Until just a moment ago, it wasn’t this agonizing.

Raoul clenched his molars and held his breath. Diana was more assertive than he expected.

She bit into his neck and sucked, then before long, she firmly bit his jaw and even placed her hands on his chest.

Even though she was only touching the swollen mass of muscle with her hands, his honest body heated up on its own.

He scolded the beast that had awakened inside him fiercely while controlling his rough breathing. As he tensed his jaw, Diana stopped moving and raised her head.

“……What’s wrong? Are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

“No.”

Pure affection overflowed from the two eyes looking up at him. There were only a few things one could think of when faced with such a pretty and kind mate.

Honestly, he wanted to imprint with Diana right now.

He wanted to vow eternal love and hand over his lifeline. However, it was premature.

‘I’m happy just holding you.’

He had no intention of forcing anything more. Raoul wrapped his hands behind her back and combed through her damp hair with his fingers.

The silky smooth hair without a single tangle swayed in the late spring breeze, emanating a sweet scent.

Suddenly thinking it might be uncomfortable, he tried to gather it into one bundle, and the white shoulder line was revealed under the loose robe.

The beast inside him that he had barely calmed down once again ferociously pulled at the iron bars. It was a blissful sight that made saliva pool under his tongue.

“Raoul……”

“Ha……”

Every time Diana stood on tiptoe and trembled, the robe string continued to loosen.

He wanted to pull it up, but he couldn’t lay his hands on her recklessly. It was also an awkward situation to point it out.

Despite saying he just wanted to hold her until a moment ago, the atmosphere heated up.

Diana pulled his neck and hotly rubbed the protruding flesh.

Even though the red flesh only lightly brushed like a peck, a burn mark formed on his heart. Now it was really the limit.

“Stop now. This is enough.”

“You don’t like it……?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, but I’m worried you’ll regret it in the morning……”

Diana panted and dropped her heels to the floor.

Even then, she didn’t let go of his lips, so the lower lip stretched out long like cheese.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Raoul looked down at Diana with narrowed eyes. She was always cute, but today it was too much.

The tips of her ears and fingers were all dyed pink, to the point where one could mistakenly think she was a living peach.

Raoul wanted to bite Diana. He wondered if really sweet fruit flesh would flow out, he wanted to bite her cheeks and suck on the flesh inside her mouth.

‘I’ve gone crazy.’

It was at that moment when his mind went blank with abnormal sexual desire. The sound of leaves rustling was heard from deep in the forest.

In an instant, his spine froze and reason lit up.

Raoul detached Diana from his body and held her pale face up to the light of the lake.

Her eyes were hazy as if bewitched by something, and her breathing was heavy. Even just standing still, her body was limp.

He now seemed to know the cause of all this commotion.

‘Completely toyed with.’

Looking at the ground, overturned glass bottles were rolling around the two people. It was an aphrodisiac that disturbed the mind.

“……I’m dizzy.”

Diana, who had gone limp, muttered while gasping for breath.

“It’s okay, lean on me.”

When he glared at the forest, the sound of nymphs flying hurriedly into the garden was heard.

Nymphs were a bunch of nosy parkers gathered by curiosity.

Using their small bodies to spy on other people’s homes was basic, and sometimes they would cause absurd commotions under the pretext of helping. Just like now.

He lifted the flirtatious Diana in his arms like a princess and used his other hand to straighten her disheveled clothing.

Only when the exposed skin was covered did he feel at ease.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yeah……”

Regret was evident in the trailing end of her words. Raoul was also disappointed, but he didn’t know what would happen if he endured any longer now.

‘I have to take her back before an accident happens.’

It was a time that was almost too happy to bear, but if it was this kind of joy, it was fine to enjoy it on the honeymoon. For Diana’s sake as well.

Raoul left the nymphs’ forest and walked out the narrow path he had entered in the opposite direction.

“Raoul.”

“Yeah.”

“Where are we going?”

Diana mumbled with half-closed eyes.

“Where else, the bedroom.”

“……Why the bedroom?”

“……To sleep. You’re tired.”

Diana rubbed the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand and let out a small yawn.

“I see……. What about you?”

“I can sleep anywhere, so don’t worry.”

“……How can I not worry? My heart feels empty when you’re not in the room.”

“……Was that so?”

“Of course. Sleeping outside is bad for your body. Make sure to take care of your sleeping arrangements properly no matter where you are. You don’t have to come back.”

Raoul slowed his pace and intently looked down at her face where the heat had subsided.

She didn’t seem to have completely regained her senses, but thanks to that, it seemed like she had taken off her social mask instead.

Taking this opportunity, Raoul asked a question he had been curious about.

“Why do you sometimes speak as if you’ve given up?”

“Hmm……. Me?”

“Yeah. You just said I don’t have to come back.”

“Hmm……. I guess so.”

Diana pondered for a moment, then raised her chin high and answered.

“Maybe I’m afraid of getting hurt. You get hurt when you have expectations. So I’m trying not to expect.”

Was it because she had given up due to the difference in status? Raoul asked back with a sorry heart.

“Do you think we can never be together in the end?”

“……I think only you would know that.”

“Why?”

“Our relationship is in your hands. If you ever come to hate me again or like someone else, I might get hurt beyond repair. This time, I might really crumble to the point of no recovery.”

“……”

Was the hurt Diana was talking about only referring to the one year he went missing? That was a grudge they had already resolved in the Duchy of Homeren.

Raoul felt like his feet were tied in a tangled thread that wouldn’t come undone.

‘Is there something more? Something I don’t know about……’

Raoul felt uneasy about leaving like this.

His mate, who held and shook his fate, didn’t need to worry at all about suffering from his wanderlust or fickleness.

But what on earth made you so anxious?

Raoul leaped onto the terrace and hugged Diana even tighter. Then after laying her on the bed, he asked again.

“If there’s a mistake I made, let me know. I can fix it all……”

“……Mistake? What mistake did you make…… It’s my fault for clinging to you until you’re sick of me. I’ll never do that again this time.”

Diana clenched both fists as if making a resolution.

“This time?”

“Yeah. I’ll do well this time. I’ll match everything to you. But if that doesn’t work, I’ll have to leave alone.”

It was that expression again. The pointed corners of her eyes drooped gloomily and her eyebrow mountains went down. Just like someone who had lived their whole life.

Leave? To where? The moment Raoul opened his eyes wide and grabbed her round shoulders.

Heavy eyelids fluttered and closed, and before long, even breathing filled the room.

She fell asleep like this? Raoul felt like all the happiness he had felt until just now was like a dream.

Now he felt like he was left alone in an endless maze.

If it was ‘this time,’ there must have already been a previous incident.

No matter how much he recalled, he had no memory of rejecting Diana.

‘You think I’ll find you tiresome?’

It was nonsense.

But Diana said that nonsense as if it were a given fact.

It was simply too much to say it was nonsensical rambling while intoxicated by an aphrodisiac, as she had said similar things before.

〈I don’t know why you’ve changed. You used to treat me coldly before. You really hated me…….〉

Looking outside, the dim dawn was already approaching.

After meticulously tucking in the blanket, Raoul moved his heavy steps outside the terrace.

‘Is this a mere coincidence?’

The flashbacks he had seen through the final awakening, the fake memories mixed in. Raoul felt that unpleasant memory somehow weighing on his mind.