The Ring of Bondage - Chapter 1.10

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“I thought you would choose a different book, Teacher.”

Luke, who had been staring blankly for quite some time, barely managed to open his mouth. Even thinking back on it, it had been a foolish thing to say. Couldn’t he have said that her smile was beautiful, or suggested that they come to the study together often? But Yuria smiled softly and answered.

“I like all books, but I especially like geography books. It’s enjoyable to imagine the scent of a place through its climate and terrain. Things like the smell of the sea, or forests, or sweet fruit.”

The expression on Yuria’s face as she spoke on happily made it seem as though she had truly arrived at a resort, so Luke stared at her blankly and imagined traveling with Yuria. The sight of Yuria smiling brightly in the fresh forest breeze, or the scene of dipping their feet into a valley stream together and splashing water like children.

“We’ll be bringing in more books next month, so I’ll include some geography books then.”

“You don’t need to do that because of me.”

Ah. Her smile had disappeared. Luke felt disappointed as he looked at Yuria’s expression, now calm and composed again. There was no need for her to feel burdened. He was simply doing it because he wanted to. If it meant seeing Yuria smile, a few books were nothing at all.

A few days later, Luke went through his rut. It wasn’t his first time, so Luke took suppressants with practiced ease and shut himself in his room. He had no great aversion to the discomfort that would end in a day or two, but it was deeply disappointing that lessons had to stop during that time. He wanted to see Yuria. He wanted to draw the smile he had seen in the study onto her calm face as she cleaned her glasses beneath the sunset. Her cheeks flushed red, her eyes curved prettily, and her lips shyly parted.

“Haa…”

A breath hot enough to burn flowed from his throat. His center, standing painfully hard, felt stifling. He had heard the lecture that m**********g during rut was no different from drinking seawater because one was thirsty until he was sick of it, but was there really anyone who could endure this?

Would Yuria be able to? Thinking of Yuria as she recited the duties of nobility, Luke stroked the shaft of his member with his hand. In Luke’s imagination, Yuria’s expression changed from moment to moment.

By the time his rut ended, Yuria was crying in his mind with a face distorted obscenely.

The next day, Luke faced Yuria with a calm expression. Forcing his cheeks, which felt as though they would flush bright red, to cool, he smiled calmly, recited poetry, and stepped through the waltz. Because that was the only way to hide his rude and obscene fantasies.

If Yuria had been able to look inside his head, she might have slapped Luke across the face without delay. Or she might have blamed herself and examined her own conduct, just as she did when she heard unfair gossip. She might also have dismissed his feelings as a boy’s foolish impulse and begun to lecture him.

From Luke’s perspective, the last would be the worst. Would Yuria ever see him as a man? To her, he must be nothing more than a student to teach and look after.

So Luke decided to wait until he formally held his coming-of-age ceremony. After that, he intended to approach her as a man and confess his feelings.

If Yuria rejected Luke on the grounds that she herself wasn’t an omega, he had prepared an argument to put forward as well. It was true that an alpha or omega couldn’t imprint on a beta, but that was certainly not an unbearable inconvenience. A life without an imprint meant enduring one’s heat or rut for the rest of one’s life without a mate, but Luke believed he could handle that much well enough.

Of course, it would be even better if Yuria were an omega. If he could become her mate, be bound only to each other’s pheromones, and make love to her, then there could be nothing better.

While spending many years hiding his affection alone, Luke completed many preparations. One of them was obtaining his parents’ permission. Thanks to his position as the youngest son, who didn’t need to be forced into a political marriage, that wasn’t difficult.

He built up his body to appear even a little more mature, and he didn’t neglect his studies. In particular, he mastered geography, which she liked, to a near-perfect degree. By the time Yuria’s contract period was nearing its end, no one could call Luke a ‘boy’ anymore.

But no matter how Luke appeared in the eyes of others, what mattered was Yuria’s gaze. He couldn’t be certain of Yuria’s feelings in the slightest.