Walter slowly closed his eyes and opened them.
Edith could sense that he was holding back the urge.
He might want to ask her why she is suddenly coming to him late at night and tempting him.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, Edith approached him first and kissed him.
His heart skipped a beat at the simple act of pressing lips to lips and then pulling away.
Walter’s patience shattered like a sandcastle in front of a wave at her bold action.
“If this is what you want.”
He responded in a low, hoarse voice, as if he had been waiting for that moment, and began to undress. His sun-kissed skin was revealed in an instant.
Edith gulped as she looked at his exposed upper body naked under the moonlight.
When she saw his sensual, muscular body sculpted like a beast, the release spell hidden within her cloak began to gradually fade from her mind.
Now, she wanted him too.
She wanted to leave her mark in the deepest part of his heart.
“…Do what you want, Walter.”
“Then, permission has been granted for everything, M’lady.”
“Don’t address me as M’lady.”
Edith stroked his cheek with her fingertips, delicately caressing it as if cherishing the most precious treasure.
Then, as she looked into his eyes just before parting with him, there was something she wanted to hear from his voice.
“Call me by my name.”
When Walter saw her smile and make a request, he felt the last trace of reason he had left slipping away.
“… Edith.”
He pronounced her name in a low, hoarse voice, and Edith felt that she had fallen into an unknown world.
Her heart raced and heat rushed to her face.
Walter gently held her cheek with one hand and lowered his head to explore her lips.
Her lips, which he had only ogled were softer than he had imagined.
Seeing Edith tremble and grab his shoulder, she seemed more sensitive than he had thought.
As he kissed her, delicately teasing every nerve of her lips, he soon lifted her into his arms.
His blood boiled as he saw Edith’s long blond hair lying in disarray on his bed.
“I thought about you here every day before I went to sleep, Edith.”
It wasn’t just thoughts.
He didn’t hesitate to entertain impure thoughts of her.
Edith caught the scent of his body that lingered in the room, and she looked up into his seductively gleaming green eyes before wrapping her arm around his shoulder.
Walter was momentarily taken aback by the natural gesture, but soon he smiled in satisfaction.
Now she moved in the way he had taught her.
A warm breath ran through her entire body.
Edith closed her eyes and felt every detail of his movements.
Her body shivered when his calloused hand, which he had been practicing swordsmanship for a long time, brushed against her skin.
Her chin lifted automatically in response to his touch, and it felt like a fire was burning in every nerve in her body that she didn’t even know existed.
“Walter…”
When she called his name, an alluring voice that she had never heard before came out of her mouth.
She could feel Walter, who was delicately tasting her skin as if he were melting it, feeling a sense of satisfaction at hearing his name pronounced in that honeyed voice.
The stimulation he provided became increasingly bold.
Under his seemingly rough yet infinitely tender touch, her entire body felt hot and tender, like half-baked cake batter.
Walter moved even closer to her, trying to delve deeper inside her.
Edith’s hand, which had been caressing his back, gradually tightened.
──────────✿◦•
Edith, who had fallen into a deep sleep, suddenly woke up with the sensation of something heavy pressing on her body.
『 …What time is it?』
Before falling asleep, Edith realized that she had spent several hours more than she had expected sharing body heat with him.
Despite that, she felt as if she had fallen asleep without having the strength to lift a finger.
『 You’re crazy, Edith.』
It seemed like she had been asleep for a short time, perhaps only dozens of minutes, but she felt noticeably refreshed as if she had slept deeply.
All she could see in her view was his broad and firm chest.
Edith was fairly tall herself, but Walter’s physique was so different that she fit snugly against his arms.
His muscular arms, strong as they were, and the thick, substantial blanket that Walter had wrapped tightly around her also felt quite weighty.
Even though he had covered her with a blanket like this, he was holding her close as if afraid she might be startled by the cold breeze.
When he gently caressed her head with a languid touch, her body tense as if recalling what had happened a few hours ago.
Instead of pushing her away again, Walter asked in a low, subdued voice.
“Was there a change in your feelings, or did you just suddenly want to do it?”
He was asking what had brought her to his place without any warning.
Edith wished that time could freeze just as it was now, but sadly, if she delayed more than this, dawn would break.
“Walter, shall we go out for a walk?”
As she attempted to rise before him, she gritted her teeth against the unfamiliar pain, a sensation she had never encountered before in her life.
It felt as if his difficult-to-grasp desires had torn her body apart, and then, as if granting her so much joy that she struggled to catch her breath, had pieced her back together.
With great effort, she moved her body, which felt as though it had been disassembled and reassembled, and when she got out of bed first, Walter followed suit.
He took a moment to admire Edith’s body, still bearing his traces, before helping her don her nightgown and cloak.
Just before dawn, darkness enveloped them, and the air turned chilly enough to send shivers down one’s spine.
Edith took in a refreshing breath, the cool air cooling her lungs with each step she took.
Finally, as only the two of them approached the boundary of the manor they could not cross, she halted and turned to face him.
“… Walter… If it’s possible, would you like to escape from this place first?”
“Alone?”
“Yes, alone. Someone might harm you inside the manor.”
Walter felt like he was losing sleep.
It wasn’t because Edith mentioned someone trying to harm him.
It was rather amusing and intriguing to him that despite desperately seeking a way to escape the Fortrion Manor by any means, he hesitated to leave alone, even after her suggestion.
What on earth had Edith done to him?
“It’s not a choice I really like. But I won’t leave alone.”
If he gets out first, Edith, unable to lift the imprisonment spell cast on her, would be left alone in this prison-like manor.
Walter knew that Vivian was a trustworthy servant, but she didn’t have the strength to actively assist in her escape.
In the end, going out alone would mean abandoning Edith…
Doing such a thing was never his intention, but after spending the night together, he felt he couldn’t resist the stimulation she provided, even if he had to resort to villainy.
Edith, who had abandoned her restraint, exuded sensuality and daring, enough to easily captivate a man’s soul.
“I can never leave without you.”
Walter said as he kissed her hair.
His tone was playful, yet sincerity underlined his words, making them sound genuine.
Edith bit her lip upon hearing his answer.
When he whispered that he wouldn’t abandon her, her heart froze as if it might stop.
In that moment of realization, as she understood that there was someone who cared for her, who would not leave her alone and was worried about her, an indescribable warmth blossomed in her heart with each word he spoke.
She had hopelessly fallen in love with Walter, who had become her sanctuary in this savage place.
He was the second man she had ever loved.
And so, she wanted to protect him.
“Walter, I have something to tell you.”
She hugged him tightly to hide her pained expression.
She wished she could explain everything to him in detail, but time was running out.
“Soon, Elizabeth will bring around forty assassins to kill you.”
“… What?”
“I overheard it by accident, so I don’t know all the details, but she had a conversation with the commander of an assassination squad from the capital.”
Assassins disguised as servants.
A place to imprison Walter and poisons to make him lose consciousness and go mad.
In Edith’s mind, the murder plans that Elizabeth had calmly shared with the commander of the assassination squad raged like a storm.
“So, even if it’s just you, leave here. Go to the Militia Force as you planned.”
Walter forcibly pulled Edith away from him and gazed into her eyes.
Hot tears streamed down Edith’s cheeks.
What frightened him was that she was pleading as if she had given up everything, like someone who had resigned themselves to despair, even though she had always found a way out of any desperate situation.
“Don’t say such absurd things, Edith.”
Walter couldn’t help but burst into laughter instead of getting angry.
“You’re telling me to run away alone from a manor where forty assassins are about to arrive. Why are you saying something that’s not even funny?”
Walter cradled Edith’s face in his hands.
He felt like he was going insane, not understanding the meaning of the tears welling up in her eyes.
“I just said it. I’m not leaving here alone.”
Every word he spoke was serious.
Edith felt her heart both warm and torn apart at the same time.
She doesn’t want him to get hurt or die. She’s scared. She can save him, but she doesn’t want to lose him.
Edith pushed his body with those thoughts.
“Walter, don’t be reckless, please… You can’t save me.”
Then, the release spell she had, gave off warm magical power and moved Walter outside of the barrier.
Because Edith remained on the opposite side of the barrier without undoing the release spell, Walter couldn’t re-enter the barrier.
“What is this…?”
Walter asked with a fierce look in his eyes.
What on earth was she doing?
The warmth they had just shared hadn’t faded yet, so why was she pushing him out?
Edith watched him, still trapped within the barrier, struggling to hold onto her, and then she turned away.
While they were still in the cabin, as Edith gathered her clothes and dressed, she seized the opportunity to slip many gold jewels into his pocket, which he could use immediately.
『 I’ll soon ask Cassius to look after Walter…』
So, she had to make sure he left the manor forcibly until the assassins called by Elizabeth withdrew.
“Walter, there is someone who can help me more than you, so leave.”
“Don’t lie, Edith. Are you going to push me away like this?”
“Aren’t you glad I found the release spell hidden by the Viscount in time?”
Because now she can save him.
Edith left Walter behind and moved step by step towards the mansion.
She thought it would have been nice if they could have left the manor side by side, just like the conversations they had together.
Her tears, falling with a soft plop, dampened her thin nightwear.
❀.°• ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ •°.❀
