A Certain Winter’s Tale Chapter 2.5 - Winterfall

It was not only the governor who was captivated by that power; the hands entangled on Noah’s body reluctantly detached one by one, leaving only red marks behind. The tension that had filled Noah’s entire body slowly dissipated. Then, a throbbing pain and tremors began to wash over his slender frame.

Despite this, he had to grit his teeth and stand on his own two feet. Noah staggered as he followed Michaelis. Thanks to the intervention of the even higher-ranking person from the central region, no one in a high position attempted to stop him.

❄️🐺❄️

“See. It turned out just as I said. How about it?”

Noah glared at Michaelis in silence. The distrust in his gaze was palpable. Michaelis simply shrugged his shoulders at him with a casual expression.

“I’m telling you this beforehand because you seem to be misunderstanding. I had no influence, directly or indirectly, in this matter.”

“…”

“It’s true.”

Noah’s eyes were still filled with distrust and resentment. The negative emotions pouring from his transparent violet eyes seemed so bad for the heart that Michaelis finally confessed with a sigh.

“Well… I did know what the governor was plotting.”

“Hoo.”

Only then did Noah lower his eyelids and let out a deep sigh.

The room he had followed him into after all the commotion. As soon as the warmth radiating from the fireplace touched his aching and throbbing body, the tension began to melt away into weariness. Having been tormented with all his might, Noah’s fatigue deepened as the night wore on.

Michaelis, watching his expression, slowly approached.

“So, you’re going to sell yourself?”

“…Yes.”

“Hmm.”

Noah swallowed hard. Michaelis silently scanned him up and down. Noah, sitting quietly with a large blanket draped over his violently torn clothes, was so beautiful, regardless of his attire, that he wanted to lead him to bed and lay him down right then and there. Looking at him again, it was clear his beauty was worthy of being Elia’s partner.

“But the carriage has already left. You see, you should have sold when I offered to pay a good price.”

“…You’re not going to buy me?”

“No. Since it’s come to this, I’m thinking of driving the price down a bit.”

“…”

“The fact that I helped you not get gang-raped by them. Wasn’t that enough to cover your price?”

Noah pressed his lips together tightly like a clam. As if he had more to say. Michaelis faced those twitching lips with a smiling face. Noah looked at that smiling face for a moment before asking back with a sigh.

“Then… the Red House…”

“That’s none of my business.”

“H-h-how could you…”

Noah, who hadn’t cried no matter what treatment or insults he endured, even when he was about to be trampled under the men, finally contorted his face as if he were about to burst into tears. But perhaps due to his pride, he did not cry in the end. It was just that Noah’s grimacing face was so erotic that even Michaelis, who had felt little for him, was almost stirred—a secret that quietly settled between them.

Noah had simply become utterly desperate.

“Th-that’s… different from what you said before…!”

“The situation has changed, so naturally the terms must change too. Back then, I was in a position of asking you to let me buy you, but now, I’m helping you right before you get gang-raped, aren’t I? If anything, I think I should be the one being rewarded.”

The resentment in Noah’s eyes grew even stronger. His clear, shining eyes trembled minutely. And then, Noah’s head drooped.

‘He seems to be in considerable conflict. If he can’t confirm that the Red House is safe, will he insist he can’t leave this place?’

Michaelis observed Noah with interested eyes, wondering what posture Noah would take. It was quite enjoyable to read Noah’s thoughts in advance and to watch his doll-like, finely crafted face fall into agony.

But then, Noah did something completely unexpected that baffled Michaelis. After a small sigh, Noah’s eyes filled with resolve. He let the blanket he was wearing drop to the floor and slowly slipped off the tattered shirt that was barely covering his body. Then he immediately wrapped his arms around Michaelis’s neck.

“Wh-what…?!”

Noah, having moved right up to Michaelis, blushed a peachy color and whispered.

“…Then, I’ll sell it to you too. Won’t this be enough?”

For a rare moment, Michaelis was flustered.

“Wh-what are you doing right now?”

“This is really all I have to give. I’ll sell… my first time. People of high status like you like this kind of thing, don’t you? So the Red House… please, do something. If not… there’s no meaning in selling myself.”

Noah, while shy like a new bride on her wedding night, acted out the seductive gestures the women had taught him. He pressed his trembling lips against the nape of Michaelis’s neck and slowly intertwined their legs. It was a rather innocent gesture for the act he was attempting.

Moreover, the collarbones that trailed down his white nape and the reddish-purple bruises on his white skin were quite erotic. His lips, too, were not just crimson but had scabs on them, stirring both pity and a man’s lust.

As they say, even a dog at a village school can recite a poem after three years. The mannerisms ingrained in Noah from eating, sleeping, and living in a brothel were bewitching and delectable enough to stir a man’s carnal desires.

But more than his appearance, it was the single phrase he managed to utter after blushing and hesitating that surprised Michaelis.

“What?”

The white expanse of Noah’s chest, as he shyly entered his embrace, gave him a strange feeling. Michaelis, who had been gulping, soon realized the meaning of the words Noah had hesitantly managed to say and asked again in surprise.

“Say that again. What did you just say?”

As he was asked again and again, it was Noah who became bewildered. It was the first time Michaelis, who had deliberately maintained a polite attitude, had spoken down to him.

“If you don’t do something about the Red House…”

“No! Not that! You… it’s your first time? You have no experience?”

Noah coyly cast his eyes down and slowly nodded.

But this time, it was Michaelis who was at a loss for words.

“How?”

“…What do you mean, how?”

“You grew up in a brothel. And yet you still… haven’t had your first experience?”

Noah’s face turned completely crimson. Perhaps because he had just heard that Noah had never had his first experience, it looked not unpleasant but rather ripe and luscious.

Michaelis’s expression was a mixture of astonishment and delight. Noah, reading this, began to show a little relief on his face.

Though he did not look it, Noah had been through the trials and tribulations of many long years. So Noah instinctively realized that the commodity he had put on offer was quite valuable to Michaelis and was able to regain his composure.

Regardless of Noah’s inner thoughts, Michaelis’s face bloomed with half surprise, half amusement. In response, Noah, who had regained his composure, pulled his body back from its close embrace, drew the front of his clothes together, and turned away.

“If you won’t buy, then it can’t be helped. Ha…, then I have no choice but to go to the governor, tell him this, and ask him to somehow return the Red House.”

“Good heavens. Are you really going to go to that governor?”

“I have no other choice.”

Noah finally started to choke up.

“Now that the Red House is gone, the only thing I have left is my own body. Since that place is about to disappear… what use is my virginity or my body? I’d rather just meekly say I’ll sell myself and get the Red House back!”

“…”

“You said the carriage left, right? There’s one more person who wants to buy me, that bastard. I don’t know how much he’ll pay, but I’ll go to whoever offers a higher price. Now, are you willing to make a deal?”

Desperation and urgency were written on his face, but there was also a strong will to live and a firm resolve. It was a respectable amount of nerve that one could never have guessed from his delicate and soft appearance alone.

Finally, Michaelis burst out laughing.

“Haha! You, you’re a bit of a waste to be kept in a brothel like this.”

“Is that a compliment?”

A question flickered across Noah’s face, but Michaelis just smiled brightly and did not give an answer. But just as he had said, Michaelis was thinking highly of Noah. He had read that Noah had a far more spirited character than the base nobles who were merely dressed in fine appearances.

He finally showed a warm face to the beautiful gift he had painstakingly prepared for his friend.

Michaelis slowly reached out and grasped the lapels of Noah’s gaping shirt. Had he been nervous inside, despite his bold words? Noah’s whole body flinched, and he finally squeezed his eyes shut.

He deliberately pulled down Noah’s lapels, revealing a white shoulder. Other than the bruises and scratches from being beaten today, it was pure white, without a single scar. He would have to undress other parts to check further, but this seemed to be enough to sufficiently stir the heart of his noble stallion friend.

“You, your body is really beautiful.”

Noah, his eyes squeezed shut, turned his head to the side and tensed up. Did Noah know that the smooth, elegant curve of his nape made a man’s mouth water even more? No… he was simply trembling, caught in the tension of giving his body to another for the first time.

Michaelis’s gaze slowly slid from the white shoulder toward the pink bud.

“…?”

On the white chest, coming down from the shoulder to the heart. A pattern of three flower petals dotted in the shape of a crown caught his eye.

Michaelis unconsciously raised his hand and gently rubbed it.

“Ugh?!”

“Stay still.”