Chapter 102
Chapter 102
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Snow Duke's Way of Love? (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The villa where the two sisters had stayed during the vacation was undergoing a major cleaning.
The servants diligently scrubbed the floors and windows with brooms and mops, while neatly stacking luggage at one side of the entrance.
It was preparation for the next guests who would soon arrive.
In other words, it was also a signal that the people who had been staying at the villa until now were leaving.
"Family head. This is the regular report from the knight order."
"Thank you."
Estelle let out a quiet sigh after reading the letter handed to her by Siegfried.
The regular report was, in essence, a tally of the dead and wounded.
Even now, soldiers were spilling blood and dying on the front lines.
They had come to Pharenchia despite all that because awakening Adella's unique magic circuit was more important to her than anything.
"It was a good vacation. Wasn't it?"
"Yes. It's because of us that this peace can continue."
The knight caught his breath for a moment and sat in a chair, following the family head's gaze out the window as he spoke.
"But as long as war doesn't break out immediately, we can hold out a little longer."
"......"
"How about returning in the winter? I'll tell the knight order to finish preparations for advancing on Helzev by then."
"......No."
Estelle quietly shook her head.
Siegfried surely knew she wouldn't make that choice.
She felt like she was worrying him unnecessarily.
At the same time, she recalled the conversation she'd had with Adella last night.
— Go back now. I've awakened my unique magic circuit, so you've already achieved your goal, haven't you?
— I'm going to marry Teacher. And have kids. Then there won't be any issues with Roshiar's succession, right?
— And... even if things work out with Teacher, you shouldn't get pregnant. If you fall into Lake Cenrir... the kingdom would be in danger.
Impeccable logic.
It was hard to believe it came from her sister, who had acted like a fool all this time.
She could consider it growth.
Estelle quietly closed her eyes and replayed her words several times.
Realistically, there was no reason for her to stay in Pharenchia—by Louis's side—any longer.
"Is the teleportation carriage reserved?"
"Yes. First class this time."
"Departure?"
"Tonight. Since you still have things to do..."
"......Understood."
Estelle stood from her seat.
And she voiced the message to relay to Adella, who had returned to the dormitory.
"I'll give her the final test, so call her here."
Adella's unique magic circuit awakening.
It was undoubtedly encouraging news.
But it also meant Estelle had no more reason to stay at the academy.
Our plan to seduce each other and draw out her jealousy had worked perfectly.
Now, all that was left was to confirm her skills.
Facing Adella's sharp glare head-on, Estelle calmly told her to come to the lakeside that evening.
And she firmly drew the line, telling me there was no need for me to come.
Her cold tone, saying I'd only be a hindrance, made it hard to believe this was the same woman who had been writhing in my arms just moments before.
"Was it really just doing what was necessary?"
"Woof?"
Dying emotions and a fabricated expression.
Was I deluded into thinking she truly liked me because of those two things...?
In the end, I spent the afternoon idly petting the iron hound.
I even felt a twinge of guilt wondering what would happen if Estelle mercilessly crushed Adella.
But the result was beyond expectations—no, exactly as expected.
As I was preparing to close the canteen that night, Adella came running at full speed and threw herself into my arms.
"Teaaacheeer~!!!!"
"Whoa!"
With a brightness I hadn't seen in a while, she waved the ice pick in her hand and shouted.
"I finally chased Sis away!"
"Really...?"
"Yes! She tasted my special ice pick and got totally thrashed! She cried and fled the academy like she was being pushed out... Teacher? D-don't hit meee!"
"Don't lie. Tell me properly. Did that really happen?"
"W-well, after I attacked her a few times with my unique magic circuit, she nodded, swung her spear with a whoosh! and left."
"Without even saying goodbye?"
"Yes. She didn't even look back."
It left a bitter taste.
To think she'd vanish like the wind without even showing her face once.
In retrospect, even her approaching me after I beat her down—swallowing her pride—was all for Adella's unique magic circuit.
Her goal had been singular from the start.
"It's over now~! Only one left~!"
Until Adella left, singing some weird song with a full-blown grin, I sat listlessly at the counter.
As the moon rose slowly behind clouds, Estelle's figure kept flickering in my mind.
This world has no air conditioning.
So every night, I sleep with the second-floor window open, and suddenly, I opened my eyes.
A single breeze mixed in with the cicada chirps tickled my forehead.
A chill like melting glacier slipped between my hair.
I got up and went downstairs, where familiar blue hair fluttered behind the dim wooden shadows.
"Estelle..."
She was already dressed in her thick Roshiar uniform, fully prepared to leave.
In one hand, she held the bundle wrapped in cloth containing the dragon-tongue incense she'd brought when she arrived.
Even as our eyes met, she remained utterly still, like a painting.
I opened the glass door and faced her, and only then did she speak.
"Boundary of death and Goliath's iron hound. The security is impressively thorough for a mere canteen."
"I came up with it after you guys robbed the place."
"This won't stop Roshiar."
"I know. But you couldn't stop me either."
It was idle chatter.
Estelle glanced toward the dormitory and said,
"Adella has awakened her unique magic circuit. It's still weak, but she should be able to control the power she has."
"She's already bragging to everyone that she beat you."
"That I didn't expect. I only tested her skills moderately."
Of course.
Even bare-handed, Estelle had resisted me fiercely; there's no way she couldn't beat Adella.
I asked the one thing that worried me.
"As Adella masters her unique magic circuit, will her emotions fade too?"
"Emotional castration requires ripping out the heart. Of course, her desire to monopolize you—deeply rooted as it is—might make her seem a bit more cold at times. But..."
She hesitated unusually briefly before continuing.
"Given how stupid and hyper she was originally, that level might actually bring her closer to normal."
"Ah... I see."
Then it's all upsides.
Good.
A brief silence flowed between us in the deep night.
Even as I deeply inhaled the refreshed air with her presence, the words I wanted to say wouldn't come easily.
"Are there teleportation carriages even this late...?"
"There's a sleeper car running to Edanbury. They recently expanded the route from Alkaid Magic Tower."
"I see..."
Estelle's beautiful expressionless face made it hard to guess her thoughts.
I circled around words several times on my own.
"Do you have enough for expenses? Need a job or something...?"
"Roshiar's wealth could buy a whole teleportation carriage. Even without money, showing the medal gets me aboard."
"Hmm, right. It hasn't been stolen, has it?"
"It's safe here. I'm meticulous."
Meticulous, huh.
Well, the Snow Duke operates on logical thinking.
A small sigh escaped me.
I had no way to hold her back.
As I endlessly stirred the dirt at my feet and was about to finally say goodbye, Estelle spoke to me.
"Louis."
"Yeah?"
"I came to say farewell."
"Uh? Oh... I know."
"I have no emotions. Meaning, even if you love me or cling to me, I can't reciprocate."
"I know that too."
"I've already accomplished my purpose in coming to Pharenchia, so now I must return. No logic you use can stop these steps."
Of course.
What's most important to her is carrying out Roshiar's will and exterminating the demons.
With all matters resolved, there was no reason to stay even one more day in a place like this.
"But."
Huh?
"If you have no intention of persuading me with words."
I doubted my ears.
The rise and fall of her voice—always proud, cold, and resolute—was lower than usual.
"If you say nothing and simply pull my arm once and draw me in."
Expressionlessly, without emotion, she explained how to persuade her.
"I won't resist."
"You..."
"What will you... do?"
Under the moonlight, she extended her slender arm slightly, like requesting a dance at a ball.
There was no fool in the world who wouldn't pull it.
"I've already sent the luggage ahead, so I can't dirty the clothes I'll wear back."
That was Estelle's remark as we went upstairs and she took off her uniform.
The pristine white garment folded neatly on the floor looked like a fairy's wing robe; for a moment, I wanted to hide it away.
But when her moonlit bare skin appeared before my eyes, I couldn't care less about the clothes.
"Beautiful?"
"Very."
"Good. Then how about this... Nngh."
The kiss with Estelle, now so familiar, was like gulping water from a faucet in midsummer.
Clear saliva, low viscosity, even fragrant, endlessly flowing in.
Sweet nectar I could drink forever.
Her waist now fit perfectly in my hands, and her large hips.
From hair to toenails, her entire body seemed made to tempt men.
"Sweet."
"Roshiar is always clean."
"What does that mean?"
"......It's the naughty talk you like, but it didn't come across?"
Words she utters unconsciously seem far more lascivious.
Even expressing pride in her family stirred no particular excitement in me.
Rather—
"Louis, did you... even suckle at your mother's breast like this, gnawing so... Nngh, fiercely?"
Biting the swollen nipple at the end of her ample breast elicited a reflexive moan that was all the more alluring.
True to her words, Estelle's white skin was flawless, without a single blemish.
Even her saliva and sweat carried a fragrant scent.
The sole exception in her perfect body was the large scar between her swollen breasts.
"Ngh, Louis."
"Why?"
"If you don't want to bury your face in my cleavage, why kiss there?"
"Can't I?"
"It's not forbidden, but that's not a woman's erogenous zone."
Her eyes showed utter incomprehension.
But she didn't refuse as I continued to caress the scar.
Instead, she embraced the back of my head, gently pressing it to her breast and stroking my hair.
"Hmm. What a strange man. If I knew hugging something like this would bring you into my arms, I would have given it sooner. I can feel your manhood poking my navel repeatedly. You get aroused by fiddling with others' scars?"
"That phrasing is really misleading..."
"Enough. Prepare to take responsibility."
"Responsibility?"
"Yes. Didn't you threaten to half-kill me again if I, who must protect the family, didn't yield to you?"
When did I...
"Restoring my heart last time took nearly a month. And I barely survived. To avoid going through that again, I have no choice but to spread my legs before you."
"Hmm... So that's your judgment. Logically?"
"Logically."
Then our relationship is—
"A logical affair. I had no choice but to come to you to help my sister in crisis, and on the final day, I came here to bid farewell."
"And I caught you."
"Ngh, yes. If tonight I fail to resist you again and receive pleasure into this body once more, then..."
Estelle trailed off.
"Tell me."
I pulled away from her breast and urged her on, holding her even tighter as I faced her.
Only then did she speak.
"Then I won't forget forever. Even without emotions, when I return to the front lines and a southern breeze sings of peace, I'll pause my spear for a moment and remember you. So, Louis..."
One of Penheim's five great dukes, head of the magical house Roshiar.
Spear of the Half-Demon, Empress of Extreme Ice, Warden of Frost, Snow Duke.
And another flower of the North Sea, Estelle Sylvestra de Roshiar.
She whispered sweetly in my ear.
"Shall we have an affair behind Adella's back?"