The fingers that were caressing my hair came down the nape of my neck.
I tilted my head unconsciously. My tongue, which used to spit out painful words whenever I had a chance, gently swept all over his mouth.
My breathing gradually became rougher, and my vision became distant. I felt my body heat up unbearably, but I couldn't stop.
I extremely moved my tongue following Barkas.
How long did I do that? When my lips began to tingle, I looked up.
I looked up into his eyes as I gasped for breath. Unlike my body, which was beating hot, there was no trace of desire in his silent face looking down at me. The inexplicable gap made me uneasy.
I, who was breathing heavily, quietly turned around.
"Now... I'll stop."
Just as I was about to get out of bed, he wrapped his arms around my waist.
"Just a little more."
The sweet bass that poured into my ears seemed to melt my bones. The man, who was tightly wrapped around my back, put his lips to the nape of my neck.
I stiffened with tension.
The reason I came here was to obtain the heir to the Grand Duke.
Surrendering to him in the dark is also nothing more than a procedure to accept him painlessly.
Those self-hypnotic lies were about to collapse without a trace with a gentle touch. I desperately held on to my will.
"There's no reason for me to be here."
"There's no reason not to stay."
He said, caressing my hair.
"I'm a patient. Stay by my side until I fall asleep."
His voice was slightly languid, and I bit my lip.
Why do you want me to be by your side?
I wanted to ask that kind of question, but I was afraid that I would get a disappointing answer.
I, who had been hesitating, ended up just spitting out nonsense.
"...Then go to bed quickly."
I could feel his lips moving slightly.
Did you laugh?
No, it can't be. Isn't it the corner of the mouth that doesn't move except when laughing or sarcasm?
I resisted the urge to look back and stared through the window where the raindrops were splashing. Just in time, a flash of light flashed, followed by a growling sound.
"Are you afraid of thunder?"
He asked suddenly.
Only then did I realize that I was trembling.
I had never felt fear of storms or lightning, but I didn't dare to deny it. I didn't want to be found out that I was agitated by the emotions he evoked.
After a while, I heard an even breath. The dull heart sound gradually slowed down.
Did he fall asleep?
But maybe not.
After a long time, guessing only the facts that can be confirmed by turning your body, the drowsy rushed in like a tidal wave.
I floated aimlessly on the boundary between consciousness and unconsciousness. Then, at some point, I was sucked into dense darkness.
Darkness became a mace and crushed my whole body. I struggled to make my way to the light, but only the sound of crushed bones clattering echoed in a shabby sound.
At that moment, I heard the sound of the forest roaring and growling, breathing.
I saw two eyes flashing in the dark.
The red-eyed monster crawled slowly to eat me. I could see the shape of a hideous monster wrapped in scales. The monster opened its mouth and chewed on my broken lower body. Not even a scream.
I watched with horror as the monster in the darkness devoured me.
But something was strange. The monster's shape gradually became smaller and then transformed into a familiar shape.
With a mischievous smile on her lips, she hugged my bloody upper body with her
pale and shining hands. Then she opened her blood-soaked lips and plucked the flesh from the nape of my neck.
Finally, I was able to recognize the monster's face. It was my mother.
Senevere devoured my body, which was barely left.
In an instant, only my head was left, and I shed tears.
A fine hand lifted the beheaded head.
Poor baby.
Senevere, who whispered as if she was sincerely sorry, kissed my wet cheek.
"Thalia!"
At that moment, someone shook my body violently.
I opened my eyes as I sucked in the air urgently like a person who had just been pulled out of the water.
In my panicked vision, I saw a dark bedroom landscape. For a moment, I couldn't clearly see where I was.
I was trembling like an aspen tree, but someone stroked my head.
"Just rest... It's okay."
I turned my head. I saw a beautiful face that was clouded by worry.
He wrapped his hands around my cheeks and swept his thumb over my wet eyes.
"Calm down. You just dreamed."
"...Dream?"
As I rolled my eyes in pursuit of Senevere's afterimage stuck to my retina, I lowered my shoulders. But the trembling did not subside.
He hugged me tightly with his arms and swept my back with a steady beat. My heart, which had been beating wildly as if it was about to pop out of my mouth, gradually regained its beat.
I muttered in a voice mixed with tears.
"Have you ever had a nightmare too?"
The hand that was patting my back stopped moving for a moment.
"A long time ago."
"What kind of dream was it?"
"Well..."
Just as I was about to lift my head, noticing that his voice had subsided a little, his hand pressed down on the back of my head.
"It's so old that I don't remember much."
Still, he clearly remembers the fact that he had a nightmare. It must have been a very painful dream.
"Sleep. I'll wake you up if I think another nightmare will come."
He whispered as he pulled the blanket over my shoulder. I naturally burrowed into his arms.
I was crazy that I didn't think much about it here in the first place, but I immediately erased it. Now I couldn't get out of this arm.
I closed my eyes with my cheeks on his bare chest.
***
The next day, I clearly knew how he had been injured.
A large box of manicured silver fur was placed in front of my door.
The servant who carried it himself proudly explained.
"This is the belly skin of Drakhar, which the Grand Duke has personally subdued. It is a top-quality material that does not burn in flames and perfectly blocks the wind in the middle of winter. He ordered me to make Your Highness the Grand Duchess's coat out of this."
The nanny caressed the fur with her trembling hands with her mouth open.
The silky white fur emitted a faint blue glow in the sunlight.
"Oh my God. It's so beautiful."
The maids who came to help with grooming also burst into admiration.
It was worth it. Drakhar was one of the top dragon subspecies monsters. Its only weak point is its abdomen, which is covered with soft fur.
Therefore, to obtain clean fur without any damage, even first-class hunters had to risk their lives. Even my mother has probably never seen such top-notch material.
But my face was as frozen as I looked down at the precious treasure. Thinking of him who must have fought a reckless battle to get this kind of thing made me feel angry to the top of my head.
I gave the servants a cold look.
"Where is His Excellency now?"
"That... He must be watching official business in his office."
The servant, noticing that I was not in a good mood, replied with a dead face.
I left the room without delay. I didn't need such a gift, so I was going to tell him not to do anything useless again.
However, as I went down the stairs, a scene unfolded in front of me that seemed to laugh at such anger.
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