Chapter 17

A kiss was devoured and swallowed up greedily.

The moment their lips met, Dahlia’s mind went blank. It was too overpowering and confusingly virile to even call it a first kiss.

He grabbed her chin and dug in between her lips and into her mouth, intertwining his tongue with hers and scanned her mouth. At the dizzy melting feeling of his tongue rubbing against hers, her mind flashed amidst her giddy stupor:

No!

Squashed flowers, their messy breaths and the disheveled hem of her dress. And through his black hair, that waved seductively in the wind, his charming ruby-like eyes shone directly at her.

Slap-!

Dahlia struck Jurgen’s cheek, and at the same time, bit her own lip with all her might to rouse herself from his spell. The smell and taste of her fishy blood spread all over her mouth.

Even though she finally gathered her wits about her the intoxicating scent of acacia flowers filled her with drunken honey. Every time a breeze blew, the heavy scent of flowers poured down like showers of rain.*

[t1v: a lot of symbolism here: rain=wetness=erotic and honey=the heaviness and difficulty of moving amidst desire]

“Haa— you insane, crazy bastard.”

Without thinking straight, undignified swears that should never come out came out from a noble young lady’s mouth erupted out of her. Dahlia frantically rubbed her lips with the back of her hand.

Still, Jurgen, who climbed on top of her and bowed his head, only chuckled and cracked up. Angry with shame, humiliation and contempt she shouted:

“Why are you laughing… !”

But Dahlia couldn’t continue her words and looked around her slowly.

The man’s eyes glowing red without focus, the branches of the trees broken by the sentinel’s power extending in all directions, and the ground rumbling faintly.

Dahlia realized that he was struggling to stop the runaway.

‘The stronger the sentinel, the more pure guiding is required. Even if  they go wild… . they will instinctively find you.’

Was this a sentinel’s runaway instinct?

A sentinel who became a predator, only conscious of the guide as just a savory prey. That exactly described the man in front of her.

Feeling a burning thirst, the man lost focus as she stroked his flowing hair back. His clear forehead ran down to his exceptionally deep eyes. There was no lust, desire, or dirty pleasure in those down cast eyes.

The guide’s power opened her mind’s eye and she could see his abyss.

Inside the man’s abyss, hisinner monster secretly raised his head.

A sad and distant darkness.

“Sir Edelred… . look here.”

Dahlia took a deep breath and loosened her grip on his hand. Then the torn grass fell.

For a brief moment, she was greatly troubled. But the answer was already fixed. If she left him like this, this man would go berserk….. and die.

“Afterwards, you better, at least, kneel down in front of me and thank me for saving your life.”

Jurgen’s blank gaze turned to her, his responses becoming more muted from tightly locking up his brain.

Dahlia grabbed his collar and pulled him as hard as she could. She didn’t know if it would work with a kiss, but it was her best shot.

The moment their lips met again, Dahlia unlocked her power. Her guiding energy shined with a bright light.

The two intertwined their tongues, gasping for breath, wallowing in the muddy and honeyed instinctual desire. The denser the kiss, the more the abyss lurking within him was gradually eroded by her light.

Jurgen’s chasm engulfed her with great speed, like a dry sponge thirsty for her dampness. He was rubbing into her fiercely, and at some point slipped away.

Suddenly, Dahlia found herself sitting on his thigh. His large hands wrapped around the back of her head and her waist. They faced each other without a gap to be found as he coveted her frantically.

Clink—

Her seal cracked, making the sound of breaking glass when his naked excitement was clearly felt through her drawers.

A large, hard piece of flesh slowly rubbed against the gap between her thighs. Dahlia grabbed Jurgen’s shoulder and hurriedly removed her lips.

But his lips chased hers, following straight through—nibbling her soft lips— and biting her tongue, refusing to let go.

“Ugh, you..… stop!”

The guiding is already over.

If she released any more power, the seal she had barely maintained would probably completely shatter. But he still wouldn’t let her go, embracing her like a desperate man.

Each time his hardened underside rubbed against her, an unfamiliar fear stirred waves of her stormy rage. Even if she bit his lips and they parted a little bit— Jurgen, still out of his mind, caught her lips again and continued to nibble and suck it all in gently.

“Haa!”

Dahlia, unable to hold her breath any longer, tilted her head back and breathed hard. His disoriented lips, losing their home, fell on her collarbone.

“…Huh? How… . Who the hell are you?”

Perhaps he was conscious, a clear and serious voice lowly resounded and rang in her chest. Dahlia shook her head vigorously and pushed off his shoulder.

“I do not know either. So let go of me quickly… !”

“… It’s the first time I’ve ever felt so deliriously good about guiding…. So terribly good.”

“Well, I hated it terribly.”

Jurgen pulled his lips off her skin.

Her eyes were red when he looked up and examined her. She also seemed a little puffy. As she carefully touched her eyes, Dahlia, who slapped away his hands coldly, glared at him sharply.

“Duke Edelred, you are such a rude piece of trash.”

“Trash?”

“Yes! Trash.”

He burst into laughter and released the strength in his arms that held her. He was drowsy as if waking up from a deep sleep. When he tilts her head back and leaned his head against a tree, the strong scent of flowers that he couldn’t smell just before vibrates everywhere.

What touched the dropped hand were crushed white flowers*. [t1v: white flowers symbolize mean innocence]

Jurgen shifted his gaze, passing the woman’s white exposed feet to her pink knees in the scattered flowers, to the pale blue eyes that looked like she was about to cry any moment.

Dahlia hastily arranged her dress, grabbed her thin shawl and jumped up. Then she glared at Jurgen with her swollen reddened eyes as if she intended to kill him, then turned around and left.

“In the end… . Crazy.”

Smiling, he rubbed his lips that had touched her just a moment ago. It tasted like blood. Her lips must have gotten hurt.

For the first time, he started to understand why the high-ranking sentinels endeavored to get their guides out of the temple. The reason why they were prepared to die. To the point of imprinting.

Not even a beast in heat.

Jurgen brushed the dust off his clothes and stood up. It was a risky gamble to choose to use up his power to the point of running amok, but he had no regrets.

His gaze deepened in the direction she had fled.

This power, as if engraved onto his skin, this sweetness and ecstasy… .

He didn’t want to share it with anyone.

***

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