Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Knox was truly at a complete loss for words. The female in his arms was crying, and he did not know how to soothe her, leaving him utterly helpless. If there had ever been beings who wept before him in his life, they were probably enemy soldiers. And they had not cried because they wanted to—they had simply thrashed because they did not want to die, so he had felt nothing. They were enemies, so he had no choice but to kill them.
But the female crying was different. Of course, he had made her cry last night as well. In a different sense than now. Yesterday’s tears had only filled him with pride, but today felt completely different.
It felt like a tightness in his chest, a stifling sensation, and Knox absently pressed lightly against his own chest.
“Hic, hwick.”
“…Stop your tears now. I said I won’t pat you anymore.”
“…You’ll really stop now?”
“Yes.”
Irene, still lying on her stomach, slightly lifted herself up. His c**k, which had been inside her c**t, slipped out with a soft pop.
“Hnngh.”
“Hoo…”
She sat down beside him and rubbed her eyes with her hands to wipe away her tears. Knox, who had been glaring at his own e***t member standing shamelessly at attention for a moment, caught her wrist and pulled it down as she roughly rubbed her eyes.
“You’ll hurt yourself.”
Saying this, he gently rubbed her eyes himself. He pursed his lips and blew softly on them. For some reason, it felt so nice that Irene quietly closed her eyes and accepted his touch.
“Blow on the right side too.”
“Alright.”
The feeling of being cared for by another was far better than she had imagined. It was cozy and warm. Knox looked at the female who sat with her eyes closed, offering her face to him, and felt a tightness in his chest.
Was a female always such a creature?
Such a lovable and tender creature?
Knox lightly lifted Irene and placed her on his lap. Holding her in a simple embrace he had never given anyone before, he whispered.
“If it hurts, you should say it hurts.”
“I told you I didn’t like it.”
“Aren’t not liking something and being in pain different?”
“Anyway, you just misunderstood on your own. Why would I like a human male?”
“Then why did you purr? Isn’t that a sound you make when you feel good?”
“Humans just naturally like cats. Especially a snow-white cat like me—they say I bring good luck, so they like me even more.”
“Hmm…”
Gently patting her back, Knox narrowed his eyes. Now that she had cried, he could not bring himself to say anything more, yet somehow he felt it was too ambiguous to let the matter slide just like this.
“Alright. I’ll trust you now. So you should grant me one request in return.”
There was something Knox had learned through waging war. That was compromise. Standing above humans among so many of them was easy, but rank was the problem. Among beastkin, hierarchy was determined purely by strength, but humans had something called class. Those who were nobles and those who were not. Those of high rank and those who were not. Ultimately, those close to the emperor and those who were not.
Amidst humans divided in such complicated ways, Knox, who had always stood out conspicuously on his own, often found himself entangled in incidents regardless of his will. After repeating such events several times, he had learned to compromise.
It was far simpler and easier to negotiate a reasonable compromise than to deal with incidents every single time.
Whether the female had felt good under a human male’s hand or not no longer mattered. It would be resolved as long as she carried his pheromones well. In any case, the female could never be satisfied by a human. He only needed to be wary of other beastkin.
And so, Knox decided to put his newly formed thought into practice.
“I want you to drink my seed at least once a day.”
Irene, who had been leaning languidly against his firm chest, suddenly felt as though cold water had been dumped over her.
What was this male saying?
“What? Why?”
“Why do you think? Because I’ll only feel at ease if you carry my pheromones. Surely you weren’t thinking of leaving me to find another male?”
The moment the thought crossed his mind that the female might be trying to leave him for another male, his mood plummeted to the bottom. How could she take his virginity, receive such good treatment from him, and still go looking for another male?
Irene had learned from several incidents that he was jumping to wild conclusions again. Clenching her small fist, she lightly struck his shoulder with a thump.
“You’re thinking strange thoughts again, aren’t you?”
Now that she had regained a bit of her senses, she felt inwardly troubled that she had spoken down to him so defiantly. Putting aside that they were both beastkin, doing that to a noble was no different from suicide.
“Why are you suddenly using formal speech?”
Knox found her formal speech grating. He had not minded it at all earlier, but now it displeased him.
“…Then can I speak informally?”
“Originally, married couples speak informally to each other. Do you prefer using formal speech?”
Knox spoke as if it were nothing. But for Irene, it was not.
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