#9. The Night of Two
2023.08.09.
The conversation flowed smoothly.
“If you do what I desire, I will also make everything Your Highness wishes come true.”
Fearful that a word of refusal might leave Karan’s lips, Elise played her cards first.
“What…… do I want? Do you know?”
“The revival and unification of Titris. And the stability of the throne.”
One of the reasons Titris was disdained by Bedroka was that it had not been long since Titris had escaped the form of a tribal state.
Until about fifty years ago, three families had ruled Titris in turns.
Then, fifty years ago, Karan’s grandfather subdued the other families, transforming it into a dynastic kingdom.
It was the reason Karan Lisandro became Karan Lisandro Titris.
Therefore, Titris was no different from a newborn nation, and their unity was weak.
Chaos was an added burden, and there were those who eyed the throne with predatory hunger.
In his previous life, Karan had dreamed of Titris’s revival founded upon a powerful throne.
He had many enemies both within and without, so he could not achieve that dream before Elise died, but……
Yet that was not all he desired.
“You know precisely. As though you have known me since long ago.”
Karan’s voice dropped. The doubt he had felt since first meeting her grew even deeper.
She knew about him to a strange degree.
To Karan’s knowledge, there had never been a memorable encounter between them after which she would remember him.
“I looked into it.”
“Into me?”
Elise nodded lightly.
“Why?”
“Will it suffice as an answer if I say it is because I am interested?”
The corners of Elise’s lips rose. It was a captivating smile that could enchant any man, whether or not he harbored feelings for her.
The tips of Karan’s ears reddened. He pretended to brush his hair back to hide his ears.
The fact that she was interested in him was entirely unexpected, and it bewildered him.
“What do you think? Will you join hands with me?”
Elise leaned her upper body toward Karan. Her scent brushed the tip of his nose.
A brief silence fell. The longer it stretched, the more anxious Elise became.
Elise’s actions were, to put it kindly, unconventional; frankly speaking, they were insane.
The reason Elise could muster courage despite knowing this was the fact that Karan had come to find her just before she died.
Whatever his reason had been for seeking her out, she had faith that he would at least lend an ear to her words.
And her faith was rewarded.
Karan did not cast Elise aside. Though he did not welcome her with open arms either.
Should she back down now?
It was when Elise hesitated.
He tilted his head to the left and gazed steadily at Elise seated across from him.
A noble of Bedroka requesting a night with a Titrisian deemed a barbarian.
“The reason?”
“As I told you, because it will be helpful.”
“To me, or to you?”
“To both.”
Karan exhaled a long, thin breath. His chest swelled greatly, then subsided.
She was a woman so pure and pristine that it seemed immoral for him to lay a hand on her.
She was someone so beautiful that he could not even look upon her properly.
She was a jewel he wished to keep by his side and show to no one, if possible.
Nevertheless, Karan hesitated. Precisely because it was Elise.
“Are you serious? Unlike Titris, chastity must be of utmost importance in Bedroka.”
“Do you wish to hear me say you need not take responsibility?”
The eyes gazing up at him with her chin raised were provocative.
So much so that Karan’s throat ran dry. Karan swept back his disheveled hair.
“I am saying I will take responsibility. Before that……”
Karan took the hand Elise had placed on the table.
He unfurled her lightly clenched hand and slid his fingers between hers.
Compared to his own, it was an infinitely small, slender, unblemished hand.
A small hand that clearly revealed her life had been smooth, unlike his.
That hand was trembling faintly.
*Is she nervous?*
That trembling undid Karan. Slowly, he brushed her palm.
*If you are sincere…… shall I pretend not to know, and hold on?*
Karan had no intention of telling her that he was standing in a pit of fire.
Pretending to be a perfectly ripe fruit, exuding a scent that promised no harm from being devoured, Karan raised Elise’s hand.
Elise swallowed hard.
Keeping his gaze fixed on Elise’s face, hardened with tension, Karan pressed his lips to the inside of her pulsing wrist.
“It will not be a comfortable night.”
He accepted Elise’s proposal. Elise’s heart thundered. The place where his lips touched burned as if scorched.
“What must I do?”
Elise bit her lip, then released it. Elise furrowed her brow.
“Embrace me.”
“Then.”
Screech—the sound of a chair sliding rang out. Then a large shadow covered Elise’s small frame. A long, rugged hand lifted her chin.
“You must not avert your eyes. Look straight at me, and say it properly. What I must do.”
It was spoken as an invitation, yet it sounded like a command. In an atmosphere that tensed one’s nerves automatically, Elise gripped the hem of her dress tightly.
Elise met his eyes exactly as he desired.
His pupils were blazing fiercely. It seemed that the slightest touch would transfer the embers and burn her away entirely.
“Hurry.”
Until moments ago, he had been a man overflowing with composure. Where had that ease gone, the ease with which he had dismantled and weighed Elise’s proposal? The man grew impatient.
He bent at the waist. Stopping at a distance where they nearly touched, he called her name as if forcing it out.
“Elise.”
“Embrace…… me, Your Highness Karan.”
As if it were a signal flare, he swept Elise up into his arms.
***
Elise removed Karan’s shirt. Then a robust shoulder, one not seen on a noble who had only ever held pens, was revealed.
Elise held her breath for a moment and looked at him.
Black hair like ebony and black pupils like obsidian—rare sights in Veronica—were mysterious.
His gaze was sharp, yet shone with intelligence, and the soft smile on his lips inspired trust.
He was truly a handsome man, even seen anew. Elise recalled him at the banquet where they first met.
It was a memory surprisingly vivid.
*Even when I saw him in the past, I thought he was handsome. Though others said he looked rough.*
While Elise recalled him, soft bedding touched her back.
Before she knew it, Elise was upon the bed.
“Do not regret this. It is already too late.”
Even without his saying so, she had decided this from the moment she resolved to meet Karan.
She neither regretted it now, nor wished to turn back.
And strangely, she was composed. Yet separate from that, her body was steadily heating up.
Instead of answering, Elise pulled at Karan’s loosened shirt collar.
Her throat parched from his lingering gaze; she would rather hide from his sight.
Karan’s lips brushed past Elise’s own, perilously close.
A tingling sensation flowed through her body.
Karan leaned in deeply. His breath spread against Elise’s ear.
They said Titrisians ran hot, and indeed they did.
The man’s scorching breath, his body heat, heated Elise to her limit.
Elise rolled her eyes to the side to regard Karan’s profile. His prominent brow bone, high nose bridge, full lips.
Karan lightly caught Elise’s lips between his.
It was the beginning of a night that would be dyed in vivid hues.
Had his words that it would not be comfortable meant he would not let her be comfortable?
Karan kept his word exactly.
Throughout that night, Elise had to learn that pleasure and pain were adjacent.
Intense pleasure was at times pain, and dizzying pain bestowed endless pleasure.
It was, quite literally, a night of rapture.
***
The next day, Karan woke in fine spirits.
He felt like the luckiest man alive.
Elise was a woman Karan had harbored in his heart for a long time. Yet believing he could never have her, he had merely watched from afar.
But for her to seek him out first, and to fall into his arms……
He was so happy that even if struck by lightning in the street, he would feel no injustice.
However, Karan’s mood soon plummeted.
The place where Elise, who had granted him ecstasy all night, should have lain was empty.
Karan searched the Pigtail Pub barefoot. Elise had vanished without a trace.
“What…… was it truly a dream?”
Karan returned to the room and muttered hollowly. He roughly swept his hair back.
It could not be a dream.
The sensation of her skin clinging to his hands was still vividly alive.
Had he pushed her too hard until dawn and exhausted her?
The cold bed froze his heart.
“Your Highness, your meal…… what are you doing?”
Karan’s confidant, Hartvin, opened the door and flinched.
It was a strange sight—Karan stomping about with only a gown thrown over him.
“Elise is gone.”
“Elise? Who is Elise? Elise, surely not…… *that* Elise?”
Hartvin’s eyes widened as if they would pop out. Karan glared at him. Hartvin quickly slapped his own mouth.
“This impudent snout! Do you mean Lady Elise Werton, Your Highness?”
“Yes. She definitely came yesterday. But she disappeared without a word.”
Could Karan have been tired lately?
Or had singing Elise’s praises finally driven him mad?
Hartvin, who knew of Karan’s terrible unrequited love, considered his own guess quite reasonable.
“You think I am dreaming, do you not?”
“N. o. Sir. How could that be.”
At the painfully awkward tone, Hartvin slapped his own lips again.
“It is unbelievable, but true. She clearly spent the night with me.”
Karan spoke forcefully, as if to convince himself.
“Yes, of course. The night is for eating, not spending…… what? You *spent* the night?”
It was one surprise after another. Hartvin seriously debated requesting a mental evaluation for Karan.
Then, Hartvin noticed a neatly folded note upon the nightstand.
“But Your Highness, have you seen that?”
Following Hartvin’s gaze, Karan turned his head and snatched the note with lightning speed.
It was the note Elise had left.
Indeed, the passionate night had been real.
Now that she had come into his hands, he would not let her go.
Even if the previous night became a regret for Elise.
Smiling deeply, Karan pressed the note she had left to his nose and inhaled deeply.