The marquis did not return until tea time with the dowager queen was over. Edith was almost certain that Lady Spencer had made an irrational move. The girl’s resolution seemed great, and what the dowager queen spilled as if passing by was the basis for her guess.
「That girl is like the cursed thorn of the Spencer family; just wearing the same clothes day in and day out would be agonizing for her.」
It was not just anybody who could become the dowager queen, as evidenced by the fact that Lady Spencer’s extravagance was tolerated, despite herself having suffered under the late king’s reign. After greeting and withdrawing, Edith shuddered as if she were shaking off goosebumps all over her body.
“What’s the matter, Lady Argyle?”
“What? Oh, butler. It’s nothing. Did you come here to prepare the meal for the dowager queen?”
“That’s right.”
“You’re working hard.”
“Not really. Lady Argyle is the one who has worked hard.”
As she engaged in casual conversation with Saur, who was waiting outside, Edith found herself strangely preoccupied with the words that were not much different from her usual interactions with Catherine Derrick. Edith tilted her head and whispered quietly to the butler, who looked curious. From her point of view, it was words that contained only the truth, but she said it quietly just in case, so that it wouldn’t be overheard by others.
“I can endure it since there’s a deadline.”
“Yes?”
However, the butler Saur opened his eyes wide and asked in response, as if she could not say anything more shocking than this.
“No, I, butler.”
“Butler, the dowager queen is asking you to come in.”
As Edith was taken aback, struggling to find the right words, the dowager queen’s visit interrupted, and Lady Russell called for the butler. They couldn’t keep the Queen waiting. The butler, who had lived his entire life in a dignified manner, quickly composed himself and changed his expression. However, just before he left, the butler whispered in a fast and earnest voice.
“Lady Argyle. I will visit you after I see the dowager queen.”
It was not a question of asking permission, and Edith could not say anything because his tone was so urgent. Turning slowly, she lifted her feet awkwardly, as if she had forgotten how to walk.
Edith, who managed to return to the marchioness’s room, was pushed by mental and physical fatigue and fell down. Anne was surprised to see her groaning on her bed, and asked what had happened, but she also lacked the energy to answer.
Edith, who had barely changed into light clothes, fell asleep.
~~~~
When Edith opened her eyes to the sensation of something tickling her cheek like a feather, the room was pitch dark. She blinked, and once again, the ticklish presence that lingered around her cheek and jawline lightly brushed against her before fading away.
When she repeatedly closed and opened her eyes with strength, her blurred vision became clear.
“…Are you awake?”
And she could see the dark green eyes looking down at her. It was the marquis. Edith sighed.
“How did you get in?”
“You didn’t lock the door.”
She forgot because she was not used to using the key. She clicked her tongue and blamed herself.
“I came here because you said something strange to the Saur, but he didn’t wake you up because you looked tired.”
“What did I say… … If that was the case anyway, he should have woken me up. What time is it?”
“Eight o’clock, no, it must have been about nine o’clock.”
Edith groaned briefly.
If that was the case, it meant she had overslept by nearly nine hours. It wasn’t even a time when everyone would be sleeping, and they were all comfortably relaxed while she slept!
“I can’t believe this…”
“You do look quite tired.”
“I didn’t mean to sleep this much.”
“Well, I suppose so.”
“When did Your Excellency come back?”
Edith asked, her words sounding somewhat hesitant, as if scratching the surface of something. But as soon as she woke up, her mind began to race, and she had no particular thoughts in mind. The marquis responded subtly at first, examining her face nonchalantly, before finally responding bluntly.
“About half past seven.”
“Well, Lady Spencer must have been quite determined.”
Instead of expressing it in words like “terrible” or “awful,” the marquis let it show on his face as he frowned. He must have been hesitant due to the significant age difference between them; spending half a day discussing a young girl’s clothes must have been quite trying for him. Yet, amidst today’s tragedy, at least one person might have found happiness. Edith smiled at the thought of Madame Burry, who would have benefited in a moment.
“Is it amusing?”
“No, I didn’t smile because of Your Excellency. I just thought Madame Burry might have made some money.”
Upon seeing Edith’s expression, the marquis, who had started to get defensive, laughed with a huff as if imitating her. The expression didn’t really suit his appearance, and she nearly burst out laughing.
“Whose money do you think that is?”
If he hadn’t continued speaking, she might have burst into laughter.
“Surely, Your Excellency didn’t pay for it?”
“If I didn’t pay, who else would?”
“The queen…?”
“I didn’t think you wouldn’t assume that I’d pay for it.”
“Send the bill to the Spencer family then.”
“I’ve already settled it with a promissory note.”
“Oh my!”
Nearly screaming, her face flushed.
Every outfit Lady Spencer wore was outrageously expensive. Of course, Madame Burry couldn’t use materials as luxurious as those fitting for a royal wardrobe, but even with her limited resources, she made remarkable clothes that could compete with the standards of the court. It might not even be just one outfit, and the fact that the money came from the marquis’s pocket was unimaginable.
“I’m going crazy.”
“Why do you care if I waste my money?”
What are you talking about? Edith opened her eyes and glared at the marquis. On the subject of spitting out the words that made him feel better, the marquis actually looked amused.
“Are you saying that I shouldn’t care because I’m no longer your treasurer?”
“When did I tell you not to care? Care. Do as much as you like.”
It is human nature to be somewhat hesitant about what you originally intended to do, when others applaud you and give you your seat. Edith gave a wary look.
“You are saying very questionable things, Your Excellency.”
“You’re quick to twist my words and say something like that.”
“What did I do? I simply asked why you care so much about my attitude towards your money.”
“Let me rephrase it slightly. Why do you care about me?”
Edith couldn’t comprehend if there was a significant difference between those two statements.
After observing her perplexed expression, the marquis sighed and elaborated.
“Let’s change the expression a little bit. Why do you care about me?”
“Wait, you can’t jump like that. Not Your Excellency, but Your Excellency’s—.”
“My money? Okay, if you must say so, then so be it.”
“…”
“Why do you care about my money, Edith?”
Edith closed her lips and blinked. The first answer that came to mind was that it was due to habit. She has been in charge of his finances for years and had poured her passion into it as if it were all about life. Therefore, when related stories come out, of course she had no choice but to react. But was that really all?
Edith, who was about to answer that it was a habit of course, hesitated when she saw the marquis’s persistent gaze. The marquis seemed to see through all the words she hadn’t spoken out of her mouth. Is that really all? I know everything, so think again and tell me.
“That.”
Edith was speechless. There was a proper answer. Because it’s you, because you’re the one I have in mind. But she couldn’t say it.
All the more so because she already heard a confession from the marquis. If she accepted his feelings and said that she felt the same way, then what would happen next?
Not every story in the world ends happily. Moreover, now, an unexpected tycoon named the dowager queen intervened and held up and down the board. The ending was too obvious to go all the way with a glimmer of hope.
“…”
The marquis waited patiently for her words for a long time. But when Edith couldn’t say anything at all, he grinned and sat down on the bed. She was stunned.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t wait any longer.”
“No, ah, yes. All right then, I’ll get up, ahh!”
After sitting with his back against the bedside, the small arm stretched out and snatched Edith’s waist. She was pulled towards him, and her back rested against the marquis’s chest.
Now that she looked closely, it seemed the marquis had changed into indoor clothes before coming over. The garments they both wore were thin, and she could feel their body temperatures immediately against each other. Edith tried to sit up abruptly, but the marquis’s arms showed no sign of yielding, and she involuntarily snuggled deeper into his embrace.
“Why, why, why are you like this?”
“Just now, it seemed like something I should say.”
“Not this time!”
“Ah.”
The marquis retorted seemingly on impulse and then lowered his head, pressing his lips against Edith’s neck. Startled by the sensation of his warm, fleshy touch, she flinched, but he remained nonchalant.
“Just leaving you alone won’t get us anywhere near an answer, so I’m just giving you a hint.”
He gently clasped her chin as she tried to turn around. It seemed like he just put his hand on her, but she couldn’t beat the strength.
“Think. Why do you care about me, my money, or whatever. Why are you staying in this situation and not getting out of it? Why are you here?”
“Well.”
“You can’t answer I don’t know.”
“Your Excellency, please.”
“I’m helping you figure it out. If you really don’t know, start with why I am doing this.”
It was just an incomprehensible sound. However, the marquis began his actions in earnest as if that was the end of what he had to say.
“Eut, Your Excellency.”
The hand that clenched around her chest, if it could be expressed that way, was gentlemanly. As it gently supported her lower chest, the movement of his long fingers playfully dancing seemed akin to playing the piano. Instead of squeezing harshly, he caressed with the palm of his hand, teasing the contours. The stimulation caused her to slowly lift her head, twisting slightly and blushing as if lost in the sensation.
“Heu.”
A suppressed moan broke through Edith’s teeth. It was a small, soft sound. But the marquis’s hand dug into her clothes, as if it were a sign.
As the buttons were opened and the cloth flowed down, the shoulders and back were revealed one after another. When the cool air reached her bare skin, she trembled and begged.
“Don’t, Your Excellency. Please, stop it.”
“If you find the right answer, I’ll think about it.”
“What, uh, no.”
The marquis bowed her forward and kissed her white back. She couldn’t see his face, so it was more difficult to guess what he was thinking.
“Come on and think, Edith.”
Kisses rained down on her back like a shower of flowers. She hadn’t even thought about experiencing sexual arousal through her back, but each time his hands or lips touched her, she felt a tingling sensation, and her legs entwined in response.
“Oh, my…”
Now the marquis made her fall completely down and climbed on top. He pinned her thrashing waist between his knees as he rolled the bedsheet, and he trailed his fingers lightly over every faintly protruding bone. The sensation left a vivid mark on her delicate skin. However, before she could feel any pain, his hot tongue traced over that spot, licking it. Edith twisted her captured waist and let out continuous sounds of pleasure.
“Edith.”
“Ah yes, ah, I, ah.”
“Edith Argyle.”
“Why, ah…”
The marquis, who had been concentrating on provoking her for some time, swept her hair away and called out her name.
“Think of the answer.”
“What, do you mean?”
“Why am I doing this to you, why are you here again?”
Didn’t she tell him two days ago? The marquis asked as if sighing and began tormenting her again. However, unlike before when he had been silent while caressing, this time he intermittently called her name and inserted actions to wake her consciousness.
And it was much harder. Edith felt tears moistening her cheeks. It was as the marquis slid down her back, biting into the soft flesh of her buttocks, and thrusting his hand between her legs, which were already wet with damp heat.
“Ah!”
“Edith, do you still not understand?”
“Ah, ah, ah! I, I don’t know, ah…”
She could clearly feel the fingers stirring the secret area. The melting sensation moved to her head in the blink of an eye. It shook her who was trying hard to hold onto the strand of her thoughts. Edith, who was trying to retrace the marquis’s words, cried with her back shaking.
Why? Why am I like this? Why is he doing this to me? And why me? She tried to find an answer somehow. A place hidden in the crevices of her flesh was peeled off and exposed.
The marquis, who fumbled and found it, pinched it tightly with his fingers without the slightest mercy. A shiver ran through her from head to toe, like a bolt of lightning, and she felt wet between her legs.
“Aaah!”
Edith trembled at her climax. But the marquis had no intention of ending it. He hugged her waist and turned over easily. Lying down looking up, she barely exhaled her sobbing breath and blinked her cloudy eyes.
“Look here, Edith.”
He was seen kneeling and undressing between her legs when she obeyed. The movement of the fluttering muscles strangely caught her eye.
However, even more captivating than his bared upper body was the sight of the marquis as a man, exuding passion and desire. It was a complete contrast to his usually composed demeanor and appearance.
It wasn’t the first time she had seen it, but this time it was especially scary. Was it because the movement that was red was hideous. As soon as she saw it, her stomach tightened. Edith threw a hazy gaze as she breathed more than before. The marquis, seeing her sweet face, spoke in a slight soft tone.
“Do you remember what I said?”
“What, uhm.”
Before she could recall, his hand rubbing her thigh distracted her. Edith moaned and shook her head.
“I don’t know, uh…”
“That’s going to be a problem. Think carefully.”
The marquis, who spoke carefully, took Edith’s stretched hand and pushed himself into the center. She was startled when something hot and hard touched her fingers and palms, but she could not take her hands off because he did not let go.
Smooth skin, prominent veins, and pulsation as if they were alive. The marquis’ member, which stood up completely, was rubbed into Edith’s hands. At the same time the marquis’s other hand rubbed long against her wet crevice. She groaned and reflected on her memory. He spoke very clearly.
「I like you.」
It was. It was so straightforward that she didn’t even have room to hear to it in any other way.
“Oh, Your Excellency, ah!”
“You remember, right?”
As if saying unnecessary words should be avoided, the marquis explicitly guided her hand to perform a suggestive movement. Her body trembled just from the sensation of the man standing upright rubbing against her palm. And then he was licking at the place where her finger had been bitten. Edith tried to hold on to her spirit, which seemed to fly away at any moment. And with her struggles, she squeezed her voice.
“Ah, y-yes, Your Excellency, ah, oh, you, you like, ah, this.”
It was half groaning, but it seemed that the meaning was somehow conveyed. The marquis’s lips drew a line.
“Yes, I did. That’s why I’m doing this to you.”
“Ah-ah! Huh, but, uh, yes, that, I, don’t know, why, why me, ah!”
She agreed! Energized by her response, Edith, like a fish out of water, wriggled her waist and blurted out the words that came to mind. The marquis, his voice mingled with sighs, attentively listened to her, his ears feeling warm as if they might catch fire.
However, when he realized what she wanted to say was, “You said you like me, but why me?” he frowned deeply.
Edith had to clench her fists without any warning as the fingers thrust inside her deeply.
“Ah, ah, wait, ah, ah, ah.”
He mercilessly scraped the inside of her with his hooked fingers. He didn’t care even though the bumpy flesh shuddered and pushed away. She gasped, almost out of breath.
“Why, ah, ah!”
“Why, Edith, because it is you.”
“I don’t know, I don’t know, ah! Your Excellency, ah, yes.”
“Because you, because the woman I’m attracted to, the woman I like, is you.”
Edith opened her eyes wide.
It was because she couldn’t believe what she heard. But Edith knew when her eyes met the marquis, who raised his head. The seething heat in the dark green eyes was proving that his words were sincere. He really wanted her. Not just some woman close by, but Edith Argyle exactly. She shuddered. Her already heated body trembled more violently in response to her feelings.
“Then let’s move on.”
“Huh…”
The marquis opened Edith’s legs, licking his lips. He caressed the trembling skin on the inside of her quivering thighs and pushed her to the limit.
In the end, the legs were spread so that the embarrassing part could be seen. Edith felt the gaze pierced there and turned her head to one side. But just because she didn’t see it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel it. Above all, the marquis’s voice, completely sunk to the bottom, pierced her ears precisely.
“Edith.”
Warm hands covered the damp place. It was a non-threatening motion, but it seemed to catch fire from where his hand touched it.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“I want you to tell me how you are.”
She hated the marquis, who stroked gently so that the fire would not be reduced.
“I need to know first before I do anything further.”
Was he supposed to be like this? She looked up with her eyes clouded by heat. Dark green eyes, the color of the evergreen trees that grew high over the harsh climate of the north, was unmistakably him. However, it was unfamiliar to see his face smiling while making eye contact. Was he really the conqueror who drove her like this and tried to bring out something hidden inside her? Was it him, that marquis?
“Say it, Edith.”
A man she wanted a long time ago, but gave up because she couldn’t bear to wish for it.
“…Your Excellency.”
“Yes.”
Edith reached out. The marquis did not shy away from her hand, but put his face on it. Her eyes were strangely hot when his warm skin touched her palm.
When she blinked casually, tears flowed down her cheeks.
“Why am you crying?”
“I, uh… Can I do it?”
“I can’t hear you very well.”
The marquis bowed his head as he wrapped his hand around Edith’s face. Despite the tantalizing sensation of their bodies pressing against each other, he did not respond to that aspect and focused on her instead.
Tracing her quivering lips with his thumb, he leaned in, listening intently. Ah, now she couldn’t hold back any longer. The rekindled spark crackled and blazed within her. Edith, with the marquis’s ear right before her, whispered tenderly and pitifully.
“Can I like you, Your Excellency?”
The marquis laughed. It was the first bright smile she had ever seen since she met him. She had seen him rejoice quite a few times, but she had never imagined him showing this much emotion. Edith gazed at him with dazed eyes, even as his laughter seemed to be directed at her. And in that moment, she felt completely seen and pierced through by him.
“Huh…!”
Somehow it felt bigger and more burdensome than last time. She was simply full of him. The engaged joint was numb and the swollen lower abdomen was hot. She couldn’t come to her senses.
“Of course, it can’t be any other way.”
His words, spoken with a smile, resonated like a distant echo from far away. The continued intimacy was intense. The marquis embraced one of Edith’s legs and moved rapidly back and forth.
The wet sound grew thicker and thicker until it slid to the level of splashing water. Shaking and sobbing, she received him. As each other’s hair rubbed against each other and their heated skin rubbed against each other, an indistinguishable sound overflowed, whether it was crying or moaning.
“Edith.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
As the marquis rotated his hips vigorously, the inner curves of her body were pressed down. She arched her waist, trying to respond to his movements. Despite being aware of her name being called, she couldn’t find the composure to reply properly.
“Edith.”
As if urging an answer, he backed away and stabbed deeply. When her name was called for the second time, Edith couldn’t make a sound and trembled.
When the sensitive part of the deep part of the body was rubbed, she was out of breath. But the marquis seemed determined. He laid down her legs, which had been bound by his arms, and pushed the soft spot inside her thigh with both hands. So that the legs that were open could be wider. Then he grabbed her by the waist and pushed hard.
“Aeung!”
“Edith, ha, answer.”
“……Ah, ah! Yes!”
Edith pushed the sheet with the tip of her toes and missed his words. It was because the marquis had entered her and stirred her inner walls as she pulsated hotly. The marquis said, grabbing her slippery calf.
“Forgetting it or saying no, it’s not allowed. Understand?”
Then he slipped out and hit hard again. The way he grazed against her soft inner walls was excessively provocative. Edith gasped and tilted her head back. She couldn’t feel anything but him completely occupying her. It felt stimulating and fulfilling at the same time.
Edith, who had never imagined that such a sensation would exist, learned it only by going through it firsthand.
🔥