Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Territory Marking
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Daphne gazed up at the man looking down at her. His hawk-like eyes gleamed fiercely, as if he were staring at his prey.
Asherad stuck out his tongue and lightly moistened his red lips.
There was no sound here. No exchanged words existed. Yet emotions denser than anything flowed between them. Daphne felt like she was suffocating in that thick lust.
Her golden hair spilled messily over the calm green tablecloth. Lying on the rumpled tablecloth, she looked up at him with her disheveled attire.
The thin silk dress, contrasting the tablecloth, glistened temptingly in the morning sunlight. Daphne was beautiful like a painting, arousing an appetite. Especially those dewy blue eyes.
"She looks delicious."
At his words, Daphne bit her lip. This man made her feel like he would devour her whole.
Like he would bite into her flesh, tear it apart, and greedily lap up the bursting blood.
Like a vampire sinking his teeth into her neck, chewing it thoroughly, ravaging her lips and biting them again. Yet even that would look picturesque coming from him.
With his snow-white face savoring her red blood, he would lift his long hand and slowly wipe his lips with a napkin, finishing his meal. Having elegantly completed his feast, he would flash a languid smile of satisfaction.
"Why are you trembling?"
Placed on the table like prey for a cannibalistic beast, she trembled without realizing it. He lifted her leg and placed her bare thigh over his shoulder.
"Eek!"
Daphne gasped for breath. His lips brushed her calf as if to kiss it, then his teeth sank in with a sharp bite. Just as she had expected. He gnawed at her white calf with his teeth.
But unlike her imagination, it didn't hurt—it was just ticklish. His lips, showering kisses on her calf, traveled up her thigh.
Her breathing grew wetter, perhaps from the sensitive flesh on the inside of her thigh. Were his lips hot? Or was her body heating up? The space between her legs grew feverish.
Daphne's vision blurred. She didn't want to care about anything. She squeezed her eyes shut, focusing on the pleasure. His soft lips teased her tender flesh with his teeth.
His pliant tongue kept stimulating her. Daphne twisted her waist. She never imagined doing it like this, here of all places.
"Y-Your, Your Majesty!"
Before she could protest, his hand yanked down her soaked underwear. Daphne's eyes widened. His face moved even deeper between her thighs. His breath touched a more intimate spot. And then...
"Ah, aaah!"
Something she never imagined touched her. Not the clink of dishes, but wet, lewd sounds filled the dining room.
Was it the death cry of prey, the sweet moan of flirtation, or the final scream of someone who had given up everything in helplessness?
One thing was certain: the tablecloth was a crumpled mess, and Daphne had tried her utmost to close her legs.
But Asherad didn't allow it, and Daphne ended up screaming as she arched her back.
Heat rushed to her face. It was a pleasure so intense her head felt like it would explode. Tears streamed from Daphne's eyes. Asherad pulled his mouth away and stared into her eyes. He traced his glistening lips with his thumb.
Her ragged breathing hadn't subsided yet.
"Did it feel that good?"
A voice tinged with amusement reached her. Daphne didn't answer. He probably wasn't expecting one anyway.
Daphne knew what would happen next. She heard the sound of fabric tearing away, felt skin slapping against skin. Without a word, he parted her and thrust inside.
"Hn!"
Even prepared as she was, accepting him was still tight. There was no pain, but she bit her lip to stifle her bursting breaths.
He invaded her slick depths, moving back and forth. His leisurely pace, as if savoring a meal, shifted to rough thrusts when she turned her head away and covered her eyes with her arm, avoiding his gaze.
The sound of flesh against flesh grew louder.
Asherad pulled her arm down. At the same time, his hand tore open the chest of her fine dress.
Pale, soft mounds bounced free. Burying his face in them, he gnawed at the tips again. As if punishing her for trying to hide her face with her hand.
"Ah, aaang!"
Her already numb mind vanished completely. Daphne closed her eyes. Right now, she didn't want to think anything at all.
"I love you, Daphne."
Asherad whispered sweetly. How fleeting was the affection a predator held for its prey.
Before she could even savor the afterglow, he pounced on her again, hungry once more. Why does he do this only to me? Is this what love is?
"So if you run away again, I won't let you off easy."
"......"
"I won't let you off, Daphne."
"......"
"So love me."
Asherad whispered through gritted teeth. A confession of love was a shackle. Beneath him, disheveled, she accepted him.
* * *
Callista wanted to scream outright. A stream of curses poured from her mouth. She had heard the wet sounds leaking from the dining room directly.
They sounded no different from beasts. But what tormented her ears most was Daphne's moans, sounding as if she were enjoying it.
What Daphne was thinking didn't matter. The one engrossed not in eating breakfast but in mating was Asherad, yet Callista trembled in rage.
She and Asherad almost always had breakfast together. So the fact that he ate with that woman and didn't invite her infuriated Callista.
Daring to make an elder of the imperial family eat alone? Well, if asked whether she was truly an 'elder,' that wasn't quite right. Still, Callista thought that way and planned to barge into breakfast.
After being told 'Shut up' in front of Duke Turbul and that woman, her heart had plummeted to hell.
But Callista decided to graciously forgive Asherad. Given the situation, wasn't it proper to show distance from her in front of the duke?
Asherad always showed he liked and cherished Callista. Even if he treated her with a sharp face, he called it political theater.
So though hurt, she pretended not to notice and moved on. She had hoped he would come to soothe her, but he hadn't.
This was Asherad crossing the line.
That's why she planned to join breakfast and nitpick that lowly concubine's every breach of etiquette, ensuring she never dared show her face here again.
It was her idea of 'territory marking.'
But the sounds from the dining room entrance were unmistakably those of copulation. Callista's face flushed red. It was a strange sense of humiliation.
She peered through the door crack at the scene of debauchery. The woman lay on the table, held roughly by the man. Asherad's clothes were still impeccable, but his wild movements had loosened his neatly combed-up hair.
Sweat beaded on his face, desire directed at the woman beneath him. A flush on his refined, pale features. The rough, primal hip thrusts unimaginable of his usual self.
Callista stared at Asherad in a daze, forgetting humiliation and jealousy. This wasn't shame.
Asherad embracing a woman was undoubtedly beautiful.
The muffled groans from his slightly parted lips were hot, not grotesque. Callista imagined that man suppressing himself for her.
That arrogant, elegant man losing all reason, devoting himself solely to her. Just like that, becoming a beast without dignity or manners...
But right now, Asherad was holding Daphne. Seeing him disheveled for a mere maid was an insult to Callista.
Yet in this massive jealousy and humiliation, she found a so-called positive spin to interpret in her favor.
"No way..."
No way, right?
Callista swallowed hard again. One thing was certain—they always had breakfast together. Breakfast with her meant that much to Asherad.
For such an Asherad to hold that lowly thing during breakfast—couldn't it mean he was just venting on her what he wanted to do to Callista? That maid was merely a release for his desires.
Yes, that made sense.
The kiss wasn't for nothing.
Such an arrogant man wouldn't do it if he hated her. How many signals had Asherad sent her over time? Subtle glances. Smiles. Gestures.
'You don't have to...'
Callista thought as she watched Asherad. She bit her lip, at a loss. That man was so terribly desirable.
That said, she ground her teeth, shoving aside thoughts of the irresistible man.
But she had no intention of leaving that lowly woman be. Daphne's presence was too grating, too dangerous.
What should she do? How could she drag her down? How could she eliminate that woman?
Callista's eyes gleamed coldly.