67.

Norma Diazi’s earlier resolve was quickly overshadowed by Aisa McFoy’s assertive pace.

Norma struggled to maintain the remnants of his sanity, but Aisa’s bravery, born from ignorance, took charge. She was enthusiastic about the new sensations and moved instinctively.

Both adults, mature in age, were overwhelmed by the lightning-like feelings they experienced for the first time in their lives.

Their vision sparkled, fingertips tingled, minds went numb, and their stomachs churned with heat. With each kiss, they grew more skilled, and the more skilled they became, the more they enjoyed it.

Caught up in the moment, I ran my hands freely over Norma Diazi’s face, chest, shoulders, and neck, exploring his lips. Norma, pushed by my fervor, finally reached the couch and naturally fell back, receiving my kiss.

Without realizing it, I climbed on top of his hard abs, fully absorbed in the act. The reason we started kissing was long forgotten.

I only knew that touching him was wildly stimulating. Is this why people kiss? I thought. Kano’s reasoning, “You wouldn’t know until you try,” didn’t seem entirely nonsensical.

I lost count of how many times we explored each other’s lips before I finally pulled away.

“Hah…”

It was a matter of stamina. Sharing breath while lying on top of someone was much harder than I had thought. Panting heavily, I looked down at Norma Diazi. Though he was thoroughly disheveled, he didn’t seem out of breath, which made me feel oddly defeated.

…Wait, lying down?

What am I looking down at?

My eyes landed on my hand, which was resting on Norma Diazi’s bare chest.

‘Why is my hand there? Why is his chest here?’

I jerked my hand away as if I had touched a hot stove.

Norma looked up at me with innocent eyes, as if wondering what had suddenly gotten into me. Meanwhile, his lips were glistening with saliva and even swollen and red.

‘Damn it. What am I doing?’

Reality hit me as my surroundings came into focus and my mind began working again. My face flushed with heat. The simultaneous surge of guilt cleared my head completely.

Coming to my senses, I realized we were on the couch. More precisely, I was on top of Norma Diazi’s abs, and his upper body was half-undressed, as if he’d been attacked by a bandit.

Noticing my gaze, Norma started to cover his chest with one hand, the very chest I had undoubtedly disheveled. Seeing him like that made me feel like I had taken advantage of an innocent man, and my neck prickled with a cold sweat.

I closed my eyes for a moment and thought.

‘Come on, think, Aisa McFoy.’

What I just felt was clearly sexual excitement. It’s a perfectly natural reaction that any human can experience, and there’s no need to be embarrassed. Calm down.

So, has the head of the McFoy family succumbed to pleasure for the first time and attacked someone?

I’m not an animal. I’m an intellectual, smarter than anyone.

Damn it. How did it come to this? If I trace it back, it’s because of Norma Diazi.

He came all the way here to meet me, and I let him in without much thought. He immediately started explaining why he would be a fitting husband, and then he—

He confessed his feelings to me out of the blue, and I decided to take advantage of his naive misunderstanding…

But why did I go so far with the kissing?

Feeling the greatest shame of my life, I quietly climbed off Norma Diazi’s abs.

“Are you… stopping?”

His sudden words made me jump like a guilty person.

“Are you not going to continue?”

He asked as he slowly raised his upper body, seemingly thinking I was some kind of rogue.

“I apologize.”

“Apologize? We are promised to be married.”

He emphasized the word ‘marriage’ and leaned in closer. Marriage. The word brought me back to my senses, and I swallowed hard.

“…So, about that marriage. Thinking it over.”

“Have you thought about it? So have I.”

I felt like we were talking about completely different things, but I pushed that feeling aside and continued.

“If McFoy and Diazi were to marry, all the nobles would hate it. I bet the Rodensi royal family would be particularly upset.”

On a simple level, McFoy would gain many benefits from this marriage. But thinking about actually marrying him, it was complicated in reality.

I expected that the entire empire, except for McFoy, would oppose this marriage. Noble marriages were ultimately unions of families. Even if there was no political intention, it couldn’t be ignored.

A union between great noble families would spark dissatisfaction among other nobles. Most importantly, it was likely to anger the emperor.

Ignoring the complaints of other nobles was one thing, but the emperor couldn’t be ignored. Because one of the emperor’s few powers was—

“Our timid emperor would be scared and absolutely wouldn’t allow it.”

The emperor had the authority to intervene in the marriages of great noble families. Great nobles needed the emperor’s permission to marry.

“You’re worried that His Majesty won’t permit it.”

“Yes. This isn’t something you and I can decide on our own. I am a McFoy, and you are a Diazi.”

“But no matter how great the emperor, if it’s ‘Mehra’s will,’ he would have to allow it, wouldn’t he?”

Norma smiled brightly as he said this, and I paused.

He was clearly referring to an oracle. When Calliphe coveted Norma Diazi and got engaged to him, she used that very method.

The temple, older than the ancient empire itself, was so corrupt that it would produce a custom-tailored prophecy if given enough money. Of course, this required a huge bribe.

Perhaps he was far more adept at scheming than I thought.

“Then what about the will of the Diazi family? Do they know you plan to marry into McFoy?”

I quickly presented another excuse, or rather concern. Would they give their precious firstborn Diazi to ‘McFoy’?

The East and West had very different geographical, cultural, and traditional traits. The West found Easterners dull, and the East thought Westerners were rude.

Moreover, I had a history of tormenting Nicholas Diazi in bizarre ways, so they probably saw me as a tremendously crazy woman.

“Aisa, surely…”

Norma looked at me with a face as if he had just been cast into hell. His eyebrows slanted as he spoke as if he had already been abandoned.

“Are you planning to use me up and discard me after taking advantage of my lips?”

“No, that’s not what I mean.”

I saw his lips, red and swollen as if they were about to burst. Feeling like a scoundrel, I hastily denied it.

“Then there’s no need to worry.”

He quickly took my hand and smiled brightly, as if he had never been sad. He now held my hand without any shyness, confidently.

“If that’s the issue, all you need to do is take my hand and walk out of this mansion.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know our family is particularly strict.”

“…Yes, I do.”

“If I am seen leaving with you, that strictness will ensure they have no choice but to accept our union.”

Norma’s words made sense. The Diazi family valued honor and reputation above all, and if he were seen leaving with me, they would have to acknowledge our relationship.

But before I could reply, he leaned in again, his golden eyes looking determined.

“So, shall we try leaving together?”

For a moment, I found myself lost in his gaze, thinking that maybe, just maybe, this might work.

I recalled my brief encounters with other Diazis. To put it politely, they were dignified, but in truth, they adhered to pre-founding customs and were a group of madness.

While I was having these irreverent thoughts, Norma leaned in close to my ear as if to share a secret.

“In Diazi, kissing means you have to marry.”

Norma whispered, dropping a bombshell in my ear. It was the most shocking thing he had said to me today.

Feeling chills spread from my ear, I quickly covered my ears and looked at him with disbelief. It had to be a joke. He was a playful person, after all.

“Physical intimacy is reserved only for one’s partner. It’s the most important custom guarded by the direct line of Diazi.”

Contrary to my expectations, he cemented his words with a shy smile.

Do they have nothing better to guard than that? I recalled hearing a similar joke once. But I thought it was just a way to mock the strict Diazi family.

In this era of free love, isn’t that too extreme?

“Other nobles must have secretly kissed and such in private. Surely, they didn’t really follow that.”

“Diazi is strict.”

…So they do follow it.

“What happens if I don’t marry you after this kiss?”

“I will live alone for the rest of my life.”

“…”

“I will have to live alone.”

“…”

Saying the wrong thing here could immediately make me seem like a piece of trash for toying with an innocent man. Or perhaps I already am trash?

Sure, I allowed him to sit beside me in the heat of the moment, but now I was looking for a way to back out. But isn’t Norma Diazi the unreasonable one here?

Of course, I had no intention of toying with him, but marriage is a serious matter. Deciding it so suddenly is absurd.

‘Damn it. What have I done…’

“If my father finds out that I kissed you, he will certainly approve.”

Norma smiled happily as he spoke. My face darkened at the thought of the severe Milan Diazi.

“If you take my hand and walk out of this place to the McFoy mansion, the elders of the Diazi family will have no choice but to approve as well.”

It wasn’t just the Diazi family. Any family would be outraged if an unmarried man and woman did such a thing.

“So now it’s your turn to choose, Aisa.”

“…”

“If you take my hand and walk out of this room, I will be happy for the rest of my life.”

With that, he slowly released my hand. As his hand gently slipped away from mine, I felt a weak sense of loss.

When I looked at Norma with confused eyes, he smiled as if he had been waiting for this moment. He knew how to use his beautiful face to its fullest advantage.

‘This cunning man.’

I didn’t come to Lady Tibey’s mansion for this. Encountering Norma Diazi at a masquerade ball and promising marriage was not part of my plan. It was something I had never even considered.

This was a matter that required a fierce discussion with my aides the next day when I was clear-headed.

Yet, my hand moved on its own again.

I knew that taking his hand would change many things. I knew it was greedy. Despite knowing all this, I took his hand as if under a spell.

As soon as our hands touched, or perhaps as soon as he eagerly grasped mine, the subtle sense of loss I had felt was filled.

Norma smiled like a full moon. His whispered words, “I am so happy,” sounded like the protagonist of some romantic novel professing his love, making my stomach churn.

The sense of satisfaction rising from below my navel made me think that taking his hand was indeed the right choice. All of this was undoubtedly because I had downed three strong drinks in a row.

Naively, I didn’t realize at the time how serious the consequences of taking Norma’s lips would be.

Above all, I didn’t anticipate that the crazy old men of Diazi would push for marriage, citing the eldest son’s simple overnight stay as a major incident.

That night, holding the hand of the empire’s most handsome man, Norma Diazi, I walked confidently out of Lady Tibey’s mansion.