she judged that enough of the substance had been diluted, Rene rose from the tub. 'There should be a towel nearby...'
In the darkness, she relied on her recent memory to locate it. After drying herself, she made her way to the bed.
“Mmmh... I'm... I'm going to lose my mind...”
Her heart was pounding too violently. She had never experienced anything like this in her entire life. But the racing heartbeat wasn't the only thing tormenting her.
'I'm dripping so much... it's so obscene...'
The fear that someone might see made her face flush crimson. 'With this much fluid coming out...'
Her instincts began to overpower her reason, whispering that just a little more rubbing—just a little more—would finally let her reach release.
-Ssshh...
Her hand slid downward toward her aching sex.
'Just a little... just a little more.'
Rene began rubbing her clitoris again. “Haaah! Hngh!”
Less than five minutes of this, and her moans grew louder and louder. Her reason was already being subdued by raw instinct. 'If I touch myself just a bit more, maybe I can finally cum?'
The seductive thought that perhaps the mana powering the barrier had run out whispered in her ear. In reality, that was impossible—but with her mind already paralyzed, she surrendered to her instincts.
'Yes... just in case... maybe the barrier's mana hasn't recharged yet.'
-Squish. Squish.
Her fingers moved faster. The wet sounds were embarrassingly loud.
'This time... I might actually be able to cum. I need to focus on the sensation rising from below...'
“Mmmngh! I can do it! This time I'm definitely going to cum!”
But reality betrayed her expectations.
Once again, her fingers met an invisible wall.
“Let me cum! Please let me cuuuuum!”
Her desperate scream echoed through the training room.
“Why! Why won't you let me cum! What the hell! I want to! I want to so badly!”
Her fingers were blocked by the unseen barrier. In the dim light, she could barely make out the transparent wall. It was the first time she truly understood just how infuriating barrier magic could be.
'Haa... that trash bastard... Still... at least this much should have flushed some of the drug out.'
She did her best to calm her body and slowly reflected on everything that had happened that day.
'Killing that perverted bastard and escaping from here won't be easy. Even if my mana returns, he cast that pain-inflicting spell on me earlier... I need to dispel that first.'
But she quickly realized how difficult that would be. The more she thought about it rationally, the more she understood there was no viable method. It left her in utter despair.
'At the very least, I must protect my virginity no matter what... What would that trash actually want?'
For a moment, she tried to imagine what that vile man might desire.
'Money? I could give him money, but... he wouldn't trust it.'
As a princess, arranging external contact to deliver funds would be simple. But he clearly didn't want her communicating with the outside world. So she reconsidered.
'Or... wait! That's it! That bet we made earlier!'
The wager from before flashed through her mind.
'That bastard didn't react because I provoked him about not being a man... He was just pretending to make the training easier! In that case...'
“Huu... It might be the worst outcome if it fails... but if it works, I can avoid the absolute worst. It's worth trying!”
A glimmer of hope sparkled in her eyes.
In a quiet room, a beautiful blonde woman and a black-haired woman in her early thirties with an impressive bust sat facing each other, sipping tea. The black-haired woman spoke first.
“I confirmed that the goods arrived around lunchtime today.”
The blonde woman's eyes gleamed with interest. “That's fortunate. So, has the training begun today?”
The black-haired woman nodded. “Yes. After receiving the goods, I confirmed that the coffin of the household was opened. However, I cannot say whether the training is proceeding smoothly.”
The blonde woman nodded in understanding. “You don't need to worry about that. He has no choice but to follow his destiny.”
At those words, the black-haired woman frowned slightly. “Then I suppose there is nothing to worry about.”
-Clink.
“Hehe, but it must have been quite the effort to create those items, no?”
The blonde woman set down her teacup with a playful smile. The black-haired woman patted her own shoulder as if to confirm the hardship.
“You asked for high-difficulty magical items to be produced as quickly as possible. I only did it because it was a request from Lady Selene, but it was quite taxing.”
Selene put on an apologetic expression. “Oh dear, I'm truly sorry. I had no idea he would make such an unreasonable demand.”
“Still, the plan is what matters, so I worked diligently. If the plan succeeds later, that will be thanks enough. I'll be looking forward to it.”
“Yes, you needn't worry about that.”
“Then I shall take my leave.”
The black-haired woman vanished as if she had never been there at all.
“You've made me suffer like this, so you'd better show me proper results. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to come collect my payment.”
Selene gazed at the moon outside the window, a refreshing smile playing on her lips.
Around the time Rene finally fell asleep, a tall, handsome man with black hair and the same red eyes as Rene sat on an ornate sofa in a luxurious room within the imperial palace. He wore an anxious expression. He was the Emperor's regent and son—Rene's older brother, Ian Ryan-Augustus.
His heart felt unbearably heavy. The incident that had occurred in the imperial palace carried repercussions far beyond what Ian could easily suppress.
'We must find Rene as quickly as possible.'
As soon as his official duties ended, the Crown Prince had secretly summoned the Minister of Information to the palace.
“Your Highness the Crown Prince. The Minister of Information has arrived.”
“Show him in.”
At Ian's command, the door opened. Karl, the Minister of Information with streaks of grey in his hair, entered and offered a respectful bow.
“You summoned me, Your Highness?”
“Yes. Have you still not located Rene?”
“That is...”
He had no excuse to offer the Crown Prince. The greatest intelligence agency on the continent had still failed to find the missing imperial princess.
“After all this, one begins to doubt whether the Information Department truly deserves its reputation as the finest on the continent.”
The cold look in Ian's eyes made Karl feel as if his breath had been stolen. Ian Ryan-Augustus was currently the strongest human on the continent, now that the Hero had returned to his original world.
Karl's body trembled under the weight of Ian's anger. Seeing this, Ian let out a long sigh, softening his aura, and spoke more gently.
“Uncle Karl. I believe you understand the gravity of the current situation. If word gets out that Rene has disappeared, you can imagine what chaos will follow.”
Though protocol as Crown Prince demanded he use informal speech with Karl, the man had been like family since Ian's childhood. When they were alone, Ian often reverted to polite speech.
After the Demon King's appearance had brought suffering to the Emperor, and after the Grand Duke had died once only to be resurrected, the man who returned from death had begun to reflect on life. Now nearing his fifties, he wished to enjoy the retirement he had long postponed rather than continue with official duties.
The Emperor respected her once-dead husband's wishes, and the couple had decided to travel together. As a result, Crown Prince Ian had been forced to act as Emperor far sooner than expected.
While he spent his days overwhelmed with state affairs as the imperial regent, his younger sister had caused an incident. And not just any incident—a catastrophic one.
Rene had vanished from the imperial palace in the blink of an eye. At first, Ian had assumed she had gone on one of her secret excursions to the imperial capital, Roman. But when she failed to return the next day, he issued a special order to the Information Department: bring Rene back.
Following the regent's command, Karl had mobilized the entire intelligence network across the Empire to search for his lord's sister, but...
'Where on earth did she go?'
Not a single piece of news had come in.
“If we're not careful, our parents who are currently resting may return. And if they do, Uncle, your position will become far more difficult than it is now. The United Kingdom will likely raise issues as well.”
At the Crown Prince's words, Karl bowed his head in shame.
“I am deeply sorry, Your Highness.”
“Enough with the apologies. Just bring Rene back as quickly as you can.”
“I... I will do everything in my power, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Watching Karl, a man he had known for so long, fidget anxiously with his head bowed, Ian's heart felt uneasy. After all, wasn't this the same uncle who had played with him as a child?
“I seem to have acted too rudely. I'm sorry. Please go and rest, Uncle.”
With that, Ian headed back to his own chambers.