Chapter 48
“Your Highness, please make me obey you. I’ll be your faithful dog.”
He leaned in again to kiss me, but I quickly covered his lips with my hand.
Then he bit my hand.
The soft, warm sensation startled me, and when I looked up, I saw his bare, muscular torso—only his pants remained. The sight of his chest rising and falling with every breath, the lines of his veins starkly visible, made it hard to look away.
“Then tell me,” I said. “Who is Rubiana, what is Grasse, and what does Sir Francis have to do with me?”
“Ah…”
My eyes drifted to the two bottles of rum he had brought.
“Let’s drink while we talk.”
“…Fine.”
But then, something about the “penalty timer” on the side looked strange.
Penalty: 35:29
▼ Deduction Points (Dog Days in progress): +3
What’s that at the bottom? +3?
“Mmph… Sir Francis!”
He tried to pull me close again, trying to kiss me repeatedly, and I yelled his name in surprise.
At that, he froze, looking guilty—like a scolded dog. Damn that greyhound!
Penalty: 35:28
▼ Deduction Points (Dog Days in progress): +4
Wait—does kissing add points?
Penalty time decreases by the number of Deduction Points!
Holy crap, best greyhound ever!
Smooch! Smooch! Smooch!
▼ Deduction Points (Dog Days in progress): +7
“Haa… Your Highness…”
“Mmph…”
He went deep—too deep.
When I didn’t react, thinking he’d stop soon, he only grew more intense, more eager. His skill seemed to improve terrifyingly fast—was this the same man who didn’t know what he was doing earlier? I lightly bit his lip, hoping he’d take the hint to stop, but that only made him burn hotter. He pressed me back, tracing the ceiling pattern as if memorizing it, before curling around me again.
▼ Deduction Points (Dog Days in progress): +9
Wow, doing it passionately gives two points?
Damn it…
“Now talk,” I gasped.
My jaw was about to dislocate at this rate!
I grabbed the rum bottle lying uncorked on the bed and handed it to him.
He opened mine first, then his own, and drank deep.
The rum burned down his throat in gulps. Watching him, I took a sip too—but after so long without drinking, the alcohol hit me instantly, leaving me dizzy.
Francis emptied his bottle completely, then finally spoke.
“I had an older brother.”
If we kept talking like this, my chastity would be 100%—no, 1000% in danger.
When he finally seemed ready to continue, I stood up—but seeing the lost, pained look in his eyes, I hesitated and sat back beside him. He exhaled softly when my shoulder brushed his.
“His name was Levant Patella. He was supposed to inherit the family title. But one day… while climbing a tree…”
“Yes?”
“…he fell.”
It was my first time hearing about Francis’s brother. Maybe everyone kept quiet because it was such a painful story.
“I was the one who called out to him. So everyone thinks… I killed him.”
“I see.”
“Rubiana was originally my brother’s fiancée. It was a family arrangement—she was supposed to marry whoever inherited the Patella Marquisate. So when my brother died… I was the one who had to take his place.”
His hand moved gently through my hair.
I was still wearing a mask, and the rough texture against his fingers made it uncomfortable. I squirmed slightly, trying to adjust, and he pulled me closer, locking me in his arms. His bare chest was firm, warm. Normally, he smelled faintly of freesia, but tonight, I caught a heavier scent—Adrian’s cologne.
“Your Highness Gracie. I swear on my life, I have never laid a single finger on Rubiana.”
“I know Sir Francis is a virgin.”
“Ah… wh–how…”
“I just know. The kiss earlier was your first, wasn’t it? So… I can tell.”
His grip tightened, and for a moment I worried I’d said something wrong. But then, slowly, he relaxed again.
“I don’t know why Rubiana betrayed me. But after I returned from the war…”
“…?”
“One day, she offered me tea—so sweetly, for the first time ever. I didn’t like her, but… since we were to be married, I couldn’t refuse. After drinking it, I fell into a deep sleep.”
The way he trembled made me feel a flicker of sympathy. I took his loosened hand and squeezed it tight. He met my eyes.
“I really don’t remember anything after that. When I woke up, I was alone in my room. My clothes were still on. Even my chastity belt was intact.”
“You wore a chastity belt?”
“Ah, yes… Lord de Lebois wore one too, so I did the same. Out on the battlefield, temptation is everywhere… I didn’t want to fall into that.”
And yet this same man tries to kiss me every chance he gets?
“N–not anymore! I haven’t worn it since that day!”
He stammered, flustered, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“So then? Continue.”
“Not long after that, Rubiana accused me—said I colluded with the enemy and smuggled supplies. She also claimed she’d caught a venereal disease that only the Encelos soldiers could contract.”
“That’s possible? To make a disease affect only one army?”
“It is—if you mix magic and science properly.”
He finally smiled faintly, brushing my bangs aside and kissing my forehead, my cheek, my lips again.
It tickled, but I didn’t pull away.
▼ Deduction Points (Dog Days in progress): +13
Four kisses. He’s quick.
“When our army goes to war, we drink holy water blessed by the goddess. Encelos does the same. If someone cursed only their holy water, it could happen. I know—I was the one who oversaw that.”
“I heard there weren’t many mages in your army.”
“There don’t need to be. All you have to do is sneak into the supply area and tear a magic scroll made by a mage.”
In this game world, mages were rare. Healers, too.
And they couldn’t even use magic without mana stones.
Those stones were expensive beyond reason, which is why so few mages existed at all.
“When infected, black spots appear on the inner thigh. Rubiana had them. I didn’t.”
“Then why didn’t you defend yourself in court?”
“I did. But no one believed me. Even when I offered to be examined—they said I’d just taken an antidote.”
“Ah…”
Right, the Empire made the disease. They’d obviously prepare a countermeasure.
“Then why did they suspect you of being a spy? That doesn’t even connect. You could’ve caught it during your mission.”
“In Encelos, only those with verified identity receive holy water. It contains a mild hallucinogen that boosts strength severalfold. A mere foot soldier would never have access to it. That’s why it was suspicious.”
“I see…”
“My father tried to defend me… but the stress gave him a heart attack.”
“…Oh.”
Oh, Princess Gracie… what have you done to get tangled up in this mess?
“Then… then why did you suspect me?”
“That… that’s…”
The pain twisting his expression made me regret asking. But if I didn’t hear it now, I might never know.
“It was Your Highness—Princess Gracie—who supported Rubiana’s testimony in court. Because of that, I lost everything. I didn’t understand why… so I went to find Rubiana afterward. And I overheard her speaking with someone.”
“With me?”
“At the time, I thought it was. Her companion was a woman wearing a mask, but the voice—it was identical to Yours, Your Highness.”
“What did she say?”
“She gave Rubiana an antidote. And told her… ‘Now, do whatever you truly want.’”
He took a deep breath, the heavy smell of rum surrounding us.
Uneasy, I gulped down what was left in my own glass, drinking more than I meant to. When I noticed his eyes on me, I offered the bottle.
“And then?”
“And then… I went to find you.”
“Which one of me?”
“The one I love.”
“Back then—was it me? Or my sister?”
“I have never, not once, harbored feelings for Princess Kiira.”
But… in the prologue, he had.
Unless… me altering the story has started changing even the prologue?
“What did you say when you came to me?”
“I demanded to know why you’d used Rubiana to ruin my life. Why you lied in court.”
“And then?”
I waited, tense, for his next words.
