Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Ulstro Kingdom - Princess Knight (7)
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"Hmm, understood. Then... shall we begin?"
At the boy's words, Mercedes slowly lay prone on the bed.
"Yeah...♡"
Valdes's eyes gleamed.
Not sitting on the bed but lying down right away—a meaningful change.
He too climbed onto the bed and approached her. The start was the shoulders, just like yesterday. As he lightly brought his hand over, Mercedes's body trembled faintly.
"Haa..."
Her body and breath carried a slight fever.
Don't start too stimulating. It was only the second day.
He had to leave for the mission soon, but besides today, there were still two more chances. The mission with just the two of them was a good opportunity too, but to capitalize on it, these remaining three days of massages were crucial.
"Does the massage seem to be having some effect?"
"Hmm... yeah. Even after just one day yesterday, my body feels so refreshed today."
"That's a relief."
"Right..."
"......"
The conversation cut off, and his kneading hands moved to the back of her neck. Disliking the silence, Mercedes racked her brain to pick a topic.
"...There was a sachet in my office. Is it yours, by any chance?"
The unexpected words nearly made him freeze for a moment, but with quick judgment, he reacted calmly.
His massaging hands firmly pressed the cervical vertebrae, gently loosening the surrounding muscles with thumb and index finger, all while trying not to show any fluster.
"A sachet? No idea. Why do you ask?"
"Hmm, I see. The others don't know either. Serennia... ah, the Commander picked it up from my room and took it."
"Hmm, how curious."
He spoke nonchalantly on the surface, but inwardly clicked his tongue.
'Someone like her would spot it easily. Tsk, of all days for Serennia to visit. What rotten luck.'
A bit regrettable, but it didn't matter. The sachet in the bedroom alone was plenty effective. And there was no chance Serennia would discover its contents. As a married woman, she'd have no opportunity to feel its effects anyway.
"...Ah?"
Searching for a new topic, Mercedes was caught off guard.
She'd figured after shoulders to neck like yesterday, next would be arms. But Valdes's hands slid up from her neck toward her head.
"Pardon the intrusion."
"Uh, um..."
Normally, casually touching a royal's head was the utmost disrespect.
Yet before she could stop him, the boy began pressing her scalp with his fingertips.
Tapping her head lightly with his fingertips one moment, stroking smoothly with his palm the next—he stimulated every spot diligently, leaving nothing out.
"Mm, ngh, ah..."
A faint moan slipped from her lips. She'd never even considered a head massage, but it felt surprisingly refreshing.
Only after kneading various parts of her head did he move to her arms. His hands—soft yet faintly rough—squeezed her upper arms firmly. His strong grip made it feel like she was truly being held by him.
"Huu..."
Mercedes thought to herself as she received his massage.
Yesterday, this alone had felt so good and refreshing.
But to her, who had tasted more, this brought little thrill. Shoulders and neck were prone to tension, and the head was new. Arms, though? Neither applied.
"Valdes."
"Yes?"
"Enough now... move to my back, won't you?"
In the end, she prompted the next step herself. Her words were politely suggestive, but they were effectively a command.
"Understood."
Valdes's hands touched her back.
But.
"Aah... ah?"
"What's wrong?"
"N-no... it's nothing."
This too fell short of her expectations. Yesterday, she'd let out moans embarrassingly loud, but not today. She wasn't dissatisfied with his massage—her muscles were relaxing contentedly.
But somehow, somewhere... it felt lacking.
Even as Mercedes had these thoughts, he continued working his hands silently.
From her scapulae, he rubbed slow circles to loosen the tense muscles, then pressed firmly along her spine, moving downward. Each time his palm pressed a spot, a satisfying crack sounded. His touch was meticulous, vertebrae by vertebrae.
"Huu..."
A deflating sigh escaped her lips.
Why was this happening? The answer was simple.
Her body craved more.
Whether that meant massaging elsewhere... or removing these stuffy stockings.
"......"
As Valdes swept his thumb along her erector spinae, loosening the stiff muscles, Mercedes steeled herself and spoke.
"The lower part."
"Yes?"
"Enough now... massage the lower part..."
The lower part.
Lower body.
A smile rose on the boy's face. A very good sign, he thought.
But first, he had to pretend to hesitate. She'd stopped him midway yesterday, after all. The spot had been sensitive, sure—but her stopping him carried a different meaning.
"Is that alright?"
His loaded words made her hesitate briefly before she gave a small nod.
"...Yeah."
"Understood."
He didn't reach straight for her thighs. Instead, he grasped her pelvis with both hands, slowly applying pressure—twisting it left and right once each, pulling lightly, then pressing firmly.
Feeling the mingled refreshment, faint pain, and excitement, Mercedes harbored anticipation deep inside. And that sparked a small reaction in her body.
Valdes took her closely pressed thighs and spread them slightly.
'Oh?'
Thanks to her loose shorts and his sharp eyesight, he noticed. Deepest inside her thighs, visible through the hem of her shorts—dampness clung there.
Surely yesterday, that's why she'd stopped the massage. Yet now she lay still, meaning she either hadn't noticed... or was ignoring it.
He decided to play ignorant for now. Fortunately, his pause was extremely brief.
And he reactivated the Charm Magic he'd briefly paused.
He wrapped his hands around her thighs, pushing down from top to bottom, then sweeping back up. He pressed the inner thigh lymph nodes with both thumbs, while his other fingers strongly kneaded between the outer thigh muscles.
"Hngt, ngh, ngh, huaa..."
Mercedes savored pleasure matching her built-up tension and anticipation.
He treated the opposite thigh the same, then moved to her calves—curling his hands to firmly release the knotted muscles around the lymph nodes.
This time, he went downward instead of up.
He extended her foot, pressing the Achilles tendon at the heel with interlocked fingers several times, then fisted his hand to stretch and press the sole.
"Mm, V-Valdes? F-feet..."
The unexpected foot massage left Mercedes flustered once more. Feet had long been seen as dirty and lowly. People kissed them to show respect, worship, submission.
No woman with a crush on him could stay calm having him grasp such a place.
"It's fine. Mercedes-sama's feet are pretty too."
"Wh-what?"
But he continued the massage without a care.
When the knuckles of his fisted hand pushed and pulled her sole, she wiggled her toes helplessly. Finding it cute, the boy smiled and lightly nibbled her stocking-clad toes with his teeth.
"Eeek?! Y-you...!"
"You called me 'you' for the first time."
"!!"
Mercedes's face flushed red as a ripe tomato.
"Th-that what about it...!"
She was so flustered she didn't even notice her voice rising.
"Did you know? Mercedes-sama has a body that bewitches men."
"W-wait...?"
His sudden shift left her unable to gather her thoughts.
Seizing the opening, the boy grabbed her body and flipped her sideways. Her nicely elastic breasts whipped around, slapping the air. Even lying on her side, they held their beautiful shape without sagging.
"N-no, what are you...?!"
Ignoring her sharp glare, he bent her knee against her side, pressing down with his body while using one foot to hold her inner thigh in place.
"Wh-wh-what."
"Your face... got close."
"......"
He was right.
Pressing her bent knee with his body brought Valdes's face right up to hers.
She went quiet.
'What the—? Why's Valdes acting like this? Face so close. He's handsome. Look at that sweat. Because of me? Wonder what those moist lips taste like? That tongue inside?'
Her mind was a whirlwind by contrast. Random thoughts popped up casually, lewd ideas bubbling up that even surprised her.
But Valdes calmly pulled away, turned her body back, and massaged her other knee in the same pose. Unlike before, Mercedes limply followed his lead.
His casual attitude only deepened her confusion.
"Your body's so stiff, regular massage doesn't seem enough."
"......"
No reply. Opening her mouth felt like it'd unleash a moan.
After that, his touches avoided danger zones. Breasts, inner thighs, sides—he deftly skipped sensitive spots, almost deliberately.
Instead, skin contact increased. No longer just rubbing or tapping with hands—he actively moved her body, like with the knee earlier, caressing joints and hard-to-reach muscles.
Moments ago, he'd lifted her arm overhead, pressing from armpit down her side.
"...Huu, that should do for today. I'll come again tomorrow at this time."
Unlike yesterday, Valdes called the end.
"......"
Even as he wiped her sweat with a cloth, tidied up, and left the room, Mercedes kept her lips sealed.
She stared blankly at the door.
"...Haa..."
A heated sigh burst out.
Her body burned hot. Like dozens of fireballs conjured around her. Far beyond yesterday.
Her lower half was already soaked. A wonder he hadn't said a word.
"Aah, Val...des..."
Her fingers twitched downward. Like yesterday, she had to relieve this intoxication or she'd never sleep.
Calling the boy's name, she gently touched, poked, teased her sensitive spots.
But.
"Haa, hng... haa, ahngt......! ...Eh? Eh? Why...?"
She couldn't climax.
"She's probably in a full panic right now."
Like trying to douse flames on her body, only for dirt to make it worse. That was Mercedes now. And Valdes had orchestrated it.
'Who'd ever guess a sachet could do that?'
The culprit was the sachet he'd ordered Elza to place in her bed.
Dried petals of the mo-kka-mo-kka flower mixed with herbs—the scent prevented those who smelled it from reaching climax.
Precisely, it raised the threshold to orgasm. Intense stimulation and pleasure could overcome it—like sex, say.
But solo masturbation? Not enough.
'Effect's not super long, so she could relieve it elsewhere... but with Mercedes's personality, doubtful.'
He'd placed one in her office as backup, but Serennia took it. He'd figured it wouldn't affect her much—as a married woman, she could satisfy urges with her husband.
"Wonder what face she'll make?"
Today, he'd avoided key areas, instead ramping up tension and arousal through greater skin contact.
That state would persist from bedtime through tomorrow. Body constantly hot and aroused like on aphrodisiacs, yet no easy release.
She could masturbate outside the bedroom, but beyond that? Surrounded by attendants, maids, knights all day. No alone time, no guts to do it in public.
'I'd love to watch... but better not run into her.'
That way, he could tease her more.
Grinning at the fun ahead, his smile wouldn't fade.
"...Ah. Speaking of, gotta scold Elza a bit."
Bad luck or not, leaving it somewhere so easily spotted? He couldn't tell if deliberate, but discipline was needed.
He could go days without sleep anyway.
Valdes left the room and headed straight for Elza's. Inside, hot moans and the slap of flesh filled the air.