“Where have you been?”
When she returned to the West Palace after spending some time in the library, Louis, who was occupying an empty room, suddenly asked her a question.
“To the library. It’s hard to pass the time when Ian is asleep.”
Louis sighed at Amelia's words.
“Is now the time to do that?”
It meant that she had come to the palace to play. It was a natural accusatory tone, perhaps because she had dismissed all the servants just in case.
“It’s not like there’s a set time limit.”
“So you’re just going to enjoy it leisurely?”
“Isn’t Louis in a hurry to get my freedom back?”
Louis paused at Amelia's question. Amelia's response was appropriate.
“I won’t just wait around in the temple. And don’t you think that your freedom means my freedom?”
But Louis also had a good reason to whip Amelia. One of the women born to Count Skipper had to be Amelia's maid and serve her. Few people could control a Priestess while keeping her secret.
Because of this, she was considered very useful within the household, but in fact, she was more like a shiny apricot. A woman who became a Priestess's maid could have wealth and honor, but, like the Priestess, she had no freedom. Her freedom to start a family and live was also the same.
“If the Emperor gets married, it will be harder to get close to him.”
Louis spoke rudely. Amelia blinked slowly at the topic she had never thought of.
Twenty-two. Ivan was certainly young for a royal family member, but he wasn't that young for a man. Escliff had a culture of having an engagement ceremony before becoming an adult, and then having a coming-of-age ceremony and marriage together. It was even stranger that he didn't have a fiancée at the moment.
Thinking about it that way, Amelia began to question her relationship with Ivan.
What is our relationship now? What will happen to us in the future? Will it continue like this? How long?
“I heard he's already looking for a family to submit his proposal to.”
As she thought about it, Louis's discontented muttering voice pierced her ear. Her thoughts stopped. Amelia's neck turned stiffly toward Louis, as if it were going to make a creaking sound.
"What?"
It was a question that was barely asked. It was a reaction that might have seemed suspicious, but Louis didn't seem to find it that strange.
“I met my father, who entered the palace earlier. He said that the Emperor is choosing which family to submit the marriage proposal to. Since he won’t be submitting the marriage proposal to our family anyway, it has nothing to do with Count Skipper.”
Her face was blank as she recalled her conversation with her father.
“That’s why you need to move as soon as possible. Even if he is the Emperor, he doesn’t want to get criticized for doing something foolish right before the wedding.”
Even for a man, playing around with a government official before a state wedding was not something to be evaluated favorably. Ivan would have been careful. Besides, spending a night with an unmarried Emperor was no different from being treated as the mistress of a married Emperor. Louis said so.
“Can you make a place for me to meet the Emperor?”
Louis rolled her eyes with an ambiguous expression at Amelia's question. No matter how much she tried to show off in front of Amelia, Louis was just a guest in the palace. She had rarely had a conversation with Ivan, so there was no way she could ask him to meet right away.
“Shall we invite you to dinner together?”
“Oh, no. No. That would be rude.”
Ivan will be coming tonight anyway. Amelia thought back to his words that she shouldn’t pretend to know him in the palace, and quietly bit her fingernails.
An indescribable sense of impatience seeped deep into her heart.
“...”
Today, shr couldn't even think about taking a nap. Amelia buried her head in her knees and took a deep breath, thinking about things that didn't give her any answers. She needed to stop thinking. It was something that she couldn't find an answer to if she thought about it alone.
When Ivan comes, she has to ask him. What is our relationship? What will happen to you and me from now on?
It was while Amelia was comforting herself that the side room door opened silently and Ivan appeared. He always came through there. Amelia stared at the canopy fabric that was swaying in the wind coming in through the open terrace window. Every time the canopy fabric, so thin and delicate that it made people look dim, swayed, Ivan’s figure came closer and closer.
“Ivan.”
“You weren’t sleeping.”
Ivan fully revealed himself as he pulled back the canopy. Amelia erased the opaque lines and reached out to the man who appeared in vivid colors.
“I was about to ask you to meet up earlier through Louis, but I forgot.”
“Because it looks like I’ll come today anyway?”
Ivan asked the question jokingly.
“Because we even met at the library. I guess.”
Amelia answered, forcing the corners of her lips upward to hide her anxiety.
“Yes, Ivan.”
Amelia's hand carefully touched Ivan's face. The warm body temperature calmed her mind. Ivan looked straight into Amelia's eyes as if he were listening.
“Why don’t you sleep with me?”
However, he seemed somewhat flustered, as if he was not immune to unexpected questions.
“It’s not the first time. There’s no reason to be cautious again.”
Amelia's point sounded valid. At first glance, it did.
“You’re not avoiding me, are you?”
“If I want to avoid you, just don’t come here. There’s no better way than that, so why bother coming here to avoid you?”
Ivan, sitting on the edge of the bed, grabbed Amelia's hand that was resting on his chin and pulled her down. Then he thoroughly corrected her wrong idea.
“Then why...”
“How long do you think it’s been since you had your baby?”
Ivan asked with a low sigh. It had been less than four months since Amelia had given birth to Ian. She had supposedly recovered by then, but he was not an animal that would go into arousal at the sight of a woman’s skirt, so he did not want to flirt with a woman who had just given birth. Ivan’s intention was clear.
“It’s not me that’s the problem, it’s you I need to think about.”
Since he was unable to bear children, he did not know the pain. It was something that Ivan could never understand, even if he lived his entire life. So there was nothing Ivan could do but help the body recover.
“I, I’m okay now.”
Amelia whispered and pulled Ivan closer. Her soft, luscious flesh sank against Ivan’s firm chest. Ivan’s hands, which were resting on the bed, unconsciously gained strength.
“Amelia.”
“Can’t you just hug me?”
Amelia didn't stop clinging to him even though Ivan was trying to stop her. She wanted to find some relief. She wouldn't try to embrace him without any feelings.
It was none other than Ivan. He was not a womanizer, and even if he were tormented by such desire, he was not the kind of man to lift up the hem of any woman's skirt. Amelia believed so.
“If you want, then yes.”
Ivan whispered as he released the arms that had been holding his upper body as if they were being tied up. The moment he buried his lips in Amelia’s nape, her small body was pushed back compared to Ivan’s. And she was completely covered by his upper body.
At the same time, Ivan's hand snaked under her nightgown. Amelia flinched at the touch that opened and opened the secret space.
“But I still feel a little uneasy.”
Ivan lightly kissed the tip of Amelia's nose. When he met her bright blue eyes, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Only you today.”
But Ivan didn't seem to notice. Ivan's upper body slid from the nape of her neck to her chest and then down to her legs, before Amelia could even grab his shoulders.
"Ah!"
Two slender legs rested on Ivan's shoulders. Where on earth did his head go? Amelia waved her hands in the air in confusion, and Ivan interlocked his fingers and pressed them down on the bed.
“That, that’s enough.”
Amelia twisted her body, trying to stop Ivan, sobbing. It was all she could do, since she couldn't move her hands. Any further resistance was impossible.
The man became cruel and brutal at one point. Finally, her body was pierced by the overwhelming pleasure. Amelia let out a short scream, then stretched out like a wet cotton and gasped for breath. The man, who had completely disappeared between the hems of her clothes, raised his head with wet lips.
“Are you satisfied?”
Ivan asked a shameless question. Amelia glared at him halfway, then released her grip, which had weakened, and stretched her arms toward Ivan's neck. Ivan was obediently led. Amelia stole Ivan's lips, which tasted unfamiliar, and hugged him with her whole body.
With a heart that wishes that this moment could last forever, like that night someday.
When she returned to the West Palace after spending some time in the library, Louis, who was occupying an empty room, suddenly asked her a question.
“To the library. It’s hard to pass the time when Ian is asleep.”
Louis sighed at Amelia's words.
“Is now the time to do that?”
It meant that she had come to the palace to play. It was a natural accusatory tone, perhaps because she had dismissed all the servants just in case.
“It’s not like there’s a set time limit.”
“So you’re just going to enjoy it leisurely?”
“Isn’t Louis in a hurry to get my freedom back?”
Louis paused at Amelia's question. Amelia's response was appropriate.
“I won’t just wait around in the temple. And don’t you think that your freedom means my freedom?”
But Louis also had a good reason to whip Amelia. One of the women born to Count Skipper had to be Amelia's maid and serve her. Few people could control a Priestess while keeping her secret.
Because of this, she was considered very useful within the household, but in fact, she was more like a shiny apricot. A woman who became a Priestess's maid could have wealth and honor, but, like the Priestess, she had no freedom. Her freedom to start a family and live was also the same.
“If the Emperor gets married, it will be harder to get close to him.”
Louis spoke rudely. Amelia blinked slowly at the topic she had never thought of.
Twenty-two. Ivan was certainly young for a royal family member, but he wasn't that young for a man. Escliff had a culture of having an engagement ceremony before becoming an adult, and then having a coming-of-age ceremony and marriage together. It was even stranger that he didn't have a fiancée at the moment.
Thinking about it that way, Amelia began to question her relationship with Ivan.
What is our relationship now? What will happen to us in the future? Will it continue like this? How long?
“I heard he's already looking for a family to submit his proposal to.”
As she thought about it, Louis's discontented muttering voice pierced her ear. Her thoughts stopped. Amelia's neck turned stiffly toward Louis, as if it were going to make a creaking sound.
"What?"
It was a question that was barely asked. It was a reaction that might have seemed suspicious, but Louis didn't seem to find it that strange.
“I met my father, who entered the palace earlier. He said that the Emperor is choosing which family to submit the marriage proposal to. Since he won’t be submitting the marriage proposal to our family anyway, it has nothing to do with Count Skipper.”
Her face was blank as she recalled her conversation with her father.
“That’s why you need to move as soon as possible. Even if he is the Emperor, he doesn’t want to get criticized for doing something foolish right before the wedding.”
Even for a man, playing around with a government official before a state wedding was not something to be evaluated favorably. Ivan would have been careful. Besides, spending a night with an unmarried Emperor was no different from being treated as the mistress of a married Emperor. Louis said so.
“Can you make a place for me to meet the Emperor?”
Louis rolled her eyes with an ambiguous expression at Amelia's question. No matter how much she tried to show off in front of Amelia, Louis was just a guest in the palace. She had rarely had a conversation with Ivan, so there was no way she could ask him to meet right away.
“Shall we invite you to dinner together?”
“Oh, no. No. That would be rude.”
Ivan will be coming tonight anyway. Amelia thought back to his words that she shouldn’t pretend to know him in the palace, and quietly bit her fingernails.
An indescribable sense of impatience seeped deep into her heart.
***
“...”
Today, shr couldn't even think about taking a nap. Amelia buried her head in her knees and took a deep breath, thinking about things that didn't give her any answers. She needed to stop thinking. It was something that she couldn't find an answer to if she thought about it alone.
When Ivan comes, she has to ask him. What is our relationship? What will happen to you and me from now on?
It was while Amelia was comforting herself that the side room door opened silently and Ivan appeared. He always came through there. Amelia stared at the canopy fabric that was swaying in the wind coming in through the open terrace window. Every time the canopy fabric, so thin and delicate that it made people look dim, swayed, Ivan’s figure came closer and closer.
“Ivan.”
“You weren’t sleeping.”
Ivan fully revealed himself as he pulled back the canopy. Amelia erased the opaque lines and reached out to the man who appeared in vivid colors.
“I was about to ask you to meet up earlier through Louis, but I forgot.”
“Because it looks like I’ll come today anyway?”
Ivan asked the question jokingly.
“Because we even met at the library. I guess.”
Amelia answered, forcing the corners of her lips upward to hide her anxiety.
“Yes, Ivan.”
Amelia's hand carefully touched Ivan's face. The warm body temperature calmed her mind. Ivan looked straight into Amelia's eyes as if he were listening.
“Why don’t you sleep with me?”
However, he seemed somewhat flustered, as if he was not immune to unexpected questions.
“It’s not the first time. There’s no reason to be cautious again.”
Amelia's point sounded valid. At first glance, it did.
“You’re not avoiding me, are you?”
“If I want to avoid you, just don’t come here. There’s no better way than that, so why bother coming here to avoid you?”
Ivan, sitting on the edge of the bed, grabbed Amelia's hand that was resting on his chin and pulled her down. Then he thoroughly corrected her wrong idea.
“Then why...”
“How long do you think it’s been since you had your baby?”
Ivan asked with a low sigh. It had been less than four months since Amelia had given birth to Ian. She had supposedly recovered by then, but he was not an animal that would go into arousal at the sight of a woman’s skirt, so he did not want to flirt with a woman who had just given birth. Ivan’s intention was clear.
“It’s not me that’s the problem, it’s you I need to think about.”
Since he was unable to bear children, he did not know the pain. It was something that Ivan could never understand, even if he lived his entire life. So there was nothing Ivan could do but help the body recover.
“I, I’m okay now.”
Amelia whispered and pulled Ivan closer. Her soft, luscious flesh sank against Ivan’s firm chest. Ivan’s hands, which were resting on the bed, unconsciously gained strength.
“Amelia.”
“Can’t you just hug me?”
Amelia didn't stop clinging to him even though Ivan was trying to stop her. She wanted to find some relief. She wouldn't try to embrace him without any feelings.
It was none other than Ivan. He was not a womanizer, and even if he were tormented by such desire, he was not the kind of man to lift up the hem of any woman's skirt. Amelia believed so.
“If you want, then yes.”
Ivan whispered as he released the arms that had been holding his upper body as if they were being tied up. The moment he buried his lips in Amelia’s nape, her small body was pushed back compared to Ivan’s. And she was completely covered by his upper body.
At the same time, Ivan's hand snaked under her nightgown. Amelia flinched at the touch that opened and opened the secret space.
“But I still feel a little uneasy.”
Ivan lightly kissed the tip of Amelia's nose. When he met her bright blue eyes, tears welled up in her eyes.
“Only you today.”
But Ivan didn't seem to notice. Ivan's upper body slid from the nape of her neck to her chest and then down to her legs, before Amelia could even grab his shoulders.
"Ah!"
Two slender legs rested on Ivan's shoulders. Where on earth did his head go? Amelia waved her hands in the air in confusion, and Ivan interlocked his fingers and pressed them down on the bed.
“That, that’s enough.”
Amelia twisted her body, trying to stop Ivan, sobbing. It was all she could do, since she couldn't move her hands. Any further resistance was impossible.
The man became cruel and brutal at one point. Finally, her body was pierced by the overwhelming pleasure. Amelia let out a short scream, then stretched out like a wet cotton and gasped for breath. The man, who had completely disappeared between the hems of her clothes, raised his head with wet lips.
“Are you satisfied?”
Ivan asked a shameless question. Amelia glared at him halfway, then released her grip, which had weakened, and stretched her arms toward Ivan's neck. Ivan was obediently led. Amelia stole Ivan's lips, which tasted unfamiliar, and hugged him with her whole body.
With a heart that wishes that this moment could last forever, like that night someday.
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