Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: First Relationship
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Asherad reached out and slowly untied the ribbons at Daphne's waist. Daphne stood frozen like a wooden block, staring up at him.
She knew what this meant. A man confessing his burning love and now seeking to join their bodies. In a way, it was only natural.
But he was the Crown Prince. He was the sort who wouldn't even touch a lowly maid like her because it was "dirty." With such a vast gap in status, would he really go through with it?
That was the bigger reason she stood there dumbfounded. Would this man truly lie with her? Or was it just mocking intimidation?
The Emperor had his eyes on her—would the Crown Prince dare touch her? Surely not. Daphne even thought so with bitter self-mockery.
But by the time she snapped out of it, all the buttons were undone, and her clothes slipped down smoothly. She stood there in her undergarments, gazing at Asherad.
Only then did it start to feel real. Without thinking, she stepped back, her calf catching on the bed frame, and she collapsed onto the mattress.
Asherad smiled at that. Daphne couldn't stand and flee; she scooted backward toward the headboard, sitting there.
Unaware of his own actions, Asherad climbed onto the bed and positioned himself over Daphne, who lay in the center.
It felt too easy. Looking at Asherad, Daphne realized: this man intended to go all the way.
His hands moved frantically to strip away her undergarments, unlike his usual elegant slowness. Goosebumps prickled across her bare skin.
"I love you, Daphne."
Asherad whispered sweetly. In the moonlight, the illusory affection he showed was breathtakingly beautiful. His words almost sounded true at first listen.
"So stay by my side."
"……."
"Don't run away."
The hand pulling down her drawers moved agonizingly slowly. When the cool air touched her thighs, she knew she was fully exposed before him.
Before Daphne could react, Asherad began nuzzling her neck. It tickled, yet it was sticky and cloying. Her body tensed at the sensation, and she flinched.
The hazy sense of unreality slowly returned. Denying the reality, Daphne realized she was about to join bodies with this man.
The face that had always been artificially tender was now tinged with madness. Yet his lips, exhaling hot breath, were excessively lascivious and beautiful. As if unable to hold back, he pressed his mouth to her cheek, then sucked at her lips.
"Don't leave."
Asherad said it again. Even Daphne was starting to get confused. Fabian had said Asherad mocked her like a dog. That he hated her.
But what if that wasn't true?
What if I was wrong? Could someone speaking so desperately with those eyes really be lying? Lulled by his softened tone, Daphne started to ask if Fabian was safe.
"Your Highness, Fabi…… Ah!"
His hand touched where it shouldn't, and Daphne twisted her waist. Looking up at him with tear-filled eyes, Asherad spoke.
"How long are you going to talk about that bastard in front of me?"
The cold fury beneath his smile choked the breath from her. The ecstatic face she'd always longed for was now stained with anger and lust caused by her.
Asherad gently kneaded her pert breasts before bringing his mouth to the tip. As his firm tongue tip teased her nipple, shrill sounds escaped Daphne's lips.
"Ah, hng……!"
She couldn't tell him to stop. He was completely mad now. How could a noble Crown Prince be clutching and sucking her breast like this?
She thought she should run, but Daphne was accustomed to resignation, and it was the best way to survive.
With the Emperor and Crown Prince both after her, clinging to a firm sense of self would only shatter her.
Yet there was something strangely captivating in how he devoured her breasts. Even as she thought of Fabian, Daphne realized she was thrilled by the fact that Asherad desired her.
She could see the jaw of the man ravishing her breast. He acted as if sucking it was his entire world. Each flick of his tongue tip toward the peak made her hips buck.
No words were needed.
Asherad simply savored her body like a feast. Soon, he sank his teeth into her wrist.
His grunting breaths quickened. The moment he was naked too, she saw the full extent of the desire he harbored.
"Ah, Your Highness!"
It was so ferocious she twisted to escape, but her wrist was seized. As punishment for trying to flee, he grabbed her waist and laid her back down. His fingers began rubbing between her spread thighs, forced apart by his knees.
"Ah, hng! Eung!"
She tried to grit her teeth, but her lips parted, hot breaths leaking out. Tears streamed from Daphne's eyes. It was a dizzying sensation she'd never known in her life.
Naked and wantonly splayed before a man she'd thought untouchable, played with by his hand. Even the sounds were utterly obscene.
And yet, the sight of him watching her like that without blinking filled Daphne with a bizarre excitement.
The one who had always dominated absolutely, unshakable, was losing his reason because of her. His eyes were flushed red, a peach blossom tint on his pale face. He roughly forced apart her thighs whenever they tried to close instinctively.
Her mind flashed white at his fingers. Shameful. But her body heated under his touch. Just as she tried to indulge in it……
"Aah!"
He thrust himself fully inside in one go. It was maddening. Asherad let out a single hot exhale.
Daphne shook her head in refusal, eyes brimming with tears. As she'd prepared for, there was no unique pain of a first time. But the relentless push of something enormous choked her breath.
Eyes wide, she gazed at Asherad pleadingly. Expressionless as he stared at her slack face, he began moving his hips.
"Ahk, hng! Euk!"
It wasn't sweet moans from stimulation but reflexive cries from being pierced in unfamiliar places echoing out. But even those changed sounds seemed to arouse him; he drew in thick breaths and lowered himself, overlapping their bodies.
"Were you like this with that bastard too?"
Daphne shook her head. She'd never even properly kissed Fabian. He had always been cautious with her.
Never destructively invading her body and mind like Asherad. Tears fell.
The wet smacking turned to the sound of flesh slapping flesh. Slick, soft skin stuck and peeled away with a smack. The novelty made her breath quicken, heat rising to her face.
"Ha, eu!"
As tension left her body, Daphne's expression shifted again. The moment pleasure hidden beneath the stinging pain began to emerge, she unwittingly twisted away from Asherad's arms, flipping onto her stomach on the bed and scrambling to move her legs.
"Ah, eu!"
But before she could, her arms were grabbed, and she tumbled face-down.
"Running again?"
The forceful thrust made Daphne gasp sharply. Her lips, pressed tight, kept loosening, breath heaving to her jaw.
"Ah, th-that, hng!"
Daphne clutched the bedsheet until her knuckles whitened. Stars burst in her eyes. Nothing came to mind but the pleasure dominating her now.
"Ah, I won't, I promise."
"……."
"Your Highness, I won't run, I'm sorry!"
Daphne begged, sobbing as she faced forward. But instead of forgiveness, he nibbled gently at her neck and shoulders.
It was animalistic mating. The more weight he put on her, the more she cried. She twisted her waist at the alien sensation between her spread legs.
She gripped the bedsheet tight. She hadn't known he'd unleash his anger like this. That this was how he'd vent his desire on her.
Feeling his scent in the bedsheet and the desire embracing her, Daphne exhaled hot breaths.
She'd once wished that if she gave her first time, it would be to that man. That wish was fulfilled in a cruel form.
Their coupling was blissfully miserable. He flipped her back to face him, then began licking her tears.
Unsure how to handle the new pleasure, she clutched his arm.
Her long nails scratched his arm with a scrape. But Asherad, looking down at her expressionlessly, didn't even furrow his brow in pain.
His steel-like body embraced her roughly. Covered in his scent on the bedsheet where he'd lain, Daphne continued accepting him.
* * *
Daphne lay utterly spent. Asherad sat in a chair, watching her.
His chest showed through the loosely donned shirt. The sticky sweat was unpleasant uncleaned, but his mood was refreshed.
The dawn light made Daphne's body look even more beautiful. Side-lying, meeting Asherad's eyes, she seemed lost in thought.
Her fallen golden hair draped her naked form like a perfect garment. She tried to cover with the sheet, but nothing was fully hidden.
Her snow-white skin was covered in red marks he'd left. Everything was filled with his traces. She was a woman embraced by him mercilessly.
He was satisfied.
Yet satisfaction brought new hunger.
Like starvation.
He wanted more.
He craved the little girl who had always sought only his affection. The one for whom he was her whole world. As if struck by a sudden thought, he rose.
"Daphne, do you want to see Sir Fond?"
Asherad smiled faintly. Just as a sinner needed punishment, the promised reward was essential too. Though now, "punishment" and "reward" meant the same.
Asherad would become Daphne's entire world. So he thought.
The reclining Daphne nodded weakly and tried to rise.
As if prepared, Asherad handed her a white negligee. When she struggled to get up, he even dressed her kindly.
As her feet touched the floor, she swayed dizzily and leaned into him. He chuckled softly and scooped her up.
Mindful of his mood, Daphne didn't ask if Fabian was okay. That was very satisfying.
Leaving the room, no guard knights were in sight. He nudged open the half-open door to the adjacent room with his foot. Daphne's gaze fell inside. Dawn light filtered through the window.
Fabian wasn't far away.
He'd been in the room next to his all along.
Drip, drip. The sound of some liquid falling onto the already soaked carpet.