A strange kind of silence.
Wendy could even hear the feeble, listless beating of his exhausted heart from within his own chest.
After Laxana fled like a frightened deer, the room was plunged into a dead quiet.
Before he could catch his breath, a hand grabbed his wrist.
Without a word, Astreia yanked him up from the bed and dragged him roughly toward the steam-filled bathroom.
Thud.
Wendy’s back slammed hard against the icy magic crystal wall, jolting him into a shiver, his bones nearly rattling apart.
Steam instantly blurred his vision.
All he could see was Astreia’s breathtakingly beautiful face magnified before him, one hand braced against the wall beside his ear, trapping him firmly between herself and the wall.
This posture left no room to escape.
Astreia just gazed down at him, doing nothing, saying nothing, letting the suffocating pressure drown the room.
Wendy weakly raised his hands and pressed them gently against her flat, firm abdomen, the astonishing heat transmitting through her skin.
“Please… really… no more…”
The Prince’s plea was soft and fragile.
After a whole night of wild lovemaking, every bone in his body felt like jelly.
“Hmm?”
Astreia lowered her head, her nose almost touching his.
In her green starry eyes, his current disheveled and helpless reflection shimmered.
Her warm breath brushed against Wendy’s lips, tickling.
The Princess’s voice dropped low, laced with playful hoarseness.
“Don’t you like it, my dear lecherous Prince?”
Wendy’s cheeks instantly burned.
He also realized he couldn’t quite understand Astreia’s current state.
She wasn’t like when she was Witchified—a purely predatory tyrant.
Nor was she like usual—a shy Princess who blushed at a single word from him.
Right now, she was more like a snake demon that had cultivated into a spirit.
Using her supple yet powerful tail to coil tightly around her prey, but not swallowing it immediately—just flicking her tongue with keen interest, licking the prey’s scent over and over, savoring the entire process from struggle to despair and finally complete surrender.
This forced affection—Wendy admitted he liked it.
But the feeling of being repeatedly toyed with mentally was nearly driving him to collapse.
Astreia’s finger gently lifted the Prince’s chin, forcing him to meet her gaze.
“Or is it…”
“Your stamina is low again?”
A wicked smile curved on the Princess’s lips as she softly blew a breath onto Wendy’s face.
A wisp of pale purple magic aura, like a mischievous butterfly, rudely drilled into the Prince’s body.
That familiar warm current surged again—more domineering than ever before.
It washed through his limbs and bones, sweeping away the deep-seated soreness and fatigue, forcibly pulling his physical functions back to their peak.
Even the last shred of weakness he could use as an excuse was taken away.
Wendy closed his eyes in despair, then opened them again, left only with a resigned sigh.
“It’s not a stamina problem…”
He gave up his pointless resistance, his gaze turning pitiful like a rabbit soaked in rain, looking up miserably at the giant serpent before him.
“It’s my spirit… I’ve been tormented by both of you all night. Really, my mind is numb.”
“Just let me rest in peace for a while, okay?”
“Oh?”
Astreia looked at him like that, the amusement in her eyes deepening.
“So you have no spirit left, huh~”
She seemed finally satisfied, cheerfully withdrawing her hands.
Wendy’s heart relaxed slightly; he leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh.
Finally… I can have some quiet.
That thought had just arisen.
The next second, he felt a tight grip around his waist, and his entire body was scooped up by an irresistible force!
His vision spun.
His feet left the ground.
Then, his face was pressed forcefully into a shocking softness and warmth.
“Mmh!!!”
His nostrils were instantly filled with a complex scent, a mix of body wash fragrance and the delicate, orchid-like aroma of a woman.
Air was completely cut off.
The sudden suffocation blanked Wendy’s mind.
Survival instinct drove him to struggle wildly.
The Prince’s legs kicked aimlessly, his hands pushing and shoving frantically, trying to escape this gentle prison.
Astreia ignored his resistance, just soothingly stroked the back of his head and his spine, like calming a frightened pet.
Yet the body holding him was as steady as a rock.
“Don’t be nervous…”
Her comfort came muffled through a layer of skin and flesh, dull yet carrying a strange magic.
“Relax.”
“It’ll be over soon~”
Those words were like a spell.
Wendy’s violently struggling body actually quieted down bit by bit under her soothing.
He gave up fighting.
His lungs burned with fiery pain.
His brain, starved of oxygen, began to darken at the edges.
Yet an unprecedented, eerie sense of comfort spread from the deepest part of his heart.
It hurts so much…
It really hurts…
But…
Why…
Does it also feel so good…
His dangling legs stopped kicking, only twitching weakly occasionally.
The hands that had been pushing turned into arms gently wrapping around her waist.
He even buried his face deeper on his own.
Greedily sniffing that deadly fragrance.
Am I… going to die like this?
That wouldn’t be so bad…
Just as Wendy’s consciousness was about to sink into complete darkness—
The force holding him suddenly released.
“Haa—!”
He was let down, his legs giving out as he slid down the wall.
He gasped deeply for the humid air.
Stars burst before his eyes.
Before he could recover from that near-death experience, a warm, moist object pressed against his lips.
Astreia kissed him.
She parted his teeth and breathed a mouthful of air laced with her scent into him.
Like sweet rain from heaven.
Wendy’s unfocused vision refocused.
What met his eyes was the Princess’s face, so close, wearing a victorious smile.
The relief of survival after calamity mingled with the humiliation of being utterly dominated, igniting a rebellious fire.
Inside her mouth, the Prince launched a weak, provocative counterattack with his tongue.
Astreia’s green eyes narrowed dangerously.
A half-smile on her lips.
The next second, she clamped down on the back of Wendy’s head and deepened the kiss fiercely!
The initiative was instantly taken away.
The magic shower head above them silently sprayed warm water.
Water droplets slid along the curves of their tightly pressed bodies, splashing tiny blossoms on the smooth floor.
The Prince’s eyes widened, then narrowed slightly, savoring the moment.
In this small world shrouded by steam, all reason and resistance were soaked through, unfolding a secret tale of passionate confusion known to no one.