He laced his fingers with mine and proceeded to kiss me again and again, always changing the angle and pressure. The count from the first one increased steadily. When I counted to ten twice and was about to start on a third round, I turned my face away gasping for breath and stopped him with a “Wa-Wait.”
His eyes glittered with desire. He slicked his tongue across his wet lips, and it almost made my head explode. Nothing made sense and I was at my limit with not understanding.
“Ri…chard…you…you never showed me th-this sort of expression…not when we fought the legendary snow beast…and not even on the frontlines…”
“You’re right.”
“S-So I just…I just thought you were the sort of person wh-who didn’t feel those things.”
“I just wanted to show off in front of the girl I love.”
“That’s it?!”
“That’s it. It was very important to me that I did so.” He said it so casually, like it was a fact. “Before you could fall in love with me, I wanted you to think of me as a friend you could trust, one who would make you feel safe. I didn’t want to be one of the many others who turned their instinctive desires on you.”
“Y-You tricked me.”
“I did. I’m a bad man, Miss Monica.” He leaned in close again to press his lips against mine.
“Nh…”
“You’re so damn adorable. I can’t get enough of you. I don’t want to stop.”
Eyes closed, I felt him kiss me again. Then I peeked a little and saw his narrowed eyes, a mischievous smile on his face.
“I told you a little about my constraint earlier, right?” he said.
“Oh, I think I’m starting to understand…”
“I had placed it on myself long before I met you, Miss Monica. I counterbalanced the instinctual lusts of the flesh with magic in order to remain calm at all times. You could call it a forced, pseudo-castration.”
“An impotent emperor…and his younger brother who performed a mock castration on himself… Clearly, you’re brothers, considering how important your lower halves are to both of you.”
“I did it so I could refute any accusations to take responsibility for illegitimate children or lies against me that arose. The young noblewomen have been hunting me for a very long time, you see.”
“I…I can’t even imagine what you went through.”
Thinking about his standing, I realized a constraint like that must have been necessary indeed. With His Imperial Majesty unable to sire a son of his own for so many years, a child born to his younger brother would have clearly added new sparks to an already fraught situation.
“When we were on the frontlines in Mayga Cieux, I controlled my urges with only my constraint and my reason,” he continued. “But after coming here, I started using a magical stone too, just in case.”
“Magical stone…? You don’t mean—”
“Yes. My own camouflage against desire. It activated to keep the feeling off my face whenever my constraint buckled.”
“Oh…that explains why your people were able to prepare the same kind for me so quickly after I settled in the Empire.”
“Correct, because the imperial family actually had them in their possession. A magical tool that only the emperor’s family could use. So tweaking them just a bit for your profile was a simple matter.” He grinned. All I could do was bob my head in agreement when he smiled at me like that. Everything made sense now.
“B-But if you’re in a pseudo-neutered state because of the binding spell, you don’t need to bother with a magical stone,” I said.
“I needed it just in case the worst happened. By the time I returned to the Empire with you, I was so madly in love with you, that my emotions drove my actions to the point that my constraint grew increasingly unstable. I was confident I could manage with just my sense of reason, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared. Especially after what happened against the legendary snow beasts.”
Richard planted a quick kiss on my hand then, like explaining was taking up time he would rather spend doing other things. Was this how sweets felt before they were devoured?
“Miss Monica, you’re incredibly sensitive to others’ sexual desires, aren’t you? In exchange for you working your saintly powers at full capacity in the Empire, I wanted to be an absolute safe base for you. Here, look. Look at the state of me today until I went to see you.”
He unpinned the medal from his chest and took out the gemstone, which he then placed on his palm to show me. Both the medal and the gemstone had cracks in them. The latter especially looked like crushed quartz. It was many times larger than the magical stones sewn into my holy attire.
“Ah, the krak krak sound…”
“Yes, the krak krak sound~♡!”
“Eeek…”
“I don’t plan on hiding the cracking sound, so I suppose I don’t need it anymore.”
“Wait. What do you mean? What does that mean?”
“Heh heh heh. You should know without having to ask.”
“I do not understand, sir.”
“How about a touch somewhere special? Then you would.”
“N-No! No, no, stop that. Goodness, you’re so lewd, Richard.”
“Heh. So cute.”
With our faces so close, I could see myself reflected in his eyes as he smiled, which seemed like his usual one. But there was something different about it. His flame-colored eyes were fixed steadily on mine and the mask he used to wear of the safe and secure gentleman was completely peeled off.
I had confronted many peoples’ desires until now. Yet this was the first time someone showed me their ardor so openly. It scared me. Even so, I couldn’t pull away from him. I just wanted him to kiss me even more. Anything beyond that was a little too stimulating though.
“Miss Monica.”
The gentle beast in front of me took my hand gently in his. The simple action was enough to paralyze me. At least, that was how it felt.
“After the Mayga Cieux purification operation, I used my busy schedule as an excuse not to see you. Days turned into weeks, into over a month. Because…ever since I took off the constraint in Mayga Cieux to share my magical energy with you, I’ve been like this the whole time. Most of the magical stones I brought with me have been destroyed. Miss Monica, I wanted you so badly, every minute of the day, that it was unbearable.”
His tortured, heated gaze poured over me as I sat on the bed with him. Only me. I suddenly remembered what he said atop that bridge.
“‘There’s no need to separate desire from love, because it ultimately doesn’t matter.’ When…when you said those words, you were talking about yourself, weren’t you, Richard?”
“Yes. Which is why my constraint couldn’t suppress my feelings for you.” His eyes, which looked like gold in the right light, shone fiercely. “After everything was settled, I planned on making the king of Kophe adopt you as a daughter so that I could make you my wife without trouble. And once I did, I would confess to you. But clearly, it was impossible from the start, hm?”
“Nh… Just because you can make a revelation so casually doesn’t mean it still isn’t a bombshell announcement?!”
“I didn’t want to force you, Miss Monica, so I surmised it would be best to discuss our path forward after you told me your thoughts.”
“Y-You say that, but before I even could, you just went off on your—”
Smeck. Richard shut me up with a kiss then continued, “But then I heard you say you wanted to enter a convent and I knew I had to propose to you right away. I’ll never let you go, Miss Monica. I’m making you my bride immediately.”
“W-Wait. What does that mean?”
“It means your superficial knowledge about love and desire will become applied knowledge after our very hands-on approach.”
“Eek!”
“I’ll carve myself so deep into you that even if you run away to a convent, they’ll turn you away at the gates without a second glance.”
“Ack…! W-Will you wait a second…?!”
“If you don’t like anything I do, tell me. Just a shake of your head and I’ll stop. Trust me.”
His fingers twining with mine traced up my arm. The sweet ticklish sensation made me shiver. My elbow, upper arm, shoulder. And then slowly, very slowly, his hand cupped my cheek.
Reflected in his flame-colored eyes, I looked like firewood tossed into a raging fire. I couldn’t say “no” or “wait” anymore. I let him do what he wanted. Richard looked down at me and chuckled softly, his gaze spellbound.
“Miss Monica, in order to make you my wife, for you to be respected and honored by everyone, I dared to make you suffer. And now that suffering is finally over, for both of us. I’ve yearned to touch you. I’ve always, always wanted to do this with you.”
Then he gave free rein to his ardor like his previous control never even existed. His hands stroked all over me. Where, you might wonder? I couldn’t say it. Absolutely not.
Did I perhaps awaken an extraordinary, outrageous man? But—even his obsession with me made me happy. I might be broken too then.
“Richard…”
I felt incredibly giddy. Passion crumbled my reason to dust. Richard laughed, his wild expression mirroring mine.
“Forgive me, Miss Monica, for not being the gentle Mr. Redhead or the pure imperial prince you imagined.”
I was enthralled by his pink tongue licking my lips. His flame-colored eyes scorched me from the inside out. Only I knew his real nature. The thought was so indulgent it almost made my head spin.
“Are you sure…I’m enough for you, Richard?”
When I stroked his cheek, he closed his eyes in pleasure and surrendered his body to mine. I sifted my fingers through his hair, traced the shape of his ears. He whispered to me in a heated voice.
“You’re the only one I want, Miss Monica.”
He grasped my chin and kissed me again. This was probably the most joyous time of my life. The angels’ warm amused smiles on the ceiling no longer bothered me.