Chapter 1

　　Before she could even register that the man who had appeared out of nowhere was the young lord she had once cared for, his lips crushed hers, silencing her. He descended upon her without a moment’s thought, his every move a desperate craving, his presence an ecstasy of finally finding what he had lost. His tongue and his lips ravaged her mouth.

　　“Hngh, m-my lord…!”

　　Reina pushed against his chest, trying to break free, but his hand gripped the nape of her neck with unyielding strength. It was a silent vow never to let her go.

　　“S-Stop…!”

　　The breath that poured between her parted lips was searing, and perhaps that was why she couldn’t hold on to her fading consciousness. The strength in her hands, still pressed against Sedian’s chest, gradually gave out. In that instant, he lifted her body in one swift motion.

　　“I did,” he said.

　　It was the first time Sedian, who had rushed her the moment he opened her door, had spoken. His voice was much deeper and lower than she remembered. That short phrase alone was enough to send a chill down her spine.

　　“I begged you to stay by my side.” Still holding her, Sedian strode toward the bed. He laid her down and climbed on top of her in a single, fluid motion. “But you broke your promise.” He grabbed a handful of her hair, which had become undone down to her chest. “So why should I listen to you?”

　　His gaze shifted, and his hand moved with it, cupping the back of her neck and her earlobe in one possessive grasp. He tilted his head, his eyes locked with hers. “Don’t give me that excuse that you couldn’t help it. That’s just pathetic.”

　　His face was so close that their noses were nearly touching. Staring into his blue eyes, contorted with fury, Reina felt a terrifying thought surface: this might not be the Sedian she once knew.

　　“My… lord.”

　　“You knew,” Sedian growled, pressing his thigh firmly between her legs and biting her lower lip. “You knew that I’m in love with you.”

　　Reina squeezed her eyes shut. Of course. How could I not? When she had fled the estate, the shadow of his feelings had been one of the last things to fade. And yet, she had still chosen to run. Because she couldn’t be with him. Because she had to. So much time had passed since then; she had assumed he would have forgotten her. That it had been nothing more than a fleeting fever of first love, that he would have surely erased someone like her and fallen for Giselle instead. That’s what she had believed. But…

　　“I haven’t forgotten you for a single moment.”

　　She had been wrong. Perhaps she had been choosing the wrong answer from the start.

　　“Have you?”

　　Reina slowly opened her eyes. She stared at his sharpened jawline, proof that he was no longer the small, fragile boy she remembered. Though it hadn’t been that long, the fading of his curse seemed to have allowed him to complete his delayed growth. No, thinking back, he had already looked like a man the last time she saw him. So why did he feel like a stranger?

　　“Did you forget me?” A shiver ran down her spine at his low, resonant voice. Only then did she understand the source of that unfamiliarity. It was the look in his eyes, the voice that sent a chill through her entire body, the groping touch of his hands. The emotions contained within them were too old, too intense, and far too dangerous. That was why he felt like a stranger.

　　Her lips parted and closed, again and again. She had to say it—that she had forgotten, that she had lived her life without a thought of him. But the words wouldn’t come. Her chest throbbed with a dull ache.

　　“No… it doesn’t matter if you did.” A corner of Sedian’s mouth twisted into a cruel smile. “I’ll just have to make you remember.”

　　“My lord!”

　　His hand began to slide inside her shirt. Startled by the unfamiliar touch on her bare skin, Reina twisted her body, but the weight pressing down from above pinned her helplessly in his arms.

　　“I was always curious,” he murmured.

　　“S-Stop…!”

　　“Why someone like you would love a wretch like me with no ulterior motive.” His hand grasped the collar of her shirt. His fingers, toying with the buttons fastened to her chest, tightened. “If this was the secret…”

　　The buttons tore as the shirt was ripped open. Her breasts were revealed. They were so full it was a wonder how she had ever hidden them with bandages. Sedian unknowingly clenched his jaw.

　　“Then I’ll be happy to use you, Reina.”

　　A large hand seized her breast. The unfamiliar touch, his nails lightly teasing her nipple, was something she had never experienced.

　　“Hahh…” A moan escaped her lips. “M-my lord, n-no…!”

　　But he didn’t listen. Taking one of her large breasts into his mouth, he began to gently bite her nipple. Reina tried to push him away, but the alien sensation drained the strength from her body. His snake-like tongue was stimulating enough to instantly set her inexperienced body ablaze.

　　“You always wanted to touch my body, didn’t you?” Grasping the breast he had just been suckling, Sedian kissed her neck and spoke. “So I’m graciously offering myself to you. Why do you refuse?”

　　Sucking and biting the sensitive skin, he moved up, kissing her cheek, her nose, and then her upper lip.

　　“Hahh…!”

　　A high-pitched moan, one that even Reina had never heard from herself, escaped. A wave of shame made her want to cover her mouth, but she couldn’t. He was repeatedly sucking and biting her lips, delving deeper and deeper inside her. He didn’t want to miss a single breath. No, he wanted to chew her up and swallow her whole. That was the only way he could be sure he wouldn’t lose her again.

　　“Ngh!”

　　His hand touched her. Feeling the slick wetness that smeared his fingers, Sedian let out a smirk. “You’re wet, Reina.”

　　Their lips parted with a sticky sound. But louder still was the sound of the slippery fluids at her entrance, clinging to his probing fingers.

　　“Imagine it. What would it feel like if I entered you?”

　　“My lord, please, you have to stop! Don’t—!”

　　“I’m asking what it would feel like if the cock you once touched with your own hand entered you.”

　　“Hngh!”

　　His cold fingers dug into her opening. With each additional finger that scraped against her inner walls, a gush poured out. Her toes curled as a tingling sensation began to spread through her lower abdomen.

　　“Haah…”

　　Sedian clenched his jaw, trying to calm the erection that felt ready to burst. It wasn’t working. The sight of her reddened eyes and trembling body was more than enough to stoke his sadistic urges. The satisfaction of finally dragging her, the woman who had always stood above him with her neat appearance and calm, quietly warm expression, down beneath him at last surged up right alongside it.

　　“Reina.”

　　“Ah!”

　　Shoving his fingers deeper inside her, Sedian spoke, a wet, squelching sound escaping with every movement. “I missed you like crazy.” He undid his belt and pulled out his member. It was too large to be held in one hand and was already standing rigidly erect. “But even if you didn’t miss me, that’s fine.”

　　“Hah… my lord…!”

　　“Because I have no intention of letting you go.”

　　Sedian pulled his fingers out in one swift motion. He stared at the gush of fluid that poured out, then brought his hand to his mouth. Unable to watch him casually lick her juices from his fingers, Reina squeezed her eyes shut. He ran his tongue over his lips as if savoring a fine meal, and continued.

　　“I’m going to keep you by my side forever.”

　　Sedian gripped his cock, already dripping with a clear liquid that proved how long he had been aroused. He grabbed Reina’s limp legs, spread them, and brought himself to her thigh. She knew immediately what he was about to do. The moment the head of his penis touched her wet entrance, she cried out urgently.

　　“My lord, n-no, you can’t! Not that, you really mustn’t—!”

　　But he didn’t stop. He gripped her hips and thrust himself deep inside her.

　　“Haah!”

　　Reina felt the world go black. At the same time, she felt her lower abdomen being filled, and a distinct pleasure, sharper than the pain, shot through her mind.

　　“Not yet, Reina.”

　　His member wasn’t even halfway in. He used his hands to spread her thighs wider and pushed his hips forward, intent on digging into her even deeper.

　　“Hahh… Ahh!”

　　A piercing scream tore from her lips as she threw her head back. Perhaps thanks to the prolonged foreplay, the pleasure was stronger than the pain, making her mind go dizzy. Panting breaths she couldn’t control kept spilling from her lips.

　　“Reina. Relax.” The inside of her clenched his cock, sending a powerful stimulation through him, but she couldn’t comply. It was difficult to even hear what he was saying. The unfamiliar sensations had bleached her mind white; all she could do was gasp for breath, her gaze hazy.

　　Cradling the back of her neck and kissing her collarbone, Sedian slowly began to move his hips. The penis, of a thickness she couldn’t begin to describe, rubbed her inner walls as it withdrew, then slammed deep inside her again.

　　“Ahk! M-my lord, hngh!”

　　Sedian grabbed her flailing arms and began to drive into her relentlessly.

　　“Hngh! Ngh!” Her body trembled uncontrollably from the pleasure coursing through it. The stimulation shook her to her very spine, causing unbearable moans to continuously spill out.

　　“Hahh… Reina.”

　　Sedian, who had been wordlessly thrusting with her thighs hooked over his arms, murmured through ragged breaths. “Touch me.”

　　Each time he roughly pushed himself into her, a wet, slick sound spilled from where their bodies joined. The lewd, squelching noise filled the room as pleasure surged through her, taking over every inch of her body.

　　“And tell me you love me,” he commanded, thrusting all the way to the root. His ferocious, beast-like member relentlessly stirred her insides. From their joined lips, sharp, ragged breaths flowed in endlessly.

　　Why did it turn out like this?

　　As she gasped for air, her mind drifting further away, she recalled the first time she had met Sedian, one year ago.

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