The Crown Princess's Man (8)

“Where did that bold, demanding spirit go?”

“I didn’t realize the position would be so stimulating…”

“Yeah. I didn’t know either.”

Kaiston murmured as he looked down at Liris’s pale, soft buttocks. He gripped her hips and slowly withdrew.

“Ugh… haa…”

Liris’s body shuddered slightly as his hard, large member scraped past her swollen, hypersensitive inner walls.

Kaiston gently set her hips down and straightened the knees that had been raised. Only then did Liris relax into a comfortable prone position, limp and with her eyes already closed.

“Master Kai… I’ll just sleep a little…”

“Shall I wash you?”

“Later, later…”

She reached back again, waved feebly, then flopped down. Even when Kaiston fetched warm water and wiped her with a damp towel, Liris simply snored on. Worried she’d be cold, he covered her with a blanket, went to wash in the bath, and when he returned, she lay curled on her side asleep. The sight somehow looked pitiable.

When Kaiston slipped under the blanket and pressed his body to hers, Liris wriggled toward the warmth. Even half-asleep, a happy smile tugged at her lips, and Kaiston smiled in turn, closing his eyes. He stroked her back a few times, patted her, and hugged her tight.

He was healed, recovered, and strengthened by her like this.

“It’s not hard. Because you’re here.”

His quiet murmur carried such overwhelming joy that, if someone had heard it, they would have known him to be the happiest man alive.

Before dawn, in the deepest darkness without even moonlight, Ban woke Marian in his arms. The knights who had been boisterously talking and playing were now all asleep, and the whole fortress was silent.

“We must go back now.”

“Ugh… yes…”

Marian struggled to rise. He felt sorry for the young, pretty lady who had just had her first experience and wanted to keep her in his arms longer, but if morning came like that it would cause an uproar.

After helping Marian dress and putting on his own uniform properly, just before leaving the room, Ban looked down at her and said, “We might run into the Commander.”

“Wha—? At this hour?”

“Yes. He usually only sleeps three or four hours.”

“Th-then… what do we do…”

Ban hesitated for a moment, then continued, “If you don’t feel ashamed… I want to speak honestly to the Commander, Marian.”

Marian watched Ban silently. Even though his tender feelings for her were clear, the memory of how he’d pushed to stay by Kaiston’s side was vivid.

“I understand.”

Marian nodded.

“Since you trust him, I will as well.”

Ban’s face brightened instantly at her words.

“Thank you, Marian.”

He already had a gentle, soft expression, and when he couldn’t hide his joy and smiled, it seemed as if the whole world brightened. Marian nodded with a flushed face.

They quietly left the knights’ quarters and walked down the corridor, and inevitably they encountered ‘him’. His vast presence, which usually filled the training ground, reined itself in, and his violet eyes shone clearly toward them even in the darkness.

“Commander.”

Ban greeted him, and Marian bowed as well, still holding his hand. Kaiston accepted their salute as he sheathed Pluto.

“Ban. Milady.”

Kaiston only glanced at their joined hands briefly and did not linger. After a short silence, he spoke to Ban.

“See her safely back.”

Marian furtively looked to Kaiston, but his calm expression and tone gave nothing away, so she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“Yes, Commander.”

Ban answered and tightened his grip on Marian’s hand. Only then did Marian snap fully awake and follow him. When they reached the corridor’s end at the entrance of the building with Marian’s room, she glanced back to where Kaiston had stood. He was still in the same spot, but he wasn’t looking their way. As they walked on, Marian asked, “What if His Excellency gets angry with you?”

Ban gave a small snort of a laugh.

“Then you’ll have to be scolded.”

“Phew, aren’t you afraid?”

Thinking again of his violet eyes that shone even in the dark sent a chill through her. He seemed like a beast, or a vampire from a novel, or a dreadful demon. The fear that had barely faded began to creep up again.

But Ban shook his head.

“He’s not someone to be feared.”

“Ah, but of course, the Commander during training is terrifying.”

Marian tilted her head at Ban’s added, muttered remark.

“I feel like I understand a little, but I still don’t. Brother and the Crown Princess… they aren’t afraid of His Grace, so am I the strange one?”

“You’re not strange, Marian. I don’t know about the Crown Princess, but most people are afraid when they first meet the Commander.”

“Yes. Living with him made me used to him and I often saw his softer side so I forgot, but it gets so cold near His Grace that one’s skin prickles.”

Ban sighed at Marian’s words.

“Is that so. Yes, you must have felt that way too…”

Ban’s shoulders seemed to slump slightly, and Marian hastily brushed her hand as if to reassure him.

“No, but I know he’s a good person anyway. I’ll try to like him too.”

Ban smiled faintly and nodded.

“Yes. Thank you, Marian.”

They parted at the end of the corridor where her room was. Marian entered her bedroom, glancing back at Ban with regret, and Ban watched her leave for a long while before finally turning away.

Perhaps having decided to stop training, Kaiston waited for him and then headed to the study. After lighting the mana lamp and dispelling the darkness, Kaiston turned to him.

“Ban.”

He called him but hesitated, and only continued after a long pause.

“You’re and the young lady… are in love with each other, right?”

At the Commander uttering such a soft, uncharacteristic word, Ban’s face flushed red.

“Yes… Commander.”

“I see. So that’s how it is.”

Kaiston nodded with an unperturbed expression.

“Good. Now that you told me, go on, get out.”

“Yes?”

Ban blinked and asked dumbly, as if something didn’t fit with the command to leave. Kaiston crossed his arms and looked at him.

“I said go on, get out.”

“Ah… yes, understood.”

Unable to ask further, Ban left the Commander’s study in a daze.

After spending hours drafting some twenty documents and sending them to Sinal, Kaiston thought that besides physical work, he’s actually quite good at paperwork. Having been educated as crown prince until seventeen, this sort of task was nothing.

Saik arrived at his study around 8 a.m. as usual and stared at him blankly. He’d come in while Kaiston was shredding the last of the sent documents, so he wondered what Kaiston was up to.

“Are you sober yet?”

“Yes. But what are all those papers?”

“I’ll tell you later. I don’t know how things will turn out yet.”

Saik was puzzled but didn’t press further.

“The Marquis?”

“I don’t know. He’s been holed up in his room since last night and hasn’t come out. I don’t know what he’s thinking…”

“Hmm…”

When he finished shredding the last paper, Kaiston brushed his hands and turned back to him.

“Saik, do you intend to succeed the Marquis Kyril family line?”

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden question, Saik blinked and waved his hands.

“No, of course not. Why would I inherit the marquisate now?”

“Marquis Kyril has only one son.”

“None of my business.”

Kaiston gave a small sigh watching Saik’s cheeky reply.

“I can’t tell if that’s rebellion or sincerity.”

“It’s sincere. I want to achieve things by my own strength.”

At his firm answer, Kaiston nodded.

“Very well, then.”

Kaiston left the study with him. As they passed the corridor toward the training ground, four captains and hundreds of knights stood in formation, exuding a distinct spirit. Most of them were of humble blood. With no favorable conditions or patronage, they had earned the title of knight by their own strength and, as if a final choice in life, chosen the Red Moon.

Still, what showed on their faces now was pride and dignity. Those who had been knights in name only had traveled a brutal path to become the finest knights.

Kaiston thought that he would protect them so they could always stand proud as knights, using his status and power, which he once thought meaningless.

Of course, before that, there would have to be harsh training so severe that it would draw cries.

Even though it was the usual training hour, the Commander’s unusually intense gaze today sent a strange chill through the Red Moon knights.