A Game of Patience
Although it was getting late, it would be a long time before Banya went to bed. Yeongso gathered the list and headed to her husband's quarters.
"I thought he would be in his study..." The lights were on, but where had he gone? Yeongso stood before the empty study, feeling bewildered. Did he go out and hasn't returned yet? When she questioned the guards patrolling the area, they replied that the Alliance Leader was indeed inside the pavilion. They just didn't know his exact location.
"Well, at least he's inside..." Yeongso peered into each room of the pavilion one by one until she reached the bathhouse. Just as she was about to knock on the door, a very faint groan reached her ears. If it had come from inside the bathhouse, she could have understood. But why is that kind of sound coming from the back garden beyond the bathhouse?!
Yeongso spun around to return to the main house, but then she froze. The thought occurred to her that this might be another one of her husband's pranks. He's done this a few times before. Once, I froze when I heard a woman's moans, only to find out it was a parrot that had learned some bizarre sounds.
Yeongso looked down at the list in her hands. It wasn't an urgent matter, but the sooner it was finished, the better. "I'll just check if it's a prank or not..." It wouldn't be too late to head back after taking a quick peek at the back garden to see what he was actually up to.
Yeongso opened the bathhouse door and stepped inside. The layout of the pavilion was somewhat unusual, making it much faster to cut through the bathhouse than to take the long way around to the back garden. The bitter scent of wood and a thin mist of steam gently enveloped her. Seeing that the bathwater was already prepared, it seemed Banya intended to soak himself soon.
Glancing briefly at the wooden tub, Yeongso slid open the door on the opposite side by a mere hand span. Banya was sitting on a stone table in front of a dense bamboo grove. Every time he exhaled, his breath drifted into the cool night air like white mist.
"Haa..." Because his back was partially turned toward the door, she couldn't see his body clearly. However, it was unmistakable that his right hand was moving in a rhythmic motion. Did he sit like that on purpose so I couldn't see? Just to keep fooling me to the very end? Yeongso was debating whether she should knock on the door to make her presence known when—
Banya shifted his posture. As he did, his erect member, standing tall between the folds of his silk robe, came into full view. Veins bulged prominently along its length, and a drop of milky-white fluid had already gathered at the tip.
Banya gripped the shaft with his right hand and stroked down slowly. When he pushed back up with force, the pink foreskin retreated, bunching up just beneath the glans. As he repeated this motion a few times, his features gradually contorted with pleasure.
"Ngh..." The groan escaping his red lips was as wet as the tip of his length. This time, it's real. Yeongso quickly covered her mouth. To her utter embarrassment, she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from her husband, who was shamelessly pleasuring himself under the autumn moonlight.
I-I'm just shocked. Yes. I'm just too flustered. It wasn't as if she had never seen Banya taking care of himself before, so why was she so utterly bewildered? Yeongso silently reasoned that it must be the lingering aftereffects of the three-year mourning period, during which she had been completely removed from any carnal desires.
Banya had said this was his twentieth regression. By his timeline, it had only been twenty days since his last death. Since he had sought out his wife in every single lifetime, he had essentially seen Yeongso every single day without fail. But for Yeongso, it was different. It had been three long years since she last faced her husband's imposing physique, let alone shared her body with him.
It's been so long. All of this... She knew she should leave and not interrupt his private moment. Her mind understood this perfectly, yet her body refused to budge. Hearing his low groans brought back vivid memories of their passionate encounter at Chunyangru.
"Haa... Ah, damn it..." Banya's movements grew increasingly rough. As his hand stroked up and down with rapid, snapping motions, as if trying to wring out every last drop of his essence, Yeongso's cheeks burned hot. She knew exactly what it felt like to have that inside her mouth. The sweet yet musky taste of his seed. Having to stretch her jaw so wide it ached. Whenever she gagged as it brushed against the back of her throat before she could even take half of it, Banya would smile with deep satisfaction and tell her to endure it.
Back then, she had thought she was merely being tormented in ways she could never confess to anyone else. It had been a wedding night so vastly different from what her innocent, youthful self had ever imagined.
"Ah... Baekri Yeongso..." Banya groaned softly. Startled by the sudden mention of her name, Yeongso accidentally nudged the door. At the rattling sound of the sliding door, Banya stopped. I'm doomed, was her only thought.
"Come out," Banya commanded, his voice laced with a dangerous edge. There was no escaping now. Left with no choice, Yeongso slid the door open a bit wider. Upon recognizing the face of his spy, a slow smirk spread across his lips.
"Ah, was it you, my lady?" It was just like Banya not to bother covering himself up. Then I must act as natural and unbothered as possible. Yeongso held up the list in her hand. She intended to use her work as an excuse to retreat.
"I didn't mean to interrupt. I just had something to ask you..." Before she could even add that it wasn't urgent, Banya cut in. "Go ahead and ask."
Yeongso was temporarily lost for words. She had always known he was far from conventional, but she was constantly taken aback whenever she faced this side of her husband. Did the concepts of 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' even exist in Banya's mind?
"No, it's fine. It's something that might take a while. I'll come back tomorrow." "Do you think I won't be able to keep this up until we're finished?" Banya casually gave his erect shaft a light shake. "Or are you worried that I will keep it up until then?"
Yeongso seriously considered slamming the sliding door shut and running away. She wanted to escape this embarrassing situation immediately and head straight back to the main house. Surely he wouldn't chase after me in that state? But this was Hwa Banya. She could not overlook the very real possibility that he actually would.
"It's a list of the wives of those holding key positions in Cheonsaryeon." "I can't hear you well. Come closer." Yeongso muttered a quiet protest before she could stop herself. "Liar..."
"Come closer, my lady. I am well aware that you have no intention of coupling tonight." I won't force myself inside you. Banya promised in a nonchalant voice. Yeongso accepted the fact that escaping this situation was futile. Clutching the list tightly, she walked over to him. Banya extended his left hand. Naturally assuming he wanted the list, Yeongso handed it over.
"...Ah!" Unexpectedly, her wrist was grabbed. Pulled with a sudden yank, Yeongso found herself straddling Banya's thighs in an instant. It would have been a romantic position if her husband were about to carry her off to the bedchamber, but the problem was that they were in an open back garden.
"You clearly said you w-wouldn't put it in..." "I absolutely won't. I have my pride, after all." Just what kind of pride does he have? The moment the thought crossed her mind, something hard poked up at her from below.
"I will only do this," Banya added. "Until you beg me to put it in." "Let me go." "Hmm? Did you say, 'Put it in'?"
At his shameless response, Yeongso slapped his chest. "Let go of me." "If you truly feel nothing from this..." Without hesitation, Banya pulled the hem of his wife's skirt out from under her bottom. He slid her thin undergarments down in one swift motion, leaving nothing to block the space between them. At the very least, their intimate areas were now touching skin-to-skin. Yeongso choked back a sob at the raw, vivid sensation of his slick, wet length rubbing against her cleft.
"This should feel a bit better." "Not at all... Ngh, stop moving. Sob, stop..." Yeongso squeezed her thighs together and bit her lower lip. "At this rate, it's going to slip in..."
"I told you, I won't put it in," Banya whispered, wrapping his arms around her slender waist. "Let's see who burns up from frustration first."
Straddling Banya as he sat on the stone table, Yeongso's feet dangled in the air. This made her position feel all the more precarious. If she didn't cling to her husband's shoulders, she felt as though she would tumble forward or to the side at any moment. If that happened, the undergarments currently bunched around her knees would be exposed beneath her skirt, resulting in an incredibly unsightly spectacle. I could just let myself be embarrassed once and get it over with, but...