Chapter 38

Dahlia got up and picked up her dress. Jurgen grabbed her hand, kissed the back of it, and put a ring on her finger. There was a ruby ring on her pinky.

“This will replace the seal. Come to me when the color changes. Of course, I will find you before that.”

“What does it mean when the color changes?”

Jurgen pulled her up and on his lap. Since they had already rubbed flesh, Dahlia was shy but did not rebel. He buried his face in the nape of her neck, savoring her scent as he stroked her back.

“It means your energy is coming back.”

“Then… . What about the temple? What should I do? Since all the seals are gone, they’ll notice. Priests have that ability.”

“Ah, one seal hasn’t been broken yet. Did you not know?”

“What?”

“Here.”

He leaned back on her sofa and gently pressed her lower belly.

“It turned out to be a very tricky formula. To break this… . we need to be closer. So don’t worry. Now, your energy is faint, and your seal is still intact, so you won’t be caught.”

Her eyes cleared as she smiled in relief. She had strangely colored eyes, like the sea in the middle of winter or like a lake in a shady forest. It was rather bewitching. Seductive.

“Sir Edelred.”

Unable to take his gaze off her eyes as if he had been sucked in, he sighed and swallowed, his throat dry.

“Now let me go. I must go back.”

“Alright, one last thing then.”

“Yes.”

“The Sentinel rating examination, don’t you want to take it again?”

“No.”

Jurgen burst out laughing at the firm answer as if there was nothing to worry about.

“I know you’re not a Senior Sentinel.”

“… It’s not important.”

“Come join the Sentinel Order. As my assistant. To do that, you’ll need at least a Royal Sentinel rank.”

Seriously, this man was so unpredictable.

Dahlia took off his hand, embracing her around the waist, and came down from his lap. Putting the dress back on, Jurgen wiped his face, smirked, and approached her, buttoning the back of her dress.

Yes, indeed, he was good.

This man knew very well what a woman wanted: the very ordinary and the very private.

Could you know this from merely being a flirt?

Did he have a lot of experience?

Or, if not… .

“Have you ever been married?”

His eyes, which had been gentle, began to harden coldly.

“Do you think it is possible?”

“But… . You’re so skillful. Tying my corset and buttoning up my dress. Uh, that— earlier… . you knew how to undo my stocking garter. Surely, you seemed to have encountered it all before. Lord.”

He fastened her last button and turned her around. Then he neatened her disheveled hair and said with a calm expression:

“No. Unfortunately, it was all my first time. No kissing, no masturbation. Even sucking a woman’s bottom.”

At his last words, Dahlia’s face turned red like a ripe peach. Then, after grabbing the broken necklace, she calmly changed the topic by holding his arm.

“When I go… Let’s use a carriage. Would you escort me please?”

***

“Oh, my lady!”

As soon as she got off the carriage, Dahlia, without looking back, ran straight up to her second-floor bedroom. Freesia, surprised by her, followed her.

“What happened? What about the master and the mistress? Are you here alone? Right now, you arrived with the Young Duke, right? The one who took you away.”

“That’s right, Freesia. I was too tired, so I came back, and Sir Edelred escorted me. So, can you give me a break?”

“You have to take off your dress and rest! Shall I get some hot water first after I untie your hair?”

Bathing is dangerous. Dahlia shook her head, recalling all the bite and kiss marks on her body.

“Tomorrow I’ll wash. I’ll just go to sleep tonight. Just unbutton the dress.”

“Was it that difficult? I guess… . Is the capital different not just in size? I’m very curious. How was it?”

With Freesia’s help, Dahlia took off her dress, and while her maid was organizing her clothes, she hurriedly put her pajamas on and jumped into bed.

“It was so so. I stayed in the banquet hall for a while, and then went out to the garden because it was so hectic. Mother and Gerald must have been captured by chatty nobles.”

“I heard it was a banquet hosted by the Crown Prince. Did you see his face? Natasha says—ah! Natasha is the one in charge of the kitchen ingredients. She said she happened to go to get groceries handed out from the imperial family. At that time, she saw His Highness the Crown Prince, and she said that if angels were real, he would look just like him— Is he really that handsome?”

“… uh, well, I think so.”

“Ah, miss. You didn’t see him, did you?”

Dahlia smiled awkwardly and pulled her blanket up. Then Freesia picked up her stockings and corset on the floor. After she left the room, Dahlia sighed in relief and closed her eyes tightly.

The Crown Prince.

Reynon von Leonardo…… Handsome. Trash.

The more she ruminated on him, the more incensed she got. What was that power? The moment their eyes met, an uncontrollable sense of helplessness flooded in. There was nothing she could do about it.

She had tried to shake the feeling off but was engulfed in pain and anxiety and grabbed Jurgen’s hand.

Moreover, the Crown Prince, once he ascertained that she had been engraved with the insignia of the seal, he became even more ruthless and cruel, pouring out his force with brutality.

Like a savage man intending to break every boundary and seal, he had no mercy.

“Compared to such a human being, I suppose he’s a pretty decent man… ?”

Dahlia, who was licking her lips, curled up when a flood of memories rushed and let out a silent scream. [t1v: relatable af]

Getting up in frustration, she opened the window wide, so the wind swept up her pajamas. Then a black hawk sitting by her window flew away.

It was a hawk with very yellow eyes.