Chapter 2

Chapter 2

His body felt like it was going to explode.

He awoke to the sensation of strange heat rising from the tips of his fingers. He was lying alone in a dark room. All of a sudden, a strong force began to enter his lower back.

‘Ah.’

The moment he realized the source of the overflowing heat that seemed like it would explode at any moment, he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

Solving his needs alone was not a big deal as a healthy man. But right now, he was stuck and was unable to move his whole body.

His body was boiling hot. Alexis let out a groan in the dark.

If only he could get up, open the window, and breathe in the cold air, no, in fact, if he could just relax his waist and soothe his heated body before doing that.

Whenever the sun was bright and he went outside, Alexis was an envoy who roamed the battlefield more than anyone else. But at this moment, he was a helpless human being who couldn’t even control his own body.

As he had difficulties breathing, exhaling hot breaths alone, he heard the sound of a door opening over his confused mind.

Then cold water ran down his lips.

Alexis tried to drink it, but he couldn’t even move his lips, so the water spilled all over. As he was about to get frustrated, something soft and moist pressed down on his lips.

Cold water rushed through his open lips. The scorching heat surrounding his body quickly dissipated. Still not revealing the person’s identity, the lips continued to drip water into his mouth.

Like a welcome rain in a drought, Alexis received and drank it. His tongue was able to move as his thirst was somewhat quenched. He hurriedly chased the water and met the tongue in it.

The tongue was startled and seemed to want to escape, but was soon caught by Alexis. The unknown tongue soon became entangled with his flesh and wrestled for a long time.

“Haa haa… ha.”

A breath which he did not know who it belonged to scattered in the air. As his tongue couldn’t entangle, he pressed his lips closer. The more Alexis coveted his opponent, the more his body regained stability.

He got out of a situation where he could not move as if he was lying down with a fever, and his body moved at will. Alexis raised his heavy eyelids.

His unfocused vision was blurry, but he could see that the person in front of him was a woman.

“You…”

Alexis took his lips away for a moment and tried to ask who she was, but then grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her back.

He couldn’t stand it.

His body, which he thought had been stabilized by the sweetness of her lips, boiled again. At this moment, the word self-control had long since disappeared without a trace.

The blurry vision still hadn’t cleared. However, just because his vision was dark did not mean that his senses disappeared.

The woman, who had been struggling to free her wrists, fell onto his chest as if she had run out of strength. Alexis instinctively laid her down and climbed on top of her.

The sound of clothes falling down in the quiet bedroom sounded like thunder.

Alexis was naked at once. The woman’s clothes trapped under him were wet from the water.

“Y-Your Grace.”

“Ssh.”

Even though his mind was clouded, his hand that soothed the woman was urgent.

At some point, the thoughts that he shouldn’t do this had been erased from his mind. If he didn’t embrace this woman right away, he felt like he would die. The unresolved heat boiled over as if it would burn his heart.

She didn’t say anything, but the woman didn’t protest as she understood Alexis’ feelings. Alexis kissed her when her innocent shoulders were revealed.

“Hic.”

Her body trembled as she made a terrified sound. He wrapped his arms around her neck and kissed her in her ear while peeling the woman’s clothes off.

The woman did not have many clothes on.

He didn’t care who she was. Alexis was crazy about the existence of the only person who could quench his thirst.

“You can’t do this.”

“Come closer.”

He ignored the woman’s words and ordered. Before she could think of what to do, his body moved first.

The woman, who was flustered and did not know what to do, hugged Alexis by the neck and wept. She was like a small boat stranded in the raging sea. He relentlessly pushed her, who had been awkwardly following his rough movements.

The woman cried. She was being impertinent while receiving his favor. She bit her lip so that she wouldn’t be caught sniffling, but she still wept.

Even that was so irritating and unbearable. Alexis licked her tears and drank them. As if it was acceptable to trample on everyone as he climbed to the top, he reigned to his heart’s content.

“Your Grace………!”

Hugging his back that was dripping with sweat, the woman wept in a voice that drifted like a lantern shaking in the wind.

At that moment everything was over.

Alexis reached for joy as the heat that had been accumulating in his body burst. Having been faithful to his instincts without consideration for anything else, he knew that he would regret his actions later.

But he couldn’t stop.

He pushed even deeper into her. The woman grabbed his neck with trembling arms and gasped for air.

Alexis hugged her for a while, enjoying his lingering afterglow. The woman, however, did not speak.

‘Why aren’t you saying anything?’

Who are you, and what do you want me to do?

He thought she would ask for something, but she said nothing.

Alexis lifted his body up to take a closer look at her face. But at that moment, he became dizzy and his eyes darkened.

‘D*mn it!’

The strange heat hadn’t gone away yet. His whole body became stiff as if paralyzed.

The woman carefully escaped from his arms and she laid him down. After she wiped herself and put her clothes on, she covered him with a blanket and rubbed his hands.

It was a thin but rough hand. The movement of carefully massaging between the fingers, the back of the hand then his palm was meticulous.

However, such efforts inadvertently tightened his heart, clouded his vision and made his head dizzy. His mind went numb.

Alexis lost consciousness again.

After a while, he opened his eyes. Birds were chirping and a dazzling sun shone through the curtains.

“Your Grace are you up? Today, oh my!”

“Alsdorf!”

Alsdorf, an old butler who nearly fell as the door suddenly opened, was startled when Alexis ran out.

“Your Grace, why are you up so early? You came back late from yesterday’s party……”

“Did you not see the woman who came out here earlier?”

“What?”

“I’m asking if you’ve seen her!”

Alsdorf’s eyes widened. Woman? What woman?

“My apologies. If I knew that there was a precious person, I would’ve prepared in advance. But from which family…”

“I didn’t bring her.”

Alexis said straightforwardly.

“Someone must have let her in to serve during the night.”

“Your Grace!”

Alsdorf was so startled that he stuttered.

“N-Night service, is that who you’re looking for……?”

“That’s right.”

Duke Walten’s face hardened in response. If the owner of the castle, who had not shown any interest in women for twenty-seven years, and had even been subjected to filthy suspicion, said so, surely this time around, a hostess of the castle would be possible.

“I didn’t see her. I’ll check with the gatekeeper right away.”

Alsdorf bowed his head down, and moved as if he was running away. Alexis went back into the room after looking around the narrow corridor where no maids could be seen.

The room was clean and quiet, as if the heat that had warmed last night was a lie.

‘Was it a dream?’

No, it couldn’t be.

The elation he felt was too intense to be a dream. He could assert that it was the first time in his life that he felt such a sensation that dominated his body.

As evidence, the bedsheets were damp. The traces left like petals proved that he wasn’t hallucinating.

After a while, Alsdorf returned and reported.

“Your Grace, I’m sorry. It seems that no outsiders have come into the castle for the past few days, let alone last night. I will call all the maids right away and investigate.”

“Bring her in front of me as soon as you find her.”

“Yes!”

Alsdorf bowed his head and ran again.

Alexis looked down at the dotted marks on the sheet.

‘You dared to run away?’

Alexis had no intention of ignoring it.

He was the owner of this castle, and he was obliged and entitled to own everything he touched. Even more so if that person had spent the night with him.

But she ran away. Besides, didn’t the woman kiss him first?

Despite his rough movement, the woman did not show any clumsy behavior of refusal. She hugged him tightly and even occasionally opened her lips to share their breaths.

But she dared to disappear without a trace?

She must have known who he was, but seeing that she did not hesitate, it meant that she had made a decision from the beginning.

‘Do you think you can hide?’

She may have been reassured because this castle was filled with women. But none of them could escape their master’s grasp.

“I will make you regret it.”

Alexis clenched his teeth.

He vowed to find her even if he had to turn the whole castle upside down.

***

‘I didn’t know it was going to be like this.’

Kathleen led her heavy body back to her room. Her roommate, Emily, did not appear to have returned from the night shift. She collapsed on the mattress on the floor.

She just wanted to help the Duke, but she made an unexpected mistake. She was still dizzy and her vision was still blurry.

Her back ached and her thighs were sore. It wasn’t unbearable for her, but it wasn’t just one or two places that were in pain for the first time in her life.

‘Cold.’

A cold wind blew through the open window and made her body tremble. It was late autumn, so it was chilly in the mornings and evenings. Kathleen stood up and closed the door and stared at the bright light of dawn outside.

Clearly, just yesterday, she was able to fill her hands full of white snow. She couldn’t believe that winter had yet to come.

Even though the date and time were unbelievable, the traces on her body told her that everything was real.

She didn’t even know how she got back.

Kathleen felt like she was still in her dreams. As soon as she entered the room, she laid down on her bed and only now could she feel uncomfortable with what she had been through last night. The uncomfortable pain made her realize that she was alive again.

She pulled out her journal, looked through it, and realized that it was time to get up, so she unbuttoned her neck-length blouse. She didn’t think she would have time to bathe, so she just thought of changing out of her clothes.

“Kelly, are you awake?”

“Emily?”

She heard a familiar voice outside. The moment she realized who the owner of the voice was, Kathleen hurriedly opened her door.

“Emily……”

“What’s going on? It’s not even dawn yet, but you’re already up and changed into clothes.”

“Oh, Emily!”

“Oh my, why are you like this?”

Kathleen hugged her friend and cried. Embarrassed, Emily patted her on the back.

“Did you have a nightmare? Calm down.”

“I miss you……..”

“What dream did you have? If you’re this scared, it must not have been an ordinary nightmare……”

Emily, who had been smiling, stopped talking. Then she grabbed Kathleen’s shoulder and pulled it closer.

“You, what is this?”

“Huh?”

“What is this on your neck?”

When she looked in the mirror, she saw that an unknown red mark remained on her white neck, which had been exposed from her unbuttoned blouse. Kathleen’s face heated up in an instant.