A Certain Winter’s Tale Chapter 3.9 - Elia Winter

Warmth was conveyed from within the warm embrace. Along with the heat from the bodies pressed together, the sound of a beating heart and boiling blood could be felt. Perhaps it was because the energy of life could be felt; laughter kept coming out, and happiness filled the heart to the brim.

“Hee-hee.”

When the chin of El was tickled, his brow furrowed slightly. However, seeing that he could not open his eyes as if he were in a deep sleep, laughter emerged.

Noah, who had placed a peck, mwah, atop the smooth and firmly built chest muscles, slowly pulled away from Elia’s embrace to look at the trees as he had originally intended.

No, he tried to pull away. However,

“Ah… it hurts.”

An unspeakably embarrassing place felt tingly and sore. His pelvis, which had spread wide to accept Elia’s collisions, also throbbed.

He was someone who had heard many things about having sexual intercourse from the women of the Red House. He had heard the fact that the first night between men is especially painful for the one receiving, so he had been prepared. However, that pain was truly beyond imagination.

He tried to move his body. However, from the moment he began to perceive it, the pain spread even further. A burning heat even lingered in the place where a large pillar had rubbed in and out for a long time.

“Mmm, Noah?”

Had he heard the sound of Noah groaning? El, who had been tossing and turning, sat up groggily.

“Ugh, El… did I wake you up?”

Noah sat awkwardly on his buttocks, unable to put strength into his legs. Seeing him, Elia shook off his sleep. Then, seeing Noah’s furrowed brow, he approached with a serious expression.

“What is wrong?”

“I was going to look at the trees a bit…”

As he was pulled back into Elia’s embrace, his legs moved. Noah bit his lip and groaned softly with his eyes closed.

“Does it hurt somewhere?”

“Ugh.”

Should he ask him to take a look? Noah hesitated. However, because the area where the pain flared up was where it was, his face began to heat up. Elia scanned Noah here and there with a look that seemed genuinely worried.

Finally, Noah grabbed Elia’s large hand and carefully led it toward his own buttocks.

“…”

“Here, it hurts.”

He barely managed to say it while groaning. He thought Elia would do something if he said it like that. However, Elia only put a lot of strength into the arms wrapped around Noah. He stood frozen like a bronze statue.

“El, ugh…”

As if waking up from a hypnosis, El suddenly shuddered and hurriedly pulled Noah’s body toward him. Then he whispered lowly.

“It was very swollen when I washed you yesterday, too.”

“Ah.”

Why was it that he couldn’t control his face flushing red? Elia, noticing that Noah was embarrassed, gave a bitter smile and gently patted his buttocks.

“I will call for a palace servant and have them bring medicinal water. It will feel a bit better if you bathe in that.”

Noah nodded slowly. Would they bathe together? He made up his mind to tell Elia that they should leave the palace as soon as the pain subsided even a little.

But it was then. Someone’s footsteps were heard without warning. It was Noah, exposed in the middle of the flower garden without a single stitch of clothing on. In his embarrassment, he hid inside the blankets. He was so surprised that he even forgot the pain rising from below.

Elia turned his head with an annoyed face. It was the first time he had seen such an expression. While Noah was finding him both unfamiliar and fascinating, a familiar voice filled with playfulness flew in.

“I was making such a fuss all night searching the entire castle, but it seems Elia and our concubine had a very good night?”

“Sigh.”

Elia sighed and scratched his head in annoyance. Then he pulled up the sheet and wrapped Noah’s body up tightly.

“Mika. Now you are coming and going through the inner palace as if it were your own home.”

“I gave you a good gift, so understand this much. Matilda made a firm request as she went out to spend her day off. Noah, Noah? Come on out.”

He felt like his breath had stopped. Noah instinctively curled his body and retreated to the edge of the bed. Then, Elia, finding that reaction strange, pulled Noah into his embrace.

“Noah, what is it?”

“El, Elia.”

Seeing that Noah’s face was pale, Elia was flustered. Elia, who read the fear lingering in those clear eyes, soon raised his head and glared at Michaelis.

“Mika, what did you do to Noah?”

“Wh-what? What? What did I do!”

Right then. Noah grabbed Elia’s waist tightly and dug further into his embrace. Because his shoulders were trembling, Elia became even more worried. He thought that although that fellow Michaelis said some mean things, he wasn’t a lawless person. Could it be that he tried to do something terrible…?

A trembling voice flowed into the ears of Elia, who was checking Noah’s reaction.

“Hic, El… let’s leave here. Right now.”

“Huh? Noah. Weren’t you feeling unwell? I will go anywhere with you, so first, a bath in medicinal water…”

Noah looked up at Elia abruptly. Sorrowful tears began to well up in his eyes, leaving Elia speechless.

“Hic, El…! I told you. I was sold to the Emperor! I, I thought I could do it, but I couldn’t.”

Noah’s voice, which had been trembling like a groan, soon turned into sobbing. Transparent tears began to drip down over those white cheeks. This time, the two men watching him froze simultaneously.

“Heugh, I can’t do it! I liked it because it was Elia. I won’t do it. I absolutely cannot do it with an ice monster of an Emperor whose thingy was said to have shriveled up!”

The pain whining below was overwhelming. He could endure it if he thought it was because he had shared his body with Elia. However, when he assumed he had been victimized by some Emperor scrub whose face he had never even seen, it felt more horrible the more he thought about it. He felt sorrowful about his situation all over again.

The two men silently gazed at Noah, who finally burst into a fit of crying while clinging to Elia’s embrace.

A short sigh was heard. It was the sigh of the very person who had brought him into the palace to sell him off.

“Ha. Did the Sovereign treat the concubine too recklessly? To think it’s a sea of tears immediately after spending the night.”

Noah sniffled and raised his head to glare sharply at Michaelis. Michaelis flinched and shut his mouth at those eyes that were even filled with resentment.

‘That crazy jerk, what on earth is he saying!’

While swallowing curses inside that he couldn’t dare spit out at a nobleman, Noah let tears drip down his white cheeks. Then, Elia carefully grabbed his cheeks. Wrinkles had formed on Elia’s smooth brow in a troubled shape.

Elia kissed the tears that poured over Noah’s cheeks and answered shortly.

“…For that, I have no excuse.”

Noah’s eyes widened. As if it were difficult to understand the situation immediately, a deep question lingered in those violet eyes. Elia, who met those eyes, bit his lip and sighed. Then he avoided Noah’s gaze.

An aghast voice flew in from behind Noah.

“No matter how lovely the concubine is, Elia, for you to keep your thing standing so obviously while this friend is here is a bit…”

Noah’s lips parted further and further, showing his surprise. Elia grabbed his forehead and sighed.

Since it was after he had wrapped the sheet around Noah, Elia’s lower body was revealed plainly in the bright morning sunlight. Michaelis, who had witnessed that majestic thing, only shook his head and clicked his tongue, tsk tsk.

❄️🐺❄️

A short while later. Noah was led by Elia’s hand and moved to the bathtub where he had first opened his eyes. Unlike the first time, the bathtub was filled not with plain water, but with water that had a bitter scent.

Elia carefully placed Noah inside. As soon as the water touched him, a stinging pain that rummaged through his lower half rose up. Noah curled his body and groaned, hugging Elia’s neck even tighter. Elia, in an uncomfortable position from outside the bathtub having offered his neck to Noah, stroked his back.

“Endure it just a little. The medicinal combination Matilda taught me is quite effective.”

“Ugh.”

The words that he couldn’t do it came out naturally, but he endured it somehow. However, that patience did not last long. Not much time had passed when Noah spoke tearfully.

“El, no, Sovereign.”

“Yes.”

“Can’t we go out now?”

“…”

“It stings too much…”

The answer flew in from a completely different place.

“Stay in for thirty minutes before coming out, Noah.”

“…”

“Elia, it can’t be helped even if you glare like that. I told you Matilda requested it?”

El, while checking on Noah, spoke toward Michaelis.

“Why don’t you leave now.”

“Matilda told me to look after things well until the end…”

“Did she also tell you to pick apart Noah’s body piece by piece like that?”

“What are you saying, you stud.”