07. Ulsro Kingdom - The Women Crumbling (26)
Once again, Serenia’s lust erupted in the dining room.
This time, it was even more intense than the first. Now that she had remembered the taste of sex, she burned far hotter than before. Even without that, Serenia had always possessed a strong sex drive; long before her marriage soured, she was always the one who gave out first whenever she and her husband coupled. Now that her natural appetite had only deepened with age, there wasn’t even time to make it to the bedroom.
“Mm, mhff… ng, chuu, chuup♥”
In the end, she didn’t even make it a few steps before she threw herself at Valdes and kissed him.
“Slurp, hmph, hng… haa, haa…♥”
“You’re really impatient.”
“Haah, you did this… to me.”
As she said that, she took his hand and dragged it to her thigh. Her dress had ridden up slightly, and his fingers touched the slick, sticky wetness there. It wasn’t just the amount that had leaked from the vibrator. Even without looking, he could tell it was far stickier than when she’d first stood up from her chair.
“Did you enjoy that illicit kiss with your pupil that much?”
“…Yes. That illicit kiss made me this wet…♥”
At her aggressively eager response, Valdes smiled and stroked her thigh.
“Are you sure this is all right? If we do it here, we might get caught.”
“So now you’re worried?”
“Of course not. But shouldn’t you be worried, Master? If your husband catches us, you’ll fall all the way to the bottom.”
There was no way she didn’t understand that. Judging by Viscount Hermeng’s personality, he would surely feel betrayed and spread the rumor everywhere he could. Maybe that wouldn’t have mattered in the past, but the man he was now was in no way respectable.
If the rumor spread, Serenia had far more to lose than Valdes did. Publicly and privately, she would lose the royal family’s trust. On top of that, she’d lose power, honor, and reputation, and end up driven back to her estate like a fugitive.
“……”
That was why Serenia couldn’t answer right away.
His words were enough to cool the flames of her desire, which had been raging out of control. Even though lust had devoured her mind, her reason wasn’t completely asleep yet. And neither was her love for her husband.
“Then what, shall we go to the bedroom?”
“The bathroom.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s go to the bathroom.”
Before he could answer, Serenia grabbed Valdes by the hand and pulled him along.
He couldn’t say exactly why she had chosen the bathroom, but one thing was certain: it was closer to the dining room than the bedroom was.
The moment Serenia reached the bathroom, she immediately slid down the straps of her dress. The purple fabric slipped away, leaving her in only her underclothes, and even those came off in an instant.
“W-wait, Master…?”
This time, it was the pupil’s turn to be flustered.
The master stripped her pupil with deft hands. His attire was light, but it was still formal wear. Even so, she had him naked in the blink of an eye, with not a trace of hesitation.
“Come in.”
“O-okay.”
Valdes followed her inside with a reluctant expression.
As expected of a mansion built by a former ducal house, the bathroom was truly grand. It would have been more accurate to call it a bathhouse.
Several chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a soft light over the room. Beneath the largest chandelier at the center sat a huge bath, and from the middle of it, a little cherub statue poured water from a jar. A few steps farther in, the water carried the faint, fragrant scent of roses.
“Do you have some sort of story tied to this place?”
He asked her as they stepped into the water together.
Her expression was exactly the kind that looked like she was remembering something precious. Serenia, who had been overwhelmed by lust just moments ago, was nowhere to be found.
The reason he had calmed her down was simple. He didn’t want her as merely a tool for a moment’s pleasure, a way to forget her husband—he wanted to truly take hold of her heart. Still, he didn’t like how melancholy the mood had become.
“I’m sorry for dragging you here so suddenly. And… for calming down by myself.”
Serenia glanced down at his lower body.
Still fiercely aroused, it looked even more monstrous submerged in the water.
“It’s fine. You didn’t think I was seriously suggesting an affair just because I was horny, did you?”
“Uh…?”
“I’m quite sincere about this.”
“W-well, th-then, uh… M-Mercede…?”
It took her a long moment of stumbling over herself before she finally forced the words out in that honest, awkward tone.
“Of course I love her. A man can keep several women in his heart.”
“Haha. Yes… that does sound like you.”
Her amused words drew a laugh from him. They had only known each other for a few months, and yet it still felt like a thoroughly Valdes answer. But her smile vanished the instant he kissed her again.
“…?!”
“Pfft. Still, I don’t think I could stand it if there were another man in your heart, Master.”
“You really are greedy. And very honest.”
Valdes didn’t answer. Instead, he began to caress her body with unhurried tenderness. Soon, within the wide bath, the only sounds were the soft lapping of water and the quiet trickle of it flowing. The boy gently stroked her back and kneaded her breasts, stirring Serenia’s desire all over again.
“Hng, haa…♡ T-this place is… where I first came with my husband after I got this mansion.”
“Hmm…?”
It seemed to be a more meaningful place than he had expected.
“Of course, back then, hhng! …we weren’t husband and wife yet, but still, hngh♡ we were already planning to marry.”
“You got the mansion rather late.”
“Well, handling property isn’t simple. …Aaah♥ mm, ah, anyway… back then, he made me promise him one thing.”
“A promise?”
“...Yes. A promise that he would spend his whole life… looking only at me.”
“Wow…”
At his oddly moved reaction, Serenia’s face flushed like a teenage girl’s.
“W-well, that could happen!”
“No, I mean… in the end, he broke that promise.”
“...That’s true.”
“Then why did you bring me here?”
“That, um… I’m not really sure myself.”
It wasn’t a joke. She had simply been sitting in the dining room when this place suddenly came to mind, and she had dragged Valdes along. Part of it had also been the idea of cooling her head for a moment.
That was why she still couldn’t understand her own heart. What she wanted, what she wished to do. Just in the dining room, she had been ready to forget everything and join herself to her pupil’s body, but Valdes had ruined the mood completely.
He’d even gone and brought up her husband. It had soured her mood for no reason.
“Is that so? I think I know.”
“You think you know?”
What sort of answer would he give her? Serenia turned her head and looked at Valdes, who was still massaging her body. The pupil smiled quietly beneath his master’s gaze, then embraced her.
“Hng…?!”
“Stay still.”
Startled by the sudden embrace, Serenia had been about to struggle, but she stopped moving and yielded herself to his touch. Valdes held her close and drew her onto himself. In the end, she found herself sitting atop his outstretched thigh.
“It’s warm, isn’t it?”
“...Yes, it is.”
“What you really want, Master, is to be given one more promise.”
“A promise that I’ll only ever look at you…?”
“No. A promise that you’ll never abandon yourself.”
After saying that much, Valdes looked up at Serenia with affectionate eyes, then took hold of the back of her neck and slowly kissed her.
“Hahm… huhng, mm, chu, chuuup♥”
“...Heh.”
“W-what does that mean?”
“What do you mean, what does it mean? I mean exactly that. Whether you cheat with someone else or love someone else, what you really want is to always remain within the other person’s sight, by their side.”
“……”
Serenia didn’t understand. That sounded less like love and more like dependency. Did she truly want something like that? She denied it. Her pupil was usually right more often than not, but this time, she was convinced he was wrong.
“You think that’s not it. But I’m right.”
“...Hah.”
What possible basis did he have for making such a claim?
The moment irritation began to flare in her head and she was about to get angry, Valdes hugged her again.
“Eek!”
“What a cute sound, Master.”
And then he thrust his manhood into the hidden opening between her thighs.
“You kept looking after this thing and still did it!? Ahnn♥”
They were in the water, and the posture was awkward, but her already soaked sex accepted his shaft without difficulty. Startled by the sudden intrusion, Serenia shuddered and clung to Valdes. Separate from how easily he had entered her, her shocked sheath squeezed his member tightly.
“Haa… hngh…”
Valdes moved his hips very slowly, lazily, and continued speaking.
“The real reason you were so angry at your husband wasn’t because of infidelity or the heir issue. It was because that man left you behind. Because he made you lonely.”
“Haah… ng, no, hng♥ y-ya….”
“You’ve been lonely for a long time, haven’t you? Starved for the warmth of another person.”
Serenia trembled as sensitivity ran through her.
“You learned swordsmanship for the sake of your house all by yourself, and became the princess’s escort knight. Thankfully, after that, you never had a moment to be bored. But once the war ended, nothing remained around you. So many things were given to you, but the affection you truly wanted was nowhere to be found.”
“……”
“The princess closest to you became a queen and was too busy reviving her country, while your parents weren’t well and went to the estate to rest. But you had to remain in the capital to support the queen. The comrades you fought beside scattered to their own kingdoms and lands. And finally… the hero you admired, and loved, died.”
“…?! Y-you, what the hell are you…?!”
“Don’t deny it. The hero is dead now anyway. There’s no need to fight over love with the queen anymore.”
“Hah… haha…”
A hollow laugh escaped her lips. This was a thought she had never let slip to anyone, not even to Beatris, the person closest to her. She had never dreamed someone would notice. And after more than ten years, of all people, it was this completely unrelated pupil who had seen through her.
Phew. Good thing it wasn’t just narcissism.
“You can tell me what’s really on your mind now. It’s just us here, and I’m on your side, Master.”
At that soft, sweet whisper, Serenia stared at him blankly. In the end, with a laugh, the loneliness she had buried deep in her chest spilled out of her mouth at last.
“My… side. ...Heh. Yes, that’s right. I did… like the hero. At first it was just admiration as a knight, but… when the man closest to you is him, falling in love happens in an instant. So I stayed by his side even more and learned to wield my sword. Because….”
“The lord you served liked him.”
“...Yes.”
As he listened to Serenia’s confession, Valdes let out a quiet sigh of relief inside.
Whew. Thank God it wasn’t self-love.
He hadn’t known from the start. Back then, there had been too many other things demanding his attention for him to focus on Serenia.
But after spending that first night together and seeing Serenia’s tears, Valdes changed his approach. He contacted Irena and asked for more detailed information on Serenia. After analyzing the thorough report he received on her past, he reached a conclusion.
It was a starvation for affection.
“...But in the end, he died, and no one was left around me. I gained a name, power, and wealth… but I was still alone.”
“And that was when your husband confessed to you.”
“It wasn’t… just because I was lonely. Back then, he really was a good man.”
“He isn’t now.”
“...Or maybe he never was…?”
“Of course he wasn’t.”
Valdes took hold of the hand resting on his shoulder and threaded their fingers together.
“If he had been, I wouldn’t be here.”
“……”
He pressed a kiss to the forehead of his serious-faced master. Even now, the expression on her face, burdened with so many worries, showed no sign of softening.
Valdes began moving his hips again. With his other hand, the one not locked with hers, he gripped her buttocks and slowly drove himself in and out. The effect was immediate. Serenia’s expression loosened at once, and she shuddered as the pleasure spread through her body in waves.
“W-wait… hng♥ let me think…”
“Think? You don’t need to.”
“You…?”
At the sudden shift to a casual tone, Serenia’s eyes widened.
And then her heart pounded. She remembered what had happened that night. The rough movement of his body as he had called her his wife and shouted that he would make her pregnant. It had been a dream to her, and at the same time a moment she had wished were real.
“Serenia. I’m never going to abandon you. No matter how many women come to me, once a woman falls into my hands, she can never escape me—not even in death.”
“Haha…”
“Viscount Hermeng? Is that useless man really important? I’m right here beside you.”
“Th-then, hngh… haah!”
“What you should be thinking about right now is how to love me more.”
“Uhng, hngaaah─♥”
It was a simple line, but not to her.
Serenia tightened her grip on their joined hands and, holding her breath, climaxed. Even with the quiet orgasm, her sheath clenched hard around his manhood. It was the first time she had come from sex this slow. And yet, it was the most intense pleasure she had ever felt.
“Ah, haa, hah….”
Overwhelmed by this rush of happiness, Serenia didn’t know what to do with herself, and in the end she gave her body over to her pupil while she caught her breath.
“Shall we go to the bedroom?”
“...Yes. ...Husband…♥♥”
At that sweet little word, Valdes’s cock swelled larger inside her cunt. The sudden expansion made her flinch, and he caught her and lifted her up without ever pulling out.
“Ah, ah, my, husban—?”
“Let’s go like this.”
“W-wait, this is embarrassing!”
Even as she said it, Serenia wrapped her legs around his waist so she wouldn’t fall.
“Put me down….”
“No.”