Chapter 47
Seo-ah still sat astride him. His confession, baring all his misery, sorrow, and shame, had slightly tempered the tension in the column between them, but they remained connected nonetheless.
The two, wrapped in the intimacy of each other’s presence, quietly listened to their mingled breaths. The emotion flowing through their shared rhythm was unlike the passion or ecstasy of their union—it carried a weight of deep, overwhelming sentiment.
After a brief moment, Seo-ah braced herself against his chest and straightened her back. Misinterpreting her movement as an attempt to create distance, the man’s gaze flickered with fleeting panic. His tear-filled eyes carefully searched her expression.
“Your Holiness.”
“…Yes?”
“Will you regret this?”
“If by ‘this’, you mean…”
“This kind of thing.”
Seo-ah gave him a playful, knowing smile and rolled her hips gently. The teasing motion of her body, tightening slightly around him, was enough to make the firm column inside her regain its rigidity in an instant.
The slight twitch under his eyes and the wave of excitement crossing his face betrayed his reaction.
“Whether you liked me or were merely lusting after me, Your Holiness—”
“L-Lusting…?”
“Either way, you didn’t really want this to happen, did you?”
Seo-ah kept her hands on his chest and began to move slowly.
Her open thighs pressed firmly against his lower abdomen as she rocked her hips, gliding with fluid grace as if swimming through still waters. Despite the lingering fatigue in her legs from repeated climaxes, she moved with an ease born of years of riding across endless plains.
“Even if you said it wasn’t true earlier… you can’t know for sure what might’ve been in that drink. And when I said I’d taken a sleeping draught, Your Holiness panicked and did something you normally never would’ve…”
“And what did you take from what I said earlier?”
“Still… You pushed me away so hard.”
She puckered her lips in a deliberate pout, and finally, something resembling a smile of relief softened Ephelinus’s face. The faint curve of his lips lent him an unexpectedly handsome charm as his warm, tear-brightened gaze locked onto hers.
Sitting up to face her, he raised a hand to her cheek, his touch deliberate and tender. His large hand traced the gentle curve of her delicate jaw with reverent care.
It was the touch of someone cradling the most precious thing in the world, a gaze brimming with boundless affection.
Seo-ah’s heart raced.
“You’re someone who doesn’t give up after just one try, no matter what it is.”
“……”
“Learning the common tongue, mastering ballroom dances, memorizing prayers, or practicing the knightly rituals.”
The hazy light in Ephelinus’s eyes seemed to reflect back on the early days after Seo-ah first arrived in the sacred nation. For weeks, she wept herself to sleep every night, overwhelmed by loneliness. But when she resolved to adapt to her new life, her determination shone through every struggle.
Even when she stumbled repeatedly over the unfamiliar script, when she confused archaic religious terms from her prayer lessons, or when she wrestled with rituals and basic swordplay, Seo-ah always faced every challenge with a grin and a stubborn resolve.
“In my homeland, we say, ‘Even a tree that won’t fall after ten strokes will eventually be cut down.’ My mom always told me to give something ten tries before even thinking of giving up!”
That sunny disposition had no doubt carried her through the alien world of Genève and allowed her to adapt so well. Surely, she would thrive again when she returned home.
Yet, Ephelinus’s habitual guilt for bringing her to this world caused tears to glimmer once more in his eyes.
“And… you wanted me that much.”
His hand cupped her face more firmly, guiding her chin upward. Her slightly parted lips fell naturally into his as he leaned forward.
He captured her lower lip, then her upper lip, softly tugging and brushing them with his own. Occasionally, his tongue grazed her lips as though tasting her tentative sighs, though he did not plunder further.
It was a kiss filled not with carnal desire, but with the tender exchange of breath and soul. Though they remained physically joined, the kiss was an expression of pure connection.
The column within her pulsed and swelled slightly with mounting excitement, yet his lips remained impossibly gentle. The featherlight touches sent a tickling sensation deep into Seo-ah’s chest, leaving her breathless.
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