Thank You For The Confinement, Grand Duke! - Chapter 57.2

The heat from accumulated magic was like a massive fire, aggressively consuming everything within me. My body felt engulfed in flames, it was unbearably hot and painful.

But this heat… was different.

How should I describe it? Like a soft candlelight? No, that seemed too mild, yet it wasn’t as devouring as a wild flame.

Ah, yes, it was like lava.

Slowly, stickily, intensely hot.

It wasn’t fast and rash like a blaze. Instead, it was frustratingly slow, maintaining its pace, leisurely flowing in. That was why I sometimes thought it wasn’t hot, but then I realized it was possibly hotter than the heat from magic. It was sticky and didn’t extinguish easily.

And in this chilling sensation, it still heats the core of my body.

“Hoo…”

Had he noticed my smile? Or was he worried because I trembled too much, perhaps in discomfort?

Suddenly, he seemed to snap back to reality and opened his eyes. The gold in his eyes looked confused. Lost in thought for a moment, he finally broke the close distance that would allow our breaths to mingle and our lips to meet with just a slight lean forward.

The heat inside me had largely dissipated, but I still yearned for the contact.

At the thought, I reached out with arms still radiating warmth. I pulled him close by the neck and whispered.

“Grand Duke.”

“…Yes?”

“Please do more.”

“But… you’re…”

‘To what extent can you handle the magic I transfer to you? If it becomes too much, I know I will definitely not want to seek this connection again. I don’t want to hurt you.’

He frowned as he looked at me, I faced him.

Instinct whispered. Could you see how much he was suppressing his desires? To deny when the woman he loved asked him to do this, how painful must that be? Didn’t Enfrise himself say he wanted more?

Yet it wasn’t just about that. Even without words, the hot breaths leaking from his lips told me enough.

And I… I hoped he wouldn’t hold back.

“Please… I’m asking you.”

As I blinked, the heat inside me seemed to flow down my cheeks. It was likely the reason my vision had been blurred.

At my words, what expression was Enfrise making?

I wanted to see it so badly that I deliberately closed my eyes and let all the built-up tears fall. Yet the persistent heat inside blurred my vision again.

“It’s so hot… it’s painful, yes?”

It wasn’t just the immediate discomfort.

As I began to face reality—the reality I had been ignoring—it made me realize something. Perhaps the rise in magic was something being released within me, and in its place, something else was filling up the void, though I wanted that space filled by him.

‘I need you right now.’

So, towards the man who looked pretty despite the blurred vision, I whispered again near his ear. I did it unintentionally, I exhaled deeply, trying to push away the inside heat.

That breath brushed past his ear.

His body jerked, and then his beautiful face hurried closer. As he lightly licked the corner of my lips, I extended my tongue to meet his.

The red flesh intertwined.

We had no training and no experience but instinctively explored each other.

‘…Enfrise. Do you feel the same as I do right now?’

Did he want me as much as I want him? Not as Chaperil, but me?

“Ha…”

With a sigh, I faced the man before me, not avoiding his direct gaze this time. The gold in his eyes mingled with red.

Our breaths mingled inside our mouths.

Could he have anticipated this? That we would end up like this. At least, the version of me from the day we first met certainly hadn’t.

Just a character from a book. An ideal male lead created by an author.

That was all I thought of him.

He couldn’t have expected for things to turn out this way for other reasons. As he confessed, his beginning with Chaperil wasn’t great.

Even so, the original story surely would have had a happy ending. Who wouldn’t love someone as clumsy and adorable as him? She might have initially resisted you due to her defiance, though she would have gradually come to feel love for you.

And then, perhaps later than now… they would have wanted each other.

‘I’m sorry, Enfrise. For taking Chaperil’s place with you. For someone like me to replace her…’

But.

Yes, now. Your female lead is me. I’m your female lead.

And we…

How long did we kiss? How deeply did we explore each other? Our mouths filled with each other’s saliva, dripping down from our joined lips. There was no part of me unknown to you anymore. The heat escaping us gradually subsided.

Perhaps it was the magic draining from my body.

Maybe it was because my body had stabilized, but I couldn’t keep my heavy eyelids, and I quietly closed my eyes.

Suddenly, the image of him from the day we first met popped into my mind.

Enfrise.

I…. you…