Chapter 41
This man’s body resembled a large rock.
His broad shoulders, bulging chest, and perfectly defined abs were all as hard as stone.
Yet, his touch was endlessly tender and gentle, and the thrill that came from this contrast was immense.
Rubiana embraced Elion, opening her legs and her body to him.
She shuddered at the heavy fullness that entered her.
“Ha, aah… Elion…!”
She felt as though her soul would escape with every thrust that drove in and then retreated.
Their lips were pressed together, their tongues intertwined.
With the addition of the mana’s stimulation to the physical arousal, Rubiana experienced the peak of ecstasy.
It was enough to lose all sense of self.
She wished for this moment to last forever.
She desperately wished to be eternally trapped in this moment, without tomorrow or the day after.
Everything else felt trivial compared to the act of sharing mana with Elion.
Her past life, the possession in a novel, the role of the heroine… all seemed insignificant compared to this very moment.
“Haah… Aaah…!”
The stimulation hitting her delicate and sensitive spot grew more intense, and Rubiana continuously let out fervent moans.
Her waist arched and thrashed, and her toes curled.
A thunderous climax struck both their bodies simultaneously, as they shook together without pause.
The bursting cries of pleasure and the hot passion thickly filled the space.
Rubiana and Elion embraced each other, letting out long, warm breaths.
Their night continued until all the breath and mana they had to share with each other had vanished.
Early Dawn
Elion woke up to a strange sensation and gasped at the sight before him.
‘How… is this… possible…?’
Rubiana was sleeping, her breath soft and even, nestled in his arms.
And the very next moment, the memory of the passionate lovemaking they had shared all night flooded back.
It was the memory of a body enslaved by surging mana, persistently exploring and ravaging her body.
Everything was new, awkward, and clumsy, but he couldn’t stop.
‘Madman. A beast.’
If reason failed to control instinct, he was no different from a beast.
Elion could not forgive himself.
No matter how unstable his mana was, no matter how ecstatic contact with Rubiana felt, there was a line that should have been maintained.
“Uh… Hmm…”
As he continued his self-reproach, Rubiana stirred, burrowing even deeper into his embrace.
Elion’s heart throbbed at her soft, yielding skin touching his bare flesh.
His heart grew warm from her shallow, gentle breaths.
‘This is all because of the mana.’
Both her burying herself in his arms while asleep, and his joyous reaction to her.
He felt as if he would lose control again if he continued to hold her.
Elion clenched his teeth and slowly moved his body.
He pulled his arm out and simultaneously backed away.
But perhaps due to the powerful pull of the mana, Rubiana strongly held onto his arm, refusing to let go.
‘Is her body reacting more honestly because she’s sleeping?’
Having no choice but to stop moving, Elion gazed intently at the sleeping Rubiana’s face.
Seeing her sleeping so peacefully, Elion’s heart soon regained its stability.
It was the first time in his life.
Lying in bed with someone.
Spending the night with a body so passionately aroused.
Feeling comfortable with another person stuck right next to him, without a safety distance.
Something he had never wished for or imagined throughout his life had happened.
‘What am I thinking? It’s all just the trick of mana, anyway.’
A self-deprecating laugh escaped him.
But at the same time, a thought emerged from the back of his consciousness: he wished the trick of the mana could continue a little longer.
If his incomplete body, which leaks mana due to a rift between his physical and spiritual self, were to remain incomplete forever.
If his incomplete body, the descendant of a Dragon who awakened as a Swordmaster with an explosive increase in mana, were to remain incomplete forever.
Then, perhaps, this contractual relationship could continue eternally?
Could they live by exchanging mana every day?
‘I must be truly, utterly mad.’
Elion held his forehead, overwhelmed by the ridiculous thoughts that kept popping up.
He had to get out of the bed as soon as possible.
He had to escape Rubiana’s side.
But Rubiana, luminous with the moonlight on her, held his gaze, refusing to let him go.
Silver hair and transparent skin.
She was entirely pure white, save for her small, full lips, which were red.
Elion’s gaze fixed on her slightly parted lips.
A strong desire arose instantly.
He wanted to kiss those delicate lips and breathe mana into the opening.
He wanted to invade and conquer her mouth, making her his own.
He wanted to make her smile, and he also wanted to make her cry.
‘I’ve truly gone off the deep end. Completely.’
Taking advantage of the moment Rubiana’s grip on his arm weakened, Elion backed away.
Finally free from the bed, Elion hastily slipped into a gown and rushed out of the bedroom.
He needed a safety distance.
He was a dangerous being. He had been since birth. That’s why he was always alone.
There was no way Rubiana could truly desire someone like him.
And the Empress certainly wouldn’t leave Rubiana alone.
It was obvious that the venomous gaze of the Empress, like a snake, was surely scrutinizing Rubiana and her family even now.
The Regret
She had slept so deeply that she couldn’t even remember her dreams.
It was the first time she had slept so soundly in both her past and current lives.
Rubiana yawned languidly and opened her eyes.
“Oh?”
An unfamiliar ceiling and unfamiliar bedding.
Startled, Rubiana shot up into a sitting position.
“Where is this…”
The moment of confusion, where she couldn’t make sense of things, was brief.
Rubiana’s mouth fell open weakly as she remembered where she was and everything that had happened here last night.
“Ah…!”
For a moment, she felt as if all the blood in her body had evaporated.
Her hands and feet turned cold as ice.
‘Oh my god… I… I slept with Elion…! My first night! My purity! Ohhh…!’
She even remembered every detail of how incredibly excited she had been, making a scene.
She had blindly clung to him, not knowing what she was doing.
Elion wanted her, and she wanted him too. More desperately than anything else in the world.
She remembered calling his name countless times, a name she couldn’t call when she was sober, and clinging to his firm body.
Rubiana wrapped her hands around her head.
‘I… I… with Elion…! This is impossible! I must have been possessed by something.’
The memory of her body consumed by the flames of desire became a dark, embarrassing chapter, choking her breath.
It was all because of that wretched mana.
She wished she could rip out the memory.
She wished she could pretend it never happened.
‘Should I just pretend I don’t know? Should I just deny it completely and play ignorant!’
Yes, that’s it.
Rubiana sprang out of bed and began to put on her clothes.
It was fortunate that Elion wasn’t there.
She needed to escape the scene of the incident before he returned.
First, get away.
The rest could be figured out later.
She put on her underwear and slipped on her chemise.
Over that, she put on her petticoat and then hastily fumbled with her dress.
There were too many clothes to put on.
Her nervous limbs wouldn’t move as intended and kept faltering.
She was tilting and swaying, her leg caught in the skirt, when—
“You weren’t thinking of running away, were you?”
“Kyaa!”
A scream automatically burst from Rubiana’s mouth, startled by the sudden voice.
Rubiana, her face on the verge of tears, looked up at Elion.
He seemed to have just finished bathing.
He was only wearing a bathrobe over his bare skin, and water droplets were falling from his un-dried hair.
His naked upper body was fully exposed through the loosely tied gown.
Several red lines were drawn across his firm chest.
They were marks left by Rubiana’s fingernails.
The memory of the moment she created those wounds instantly flashed in her mind, and her face burned hot.
She had screamed with pleasure while clinging to Elion.
She had pleaded in a husky voice, saying she wanted more, asking for more.
‘Ah… I hate this…!’
She was unbearably ashamed of herself.
To hide her disturbed expression, Rubiana quickly turned her head away.
Soon, Elion’s gentle voice reached her.
“Lady, about last night—”
“It was just an act of exchanging mana, wasn’t it? Isn’t that right?”
Interrupting Elion, Rubiana said, almost shouting.
The events of last night were indeed the mana’s trick.
Both of them, intoxicated by the mana being exchanged, had lost control and relentlessly explored each other.
They hadn’t cared at all who the other person was.
It was simply a matter of a woman wanting to replenish her insufficient mana and a man wanting to relieve the surging mana boiling inside him, both acting for their own benefit.
There wasn’t a gram of affection for the other person involved. Of course not.
“Yes. That’s right.”
Elion, lost in thought for a moment, slowly nodded.
A deep furrow appeared between his eyebrows.
Elion twisted his lips and muttered in a low voice.
“You’re right, Lady. It was an act of exchanging mana.”
“…”
“Thanks to you, my body has completely recovered. Thank you, Lady.”
“…Thank you too. Then, I’ll be leaving now.”
Rubiana bowed her head and hurriedly tried to slip away, but Elion’s voice stopped her.
“I’ve already sent a letter to the Count’s residence. I told them I’d send you back after breakfast.”
“Ah…”
A dark shadow fell across Rubiana’s face.
Her plan to get away from the scene of the incident as quickly as possible was ruined.
