As Asrahan sat motionless, Lariette grunted and struggled to undo the button. But soon she failed again and looked at him.
Lariette’s pale face had flushed red like a rose.
She stared blankly at Asrahan for a moment, then stepped closer to him.
Gulp.
Unconsciously, Asrahan leaned his upper body back and swallowed dryly.
“Lariette, why all of a sudden… are you drunk?”
Lariette didn’t answer and reached out to grab his shoulder. Then, in an instant, she pushed him.
It was a weak shove, but bewildered, Asrahan’s body offered no resistance and fell backward. Soon, he was lying completely on the sofa.
“Asrahan.”
Lariette, sitting on his lower body, curled up the corners of her mouth into a smile.
“Shall we finish what we were doing then?”
A seductive hand brushed past Asrahan’s chest.
Thump. With it, his heart plummeted.
His entire body stiffened rigidly with tension. Strength tautly entered his thighs beneath where she sat.
*I have to endure. I must. Lariette is drunk….*
Asrahan thought desperately, trying to suppress his desire.
No matter how much he had declared he wouldn’t let it slide next time, he couldn’t act recklessly toward someone who was drunk.
It wasn’t that he intended to protect her for life simply because she was precious. But at least for their first skinship, he wanted it to happen when her mind was clear, when she truly wanted it.
Suppressing emotions was something familiar to Asrahan. Because of that, he believed he could easily endure this time as well.
But the moment Lariette subtly moved her hips and leaned forward, Asrahan realized that was absolutely not the case.
“What, not saying anything….”
“Lariette, get off.”
“Mmm, but I don’t want to….”
“Get off.”
Asrahan spoke in a desperate voice, clenching his molars tightly.
He felt like he was going mad. If she moved even a little more, she might touch the thing that was already making its presence starkly known.
And if that happened, he didn’t think he would be able to restrain himself at all.
He simply needed to grab her waist and move her aside, but Asrahan, caught up in confusion, failed to notice that simple solution.
“Then, you know… won’t you listen to just one request? Just one, hmm? Then I’ll get off!”
Unable to recognize the crisis, Lariette spoke with a broad grin. Perhaps because she was drunk, her speech dragged unusually at the ends, and a nasal tone colored her voice.
That appearance too was so cute and stimulating to Asrahan that he let out a short groan. Then he opened his mouth as though giving up.
“What request is it? I will listen to anything, so please get off.”
“Give me a peck!”
Asrahan once again ran his hand down his face. There was no doubt she was trying to drive him insane.
Lariette continued to act spoiled with an innocent voice.
“Not a kiss, a peck. Hmm? If you give me just one peck, I’ll get off right away! Pinky promise, pinky promise!”
Lowering her head, she held out her pinky finger in front of Asrahan’s face.
Asrahan looked at her with trembling pupils. It was a tormented expression.
As if having made up his mind, he slowly reached out. Soon his large hand cupped Lariette’s face.
“…Keep your promise.”
Lariette stared at him, blinking her large eyes. Asrahan’s perfect face gradually drew closer in her vision.
She squeezed her eyes shut. And soon she felt the rough texture of lips.
*Smack.*
It was a shallow sensation, like a bird brushing past.
But there was one problem.
That sensation was felt on her cheek.
“…Is that enough?”
Asrahan reddened to his ears, as if he had done something tremendous when it was merely a peck on the cheek.
Even in her drunken state, Lariette scoffed in disbelief.
“What kind of peck is that?”
If he retreated by one step, she would simply close the distance.
Thinking so, Lariette immediately cupped his face with both hands. Then she pulled him firmly and locked lips.
Plump, soft lips and thin, rough lips pressed firmly against each other. Through the thin membrane, the sound of pounding hearts was transmitted.
The lips hovered on a precarious boundary, seeming to part by the span of a second. After briefly sharing warmth, they separated with an embarrassing smack.
“This is a peck.”
Lariette donned a pleased smile on her face flushed red from drunkenness.
And at that moment, Asrahan’s patience hit bottom.
Asrahan instantly gripped her wrist, raised his body, and switched their positions. In an instant, Lariette’s vision flipped, and before she knew it, she was pinned beneath him.
“That’s enough.”
Asrahan opened his mouth with a voice that rumbled like scraping his throat.
“You should have shown some restraint.”
*When I showed patience, you should have held back.* Asrahan muttered inwardly, gazing at her.
Lariette, who had been looking at him with a briefly startled face, blinked her eyelids with vacant eyes.
*Since I’m lying down… I’m sleepy….*
A sudden drowsiness ill-fitting the situation came over her. It wasn’t strange, as she always fell fast asleep after getting drunk.
Since she saw no reason not to sleep, Lariette simply closed her eyes. And she fell asleep in an instant. Snoring sounds quickly spread.
Asrahan, who had watched this entire spectacle, felt an indescribable emotion.
“Lariette.”
“Mnya, mnya….”
“…Lariette.”
“Zzz.”
“…Hoo.”
Letting out a long sigh, he slowly moved off her. Then he lifted her in his arms and laid her down on her bed.
Afterward, Asrahan stood under cold water for a long time.
Until his lust had completely subsided—for a very long time.
***
“Asrahan! Asrahan!”
Lariette called his name again in a bright voice and opened the office door. And she discovered Asrahan with a face far darker than usual.
“You’re awake.”
Asrahan was attending to official duties while pressing his forehead with his fingers.
The corners of his eyes were exceptionally sharp, and the area beneath them was even darker. It was a face full of fatigue.
The previous night, unable to sleep due to thoughts of her continuously surfacing, he had pulled an all-nighter. Having processed documents throughout dawn, he had developed a migraine.
Asrahan slightly raised his gaze to check Lariette’s expression. It was an innocent, naive face, as if she knew nothing.
*Don’t tell me….*
He pressed his throbbing head and moved his lips. He wanted to ask if she remembered last night, but shame prevented the words from coming out.
And then Lariette plunged a dagger into his chest with a radiant smile.
“When did I fall asleep? I remember saying it was okay to continue the treatment with Doha….”
“….”
“I normally drink really well, you know? The cocktail must have been strong. Ugh, hangover.”
She thumped her chest and made a nauseous expression. She felt the smell of alcohol rising from the bottom of her throat.
Meanwhile, Asrahan felt as though he had been betrayed.
She stole his first kiss and doesn’t remember?
His heart had pounded so much he couldn’t sleep, yet the one who committed the act claimed to have no memory. Indignation surged within him.
Moreover, she slyly remembered only the information favorable to herself. He ground his teeth watching her casually speak the priest’s name.
“Lariette.”
“So for breakfast I was thinking something warm… Yes?”
Lariette had been chirping about eating onion soup when he called her name in a very low voice, and her eyes went wide.
And soon she discovered a cold yet blazing fire in Asrahan’s eyes.
“From now on, drinking with others is forbidden.”
“What? Why all of a sudden!”
“…It is forbidden.”
Unable to bring himself to say the reason, Asrahan repeated the same words.
Lariette began to protest, her brows furrowing deeply in frustration.
“Why are you doing this! Everyone else so far said my drinking habits are fine….”
“…Other people?”
Lariette stopped mid-sentence and clamped her mouth shut.
Come to think of it, those who had drunk with her were mainly her ex-boyfriends. There was no bigger mistake than mentioning ex-boyfriends in front of her current boyfriend.
As Lariette’s eyes flickered about nervously, Asrahan’s gaze narrowed further. Once again, hot jealousy bloomed from deep within his chest.
“‘Other people,’ you say. How interesting.”
Who had she drunk with? Jealousy was clearly embedded in his low, muttering voice.
Flustered, Lariette averted her gaze for no reason and pretended to be distracted. Inwardly, she was cursing herself from one minute ago for spouting useless words.
She felt wronged, too. Asrahan had surely dated so many lovers it would be hard to count, while she had only had two or three at most.
Of course, this was a perfect misconception, but Lariette had no way of knowing.
“By the way, are you busy today too?”
“…There are quite a few documents to process urgently. It seems I will have time tomorrow.”
Asrahan decided to accept her conspicuous change of topic instead of interrogating her. It was because her trembling eyes, panicked, looked rather pitiful.
Lariette secretly let out a sigh of relief at the joy of barely escaping the situation.
But then, Halshtain entered and added a tactless remark.
“Excuse me. My lady, the priest has come to visit.”
Asrahan, who had been reading documents with his head bowed, slowly raised his gaze to look at Halshtain. Before anyone knew it, wrinkles had formed between his handsome brows.
*Why now of all times!*
Lariette also looked at Halshtain with a face on the verge of tears. The timing couldn’t have been worse.
Halshtain, who knew nothing, was met with two resentful gazes and quickly made a flustered expression. Then he cautiously asked.
“…Shall I tell him to return?”
“No. It’s fine. Show him to the reception room.”
“Ah, we could do it in my room… but that doesn’t seem like it would work. The reception room is just right.”
Of course it is! Lariette quickly added, giving a thumbs up. It was because Asrahan’s brow had twitched when she mentioned her room.
***
Doha was sitting leaning back on the sofa with a relaxed appearance. His long silver hair was neatly tied, just as when she had last seen him, and he was wearing glasses.
“Doha!”
“My lady, it’s been a while.”
Doha greeted her, raising the corners of his eyes slyly. He looked nonchalant, as though he had never been practically driven out of the ducal estate.
Meanwhile, Lariette drooped her eyebrows and expressed her apology. Even she thought it was something truly regrettable.
To Lariette, Doha was the first close friend she had made and the benefactor who had connected her and Asrahan.
He was the one who had let her seize love by giving her dating advice when she knew nothing.
Yet she hadn’t even been able to stop him from being driven out, nor had she called him first to apologize. Once again, it was Doha who had come to find her.
“Dohaa… I’m really sorry….”
Lariette bowed her head deeply and apologized with sincerity. Her heart stung with guilt.
But Doha smiled with a sly curl of his lips, as if saying there was nothing to apologize for.
“What are you sorry for? You have nothing to be sorry to me about.”
He tapped Lariette’s brow with his long index finger. It was a gesture to smooth out the wrinkles.
Truly, there was no reason for Lariette to apologize to Doha.
She was quite mistaken in thinking his intentions were good, because he had never once sincerely helped her.
“Still….”
“If you really feel sorry, how about you come find me next time? This place is too burdensome.”
Too many watching eyes. Doha muttered in a whisper-like voice.
In the reception room located in the center of the mansion, servants frequently came and went, bringing tea and refreshments. It appeared to be hospitality, but Doha well knew it wasn’t.
*They’re saying they’re watching me….*
He looked at her fondly as she nodded in understanding, and leisurely stroked his chin with his hand.
There was no way he wouldn’t notice the subtle gazes of those who hadn’t even received training.
“She acts cute.”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Nothing, talking to myself. Rie, shall we start the treatment first?”
“Ah, about that….”
Lariette worked her mouth soundlessly and stole a glance at Doha. It was treatment offered with pure intentions, even free of charge, so she felt sorry, wondering if she was asking too much.
But more important than that was respect for Asrahan. After all, no one would be pleased to see their lover pressing foreheads with someone of the opposite sex.
“How about changing the posture? It feels like we’re… a little too close.”
“……Did your lover tell you to say that, my lady?”
“No, no! It’s just that I’m bothered by it. I have a boyfriend, so that kind of contact is a bit… you know.”
Lariette waved her hands and hurriedly denied his words. It was more or less the same as Asrahan having told her indirectly, but that was only natural for a lover.
Doha maintained his smile, but a subtle emotion lingered in his golden eyes.
He had asked, in a roundabout way, whether they had become lovers in order to confirm what he had already expected, but hearing it directly left a foul taste in his mouth.
Still, he could not let it show. If he did, that little beast would surely notice and scamper away.
“Very well. If that is what you want, my lady, then I shall do so. Though it will be a little less efficient.”
“Hehe. Thank you, Doha.”
Lariette, who had been afraid he might be offended, smiled happily when she saw him react no differently than usual. But Doha was not the sort to simply back down quietly.
“However, Rie. Pay more attention to your friend, too. Are you going to forsake friendship because your eyes are blinded by love?”
Doha took her hand with a ticklish touch and spoke in a pitiful voice.
At the sudden physical contact, Lariette’s eyes widened, but when she saw white light flowing into her hand, she soon understood the reason.
She shook her head and hurriedly answered. She did not want to become someone who easily abandoned friendship.
“No, of course not! There’s no way I would, Doha.”
“Wasn’t your outing with me solely for the sake of a jealousy strategy? How upsetting……”
Doha lowered his silver lashes softly and wore a gloomy expression. To survive in the temple, this level of acting was essential.
“I’m sorry, Doha. I didn’t think of that. What should I do? I’m sorry.”
Completely taken in by Doha’s acting, Lariette fidgeted and kept apologizing.
Maintaining his pitiable appearance, Doha casually cast out his bait.
“Then won’t you go to the library with me, my lady?”
“Uh…… today?”
“Yes, now. Why, are you going to say even the library is off-limits?”
Doha’s eyes once again gleamed plaintively. At the sight of him looking like a rain-soaked fox, Lariette unconsciously let out a small groan.
Wouldn’t it be all right to go to the library with a friend? That was what she thought. Then she slowly nodded.
“All right, let’s go together. Asrahan said he was busy today anyway……”
“Good, my lady. This makes me happy.”
When the prey took the bait, Doha smiled in satisfaction. In truth, it was also a sneer directed at the duke.
To think he had stopped at merely having servants keep watch. It was an utterly clumsy decision.
As long as Doha was careful with his actions, that was enough, and there was no way for the duke to interfere with a verbal proposal like this.
“Well, with eyes watching, it would be difficult for him to come in person.”
Doha thought so as his eyes curved gently.
No matter how lovely his lover was, he was the master of this mansion and a duke of the empire. If he showed jealousy even toward a mere priest visiting his lover, his dignity would fall in an instant.
However, what Doha did not know was that Asrahan was not the sort of person who cared about his status or reputation.
Lariette was the one and only beloved Asrahan had searched for all his life, and his savior. There was nothing he would not do to keep her from being taken away.
“Then I will go with you as well.”
At the sudden voice, Lariette and Doha turned their heads toward the door at the same time.
And there stood Asrahan, bandages fluttering here and there around him, wearing an expression so cool it was almost cold.
“Is there a problem?”
After stealing my lips, you intend to go to the library with another man? I cannot allow that.
Looking at Lariette, who was staring at him in surprise, Asrahan smiled crookedly.