If You Take the Enemy Prince as Your Knight Chapter 142

“…”

 

Her voice, lower than usual, questioned Regen while strangely stimulating something dangerous within him.

 

“I remembered.”

 

She took his hand and placed it against her body. The man’s hand, with its well-developed knuckles and tendons, pressed close against her fair neck. As Sasha felt the heat of his palm, she also conveyed the softness of her skin and the nervous pulse beating beneath it.

 

Regen still had not exhaled the breath he had drawn in earlier. Naturally, he lacked the presence of mind to answer.

 

Sasha feigned disappointment. “I guess I’m the only one who remembered.”

 

“…”

 

“Even though we spent seven nights together… to think it means nothing to you, Regen.”

 

“…”

 

“Maybe after a fortnight, you forget everything.”

 

It was the moment Sasha turned her head forward and blurted those words. The pouting gesture and her voice laden with hurt moved Regen instantly. He pulled Sasha tightly into his arms, burying her back deep against his chest. Then he lowered his head, pressed his lips to her fair shoulder, and slowly licked upward to the nape of her neck.

 

“…!”

 

Sasha’s shoulders jerked in surprise, and the strong arm around her waist tightened further. Keeping her trapped in his embrace, Regen showered her skin with kisses and caresses. The atmosphere had suddenly become intense and suffocatingly intimate, leaving Sasha at a loss.

 

“Re-Regen… Wait…” She called his name almost pleadingly.

 

Pretending not to hear, Regen continued savoring her before finally speaking after a long while. His lips brushed the edge of her ear. “I endured because I was afraid this would happen.”

 

“…”

 

“Do you understand now how much you tormented me earlier, Sasha?”

 

“That, I-I’m sorry.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Though Regen accepted her apology, he didn’t stop. Turning Sasha around to face him, he found her pale upper body spread before his eyes. The veins stood out on the back of his hand as he gripped the seat.

 

“Ah…!” A startled cry escaped Sasha as his large, hot mouth touched her skin. She hurriedly raised a hand to cover her mouth and suppress any sounds.

 

Grasping her hips where her clothing still hung, Regen continued exploring her soft body without pause. Every time he pressed his lips against her, her body trembled and quivered beautifully, and he found it impossible to regain his composure. Consumed by excitement, he drew deeply on the delicate skin below Sasha’s collarbone. A reddish mark bloomed there.

 

“Nngh…” The hand covering her mouth was utterly useless. A sweet, melting sound escaped through Sasha’s nose.

 

“Ha…” A sigh-like breath left Regen. He had completely lost his senses and ended up leaving a mark on her skin. Any further than this would truly be dangerous. The princess was far too precious for him to act recklessly and selfishly in a place like this. They had to stop while at least one of them was still in their right mind.

 

“Regen…?”

 

In the midst of this, the princess looked up at him with longing eyes, as if asking why he was stopping. It seemed he would have to be the one to remain rational.

 

“No more.”

 

“Ah…” At his firm words, Sasha nodded obediently, looking like a child who had just been scolded. “Okay…”

 

Even that pitiful appearance was a temptation to Regen.

 

Having miraculously overcome the crisis of nearly losing his reason, Regen steadied himself by rubbing his face with both hands. He quickly helped Sasha change back into her clothes, then pressed a firm kiss to her forehead. He could not behave like a beast any longer. Suppressing his violent desires completely, he left only the feelings of affection and devotion and offered them to her.

 

“Have sweet dreams.”

 

✦

The next morning was peaceful. Several people had spent the night secretly moving their forces while harboring deadly intentions. Yet when the sun rose in the east, they exchanged ordinary morning greetings as though nothing had happened.

 

A very important day began amid deception. Breakfast preparations were in full swing at the campsite. The menu was stew, relatively simple to prepare and ideal for replenishing fluids and nutrients. The rich aroma of thick cream stew, simmered with meat, vegetables, and spices, spread pleasantly throughout the camp. Served alongside grilled sausages and leftover bread, it made for a rather luxurious meal by camping standards.

 

The Lohengrin delegation and the princess’s traveling party numbered only around twenty people altogether. There were about fifteen on Emilio’s side and ten on Sasha’s, including Dominic. The previous evening they had prepared meals separately, but because Sione had urgently gone to the imperial palace on Sasha’s errand, they were short-handed. As a result, they received considerable help from Emilio’s group for breakfast.

 

“Would you like some?” Holding a bowl overflowing with cream stew in one hand and bread stuffed with cheese along with a sausage skewer in the other, Dominic offered them to Sasha.

 

Naturally, Sasha had no desire to let the freshness of the morning be ruined by Dominic’s sly grin. “I’ll decline.” Holding only a single apple in her hand, she slipped right inside her tent.

 

Since Dominic hadn’t expected anything to begin with, he felt neither disappointment nor hurt. Without dwelling on it, he turned toward his actual target.

 

There was one knight who did not mingle with either the delegation’s escort knights or the empire’s imperial guards. Standing out alone in his solitary black uniform and matching isolation, he was none other than the princess’s personal knight, Regen.

 

Holding his portion of food, Regen walked to a corner of the campsite. It was a spot where the shade of a tree draped like a canopy to block the sunlight, and a flat rock served as a bench perfect for sitting on. Compared to the makeshift dining tables in camp, it was a far more scenic and pleasant spot.

 

Dominic’s lips twisted. It irritated him immensely how someone in such a miserable position always managed to secure the best things. Even before breakfast, his stomach already felt twisted, as though he had eaten something bad.

 

There was a reason Regen annoyed Dominic particularly today. Currently, Rosasia was suspected of having made a deal with Lohengrin’s traitor in order to escape from the imperial palace. And that pale-haired fellow over there was the princess’s personal knight. Which meant he was a tool to be used according to her will. If the princess had truly decided to follow Lohengrin’s traitor, there was a high chance that Regen had actively participated in the scheme as well.

 

I’m dying of curiosity. Whether you’re in a league with Lohengrin’s lunatic or not. If he was, then Dominic would finally have a legitimate reason to kill him today.

 

Concealing the murderous intent bubbling up from his gut behind a bright smile, Dominic approached Regen. “Yo, Sir Regen.”

 

“…”

Regen gave him a look that was far from welcoming, but Dominic paid no attention and sat down on the rock bench. It was the spot on Regen’s left side.

 

“Nice spot. Mind if you share it?”

 

“Why are you pretending we’re close?”

 

“I’m not the kind of superior who lacks self-awareness. I can’t go making my subordinates uncomfortable by barging into their meals.”

 

“So you came here to make me uncomfortable instead?”

 

“Correct.”

 

“Do as you wish.”

 

Regen stirred the steaming stew several times with his spoon before setting it down beside him. At the same moment, Dominic also stirred his own stew to cool it and set it down. The bowls bumped lightly against each other as they were set down at the same time, and both men looked visibly displeased.

 

“What is it?”

 

“You tell me.”

 

“I always let my stew cool before eating it.”

 

“So do I. I wait until it cools completely.”

 

“Put your bowl on the left.”

 

“It’s more convenient on the right.”

 

By a combination of coincidence and stubborn pride, the two ended up eating with their stew bowls side by side as if sharing a dining table.

 

After chewing and swallowing a piece of sausage, Dominic got straight to the point. “From where did you get involved?”

 

“I have no idea what you mean.”

 

“You were in on the wish-right transfer from the beginning, weren’t you?”

 

“…” Regen bit into his bread, making it clear he had no intention of answering.

 

Dominic’s interrogation became even more direct. “You already knew the princess was planning to propose to that short-haired b*stard, didn’t you?”

 

“…”

 

“Looks like you did know. If you didn’t, there’s no way you’d be this calm right now.”

 

“…”

 

When it came to topics involving Sasha, Regen decided to acknowledge Dominic’s skill as an interrogator.

 

“But isn’t knowing about it an even bigger problem? To just leave such a ridiculous plan alone without stopping it. Guess you’re not as sincere about the princess as I thought.”

 

The intense provocation finally broke Regen’s silence. “You seem pleased. Is it because you see a chance I might step aside?”

 

“What?”

 

“It’s not as if you are holding a queue ticket in your hand, though. Even without me, it will likely never be Sir Dominic. Just as a retreat route can never become the main path forward.”