Chapter 76

“And before you grabbed my hair and swung me around, you said something… Ah, Peroa, you bet with those wastrels on how long it would take to back off from being the Second Princess?”

Laughter mixed in the voice.

I tore my gaze away from Alpheios and turned around.

Before I knew it, I locked eyes with the Crown Prince who had entered the parlor.

“I heard everything well. Is there any other testimony we should hear, Princess?”

Without hesitation, I opened my mouth.

“As a member of the royal family, could you take responsibility and restore the parlor to its original state? Before Riorem returns. This has gone beyond something I can brush off.”

“That sounds difficult,”

The Crown Prince gave a meaningful look at my words.

“Ah.”

I groaned softly.

“Could it be…?”

“Yes.”

The Crown Prince smiled awkwardly.

“My knights are holding him down hard over there, but probably not much longer.”

A sudden dizziness hit me.

No wonder Paletion Danos, the Crown Prince’s closest aide, wasn’t in sight.

“Hah.”

I sighed without realizing it.

I wasn’t afraid that Alpheios was rampaging, trying to assault me.

But knowing Riorem would find out was frightening.

Riorem probably wouldn’t get angry at me.

He might punish me lightly, but it was certain that he himself would be the one truly upset.

Whether because he didn’t deal with Alpheios beforehand or failed to properly secure the mansion, he would blame himself for this happening.

That scared me.

I took heavy steps forward.

A knight approached to escort me, but I declined.

I didn’t want Riorem to have even more reasons to be jealous.

“Where is he? Riorem?”

At my words, the Crown Prince pointed outside the terrace.

Behind him, the night sky had already fallen.

I lightly greeted the Crown Prince and left the parlor.

Once outside, the cool night air poured in.

I looked toward the front gate of the townhouse at the bottom of the hill. A few people were gathered there.

It was obvious to anyone that several people were blocking one person.

I moved quickly along the steep hill.

My dress skirt smelled unpleasant from rolling on semen, but I ignored it and ran fast.

Because I wanted to hold Riorem soon.

Riorem was surrounded by knights, unable to pass the townhouse gate.

Paletion Danos was sweating heavily as he held him back.

As I descended the hill, the sound of their arguing grew closer.

“Move.”

“No, please… just calm down a bit, okay?”

A choked voice, holding back emotion.

I narrowed my eyes to see Riorem.

I swallowed hard.

Riorem was covered in blood.

Even from afar, the vivid red covering his body was clear.

I ran down the hill faster than I ever had in my life.

Hearing my footsteps, Riorem turned to look at me.

He started running toward me too.

This time, the other knights didn’t try to stop him.

I kicked off as if leaping from the hill.

The moment my body floated in the air, Riorem barely caught me.

I hugged his neck tightly. Riorem’s uniform was damp, smelling sharply of iron.

“Are you okay?”

A man covered head to toe in blood asked me. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.

‘Who is really asking who if they’re okay?’

Despite this state, worrying about my well-being first was endearingly foolish.

So I hugged Riorem even tighter.

“I can’t say I’m completely fine.”

Riorem’s answer was left unsaid.

His hand grabbed a handful of my hair — tangled, torn, marked by someone’s grip.

“What did that man do to you?”

My voice was stiff as I asked.

As expected, Riorem didn’t show anger toward me.

He only breathed quietly in a low tone.

I looked down at the eerily silent Riorem and thought,

‘I have to solve this first.’

I felt sorry for the Crown Prince who would want testimony about Alpheios’ betrayal, but for me, restoring

Riorem’s heart was more important than punishing Alpheios.

I tightened the arm around Riorem’s neck.

Then I whispered near his pale, frightened ear.

“Alpheios smeared all the furniture in the parlor with his semen. The furniture, the carpet — everything soaked in his fluids.”

“And I rolled on that floor. Do you know what I want most now?”

Riorem’s Adam’s apple twitched hard.

‘Kick Alpheios who laid a hand on me’ or ‘Wash the traces of Alpheios off my body.’

Of course, Riorem chose to wash me.

“…Did I choose the right side?”

“Yes. You want to soak your body in the bathtub.”

“Understood.”

Riorem climbed the hill without hesitation.

Thanks to his long legs, he was able to return to the townhouse building even faster than I had run.

No one could stop him moving at such a terrifying speed.

We arrived on the second floor in tense silence, reaching the bathroom that seemed isolated from all the chaos.

Riorem gently placed me into the marble bathtub.

He opened a warm ceramic container filled with hot bathwater and poured it all over my body.

The hardened sweat and filth were all washed away by the rushing water.

By the time even my underwear was thoroughly soaked, Riorem pulled the back of my neck.

His rough lips, cold perhaps from the blood, swallowed my breath.

I tried to share warmth by rubbing my tongue against his chilly lips.

Fortunately, the warmth soon spread to Riorem as well. His slightly trembling shoulders gradually relaxed.

“Hmm…”

His hotter, wetter tongue slowly traced my palate.

When I gently bit the tip, the flesh changed shape and penetrated deep inside.

The movement swept through the delicate area near my throat, sending a shiver down my neck.

The tickling pleasure rose from my cheekbones to my forehead and tingled across my nose.

How long did he explore inside me? His reddened lips stretched out a silver thread and slowly parted.

I gazed at Riorem with a dazed expression.

His face was much cleaner than before.

The bloodstains had naturally been washed away by the wet hands I used to scrub him.

I asked in a half-drowned voice,

“Are you hurt?”

“No.”

Riorem bent down and bit my ear firmly.

I tilted my head back and smiled in satisfaction at the warm breath invading my ear canal.

I realized while kissing that not a single drop of blood flowed from Riorem’s skin.

He was just covered in countless amounts of other people’s blood.

“Were you worried?”

“Of course. You’re my lover.”

“Haha.”

Riorem laughed, his throat vibrating.

“You can’t hurt me with such clumsy knife work.”

His low voice tickled my ear like a whisper.

“…On the other hand, it’s far too easy to hurt you. Anyone could do it if they really wanted. Even an untrained maid, even bare-handed.”

“So are you going to hide me in a safe then?”

I gently stroked Riorem’s back.

A rough, irregular pulse passed through my palm. I caressed him hoping his heart would beat softly again.

“It’s okay.”

I whispered to Riorem.

“The only hard thing was listening to that scoundrel’s nonsense. Everything else was fine.”

“So in the end, you’ve been able to get rid of that man completely. In front of you, in front of me.”

He might somehow cover up the fact that he was caught trying to assault me.

But collaborating with the Empire to get rid of Riorem and claim me was something no excuse could justify. It was treason.

Meaning, this incident will allow us to cleanly remove Alpheios from Riorem’s life.

‘Of course, now that this has happened, Riorem should lead the expedition army…

The reason the deployment to the battlefield had been delayed until now was because it was originally Alpheios’ mission.

Even those who wanted to send Riorem away from the palace and get rid of him couldn’t easily push the matter, ignoring this fact.

But since Alpheios has come to a point where even his status could be stripped, there is only one choice left.’