An Elf's Way of Love
An Elf's Way of Love
In the past, Grace had been Varda's mother and teacher, and it had fallen to her to provide sex education as well.
It was the time when she was passing through the middle of her second puberty. The girl's body was crossing into womanhood, and her breasts had swelled richly.
The pelvis that had grown like a crown beneath her skin would one day bestow a crown upon the life to dwell within.
"If an adventurer were to visit by chance, all eyes would be drawn to you, my lady, rather than to me."
When they stood side by side before the mirror, the alluring presence of the elf easily swallowed up the large dryad. The time for sex education had arrived.
"Elven coupling is a sacred ritual. It is the union of two souls that have lived separately into one."
"But the soul is an inviolable thing, isn't it? Is it truly possible for two souls to fuse?"
Varda was a pure-hearted girl who did not even know what sex was. And so, she accepted the explanation as a mage.
"How adorable. Surely you didn't still believe that babies come from being fetched by a spirit? What I told you long ago, without a trace of doubt?"
"You mean you lied to me?!"
The elf's face was one of shock.
"I'm sorry. But on this matter, I had no choice. No matter how much a mother loves her child, she must tell a lie perhaps twice in her lifetime."
Once, in answer to the question, 'Where do babies come from?' The other, when she was sentenced to an inescapable death.
"Hmph."
"Heavens! Even your sulking face is so beautiful! Whatever shall I do!"
Varda, who had trusted Grace with her whole heart, was properly cross. But her sulking heart melted away in an instant with a single embrace, as it always did.
Being held in a dryad's arms was the finest forest bath. Fresh branches and leaves, the intensely concentrated fragrance of the forest, wrapped around her entire body.
And with the infinite love for Varda added to that, there was no way to persist in stubbornness. She was, after all, a good child.
"Th-this is a jest, yes?"
Upon learning of the act between man and woman, the elf princess recoiled in horror.
"If it is with the one you love, it is a far more joyful thing than any jest."
"But to put that into that..."
The girl's face, where a simulation was running, flushed bright red.
"The posture is far too ridiculous."
"When the moment comes, I doubt you will find it ridiculous. Your eyes will be filled only with the other's face."
"It would be hard to keep my balance too."
"Beginners do often fall or end up on their knees."
"And besides, ur-ur-ur..."
"Ur?"
"To receive what comes out of the hole for urination into my body?!"
The elf princess shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. It seemed she had been shocked, as befitted her fastidious nature of never skipping a bath even for a single day.
"The eggs that you so enjoy come out into the world through the very same passage with a grunt, my lady."
"It feels like you are rather enjoying my reaction."
Varda pouted her lips at Grace, who was replying with an amused smile.
But she pricked up her ears and concentrated on the teaching that followed. Apart from her respect for her teacher, the subject was simply too fascinating.
"It is true that two souls cannot become one. But it is possible to come close to it. By pressing your bodies together in various ways and communing."
"As if dancing a waltz?"
"The most passionate waltz in the world. Look at this."
"Eek! What are you showing me?!"
Varda covered her eyes with both hands before the Kama Sutra crafted in the 1st Era. The version made by the elves was more powerful than the one later produced by the Eastern Empire in the 3rd Era.
There was none of that peeking through parted fingers like other young ladies. With the modesty befitting a royal daughter, she covered them tightly and even shut her eyes completely.
"To show a fierce aspect in the bedchamber is nothing to be ashamed of. For beyond the husk of the flesh, to touch soul to soul, such fervor and devotion are necessary."
"It is merely obscene."
"One day, when someone you truly love appears, everything will change. You will come to yearn for that obscenity more than anyone."
"Hmph! That will absolutely never happen!"
"Let us wait and see."
"I mean it, truly not!"
"Hoo-hoo."
Varda was greatly vexed by Grace's attitude, which seemed so sure.
After many seasons had changed since then.
Having become an adult and a wife, Varda admitted that Grace had been right.
"I have heard your explanation well."
After finishing a long, deep kiss, Eugene gazed at Varda. His wife's luscious lips glistened with saliva.
"To summarize in a word, you are asking me to be intense, yes?"
"It is slightly different!"
"I do know a fair bit about the elven concept of marital relations."
Having lived alongside the dark elves, Eugene understood their way of life. And naturally, that included the sexual aspects.
"Dark elf couples pursue each other with a warrior's ferocity. I thought it was because they are a warrior tribe, but it seems it is simply a characteristic of the elven race as a whole."
The act of procreation was an experience in an elf's life where emotion and sensation erupted all at once. Above delicacy, consideration, or technique, they valued the virtue of intensity.
"I spoke for nothing. It was something you already knew, and I embarrassed myself."
Varda buried her face, now red as a carrot, against Eugene's neck. Whether in joy, sorrow, or embarrassment, to seek the embrace of one's spouse—that was an elf's right and duty.
Squish.
As Eugene held his wife, he felt mountain peaks against his chest. That sacred sensation was not merely softness. The raspberries shyly protruding at the tips pleasantly tickled his chest.
"So firm."
Against the knight's pectoral muscles, Varda's breath grew hot as well. Her hips drew tautly backward.
Kneeling and embracing each other, the couple exchanged kisses once more. It was a rough and wild kiss.
Slurp.
A vulgar sound came from the two lips as they devoured and were devoured in turn. Their hands, too, sought each other's bodies.
"Haaah."
Only when their breath grew short did their lips part.
Varda's hand fell away together with her lips, but Eugene's roguish touch remained where it was.
"Do you truly like breasts that much?"
Even as she turned her head away in embarrassment, Varda did not slap her husband's hand away.
"Think of the goddess Demeter."
"Why the goddess of fertility and the earth, all of a sudden?"
As a deity associated with agriculture, she was a goddess of immense standing. She was depicted as holding a great loaf of bread in her hands, and was served by farmers, bakers, and many lords.
The priests of the goddess Demeter performed the miracle of making bread rise. In this age without commercial yeast, that rich, fluffy texture was the order's mightiest tool for spreading the faith.
"The dough bestowed by the goddess is within my hands. How could I possibly cease?"
His wife's flesh, endlessly shifting its form and burrowing between his fingers. This was something he simply could not stop.
"I am truly glad to be alive."
"You fool."
Varda cast a sidelong glare, but the corners of her lips were lifted in pleasure. For the sensation of her husband desiring her was the most pleasant feeling of all.
Having savored a sufficient appetizer, the gazes of the two naturally drifted downward.
"A fine mess this is."
"Are you in any position to speak of others?"
"It looks so ferocious. Like an enraged lion."
"Even this is noble and beautiful on you, Varda-nim."
"That is an unfair tactic."
Eugene grasped Varda by both shoulders and laid her back. The elf lady's legs were spread wide by the knight's knees and thighs.
"You look far too lewd. I can scarcely believe you are the Sage of the Emerald Forest."
"You are the one who spread them as you pleased."
"But you offered no resistance whatsoever."
"...Because he is my husband."
It was a vulgar sight one could never imagine from the normally dignified elven mage.
Eugene lifted Varda's right thigh from where she lay. The hamstring muscles, hardened by running through the forest as a gatherer, trembled faintly within his grip.
"You were far too tense, even for a wedding night."
"Everything is unfamiliar, every single thing. My hips, my breasts, my thighs—every place your hands touch."
Eugene draped Varda's ankle over his own shoulder.
"Ngh."
A shame that surpassed all limits. Her beautiful face, with tears even welling up, turned aside against the pillow. The hair spread out over the bedsheet above was like a waterfall of gold.
"Do not cover your breasts."
"..."
Varda meekly obeyed her husband's request.
'I am going mad.'
Eugene felt an infinite sense of conquest at that sight, but his thirst deepened just as much. For the feeling of dominance only summoned more desire for dominance.
Squeeze.
The large knight's hand wrapped around his wife's foot. Eugene's fingers and Varda's toes interlocked and bound together.
Mwah.
When her husband's kiss touched her foot, the long, slender toes curled up adorably.
"Something I have been wondering since earlier—what is this anklet?"
The anklet, crafted of gold thread and emerald, had a tiny bell attached to it.
"It does not seem to make any sound."
"Do not shake it!"
When Eugene shook the foot he held, Varda's thighs spread wide apart.
The two hands that had reflexively moved to cover the fairy's pond stopped. They flinched near her navel, then fell to her sides and clutched the bedsheet.
"It was 'I see you,' was it not?"
"...Yes."
It was a customary phrase that symbolized the bond between elven spouses. It meant never obstructing the other's gaze, under any circumstance.
Their belief was that a gaze became a herald for reconciliation when they quarreled, and bound them even more tightly together when they shared love.
"That bell was passed down from my mother. More precisely, it was something Grace carried with her when she fled."
"So it is another treasure of the royal family."
Varda shook her head.
"It is merely a gift handed down to a daughter. An object of no great significance."
"Yet I sense a faint trace of magic from it."
"It has been enchanted with Marital Harmony Magic."
"What manner of magic is that?"
After a brief silence, Varda spoke in a voice as small as a mosquito.
"It determines the wife's ecstasy. The bell tied to the ankle on the wedding night must ring. There is a belief that only then can a happy marriage follow."
"The elves are truly not what they appear to be. So demure on the surface, and yet subtly sensual."
"It is not like that for all of us. It is a tradition passed down only in my family..."
"In any case, it must be vigorous enough to make this ring, yes?"
Eugene held Varda's ankle and shook it back and forth with considerable force.
Flap-flap-flap!
The pale sole danced mercilessly in the air. Varda let out a shriek of mortification at the frivolous spectacle.
"It makes no sound, though?"
"You cannot make it ring by shaking it like that!"
"Then how must I?"
"When the wife truly reaches a state of rapture... it rings."
"I see. So that was the nature of the magic."
Eugene was genuinely impressed by the Elf royal family. They were truly learned people.
"It seems vulgar. I should simply have removed it."
Varda covered her brimming eyes with the back of her hand.
"Not at all. A man's pleasure reveals itself easily, but a woman's does not. There are those, I am told, who pass from this life without ever having felt satisfaction."
Eugene gently moved her delicate hand aside and kissed her cheek and her eyes.
"I want to make you happy, Varda-nim. In spirit and in body. I'll do everything I can to make this bell ring. I'll cherish you and make you happy for the rest of my life."
"..."
Jingle.
The faint sound of a bell reached Eugene's ears.
As the night deepened, the noble elf princess at last accepted her husband deep within her body.
"Hnngh!"
A cry of pained bliss rang out. The two had truly become one.
Two long, pale legs coiled around Eugene's waist like serpents. Both arms, too, embraced his back and neck.
They had held each other before, but never had they pressed their bodies together as perfectly as they did now.
"Would you... stay just like this for a moment?"
"As much as you want. It might hurt since it's your first time."
"It's not because of the pain."
Squeeze.
Varda savored the sensation of her husband that she felt through her thighs, calves, and arms.
"I never knew it would feel this good to feel you with my whole body."
Jingle.
Eugene heard the sound of the bell ringing in his ear. The chime was clearer than before.
* * *
In summer, the sun rose earliest in the world over southern Britannia. The faint rays of dawn streamed through the tall windows of the lord's manor.
Chirp! Chirp!
The first sparrow to chirp flew to the windowsill seeking warmth. In the chill morning air, only that spot leaked heat.
Slap!
At that moment, a pale palm pressed against the windowpane. Her hand, moist with sweat, met the even glass with a sticky sound.
The startled sparrow fluttered away in a rush.
"A cute little guest got frightened."
Eugene whispered into Varda's ear as he held her from behind.
"Nnh!"
Varda, who had covered her mouth, trembled violently. She looked utterly exhausted from the lovemaking that had lasted all night.
Her long ears, which always stood so proud, were now limp. They were the result of being chewed and ravished countless times by Eugene's lips. They glistened in the lamplight, soaked with saliva here and there.
The bed that had been set up for the noble couple was wrecked. Feathers drifted from the torn bedcover. The bedframe leg, crafted with artistry over durability, had finally snapped after enduring so much creaking.
Not just the bed, but the entire bridal chamber was overturned. Like a field ravaged by a hungry boar.
Varda, who lay prone before the window accepting her husband, was also a complete mess.
Her hair, carefully braided by her handmaidens, was in wild disarray, and her entire body was covered in kiss marks.
Varda's soles were dirty with dust. For there was no place in the bridal chamber her feet had not touched.
"Varda-nim."
"I am listening."
The wife, who had gifted her husband every expression she could make throughout the night, spoke with difficulty.
"The bell no longer makes a sound."
The anklet's bell had rung as fervently as Varda, who had sobbed with pleasure and happiness.
[Love more fiercely! O blessed couple!]
As if cheering them on.
"Shall we try to muster a bit more strength?"
"St, stop! I will die at this rate!"
"But the bell..."
"You are without fault! It is simply that the bell's magic has broken."
"Ah, so that was it."
Even ancient magic could not withstand a knight's passion.
After the final act concluded, Varda collapsed onto the bed with a flop! that suited the motion perfectly. She had exhausted every last ounce of her body's strength and had no energy left even to steady herself.
"What shall we do about this shameful chaos? What will the handmaidens say when they see this?"
Varda lamented over the bridal chamber, which looked as if a storm had swept through it.
The couple was attended directly by people selected from the Black Hand Tribe. Rumors would spread in an instant.
"They will simply think our marital harmony is wonderful, I suppose."
"How nice it must be for you to be so carefree."
"Though Varda-nim's dignified image might crack just a little."
"And whose fault is that!"
Varda's thumb and forefinger pinched Eugene's cheek. But not a single ounce of strength went into it.
Because it was after she had expended all her energy in the acts of love that stretched until dawn.
Enduring the impacts that crashed into her from behind and keeping her balance.
Standing on tiptoe upon the floor to support her body.
Clinging to Eugene's upper body as he lifted her up.
Serving as a millstone atop Eugene as she strained her thighs, which trembled and threatened to give way.
Thus, around the time when the morning sun grew stronger and more birds began to chirp.
Kooooo.
Seueueu.
The Count and Countess, lying side by side, fell into a deep sleep. It was different from the slumber they had known until now, with only nightclothes and blankets between them. They wrapped themselves entirely in each other's body heat.
Varda's face, pillowed on his arm, was filled with happiness. Her hand covered her husband's chest, and her leg draped over his thigh.
It was a posture somewhat vulgar for a princess to assume, but it could not be helped. The fear that had seized her the moment they tried to separate for sleep after sharing body heat all night.
That fear had easily brushed aside even the princess's pride and dignity.
* * *
It was only after noon, when post-meal drowsiness began to set in, that the handmaidens entered the lord's bedchamber.
'Do not disturb.'
Because the sign that had hung from the entrance door handle had only just then vanished.
"Congratulations!"
As soon as they opened the door, the handmaidens greeted them with delighted faces at the heady, sensual scent that rushed out. The marriage had been flawlessly consummated.
The Black Hand Clan, who had originally joined only to avert the prophesied disaster, had become intoxicated by their living conditions improving day by day.
More powerful combat techniques, finer equipment, abundant supplies, a robust system, and reliable political protection.
A standard of living, once raised, can never be reversed.
-How in the world did we ever endure back then?
-In winter, we brought the sheep into the tent and slept hugging them, and the youngest wouldn't believe it.
Whenever the dark elves spoke of their past wandering life, they tilted their heads in wonder.
-The Castle Lord should start a family soon, too.
But there was only one Meyer protecting all of this. That was why everyone longed for Eugene to marry.
"We ended up oversleeping. You didn't skip a meal waiting around because of us, did you?"
"Please do not trouble yourselves. We filled our stomachs with dried meat..."
The handmaidens, who had raised their heads while smiling, gaped as they took in the wrecked bedroom.
"Varda-nim. Let's get out of the way. We'll only interfere if we stay."
"R, right."
Varda hid behind Eugene, dragging her slippers. Her hair, which the handmaidens had dressed so carefully, was now completely undone and tied into a ponytail.
"Then, please do your work."
Bow.
The couple passed by the handmaidens, who were bowing their heads.
Sniff.
Inhale.
At that moment, the handmaidens' noses reacted. Though not quite on par with beastkin, elves also had fairly sensitive noses.
None of them missed the various scents emanating from the bride. The smell of elf sweat covering her entire body, human saliva, and a musky scent that was unmistakably her husband's.
Perhaps realizing this, Varda's face flushed red. She had exerted herself fiercely all night and had missed both breakfast and lunch, so she was hungry as well.
Gurgle.
Rrrrrumble!
As befitting a married couple, the sounds of their stomachs rumbling sounded out at the same time.
"I am hungry. Shall we go to the dining hall?"
"I shall bathe first. You eat ahead of me."
Varda pressed down on her pounding heart and quickened her pace twofold.
'I never once thought about starting a family.'
Eugene let out a soft laugh at the sight of his lovely wife's retreating figure. He only looked forward more to the fulfilling days ahead.
* * *
"Is this not rather modest fare for Sir Knight to be having?"
Rex approached Eugene, who was dining in the honored guests' refectory. Even after Eugene had risen to the rank of Count, Rex continued to call him Sir Knight.
It was a privilege Eugene had granted to Rex, a founding member who had been with him from the very beginning. For a reward did not always have to be land or riches.
This was, above all else, the greatest pride for the fiercely proud Rex. It was a precious privilege that other knights and sworn vassals envied but dared not even mention.
"It looks simple on the outside, but it's a rather expensive dish."
Eugene bit into the fried cod. The savory cod flesh, soaked through with oil, and the scent of the generously sprinkled pepper spread across his palate. It was a fresh one that had just come up via the Times River.
It was accompanied by french fries drenched in Homi's special ketchup, a heap of boiled peas, and sliced apples with their skins still on.
"You called it fish and chips?"
A dish that made lavish use of precious cooking oil and even more precious pepper. Contrary to its humble appearance, a properly made one was difficult even for nobles to eat often.
"Your Excellency. It is ready."
The scribe, who had been diligently working his pen over a sheet of stationery near Eugene, spoke up.
"Working during a meal will give you indigestion."
"There's no helping it. It's the early days of my ascension to Count, so there is much work to do."
Eugene handed his fork to Rex, who was eyeing the fried cod with curiosity. Then, he nodded to the scribe.
"Proclaim it throughout Britannia. Under the mighty name of Meyer and the noble Philamor, the South has united as one."
"Wait. I appreciate the consideration, but change the order. I prefer Varda-nim taking the lead with me supporting her from behind."
"Understood."
Rex, who had been chewing with an expression as if he had discovered a new world, looked taken aback.
"Must you go that far?"
"As the saying goes, it's not what you say but how you say it. In noble society, people find fault over the smallest things."
Though it was a joyous marriage, there were quite a few in society who looked upon Varda with pity.
Especially those who had heard only rumors and had not witnessed the resurrection of the Shade Garden or the wedding itself.
-The Countess must feel as if she is walking on a cliff edge.
-A woman with nothing but her bloodline, is it not obvious? She must constantly read the Count's mood and fawn over him.
Such cases were countless in noble society. No matter how much the times valued bloodlines, in the end, everything became meaningless without power.
For this reason, too, Eugene wanted to dilute the impression that he was a foreign conqueror as much as possible.
Scratch, scratch.
The scribe, having finished the corrections, continued.
"Our swords and arrows shall be aimed only at outside enemies. We issue warning to all those who cross the southern borders to plunder, those who attack merchants traveling to and fro, and those who illegally levy passage tolls. And..."
The entire land groaned under brigandage and abuse of power amidst the chaos of the civil war. Eugene declared that the South had been liberated from such evil.
"There is something I want to add to the final sentence. Are you ready to write?"
"Give your command."
"The master of the South has changed. The misunderstandings that arose with the previous master have vanished with him. For any lingering grudges, I will lend an ear to your words. Friends for peaceful coexistence are always welcome."
Scratch, scratch.
Around the time he finished eating, the corrected letter was completed.
"Copy it and send it across all of Britannia."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Rex watched the scribe exit with the letter tucked in his chest.
"How many of the great lords do you think will respond favorably?"
"That bastard Kruger will respond by telling us to go to hell. But those he has his eye on will likely react favorably. I have high hopes especially for Count Edward of the West."
The great lord of the West, Count Edward, had advocated for neutrality in the civil war.
-Do you intend to remain neutral to my enemies as well? Stop spouting nonsense and send hostages. True neutrality is marching to war with me and ending this conflict swiftly.
However, for Count Kruger, who occupied the central region, there were only enemies or allies. The western nobles, outmatched in strength, were sure to desperately wish for a powerful alliance.
"Your Excellency!"
Just then, a messenger hurriedly approached, crossing paths with the scribe who was leaving.
"It is urgent news of the situation in the Central region."
"Report."
"It is said that the Edward family suffered a crushing defeat in a battle against the Kruger family."
"Speak of the devil, as they say."
Eugene sighed.
"So, what is the scale of the damage?"
"There were considerable troop losses, but the heir, the eldest son, managed to escape. However, Count Edward himself is reported to have been taken prisoner."
He had wished to enjoy a peaceful newlywed life, but the world seemed to have no intention of letting Eugene rest.
End
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