The Lord Of Sinal (17)

After the banquet ended and they returned to their rooms, Kaiston still had things left to do.

Kaiston asked as he untied the knots on Liris’s dress, one by one.

“Liris. What do you want done about Millen Grandis?”

“I don’t know…”

Liris hesitated.

She had imagined it before, but now that it was real, it was difficult.

Even if she could forgive what he did to her, his antics in Sinal were not something she could let slide easily.

He had infiltrated the castle with knights and an assassin group loyal to him and tried to poison Kaiston, the castle’s lord.

Under the law of the Empire it would not have been unreasonable to execute him summarily.

“I want to follow your decision.

After all, Millen meant nothing to him now.

“Of course I wanted a proper apology someday, but not right now.”

If Millen had regretted his actions from back then, he wouldn’t have done this again.

Even if she forced an apology from him, it wouldn’t be sincere.

Kaiston, pondering her words, hardened his expression and asked, “If I kill him, will you truly not care?”

Having been friends for so long, surely some good feelings remained.

But Liris’s reply that followed was unexpected.

“Whatever happens to him doesn’t matter to me. I just don’t want you to soil your hands because of that bastard. He’s not worth it… not even a little.”

Kaiston quietly looked down at Liris at her words.

By the time he was seventeen, he had already taken many innocent lives of the Empire’s knights.

Lives that had been someone’s son, someone’s father, someone’s brother, someone’s beloved sibling.

Although they had invaded, Kaiston did not think himself without guilt.

So he was already stained.

“Liris.”

He meant to say more, but Kaiston closed his mouth again.

Perhaps it didn’t need to be said aloud.

He wasn’t lying, after all.

He hated that Liris might think of him unpleasantly even for a moment.

“I understand. I’ll handle Millen. I won’t kill him, so don’t worry.”

“Thank you. And… I’m sorry.”

Kaiston asked in surprise at her apology.

“For what?”

“For using you.”

“……”

For a moment Kaiston was at a loss for words.

He was surprised by how bluntly and plainly she stated the truth, and all his previous evasions on that subject felt suddenly pointless.

“I thought that if I went to the Red Moon and won your favor, I’d get chances like this. I thought I’d be happy when that moment came.”

Kaiston resumed untying the knot he had paused at as he listened to her.

These damned knots seemed endless no matter how he loosened them.

“But when it actually came, it wasn’t like that. And I hate seeing that scary look on your face. I don’t want you to hate or harm anyone because of me. Regardless of revenge or the throne, I just…”

Liris continued and whispered, “I want to live happily with you, whom I love, forever.”

When he finally loosened the last knot, the dress slipped limply to the floor.

Liris turned around.

Her clear amber eyes curved beautifully.

“Now, I only need you.”

Her smile toward him was so lovely that Kaiston felt like he might cry.

“Liris…”

Kaiston reached out and pulled her into his arms.

He knew that, as she said, it couldn’t truly be that simple.

As the Crown Princess, the only daughter of the Emperor, and her consort, he had responsibilities he must bear whether he wanted them or not.

Moreover, Raiden, who had been pushed to second in the line of succession, coveted both the Crown Princess and the throne.

If he didn’t fight to protect them, they would be taken.

She was practically everything to him.

Still, he was grateful that Liris had said that to him.

“I only need you too.”

No matter how it started or what her motives were, Kaiston thought it no longer mattered.

He was actually glad she had come to him even if she once saw him as a means to an end.

If he had never known this warmth.

If he had never known this sweetness.

How empty his life would have been if he had died having never known it.

Perhaps he held her too tightly without realizing it.

Liris gave a muffled groan in his arms.

“Ah. Sorry.”

Kaiston realized belatedly and released her.

So small and fragile, she seemed as if she might break with the slightest pressure.

She had seemed that way from the moment they first met.

So delicately fragile and yet so endearing.

His warm and soft lady.

Liris tugged his lapel and stood on tiptoe.

He bent down obediently, wondering what she intended, and she kissed him lightly.

Watching her grin, Kaiston rubbed at his eyes.

After teasing her so much earlier, it was clear he shouldn’t touch her anymore tonight.

‘Still…’

Kaiston removed his hand from her face and looked into Liris’s lovely amber eyes.

Wouldn’t it be okay to taste her just a little?

Would it be fine to gently bite, suck, and lick just enough not to hurt her?

Liris blinked at the heat in his gaze that seemed about to flare.

He scooped the slight Liris up and set her on the bed; she flinched at the cool touch of the sheets.

“Didn’t you say you were busy?”

“Busy.”

Kaiston climbed over her, propping himself on his elbows, and stroked Liris’s small soft cheek with his fingertips.

“We can do it all night.”

“What if your body suffers?”

Kaiston laughed in disbelief.

“So I’ve suddenly got people worrying about my health.”

It was something he’d never hear from the knights these days.

They were the kind who would tell him to go on a week-long mission without food or sleep.

“You’re nine years older than me, so you need to take care of your health accordingly.”

‘Come to think of it, I’m thirty now.’

He’d practically wasted his twenties.

Hearing that from a girl of only twenty-one stung a little.

“Don’t worry. I’ll live at least as long as you.”

The Baras imperial family’s average lifespan was about twenty years longer than the Aikadum imperial family’s.

Comforted by what he believed, Kaiston said without much worry.

“Then live exactly one hour longer than me. I can’t wait if you live too long.”

Kaiston answered seriously to Liris, who spoke earnestly.

“We probably have different destinies anyway.”

How much blood was on these hands?

No matter how he thought about it, it seemed certain they’d be different.

“Don’t worry about that. I, after all, am a holder of sacred power.”

Kaiston couldn’t help but laugh.

Was she talking about flattering the gods?

“Alright. I trust only you.”

“So know that, and right here—deeply.”

Her way of getting to the point was always absurd.

Kaiston pressed his hand into Liris’s head that was pointing at his lips and petted her firmly.

“You’re too fearless.”

“Only with you.”

How could he resist her?

Kaiston kissed her lips lightly.

Just that brief touch tasted so sweet that Liris felt her whole body melt.

She licked his departing lips like a cat.

“Liris.”

Feeling his breath hot as he whispered her name, Liris flinched.

If she took him further now, she wouldn’t be able to take a single step tomorrow.

Watching Liris laugh awkwardly and roll her eyes, Kaiston bit his lower lip.

He barely suppressed a smile and kept that predatory look in his eyes.

He had no intention of taking her like that, but he decided to scare his brazen lady who had been blatantly provoking him.

He lowered his face slowly.

His lips brushed her nape.

He gnawed and licked up along it, and she squeezed his shoulder with her eyes shut.

“Hhut…”

The naughty sounds and sensations at her earlobe and helix made Liris writhe.

As his lips slid downward, Liris trembled, unsure what to do.

When he removed her bra, he took her firm breasts into his mouth at once.

The firm, soft flesh rippled under his touch.

He rolled his tongue over the sensitive pinnacles and her whole body flinched.

Thinking milk might come from there someday, Kaiston sucked lightly.

Of course nothing came now, but it still tasted somehow sweet.

A mischievous thought flitted through him that he’d have to steal it later.

Surely it would be sweet and fragrant.

His mouth watered.

Then he remembered another spring he could taste even if milk didn’t come.

At his hands wandering between her thighs, Liris gave a thin moan.

Her insides still burned from their rough earlier encounter, yet obliviously her juices flowed.

Whenever the back of his hand stroked her inner thigh and grazed her underwear, she felt an electric shiver.

“Ahhng…”

Her body wanted it clearly, but she knew she shouldn’t, and rubbed her knees together uncertainly.

When Kaiston finally slipped off her panties, Liris’s body stiffened slightly.

‘Is he really going to? Really? It will hurt… it will sting…’

To soothe the terrified girl, Kaiston set her knees up, spread her thighs, and lightly licked the exposed petals.

That spot—probably the only soft, yielding part of him—did not hurt her.

Instead, the burning eased a little.

Yet fluids kept seeping out and Liris covered her face with both hands.

Pleasure kept making her moan and her mind went hazy.

Even as he watched her like that, he didn’t stop, lapping and probing every reachable spot with his tongue.

“Uuuh…”

Liris’s faint moans were so cute Kaiston felt like laughing.

“Ugh… I can’t… uuh…”

He pressed and prodded the hidden little pearl with the tip of his tongue, and Liris cried out.

After his relentless attack, her body went rigid and trembled.

Only after licking up the gush of her juices thoroughly did he lift his head.

Looking at Liris, breathing with tears welling in her eyes, he spoke in a low, soft voice.

“I won’t take you tonight, so don’t worry.”

“Really…?”

Feeling his body heated to the point of burning, Liris worried.

Kaiston pressed a light kiss to her round forehead.

“It’s okay. You’re truly precious to me.”

Liris stared at him dazedly.

Whenever he made that expression, it was really bad for her heart.

She thought she might have to avoid him a little to live long.