Chapter 8.2 — Princess Wedding (14)

Thud.

Cain raised himself up fast enough to make a sound.

A long shadow extending from his tall body covered her as it was. Riette, who gazed up at him for a moment, shut her mouth. It was because the blue eyes that looked down at her went beyond insensitivity and became chilly.

“I’ll just take my leave now.”

In one blink of an eye, the stool on which he sat with his long legs stretched out returned to its original position, and with another blink, the first aid box went under the nightstand.

After a few steps away, Cain stood with his back to the bedroom door and bowed his head to Riette.

“I apologize. There has been a lot of rudeness today. Please rest well.”

Tak.

The door shut neatly.

Riette glanced slowly through the neatly arranged bedroom as if he had never entered in the first place.

“…What am I supposed to do?”

‘I made a complete mistake, didn’t I? I—’

Behind Riette’s back, where the confusion descended, the black skylark returned and chirped cheerfully without anyone noticing.

˚ ·: * ✧ * :· ˚

“Are you the Grand Duke of Acheron? Did you go for a walk early in the morning? You’re diligent. I was on my way to meet my fiancé, who had just arrived, so I passed by the annex palace without even saying a word. Please excuse me.”

Bea greeted Cain briefly. They met at the boundary between the back garden of the Princess’s Palace and the garden of the annex palace. When she lowered her head, her glossy platinum hair was elegantly braided, revealing her swan-like neckline, innocent shoulders and collarbone.

It was dazzling innocence that even the shoulders of the ladies-in-waiting who followed were lifted up.

“There’s no need for the owner of the palace to seek the understanding of guests. Then, I’ll leave first.”

Saying so, he bowed politely before walking passed her in an instant with a cool stride.

The ladies-in-waiting who served Bea started to whisper.

All men, even though they were famous for being taciturn, once melted in front of the Princess as if facing a noble goddess. However, the person who was the most taken aback and embarrassed by the unexpected response was Bea.

“I’ve never seen a gentleman who doesn’t even look at Princess Beatrice. As expected, of the iron-blooded Grand Duke of Acheron. Even if his attitude is like that of a wooden stone, he must have admired her in his heart, right?”

“It must be because the Princess is about to get married. They said he was a true gentleman who knew how to keep his line. In Helios, they say that he’s more like a knight than a gentleman. He’s an upright and loyal knight of the war era!”

“It’s a pity… He’s too handsome to live with only one woman for the rest of his life. I don’t know which noble would get to marry him, but I really envy her.”

It was a conversation that Cain couldn’t hear because he had grown distant between them. Still, even if he had heard of it, it was a topic that he wasn’t interested in and would immediately go straight to the opposite side.

As he passed the corner of the hallway at a fairly quick pace, he opened his bedroom door.

Thud.

At the same time as the door closed, he furrowed his brow and pulled the neck collar and tie at the same time. The buttons were ripped off and rolled around, revealing a sense of liberation from the veins that rose up.

“Huu…”

He didn’t even have time to walk to bed, let alone take off his jacket and vest.

Even when he was in his adolescence, when he couldn’t control his energy, his desire had never run amok like this.

In the first place, he had long since felt what he called sexual desire. It was even when he had to report to the Emperor through a promiscuous party that often took place in the Imperial Palace. The scene of the affair, in which bodies were naked and twisted, was just a wriggling piece of meat to him.

The animal instinct that made him shook his eyes for his entire life…

“Can I touch you a little more?”

…It was a look in her eyes that was completely unaware of where she was uttering such words.

It felt as if a different air was flowing only in that space. Her bedroom was filled with a mild and gentle fragrance, like the climate of Chalonné without winter. From the moment he stepped in, he felt like his head was going crazy at the vibrating sweetness like fruit sprinkled with sugar.

The only thing that kept his sanity was thanks to the fact that such a tiny hand had been grievously injured.

Her voice radiated, and her eyes… transparent and clear green eyes as if they had gathered all the summer in the world and strained it through a sieve… 

Cain was madly confused.

Iron-blooded Grand Duke, ice pick… those were childish nicknames Cain laughed at himself, but he also knew he couldn’t honestly deny it.

His emotional spectrum was as uniform as a fabric woven by a weaving machine. Most of the incidents happened within the predicted range, and even if it was an unexpected situation, he was able to handle it calmly, like a lake without even a breeze.

But… why on earth when a little princess, who could easily be placed in the palm of one hand, came into sight, would he become paralyzed from that moment?

…It was only twice, between two encounters.

Even that, with just one touch…

Just as a cat pounced on a moving object or a bird flew up when it saw its natural enemy… his uncontrollable, subconscious instincts fueled him to become an idiot for her, who knew nothing but her. Like a dog reuniting with its owner, who had been separated long ago, it was difficult to control himself as all his senses fluttered.

…Like a dog in heat.

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