Calling his name wasn’t that difficult.

Since I had been calling him “Captain” since we first met, suddenly changing how I addressed him felt awkward, but hadn’t I awkwardly called his name earlier?

I thought it wouldn’t be too difficult this time either.

However.

“……”

For some reason, I couldn’t say his name out loud.

It seemed to be because we were lying together in bed naked.

It felt strangely embarrassing to call the name of the man who was looking straight at my exposed body and face.

“Go ahead.”

He urged me as he continued to kiss my skin.

Even so, as I hesitated, his kisses became more persistent.

Chu, chu, cute yet obscene sounds kept coming, as if pleading.

I chewed on my lips several times before slowly rolling my tongue.

“Ma… Martin…”

“One more time.”

“…Martin.”

It was just calling his name, and yet.

As soon as he heard his name roll off my tongue, he suddenly changed and began to devour me fiercely.

Unlike earlier when he had gently kissed my lips, now he was exploring my body almost violently.

Suddenly frightened by the endless flood of sensations, I grabbed his hair with trembling fingertips and stopped him.

“It’s, it’s too fast all of a sudden…”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t control myself for a moment.”

He said as he licked the tips of my still trembling fingers.

“When your lips say my name, I feel something boiling inside. A difficult to define… very unfamiliar and intense desire boils up. Every time your gaze touches me, every time you call my name, I am helplessly swallowed by that desire. Once swallowed like that—”

He gently bit my finger as he continued.

“I become no different from a dog in heat rather than human.”

Before I could be surprised by his harsh choice of words, the kisses continued.

An undeniable heat was transmitted from our connected lips.

When our lips briefly parted after a long kiss, I said to him, gasping for breath.

“It’s okay.”

To him, who seemed confused about what was okay, I whispered:

“It’s okay, so show me. The state of being a dog in heat.”

Then, smiling at him, I slowly moved my tongue to pronounce:

Martin.

As soon as he heard his name flow from my lips, his pupils dilated greatly.

That day, in the bedroom flooded with brilliant morning sunlight, I had to deal with a dog in heat all day long.

Happy times were similar to candy in one’s mouth.

In that the more eagerly you move your tongue to savor its sweetness, the faster it melts and disappears.

Since coming to the duchy, our time had truly melted away in an instant.

Though it felt like we had just held the wedding yesterday, before I knew it, the day of the decisive battle had suddenly drawn near.

The day of the decisive battle… that is, the day we had to leave to persuade the Emperor had come right upon us, tomorrow.

As we spent our last night in the duchy like that, I said to Martin, who was lying in bed with me:

“Since deciding to persuade the Emperor, I’ve prayed every single day without fail. That our persuasion would be able to move his heart.”

Hearing my words, Martin remained silent for a moment before replying:

“Even in the worst case that we fail to persuade him, there’s no need to worry. I’ll make sure to end it with minimal damage.”

I nodded and leaned against his chest.

He pulled me close with his strong arms and suddenly asked:

“But are you really unchanged in that intention?”

“What intention?”

“That you said you would meet that bastard together when I meet him. Really… can’t I just meet him alone?”

To his question, I answered firmly as always:

“I must go together too. If I refuse and don’t go, the Emperor will also refuse the meeting. I can be certain of this.”

The Emperor wanted his achievements to be acknowledged by none other than me.

If it didn’t matter who it was, he wouldn’t have pursued me so persistently.

So if the object of his desired acknowledgment, me, didn’t attend, he surely would not show up either.

When I said that decisively, Martin whispered in a slightly subdued voice:

“I can’t shake off this uneasiness. Of course, I’m confident I can protect you sufficiently with my own strength, but I just… feel anxious and repulsed by the very idea of you meeting that lewd bastard.”

“Even so, this is something I must do.”

“……”

I whispered with my face buried in his chest:

“Martin has always believed in me. Since I was your subordinate.”

“……”

“I hope you’ll believe in me this time too.”

“There’s no need to worry at all,” I said as I raised my upper body to kiss his forehead.

He still looked unable to let go of his worries, but he seemed a bit better than before.

He embraced me, who was half-risen, and laid me back down beside him.

Then he climbed on top of me and kissed me, resuming the act we had briefly paused for rest.

The time of happiness allowed to us was now truly running short.

Like desperately sucking on a sweet candy, we moved our bodies without pause.

To savor what little time we had left, even just a bit more.

The day finally dawned, and the moment to depart from the duchy arrived.

Those leaving together were five of our order’s elites, including myself and the Captain.

Since we weren’t going to kill the Emperor right away, more people weren’t necessary.

In any case, only the Captain and I were set to enter the meeting place.

So with just a few people, we headed south together.

Not long after, we arrived.

At the ‘Rosenthal’ temple, the place to meet the Emperor.

The Rosenthal temple was an ancient building, and a mysterious power was at work here.

An inexplicable power that suppressed the abilities of the awakened.

That’s why this place was chosen for the meeting.

Here, no one could use their abilities, so even if talks broke down, it was impossible to attack each other with abilities.

Moreover, the temple’s interior structure was maze-like and complex, with multiple entrances, so even if ambushed, one could easily escape.

Thus, the Captain and I entered through entrance number 27 of the Rosenthal temple at the appointed time.

“So this is what the temple interior looks like. It’s my first time here.”

I muttered as I looked around inside.

What we saw upon entering was a corridor.

A long corridor with marble columns lined up.

Passing through here and winding about, we would come to a large hall, which was the place appointed to meet the Emperor.

Martin, who entered beside me, said in a low voice:

“I don’t think that cunning bastard really came without any armament or soldiers. From here on, we don’t know what might pop out, so stay right behind me, Madam.”

Yes, if it were the Emperor, he likely would have hidden soldiers here and there.

Even so, I had no intention of blaming the Emperor.

We too had broken our promise with him and smuggled in weapons just in case.

Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any ambush near entrance 27 where we entered, as no one attacked us.

Still, we kept moving carefully, just in case.

After walking like that for about an hour, we finally arrived.

At the temple’s center, the appointed place.

“You’re finally here? You’re quite late.”

The Emperor, Ernant, who had arrived first and was waiting, greeted us casually like that.

There was no one by his side.

It seemed he hadn’t brought soldiers as promised. At least on the surface.

We trudged over to Ernant.

Ernant pointed to a huge marble table nearby and said:

“Let’s sit and talk. There are chairs and a table here too.”

As Ernant said, there was a huge marble table and chairs in the center of the temple hall.

He stroked that table and explained:

“You know what? This place is known as a temple, but scholars recently discovered that it actually wasn’t a temple.”

Though I felt puzzled by his sudden words, I listened for now.

Ernant continued speaking with a calm face:

“This place was originally for negotiations, it seems.”

“Negotiations…?”

He nodded with a smile at my question.

“Yes, negotiations. That’s why the ancients brought this table here and also set up some device to prevent the use of abilities. To prevent those sitting at the negotiation table from suddenly attacking the other side with abilities.”

“……”

“Isn’t it fascinating? That we modern people are using an ancient building for the same purpose.”

After listening to all he said, I let out a shallow sigh.

Then I said:

“No, it’s not fascinating. I came today to persuade you for the last time. I’m not curious about what purpose this temple or whatever building served in ancient times.”

“Still so cold. Come to think of it, I think I was even more drawn to that side of you.”

At that moment, Martin stepped forward to block between Ernant and me.

“That’s enough useless chatter, get to the point. Stop what you’re doing in the underground of the imperial palace right now.”