Chapter 3
His foul mood was no doubt due to this as well. That unpredictable little goby fish of a princess kept acting recklessly with no regard for her own precious life. It was infuriating that the fate of the entire kingdom hung in the balance because of her childish antics.
“I’m sorry.”
A delicate palm touched his cheek. Diana cupped his face as she apologized.
“I won’t go on the roof anymore. So don’t be mad.”
“Not just the roof. Any high place is forbidden.”
“Okay, okay. I promise.”
Diana answered with a beaming smile. Her crescent-shaped green eyes sparkled as they captured the man’s face within them. Whenever Viern looked into those eyes that clung to him as if he were the only light in existence, he felt a strange sense of fullness.
That must be why—on nights like this when alcohol loosened his mood, he deliberately provoked the princess just to confirm the color dwelling in those eyes and feel satisfied by it. Though he himself would never admit it, this was a terrible drinking habit born from his unconscious mind slipping out under the influence of liquor.
“The night is late. You should rest now.”
His body, which had been leaning over her, slowly straightened as he gently swept away the platinum hair that cascaded across the pristine white sheets. Then—tug—the woman’s small hand caught hold of his garment.
“You promised to stay until I fell asleep.”
Diana frowned, putting on the most pitiful expression as she whined.
“I said I can’t sleep. Viern, stay next to me and help me sleep, okay?”
A small smile finally graced the man’s previously indifferent face as the mattress dipped under his weight.
“Your Highness, you’re not a child. What is this?”
Viern climbed onto the bed as if conceding defeat, lay down on his side facing the princess, and chided her while patting her shoulder as one would to put a child to sleep.
“Even when Eisen was an eight-year-old brat, he didn’t act like this.”
“What? So you’ve held him like this to put him to sleep?”
At her immediate flare of jealousy, voice rising sharply, Viern let out another soft chuckle.
Suddenly, she fell silent.
“……”
Diana stared at him dazedly, as if she had forgotten to breathe. Her entire chest fluttered because of that low, resonant laughter.
“Hey, Viern…”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
She blinked slowly, her gaze meeting his quiet, steady one. That look, which seemed to peer straight into her soul, kept making her body grow warm. Resentful that he always pretended not to know, even though he understood her perfectly, Diana spoke impulsively.
“I heard… that when mothers put babies to sleep, they give them a goodnight kiss so they’ll sleep well. I think I’d fall asleep easier if I got one too…”
Pfft.
He let out a soft, derisive snort.
“My adorable, cute Princess. I told you to stop with these clumsy ploys.”
“Ploy?! It’s not that… Hmmph!”
A thick finger pushed its way into her mouth without warning.
“Hmm, what I heard was different. They say babies need a pacifier in their mouth to stop their chattering and fall asleep quietly.”
“Mmmph, Hmph, Mmffh…”
His index finger, parting the red flesh within, scraped and stroked the damp tongue and the roof of her mouth. Each time the tip of his finger stirred inside her mouth, pressing firmly at the root of her tongue, a surge of heat pooled low in her belly, making Diana’s legs twist and her body writhe involuntarily.
“Ah, our Princess is a greedy baby who isn’t satisfied with just one, it seems.”
“Mmmph, Hah, Mmmmh…”
Another finger slid into the gap between her parted lips. Transparent saliva dribbled from her bulging cheek.
“It must taste good. Drooling like a baby.”
“Mmnngh…”
He looked down at her flushed, utterly disheveled face. Then, frowning slightly at a strange feeling that suddenly arose, he withdrew his fingers. He pulled out a handkerchief, wiped his own fingers roughly, and then gently wiped around Diana’s mouth, her expression clearly one of lingering regret.
“That’s enough of this little game. You should sleep now.”
“It wasn’t meant to be a game! I…!”
“If you keep fussing, next time I’ll call Aisen to play the mother. I’m sure he’d perform the role of a good mother giving a goodnight kiss excellently, even to a fussy baby who says she doesn’t want it.”
“Eek, no!”
Diana shuddered in disgust. At that, he let out a low laugh and opened his arms toward her.
“Alright, I’ll help you sleep, Your Highness.”
Diana pouted her lips and shot him a sidelong glare, but soon obediently burrowed into his embrace. She hated how Viern always treated her like a child, playing along as if reluctantly, and it was upsetting how composed he was while she was the only one burning up… but… whenever he acted this gently, even that hateful feeling melted softly away.
‘It’s… just too good.’
Burrowing her face into the front of his shirt, Diana breathed in the faint scent that tickled her nose and thought:
‘So much… so much that I like it…! I really like it! I truly like it!’
That she liked Viern Erkman. That she liked him so much.
In truth, to the Kingdom’s young Duke Viern Erkman, Princess Diana was merely a useful tool to solidify his power.
‘The Princess is merely a convenient chess piece. The most efficient and powerful tool for seizing control of the Laurelai Royal Family.’
Did they say she was just a foolish woman who, with a little washing, feeding, and tucking in, would give him whatever he demanded and beg for his blind affection with sparkling eyes, no matter what he did?
‘It’s not bad to give that woman a carrot from time to time to make her more useful. It’s not difficult to play along with that little love game.’
Diana knew he saw her as nothing more than a convenient tool to be used. She knew that even the reluctant attention he gave her on days like today was just another part of the ‘carrot’ he spoke of.
‘But so what? I love him anyway.’
It was still good. If she was to be his chess piece, she would become the most outstanding, the most effective means. She loved him that much. So very, very much.
‘So, the rumored Beast of Laurelai.’
‘From this moment on, Erkman will serve you, Your Highness, Princess Diana.’
‘So, may you live in peace under Erkman’s protection, free from all worry.’
From the first moment we met until now. Always.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.