<Episode 66>

Elkais grabbed Eveline’s shoulder in response to her answer, and then their lips met.

And then…

“Is this it?”

“I don’t think we should do more.”

He kissed her briefly, their lips touching for a moment before he pulled away.

“Do you not know how to kiss?”

“No.”

Elkais frowned at her remark and immediately denied it. Realizing fully what he needed to do, he sat back down beside her.

Eveline felt embarrassed, realizing she had unknowingly allowed the kiss.

“The first reason I was drawn to you was because of your pheromones.”

“I know.”

Eveline suddenly recalled the time before Abellard joined, when Elkais had even pinched his nose shut, struggling with her pheromones.

Had she not entered Abellard’s body, she might never have realized just how potent the pheromones of a Royal Omega could be.

The sweet scent alone, which sparked impure desires, was enough to make someone think lewd thoughts if they didn’t remind themselves that it was just her body.

“I want to apologize, Eveline.”

He held her shoulders, making her look at him. Eveline, without resisting, looked straight into his eyes.

“For what?”

“For not recognizing you when you became Abellard, and for…”

“For almost killing me?”

“Yes.”

Somehow, seeing the sadness on his face caused the small remnants of her lingering resentment to melt away.

“I felt strange back then, too. I was grateful that Elkais acted to protect me, but I was also furious that you couldn’t recognize me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“But I also understood that you did it to protect me.”

Eveline truly believed that. It was as if, if he had to choose between her and Abellard, he would choose her without hesitation.

When he decided not to kill anyone, the weight of his heart that he revealed to her didn’t feel like a burden—it felt more like something to be grateful for.

“…It might be hard to understand…”

He sighed as if it were really difficult for him. Then, facing Eveline directly, he parted his lips that had been slightly trembling.

“I hope you don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say.”

“I’ll try. Go ahead.”

His ears burned as he recalled how his lips had just touched hers moments ago, hearing her calm response.

“When you were Abellard.”

“Yes.”

“At that time, I thought I was…”

I thought I loved Abellard.

He was about to say it but stopped. Eveline’s eyes turned somewhat sad.

Though she was curious about what he would say, she also feared that they might soon face a situation where they had to kill each other.

No matter how much she tried to live comfortably here and ignore those things, if he bore a heavier heart than hers, what should she do then?

Her chest tightened again with a mix of excitement and worry.

“You want to kiss me because of my pheromones, right?”

Elkais wanted to deny it. But when he saw the unease filling Eveline’s blue eyes, he had no choice but to answer.

“…Yes.”

“Then do it properly. That wasn’t even a kiss.”

“What? Eveline… Umph…”

Suddenly feeling a surge of determination, she tightly grabbed his shoulders. Then she pressed her lips against his.

Elkais was surprised by her action, but soon, as if he’d completely lost his mind, he pushed his tongue into her mouth.

“Mm…”

He delved deeper, intoxicated by the nasal sounds she made, exploring her teeth and softly brushing the ridges of her palate. He nibbled at the firm yet ridged surface, then pressed against the inside of her cheek and sucked on her tongue.

“Ah…”

As Eveline let out a breath filled with excitement, he grabbed her chin and deepened the kiss, pushing even more of his tongue inside.

It felt like he was ravaging her, sweeping through her mouth roughly and exploring every inch. When he began pressing down on her lower lip before moving back up, her mind went blank.

Before long, he was gently biting her lips before finally pulling away.

“El… Umph…”

As she tried to call his name, he kissed her again.

This time, his tongue delved even deeper, exploring her more thoroughly than before, causing her to tremble. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He pressed down on the back of her neck with his hand, as if urging her to come closer, moving with a wild intensity.

The wet, sticky sounds from their mouths made her feel both ticklish and uncomfortably warm.

“Elkais… Umph…”

Just as she was about to tell him to stop, he swallowed her words, devouring her lips and continuing to explore her mouth.

Eveline, not knowing whose saliva it was that dripped down her chin, endured the intensity until her jaw began to ache.

Only when he regained his senses and pulled away did she realize that her chin was trembling from the strain.

“Now, I feel a bit calmer.”

He muttered an excuse, then used his hand to wipe her chin and lips. Seeing her eyes glistening with moisture made his heart pound painfully in his chest.

Elkais leaned his head against her shoulder and let out a sigh.

“It’s because of the pheromones.”

“…Yes.”

“Because of the pheromones… I’d like to hold you for just a little longer.”

“Alright.”

Listening to the steady rhythm of his large heartbeat, she thought to herself how both fortunate and unfortunate it was that all of this was due to the pheromones.

The rain outside grew heavier, and she found comfort in the warmth he shared with her, thinking it was probably because of that, they stayed like that for a long time.

After about half an hour, Elkais finally let her go and picked up a knife as if he were preparing to tend to the leopard.

Eveline curled up and watched him. His face was flushed, probably due to the firelight.

“That was definitely helpful.”

“I think so too.”

Eveline agreed lightly. Elkais was grateful that the sound of his racing heart was drowned out by the rain. He felt like his heart might leap out of his chest.

He had just shared his first kiss with the person he loved.

Even though she was too scared to say it now, he was thankful—and at the same time, sorry—that she hadn’t rejected him.

It was around the time he finished tending to the leopard.

“I came looking for you because you were taking so long.”

“How…?”

It was Crown Prince Ferite who had come to find them.

“Look up.”

He was moving through the trees under a canopy of ice, avoiding the rain.

“Shall we go now?”

“…Yes.”

“Yes.”

The three of them headed towards the cabin, shielded from the rain.

“Eve!”

As soon as they arrived at the cabin, Abellard rushed towards Eveline and embraced her. But almost immediately, he pulled back, sniffing the air, and asked,

“Why does Eveline have Alpha pheromones on her?”

“What?”

“This is Elkais’ scent.”

“Well, we were together.”

“Oh, right.”

Abellard took in the pheromone scent lingering near Eveline’s lips and tried to think logically, realizing that she had been with Elkais.

“Were you close together?”

“The cave we took shelter in was quite cramped,” Crown Prince Ferite commented, causing Abellard to nod in understanding with a small “Ah.”

“Are you tired, Eve?”

“I’m a bit tired.”

Abellard squeezed Eveline’s hand and pointed up at the ceiling of the cabin.

“I fixed the roof. Did a good job, didn’t I?”

“You did. Thanks for the hard work.”

“Hehe.”

At Eveline’s words, Abellard smiled brightly and tugged at her hand.

Eveline felt a little strange, suspecting that he might have noticed the kiss between her and Elkais.

Abellard had known her for a long time, even before they came here. So it felt awkward to say anything about her uncertain relationship with Elkais right now.

Even though he used to be a manipulative and deceitful person who tormented her, the time she spent with him here had built some sort of bond between them.

“We won’t need to fetch water anymore.”

“Yes, I’ve frozen some here,” Ferite said.

Since it was a place where smugglers often stayed, there were basic supplies, just like on the other island.

“Is there alcohol stored under this too?” Elkais asked, and Eveline suddenly became curious.

She noticed that Abellard had been fixating on her lips for a while, so she tried to change the topic to distract him.

“Now that I think about it, we’ve got meat, and if there’s alcohol, this place is perfect.”

She said it deliberately and watched as Elkais lifted the green, angular carpet and opened the floor.

“I’ll handle the ice. And the fire too,” added Crown Prince Ferite.

Abellard stared at Eveline for a moment before forcing a smile and taking her hand again.

“Can you drink just a little this time?”

“Sure. You should drink a little too, brother. You’re a notorious drunk, after all.”

“Haha, yeah.”

Abellard laughed at Eveline’s concerned words and nuzzled his head against her shoulder in relief.

While one side prepared to grill the meat, the other began to take out the alcohol.

“We don’t have cups, so we’ll have to drink straight from the bottles.”

Each person was handed a bottle of rum.

Eveline’s ears suddenly grew hot when she noticed how chapped Elkais’ lips were. It seemed like it was because of her.