The Red Witch - Chapter 79 - Vol. 5

TN: "Rayne" -> "Laine"

5.

Kiara’s persistent questioning was quickly quieted as Ael reminisced about the fig tree in the detached palace.

Curled up warmly against him, lulled by stories of his childhood, she’d grown drowsy. It didn’t help that Ael had a nice voice. She’d noticed it once before, when he’d hummed a tune under his breath, but this low, quiet murmur was even better. Just the right kind of deep, just the right kind of soft. Like a lullaby. Soothing enough to draw sleep from behind her eyes without warning.

And so, while she drifted off with unexpected swiftness, Ael said nothing. He only kept tracing slow, steady strokes across her back. Eventually, he too surrendered to sleep.

Maybe it was the end of the lunar eclipse, but whatever magic had been stirring the world into tension the past few days seemed to settle. That night, for once, the urgent footsteps that so often came chasing after Ael didn’t echo down the hall.

Thanks to that rare and precious silence, the two of them stayed in bed far later than either was used to.

At dawn, Ael woke early as he always did out of habit. What woke him this time wasn’t light, but weight: something warm and solid draped across his arm.

He glanced down, half-drowsy.

‘…Surely we didn’t stay like this the whole time?’

He’d slept longer than usual, and yet somehow Kiara was still nestled against him, just as she had been when she first fell asleep. She hadn’t shifted once.

All things considered, it wasn’t a bad way to wake up. His arm was a little numb, but nothing unbearable.

“Mmnh…”

As he shifted, trying to ease the pins and needles in his hand, Kiara stirred with a soft, almost petulant murmur, pressing herself even closer into his chest.

She’d always hated the cold — loathed it, really. It made sense that, even in sleep, she’d instinctively seek out whatever warmth she could find. Which, apparently, meant burrowing into him like this.

‘Or maybe, I was the one who pulled her close.’

Ael tightened his arms around Kiara, a faint smile tugging at his lips. There was a particular kind of satisfaction in the way she fit so perfectly against him, her presence filling his embrace.

So much so, in fact, that a part of him genuinely wished they could stay like this all day — tangled in warmth, tangled in sleep, with nowhere to be and no one to answer to.

But of course, that wasn’t an option. Even if the night had miraculously passed without incident, the day ahead was already full of demands waiting to be met.

‘Duncan will probably come pounding at the door soon, trying to break it down again.’

That thought made Ael lift a brow in quiet resignation. He’d been trying to ignore it, but the persistent stiffness below his waist was growing more uncomfortable by the minute.

Whether it was Duncan or Maeve or someone else entirely, someone was bound to walk in sooner or later. It would be better to deal with things before that happened.

So, with the kind of desperate focus found only in men at war with their own bodies, Ael began silently reciting the Golden Lion Order’s combat creeds.

One: The blood of Grandilgale surpasses the blood of lions.

‘…Two: The glory of Bretnach surpasses the blood of lions.’

The mantras of the knightly order had proven time and again to be remarkably effective at… tempering such situations. Whenever his body got too bold, too stubborn, remembering the absurdity of spouting these oaths while bloodied and half-dead on a battlefield usually killed any mood faster than ice water.

But today… today the stubbornness refused to wane. Ael sighed, short and sharp.

“…Mmm…”

Kiara stirred again at the sound, a soft whimper escaping her as she nestled closer, warm skin pressing against him in ways that made his restraint unravel at the seams.

Her body was so soft it made him wonder if she had bones at all. Then again, her insides were the same. Warm. Damp. Yielding.

Damn it. No wonder she’d looked at him like he was a beast in heat. Turns out, she hadn’t been exaggerating in the slightest.

Ael grit his teeth and returned to the creed, picking up where he’d left off.

‘Three: The lion’s blood is shed only for his honor and the peace of the Empire…damn it!’

Kiara chose that exact moment to throw her arms around his neck. And just like that, as if it had merely been dozing, the stubborn weight in his lower half sprang eagerly back to life.

Ael silently cursed every foul word he knew directed entirely at his own treacherous body.

But the damn thing refused to back down. Another breath hissed from between his lips.

“Haa…”

No helping it, then.

As he scrambled for another distraction, something from a recent intelligence briefing drifted into his mind: the situation on the eastern continent was growing unstable, and coastal regions had seen a rise in pirate attacks.

Not that piracy was anything new, but the timing was rotten. He’d just started thinking his brother, the Crown Prince, had quieted down for once. And now? No doubt the bastard was already scheming to send the Order into yet another gods-forsaken corner of the realm.

Ael could practically hear his brother’s voice echoing in his ears — the same words spoken when he’d dispatched Ael and the knights to Altnebra:

‘That territory will be yours and your men’s. Of course, since the Golden Lion Order is an imperial regiment, you’ll be surrendering your command.’

‘I guess I should go to the capital as soon as the situation here calms down…’

The only way to survive was to return command of the knights before the Crown Prince gave another order.

And just like that, the mere memory of his brother’s voice doused him in a wave of cold sobriety. Effective, without a doubt.

But still…

“…Ael…”

Whether caught in a dream or still drifting at the edge of sleep, Kiara murmured his name and tightened her arms around his neck.

Her voluptuous brxxsts pressed flush against his bare chest, soft and yielding beneath the thin garment she wore.

‘…What on earth is she dreaming about?’

Ael winced, the corner of his mouth twitching. Her nxxples, firm and pronounced, grazed against his skin through the fabric that was barely a barrier at all.

She was warm, warmer than usual, likely from deep sleep. That extra heat made the feel of her against him all the more vivid, all the more real.

“This won’t do.”

A quiet, grimace-laced mutter. There was no getting around it. Kiara would have to take his raging cxck.

Not his fault, really. He had done his part. He’d even summoned the image of his brother scowling in disapproval, for gods’ sake. No, if it had come to this, it was entirely her doing.

And now that he’d made up his mind, there was no point in delaying. Judging by how worked up he was, once or twice wouldn’t be nearly enough to settle him down.

He grumbled internally, half-hearted in his resistance, even as the corners of his lips tugged upward in a growing smile.

“…Mmm…”