“I’ll hug you, kiss you, touch you –as much as I want, whenever I want. No matter your health, wherever we are—even if Miss Shada protests—I’ll hug you freely. You’ll get used to it if you keep sleeping with me. Won’t you?”

“Master!”

“Yes, Miss Shada.”

Huey looked at her with a gentle manner and mildly enough to make Shada doubt whether this same man just declared he said he would ravish her at will.

But his eyes sparked and throbbed with heat as if on fire. It was like the eyes of a hungry crocodile rising.

He had an appetite.

Shada instantly felt her lower abdomen swell and burn as if she had also been caught on fire,

It was dangerous.

It wasn’t just the instinct of a woman facing sexual perils; it was a sign of danger as a whole mixed up and setting off her alarms.

After this man in front of my eyes shook her and swallowed her up, it seemed that the very small identity of herself would disappear without a trace.

He was a man who had that capability, and Shada was ridiculously insignificant compared to him.

The difference was so clear that she wanted to run away.

And she was also madly attracted to him, terrifyingly so.

The blood drained from her face, and Shada stepped back and turned away.

Before crossing the threshold, a voice with dry laughter struck her eardrums.

“Did you hate what you did with me?”

Shada’s throat was dry.

“If you don’t like it, I don’t know what to do. Because I am going crazy with how much I liked it. Actually, I can’t stand it. I still want to drag you from there and lock you up in my bedroom. Please turn around. Just look at me—only me.”

Shada wished he would stop talking—she was vulnerable and exposed defenselessly to his naked voice– raking her heart and loins with raw emotion. She was unable to neither cover her ears nor run away.

“Will you hate me if we do it until you scream from pleasure?”

She fled the room at a run.

***

Huey stood without expression until Shada’s footsteps faded away, calmly arranging the cufflinks on the other side.

A knock rang.

It was the butler. He, in a polite tone to the owner wearing a blazer, informed him,

“Sir Cedric is here.”

“Tell him to come up.”

“… Shall I have them visit you later?”

Huey glanced at the butler. He bowed his head politely.

“I understand.”

The quick-witted butler retired without further provoking the anxious master.

On the surface, the man’s face, which was sheer like a sculpted man with neatly combed blonde hair, seemed calm and without any distraction.

He sat in an armchair languidly with his chin reclining in the palm of his hand.

In that state, he became lost in thought and silent. So lost in rumination he was—that even his revere wasn’t interrupted by the sound of someone’s clattering shoes echoing closer outside the door that soon bursted open. The newcomer greeted him.

“It’s been such a long time since I’ve seen you with such a face!”

Huey didn’t respond, only offering a seat with a hand gesture to the person.

Cedric grumbled, complaining that he didn’t get a better reaction.

“How are you?”

“Did you see it?”

“I guess not.”

Cedric nodded softly.

He looked closely at Huey, who nervously tilted the teacup so as not to show his feelings.

Whether it was because of the observational gaze or his signature self-control, another person’s presence quickly helped him return to putting on the mask known as ‘Count Kirchner.’

His calm and dry eyes turned to the guest seated across from him.

“What is it?”

“What’s going on? Are you saying you have not been getting along with Princess Julia these days?”

Huey’s gaze, which had first paid a little attention, quickly became dull.

Cedric shrugged his shoulders at an unspoken gaze that asked him as to whether he had come to this place to only ask about something like that.

“It’s important. Isn’t she the only daughter and precious gem of the King?”

“Indeed, a great nuisance.”

He laughed cynically.

Cedric was startled.

Such words would never be said to the precious Princess’s face, but his hate was rarely expressed so honestly.

Contrary to popular belief, the great knight Count Kirchner was, in fact, a man with a superior political sense and potential even more exemplary than his mastery over all-out warfare.

It was because, on the political battlefield, he knew how not to stand out so far.

He was persevering and patient, not like those typical of his age, and knew how to wait.

Restricting oneself to only their needs and going with the flow discreetly was much more complicated than talking and being attention-hungry.

What was even more frightening was that few of the kingdom’s powerful knew about the Count’s thoughts even though he was the successor to the next King and a war hero who received all kinds of attention both inside and outside.

Cedric asked in a much more serious tone than he did at first:

“Has the Princess poured tea water on you? Or maybe slapped you on the cheek?”

He knew that the vicious and ugly Princess was crazy about the man in front of him, but it wouldn’t surprise him if her instincts took over and she revealed her true nature—later, she could easily say not all her facilities were at her disposal.

Cedric worked as a court customs officer under his mother’s family’s influence that hailed from upper-class gentry. He stayed in the courts, mingling to and fro, and was quick on the uptake on circumstances, incidents, and accidents in the palace.

The graceful mustache, refined dress, and humble etiquette were regarded as Cedric’s symbols to his acquaintances were gained from time and experience.

The first time Huey met Baron Cedric, he found it hard to believe that his grandfather was a serf and his father was once a commoner.

Huey laughed at the breathless question.

“Fortunately, or unfortunately, it has not happened yet.”

“Fortunately— that would be unfortunate.”

At least I could stop her from entering my house if she had slapped me—it is rather cheap for the amount of peace I would get.

Huey thought so in silence and without a reply.