Chapter 16

“I won’t. I don’t think about you at all. So, just stop it and leave.”

“If you don’t think about me at all, doesn’t that mean I’m not really bothersome? Just get some rest. I’ll just stay here quietly like an object.”

“…”

“How about the blanket? Don’t you think it would be warm if you slept under a blanket like me?”

“…”

“The pillow is nice, too.”

“…”

“Iel.”

“You’re noisy. You said you were an object, so why does an object talk so much?”

“…Sorry.”

His downcast expression made me feel uncomfortable immediately. I didn’t want to receive any apologies from Felix. There was no reason to receive one, either.

Nevertheless, Felix spoke as if he were deeply reflecting.

“I lied. That wasn’t acting. I really was annoyed and angry at you. I thought if I pretended otherwise, you’d let it slide…, but I guess that was too shallow a trick, right?”

“…”

“I was genuinely angry at the time, but it never lasts very long. Whenever I look at your face, even if I’m fuming, my anger just dissolves on its own before I know it. Maybe it’s because you’re so pretty.”

“The world is vast. There are plenty of prettier women out there, so don’t give up—keep looking.”

He crawled up onto the bed and pressed himself against my back. Before long, his hand, which had been stroking my side as if tickling me, moved forward and covered my lower abdomen. The intention behind his hand, which moved in circles and subtly urged me on, was clear.

“Well… is that really necessary? I think you’re the prettiest person in the world.”

“Do you think I’ll fall for such a cliché tactic?”

“What if you do? You’ve been having a hard time lately anyway, right? You can just take this as a mood lifter for today.”

“You just want to do it yourself, that’s all.”

“That’s true, too. But truly, making you feel good is my priority.”

“If rumors spread that I’m messing around promiscuously right after my husband died, I’m the only one who’s going to have a hard time.”

“We can just do it without anyone knowing.”

Felix rolled over while holding me and covered my lips with one hand, pressing down.

“I’ll cover your mouth tightly like this until it’s over so no sound comes out. That makes you feel safe, right?”

“Mm—mm…”

His teeth nibbled at the edge of my ear.

“Hnn, mmm…! …!!”

I could feel my breath becoming increasingly ragged, but instead of driving me with rough movements, he moved his hips slowly. As promised, he seemed to be trying his best to ensure no sound escaped the room.

My eyes welled up with tears from the frustration of the groans that couldn’t escape my lips. The inside of my tightly sealed passage twisted and turned according to his movements.

The strength drained from my legs on its own, but Felix supported my lower abdomen firmly, preventing me from collapsing.

A faintly wet sound resonated between our joined bodies, and fluid streamed down my thighs.

He began to thrust shallowly from within while keeping himself pressed in to the hilt. Perhaps because he was moving deep inside, there was almost no sound, but the stimulation, as if my belly were thumping and sinking, was intense.

It feels good.

Suddenly, I licked the palm of Felix’s hand that was covering my mouth with my tongue. He chuckled softly and said he was glad that I felt good.

“The inside is twitching so much that even I can barely hold back,” he said, and he began to speed up his rubbing. More fluid poured out, and my breathing grew rougher.

“Huu…! Mmm, umm…!”

“Are you going to finish?”

I nodded my head shallowly several times. Before long, I reached the climax first and put all my strength into my waist. Felix stifled a pained groan, barely managed to pull himself out, and ejaculated over my vulva.

We overlapped our bodies over and over until the dawn broke. When I came to my senses, the bed was filled with the traces of our tryst. I lay side by side with him on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“I’m tired. I couldn’t get a wink of sleep because of you. What are you going to do about this?”

“It’s unreasonable to blame only one person when you enjoyed it together. And last night, if you had just gone to sleep peacefully, you probably would have only had nightmares.”

He told me to sleep in the carriage, asking if I hadn’t been suffering until he woke me up yesterday. I asked in a tone stretched thin by fatigue.

“What are you going to do now? Going back to the capital?”

“I’ll meet the client to wrap up the work, and then…”

Felix said with a playful glint in his eyes.

“If I go to the Count’s castle, would the lonely widow take me in?”

Instead of answering, I asked about something that had been bothering me the whole time.

“What is that ‘request’ anyway? Assassinating the Count? No, to begin with, what kind of person are you?”

“To think you’re only asking that now—you’re really something else. How little interest did you have in me that you didn’t even ask once what I did for a living, even while living together?”

He acted hurt, asking if I shouldn’t have asked out of concern, if only because he periodically brought home large sums of money.

“I thought you were just a drifter.”

“A drifter?”

“Like an adventurer or a hunter.”

“Well…, it’s true that I wander from place to place. But I don’t wander aimlessly; I do have a central base.”

He folded his arms to use as a pillow and turned his body toward me.

“Guess. What is it?”

“An assassin?”

“Close. I do assassinate people occasionally, but it’s not my specialty. Don’t look only at the ‘black’ side—want to try looking a bit further into the brighter side?”

“A bit brighter than black? You mean a gray zone?”

Felix lifted the corners of his mouth.

“A mercenary?”

“That’s right.”

“Unexpected.”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, I haven’t seen many young mercenaries traveling alone.”

“I’m not entirely alone, either. I strictly have a place I belong to.”

However, he said that working individually just suited him better.

“And for this Count’s mansion job, I worked together with my colleagues.”

“…”

“Ah, did my words just now hurt your feelings?”

“You’re quite good at talking about stabbing me in the back right to my face.”

“I didn’t stab you in the back, did I? The one who hired us wasn’t you, but the Count, so if you want to hold someone accountable, you should look at the Count’s head.”

“You ungrateful wretch.”

“For some reason, being looked at with such contempt in your eyes is actually kind of thrilling.”

I looked with pity at Felix, who joked that he felt like he was awakening to a new taste.

“So? What was that request, and who requested it?”

“Are you really going to ask that? In this line of work, request details and client information are treated quite importantly; that’s a very indelicate question.”

“What kind of delicacy are you looking for, you who killed a head of a family with those hands and molested his widow? You’re shameless.”

“Someone who doesn’t know might misunderstand. You hated that man an awful lot, too.”

Felix protested in a grumpy voice, but I didn’t acknowledge it.

“I never said such a thing?”

“I can tell by your intuition.”

“Intuition? Is that just an excuse because you wanted to get rid of the Count yourself?”

Of course, I hated the Count—or the Master—enough that killing him a hundred times wouldn’t be enough, but for now, I flatly denied it to find out the inside story. Felix glared at me with unkind eyes. I stared right back. After a while, he was the first to lower his tail.

“Honestly, I did want to get rid of him. But that doesn’t mean I actually handled it emotionally.”

“Fine. I got it. Where was the request from?”

“…The Temple.”

“The Temple? Really?”

“Yeah. Don’t go talking about it carelessly outside.”

“I won’t. There’s no profit in it.”

The Temple is a different beast. Furthermore, in the current era, the importance of the Temple was quite high due to the rifts in the world. Even if I tried to use it for blackmail, it would be like throwing an egg against a rock.

“Are you saying you would do it if there was profit?”

“Who knows about that.”

Then Felix jumped up and started tickling me. And he forced me to promise that I would keep quiet about what I had just heard. I twisted my body this way and that, and eventually, I had to surrender, saying I would do as he pleased.

Afterward, he and I shared some small talk, and once the day fully broke, we slowly prepared to go outside. During that time, we didn’t talk about what to do regarding our relationship.

I parted ways with Felix at that inn. He went back to the capital, and I continued on toward the territory.

Once I arrived at the territory, confusing days followed one after another. The pressure from the collateral relatives and retainers regarding everything about the Lallanne family was intense. It would be correct to express it as downright persecution. Since I had lost my husband without bearing children, I severely lacked the power to protect my position. I alone could not block all the threats surrounding me.

Tea or food laced with poison was brought up every single day. Because of that, the maids who tasted the food before I picked up the utensils died in droves. Naturally, those who feared this situation began to leave the castle one after another.

Disgustingly, this was nothing more than a threatening provocation. They were telling me to designate a successor quickly. Since the authority was with me now that the Count was gone, they were using this to intimidate and urge me.

If they had truly made up their minds to kill me, I would have left this world long ago. However, the intent among them hadn’t quite aligned yet. Therefore, it seemed they felt the need to keep me alive while they kept each other in check.