Was something like that even possible in the first place?
The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I forced it away.
His body temperature ran high, so everything about him was hot.
His tongue, his saliva, even his lips.
My body kept tilting until his arm pulled me down onto the bed, yet our lips never parted even once.
I had been the one who said he shouldn’t be allowed to escape.
Yet our interlaced hands were now pressed against the sheets.
As he grew more intense, moving relentlessly against my mouth, I twisted restlessly beneath him, overwhelmed. Through every point of contact, I could feel the heat of his body and the movement of his muscles.
Even the rapid thump-thump-thump of his heart, pounding as though something inside him had broken.
I had never imagined I could feel this clearly that this man truly liked me.
That he wanted me so desperately.
Only when I was beginning to run out of breath did he finally pull his lips away.
The thin strand of saliva connecting us slowly snapped.
“Do I… look okay now?”
He spoke slowly as he caught his breath.
As his practice partner, I should be honest with him.
“…No, not at all.”
At this point, his flushed face wasn’t even the problem.
His eyes looked half-lidded, too.
“This is a serious problem.”
He murmured softly before running his tongue over his lower lip.
My gaze fixed on the slow movement.
Such a simple gesture somehow felt far more provocative than it should have.
“How am I supposed to get used to this?”
Exactly.
Was this really something we could get used to?
I was afraid I would start acting strangely myself if I kept looking at him, so I glared at the innocent air instead.
There was one thing I had become certain of, at least.
Elhardt has absolutely no talent for hiding his feelings when he likes someone.
***
“I suspected as much, but this is serious.”
At dinner, Kay pressed a hand to his forehead after hearing about my dilemma.
“You suspected it?”
“Anyone would know the prince likes you after spending just five minutes with him.”
Hmm… Is that so…?
I glanced at Elhardt, who seemed dejected over our miserable results.
The way his eyes drooped sadly made me feel sorry for him.
“Of course, it’s not entirely a bad thing.”
Following my gaze, Kay looked at Elhardt as well.
“Oh? Really?”
“Of course. Aren’t the two of you supposed to be pretending to be in love in the first place?”
“That’s… true, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know about the Captain, but the prince certainly doesn’t need to act when it comes to that. It’s quite ideal.”
For some reason, Kay looked very pleased.
Well, if at least one of us didn’t have to worry about acting, there was no harm in it.
“However, if he blushes at every little bit of physical contact or exchanged glances, people will start questioning whether you’re really a married couple.”
I nodded at Kay’s words.
The married couples I had seen around me certainly hadn’t gotten embarrassed over something so minor.
“That’s why I’m asking you for the secret.”
Why else would I be consulting this guy?
Kay already had three children by the time he was my age. He must know what he’s doing.
Carthaeus, the Pope, and Bella, who was still young, couldn’t possibly understand this particular problem.
Though they would probably find it incredibly entertaining.
That was why, after discussing it with Elhardt, I had decided to ask Kay for advice.
“There is a way.”
Oh, just as I expected!
“What is it?”
But Kay didn’t answer right away. He frowned and looked back and forth between Elhardt and me.
“Do we need to prepare something? Like a magical potion?”
“No, it’s nothing like that…”
“Then what?”
Pressed by my question, Kay let out a short sigh and muttered to himself.
“It’s not as though I pushed things this far without knowing this might happen.”
“Hm…?”
What did he push?
Kay stared at me through narrowed eyes for a moment before opening his mouth.
“No. I’ll tell you the method, and you can decide for yourself whether you want to try it.”
“Okay, fine.”
I nodded immediately, and Kay gave a small chuckle before speaking.
“The principle is simpler than you might think.”
Elhardt and I both turned our tense gazes toward Kay’s mouth.
“Just advance the relationship so far that little touches and exchanged glances feel utterly insignificant.”
“……?”
“……!”
As I pondered Kay’s words, Elhardt spoke.
“That’s why you hesitated to say it.”
“Yes. Exactly.”
So what Kay was saying was…
‘Rather than getting embarrassed over something as simple as a kiss, just spend a night together. Then a light kiss won’t make either of you blush.’
It was surprisingly plausible.
I was almost certain it would work.
And it wouldn’t even take that long.
We planned to finish our business in Cradion within two weeks.
That was how long Carthaeus could stay in the Imperial Palace as a guest without arousing suspicion as the newly appointed Pope.
If we still hadn’t uncovered the imperial family’s secrets by then, we would have to consider it a failure.
After that, we would head straight to Bardia and have to pretend to be a married couple.
Maybe it really would be better than continuing these pointless practice sessions.
Unlike me, however, Elhardt looked troubled.
“I can’t force Ser to do something like that. We haven’t even promised to marry each other. This is only a fake marriage.”
“I told you because I thought you’d say that.”
“……?”
“You seem rather old-fashioned in some ways, Prince.”
Kay shrugged.
“Three hundred years ago, if two people liked each other, they would simply live together and raise children. If one of them died, they would soon find someone else and live with them.”
I nodded in agreement.
It had been a time when people were dying constantly.
Living a normal life was practically impossible, so the institution of marriage and everything surrounding it was a mess.
“Even though there were expedition members younger than the Captain, most of them already had partners.”
…Putting it that way made it sound as though I alone had been unusually uninterested in romance, but that wasn’t really true.
I simply never had anyone.
No one had ever approached me with romantic interest.
I had been surrounded by nothing but comrades who never saw me as a woman in the slightest.
Starting with Mikhail.
There would occasionally seem to be some subtle sign, only for me to conclude that I had imagined it all.
Back then, I was young and in no hurry. I assumed that as I got older, I would naturally find someone.
And then, suddenly, three hundred years passed.
“Anyway, for that reason, the Captain probably won’t see the method I suggested from the same perspective as the prince. She’ll probably just think, ‘Oh, that’s reasonable.’”
I stared at Kay with a sullen expression.
“It’s not like I thought exactly that.”
I did think it was a perfectly reasonable method, though.
“Then that’s a relief. The important thing to remember is that you should only try it once you at least feel like you want to. Don’t treat it like homework.”
“Okay, I understand.”
I nodded without even needing to think about it.
Kay clicked his tongue and turned his gaze toward Elhardt.
“You heard her. Prince, you’ll have to make the judgment yourself. She’s clearly in that state.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“……?”
What was that supposed to mean? I had clearly answered that I understood.
“…Don’t look at me like that. Just eat your dinner.”
I wanted to say something to Kay, but there was an old rule from three hundred years ago.
If someone feeds you, you have to put up with them at least three times.
Kay must have known that, which was probably why he felt comfortable speaking so bluntly without worrying about my reaction.
“It’s delicious.”
“Isn’t it? The ingredients that came in were excellent. Cooking with them has been fun.”
“I helped out a lot, too, Lady Iserna.”
Bella eagerly chimed in from beside him.
“Yes, you worked hard. You’re very skilled.”
At my praise, Bella’s face turned rosy as she giggled.
She’s ridiculously cute for Kay’s descendants.
I picked up my spoon as though nothing was wrong, but for some reason, I found it difficult to look toward Elhardt.
That was probably because…
Why aren’t you eating? Why do you keep staring at me?
His gaze had been fixed on me for a long time.
Very intently.
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