What’s wrong with this guy…
Loki’s expression instantly crumbled, while beside him, Selene wore a look of utter disbelief. It seemed the worldview of this innocent young maiden had suffered a devastating blow.
The girl’s natural scent combined with the supple softness of her twin curves was a double assault on Loki’s senses—both smell and touch—delivering a well-loaded, triple-stage uppercut to his reason.
Her silver hair, draped behind her head, couldn’t conceal the pear-shaped curves of her body. Beneath the semi-transparent nightgown lay an unblemished expanse of white skin, with two provocative white lace trims forming a “bridge” across her thighs, fully exposed under the sunlight.
What made it worse was her slight twisting of the waist, as if uncomfortable, while tilting her head back to look up at Loki from below.
She resembled a gemstone perfectly set into a ring’s groove, or a queen seated upon her throne.
…This is bad. He’s going to react.
Loki stiffened his neck as hard as he could, but it was no use; the blood continued to flow where it shouldn’t.
He hadn’t expected Selene to sit directly on his lap—especially when there were several chairs nearby, giving her no reason to do so.
*****
Unless from the start, she intended to embarrass him.
Loki lowered his voice, struggling internally as he said,
“Selene… don’t you think the first thing you should do after waking up is to freshen up?”
“Eh, isn’t it fine to do that after breakfast?”
She clearly had no intention of moving away.
Sensing something, the girl’s face twisted into a teasing smile.
“Oh~ I never thought even the notorious sinner who’s made countless church clerics lose their appetite can’t remain indifferent when seated in someone’s lap.”
“…”
Loki sucked in a sharp breath.
“You do realize that repeatedly pushing my boundaries like this will have consequences, right?”
“Whoa, is that a threat? I’m so scared. I hope Lord Loki will back up his words~”
Looks like today she was in mischievous imp mode.
Sharing the same bed overnight had clearly made her more brazen and reckless.
Realizing that words wouldn’t make her leave, Loki reached under her arm and quickly lifted her off, tossing her onto a nearby chair.
Selene didn’t struggle but wore a look of mild regret, then shifted her gaze to Selene, who was desperately trying to shrink into the corner and minimize her presence.
“Hey, if it weren’t for you being an outsider here, Loki would’ve—”
“Just eat your breakfast quietly if you want it.”
“Ugh ugh ugh!”
Loki stuffed a piece of oval-shaped toast into Selene’s mouth.
“Sorry, Miss Selene… as you can see, the Saintess hasn’t fully woken up yet. Her brain’s still mush. I hope she didn’t scare you just now?”
“Uh… no, it’s not like that…”
Feeling Selene’s sharp, slightly hostile gaze, Selene forced a stiff smile.
She felt like she had been tied to a chair and forced to watch a low-budget stage play for hours.
“Y-You and Her Highness the Saintess have such a close relationship… ha, ha ha.”
Selene wanted to run.
She should’ve left after delivering the meal cart instead of foolishly following Loki into the room and discovering things she shouldn’t have known.
The Saintess of the Holy Church and the legendary great sinner were… like this?
There was only one bed in the room! Could it be that last night they actually…
Selene swallowed hard.
There was no strange smell in the room, so maybe that kind of thing hadn’t happened…
Rather than worry about her friend’s precarious romance, she actually wanted to blame one irresponsible man first.
…Father, you’re not deliberately hiding the existence of the Saintess from me, are you?
Mother happened to find your secret stash of money hidden in the bookcase on the right side of your study, in the third row, seventh book’s cover—you should be able to understand that, right?
“I- I just didn’t expect you two to already have this kind of… relationship.”
“It’s not what you think, Miss Selene.”
Though he wanted to explain, the words felt utterly hollow once on his lips. After all, the intimacy they’d just shown was genuine, and to an outsider unaware of their past grievances, it was undeniable proof of a “deep relationship.”
Caught between a rock and a hard place.
Loki fell silent.
“Hmm… Though I don’t really want Loki to eat food made by other women, I have to say your cooking is really good.”
Selene licked the crumbs from her fingers.
“At least I didn’t taste any unnecessary feelings. It was just simply delicious. You pass.”
“Uh… thank you for your compliment?”
“So from now on, you’ll be in charge of all our meals?”
“Only today’s breakfast is my doing. But if you need, I can—”
“No need. Just tell me where the kitchen is. From now on, I’ll be responsible for all of Loki’s meals, so you won’t have to trouble yourself.”
“Okay, okay…”
Selene could see that this petite Saintess was clearly staking her claim on Loki—
Not just her, even Lady Christine would probably say the same things and show the same hostility without batting an eye.
Like a little girl afraid someone would take away her most beloved toy.
Selene subtly took a half step back.
…Even though she was the Saintess, this arrogant attitude was truly infuriating.
No matter how gentle Selene was, she wouldn’t press a warm face against a cold backside.
She had to quickly warn her foolish friend to end this pointless stalking game… What a joke, if that girl ended up pregnant and still stubbornly trailing behind, and then dared to come crying to her, Selene promised she’d give her a good kick in the backside… no, at least three.
She was the next head of the Witch Clan; in every way, she shouldn’t lose to the Saintess of the Holy Church.
Shouldn’t she?
“This is mainly for safety,” Selene added.
“A naïve lady like you might not have any ill intentions yourself, but that doesn’t mean others won’t use you for their own purposes.”
So that was it?
Selene suddenly covered her lips in embarrassment, realizing she had misunderstood. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her earlier wild thoughts.
“Of course, the most important thing is to keep you away from Loki. In my eyes, any woman who comes within five steps of Loki is definitely thinking about how to get close to him—”
A fist landed on the girl’s head.
“Ugh!”
“That’s enough, Selene. Don’t say such ridiculous things.”
Loki retracted his fist and gave Selene a helpless smile.
“Sorry, Miss Selene. Please don’t take her words to heart.”
The Saintess only received a light tap on the head; the action was just to remind her not to babble so much.
If he weren’t so inconvenienced to get up, he would definitely try drilling his fingers into Selene’s temple to see what kind of sound she’d make.
Selene gave an awkward smile and retreated toward the door.
“No, no! Miss Selene was just joking, right? I understand… Oh, by the way, Mr. Loki, there’s something I have to tell you. My father said he’s coming by later… So, I hope you’ll be prepared.”