Euphemia el Lerenne Ruerg
The streets basked under warm sunlight, teeming with bustling crowds.
“……”
It felt a bit unfamiliar.
Because of the heavy foot traffic? No.
Because the passersby parted like the sea or kept their distance, as if yielding the road on purpose.
Well, with her attire and the maids trailing behind, anyone would assume she was a noble lady or wife. It was only natural.
But this was a sight she'd never witnessed in Ruerg, so Euphemia clutched her parasol tightly and glanced around restlessly.
“The way is……”
“To the left, ma'am.”
“Ah…… thank you.”
Following the maids' guidance, Euphemia headed toward the ferry landing in the capital.
“Ah……”
Then, momentarily, a building's exterior so familiar it stole her breath.
The shop with the beautiful name Shanelia engraved on it—the very place she'd entered with Ferzen back then. Euphemia blinked her signature golden eyes.
Why is this……
A man cradling her sleeping form like a princess, pressing soft lips to her forehead…… with a faint smile.
“What a beautiful painting.”
“……”
The maids murmured their quiet admiration.
And truly, the painting was exquisite.
She'd been asleep at the time, so she had no clear memory……
That man really did this to me……
Of course, he hadn't stayed like that for the full three hours.
But the painter must have captured a moment when he'd surely done just that.
Staring at that unknowable instant from behind the glass, Euphemia couldn't hide her wistful feelings.
“Ah, Daddy……!”
Then, a tiny girl sidled up beside her, alternating glances between the painting and Euphemia……
“P-Princess! It's the princess!”
She tugged desperately at her father's trouser leg, crying out in wide-eyed excitement.
“S-Sorry!”
“No, it's fine.”
As the flustered middle-aged man scooped up the girl and bowed repeatedly in apology, Euphemia gave a wry smile and shook her head.
In that child's pure eyes, did she look like some fairy-tale princess?
“I'm not a princess, little one.”
She gently stroked the girl's brown-tinted hair, then moved on.
The cage's exterior was too ornate; to others, it must look like a beautiful castle.
If someone saw me, would they call me too greedy……
Her food, clothing, and shelter were all taken care of, and the once-impoverished territory now ran far more smoothly than before.
Whenever reports from Ruerg arrived, she wondered what all her past struggles to feed the land had even been for.
“……”
Yet even so, if asked if she was happy……
Euphemia couldn't nod.
Happiness was filling the voids bit by bit.
Ferzen had forcibly filled those external voids.
What remained was something internal, but Euphemia knew.
Almost no one lived with every aspect fulfilled.
That's why she felt Ferzen's taming method was so cruel and cunning.
Once you grasped a life overflowing with material excess, didn't it whisper that sacrificing your personal emotions—your inner self—was only natural?
Clack.
Her light steps grew a touch heavier.
If this life had been her choice……
She wouldn't even have these worries.
No, that's not right.
It was a choice.
……
Brushing back the hair tickling her ear, Euphemia recalled Ciel Midford's final moments, hand extended toward her.
Of course, even that choice hadn't been truly for herself, but for Ruerg's people……
She could never resent them.
Because even given a hundred chances, she'd choose the same.
“We've arrived.”
“Ah……”
Before she knew it, they'd reached the capital's ferry landing.
Shaking off her reverie at the maid's voice, Euphemia handed coins to the ferryman, carefully gathered her skirt hem, and boarded the boat.
The Tisbe River, sparkling under the sunlight like crushed jewels scattered on the water, was a feast for the eyes.
As the ferryman slowly rowed, the riverbanks came into view……
People sitting there, playing music on their own instruments. Euphemia nibbled at the sandwiches from her basket.
I know……
One day, she'd resign herself.
One day, she'd submit.
And even if unwanted……
She'd bear that man's child and become its mother.
So delaying that moment as long as possible was……
Her best act of defiance, in its own way.
……
Placing a hand on her still-lifeless belly, lost in thought, Euphemia looked up at the clear blue sky.
It was a brilliantly sunny morning.
* * * * *
“……”
Slowly opening his eyes and gazing out the window, Ferzen rose.
After seeing Euphemia off, he'd bathed and slept deeply. Now it was 2:50 p.m.
A faint sweet breath lingered in his mouth, but the fatigue from staying up all night for the lecture had eased; a subtle vitality coursed through him.
Hasn't returned yet.
He'd told her she could go sightseeing anytime, so there was no reason to stop her. He'd sent her off due to his own accumulated exhaustion, but he hadn't expected her to stay out this long.
Creak.
To shake off the drowsy haze, he rose from bed, opened the window, and stepped onto the balcony.
“……”
Savoring the breeze in silence for a moment.
Then, spotting Euphemia passing through the mansion's front gate in the distance, he let out a faint chuckle.
Her steps weren't confident, but hunched and withdrawn……
Like a lamb voluntarily entering a tiger's den to be devoured.
* * * * *
Clack.
Clack.
Ascending the stairs and hesitantly opening the bedroom door, Euphemia flinched at the sight of Ferzen leaning against the window beyond.
“I-I'm back……”
An awkward greeting as she removed her hat.
“……”
Standing there like a scarecrow felt wrong, so she approached the stand by the desk and hung her hat neatly.
“Ah……”
As she turned, Ferzen had closed in from behind, wrapping an arm around her waist and pressing his body against hers lewdly.
“I-I'm sweaty……”
She knew she couldn't escape his strength, so she pivoted to evoke physiological disgust.
“I can tell.”
But Ferzen paid it no mind, brushing back her nape's stray hairs tenderly before burying his face there.
Smack.
“Nngh……!”
Lips met her nape, gliding softly over pale skin toward the side of her neck.
His hot breaths tickled unbearably; Euphemia shivered involuntarily……
Swish.
“Ah……”
His hand at her waist slid lower, bunching her skirt to expose her white thighs. She hurriedly reached to stop him.
“Hic……!”
But the moment she grabbed his hand, teeth sank into her nape. Euphemia gasped in shock.
She knew it wasn't to harm, yet her body tensed instinctively.
“W-Why are you……”
Lowering her hands, her trembling voice trailed off, but Ferzen said nothing, merely nipping her other nape.
Then, like herding livestock, he backed her into the wall's corner, blocking escape with his solid frame and height.
“Euphemia. You're not asking out of ignorance. Your fertile window starts today, doesn't it? I calculated it, so don't try to deceive me.”
“I-I wasn't trying to deceive……”
“Then you shouldn't have taken that evasive stance.”
“……”
“Right?”
As Ferzen murmured lowly, Euphemia turned her head.
She'd assumed he'd inferred from her reactions, not calculated precisely.
She'd planned to leverage that, demanding intimacy on a safe day……
Had she done so, this man would surely have unleashed cold fury on her.
His late nights and academy duties had prevented such opportunities—now a fortunate turn.
“I don't touch your body usually. But if you won't cooperate on heirs, I'll take you whenever. Would you prefer seedbed to cum dump? If that's your wish, I'll oblige gladly.”
“No, that's……”
Pregnancy was possible outside fertile windows—mere probability.
But it missed the point entirely, so Euphemia weakly shook her head.
“That's not the posture for punishment.”
Drawing closer and leaning down, Ferzen whispered.
Biting her lip, Euphemia tremblingly reached for her skirt hem……
And slowly lifted it to her waist.
Her pristine white panties and smooth belly exposed.
Ferzen smirked in satisfaction at her humiliation, pressing firmly where her womb lay.
“Hic……!”
Her body reflexively buckled forward, but she trembled her legs and kept her back straight.
──P-Princess! Princess!
And for some reason, that faint memory surfaced.
Recalling the girl who'd called her princess……
Euphemia swallowed a self-mocking smile.
Look at this, little one……
I'm no princess.
What princess would lift her own skirt, expose her panties, thrust out her lower belly, and invite toying?
“Agh……!”
Unable to endure his circling presses on her belly, Euphemia bent forward.
“I-It hurts……”
The oppressive pressure on her abdomen—womb, bladder—drew ragged breaths and a tearful face.
“Eut!”
But as his finger poked her navel and softly kneaded around, nipping her earlobe……
“Ahng……”
Euphemia unwittingly let out an aroused moan.
Disbelieving, her face flushed crimson; she gripped her innocent skirt roughly.
It had hurt, definitely.
So what was that shiver down her spine just now?
“Euphemia……”
Before her shock could settle, Ferzen cooed her name huskily……
“Your scent is especially thick today.”
Whispering that, Euphemia finally laced her voice with a sob.
The sun had been fierce; she'd sweated profusely. She couldn't imagine her aroma now, skirt hiked up.
“You bastard……”
Did it have to be like this? She hated his utter lack of respect, but Ferzen found no sourness……
Instead, her intensified natural scent—like a female desperately luring a male—made him withdraw his hand from her lower belly and roughly lead her to the bed.
“W-Wait a moment……”
As he seized her exposed white panties between the hiked skirt and yanked them down, Euphemia leaned forward to block him.
His tousled hair, rumpled bedsheets.
He'd probably slept until her return.
Deep sleep at this hour meant significant fatigue; if she could make him finish first, maybe he'd spare her.
Stamina tied to virility, after all.
“I-I'll…… do it with my mouth.”
“……”
Ferzen gazed at her, slightly surprised.
Misreading his look, Euphemia spoke softly, voice thick with shame and grievance.
“Y-You…… taught me how……”
“Ha……”
Haha.
No self-awareness, surely.
That very lack made it endearing, praiseworthy even.
Ferzen looked down as Euphemia knelt between his legs, her awkward hands grasping his trouser waist.