JustPeachyNovels

Prologue

It was a dream.

The reason Acard knew this was simple. If it were reality, he would never be having tea alone with his sister Sienna.

“Acard Valerian.”

Sienna set her teacup down with a clatter and called his name. Her tone was cold, devoid of even a hint of familial warmth.

Instead of answering, Acard frowned. Dream or not, the situation of having tea alone with Sienna was unpleasant.

As always, Sienna didn’t care about his feelings. She glanced up sharply with her silver eyes and sneered at Acard’s arrogant face.

“You think you’re so great, don’t you?”

“Why are you picking a fight all of a sudden?”

Acard bared his teeth in response, not backing down. When his handsome face took on a menacing look, it was like a great lion roaring.

“If you’re talking nonsense because you ate something bad, just shut up and finish your tea. Don’t provoke people with useless words.”

Acard, showing his bad temper without restraint, warned her. As the captain of the Royal Knights, he was exceptionally tall with a solid, imposing physique. Because of this, not only timid women but even men whimpered in front of him like a pack of frightened dogs.

Unfortunately, his wild intensity did not work on Sienna. Unlike her brother, she was slender, but her temperament was just as fierce.

Ignoring Acard’s threat without batting an eye, she gave a short laugh and warned him.

“I’m telling you this out of pity for a fool like you, so listen well. If you don’t end that trashy lifestyle of yours right now, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

“…What?”

It was practically verbal abuse. As a result, Acard was so stunned that he missed the moment to get angry.

Sienna had a bad temper, but she had never spoken so harshly before. In fact, she usually preferred to act out rather than speak recklessly. This was because most of the things she said tended to come true.

Sienna Valerian. The kingdom’s greatest seer, said to foresee the future with her silver eyes. She now looked down coldly at her only brother and spoke.

“Open your stubborn ears and listen to me carefully! While you’re at it, it’d be even better if you could change all those rotten thoughts in your head. Otherwise, no matter how much you cry and beg later, it won’t do you any good.”

Acard, who was being verbally assaulted, was dumbfounded. No one had ever dared to belittle or ignore him in such a manner.

“Just because you have a mouth doesn’t mean you can say whatever you want! Try saying that again!!”

Acard slammed the table so hard it nearly broke as he stood up and shouted. His terrifying presence was enough to give a weak person a heart attack on the spot.

However, Sienna remained annoyingly calm. She picked up her teacup, which was precariously perched on the broken table, and took a sip. Her attitude could only be described as provocative.

Seeing this, Acard literally blew his top. He immediately reached out to snatch the teacup from Sienna and throw it away. Or at least, he tried to.

But this damned dream ended there. Suddenly, the ground split open, and Sienna, sitting in her chair, began to drift away with a serene expression on her face.

From a distance, the look in his sister’s eyes was full of genuine disdain, which only made Acard even more furious.

“Damn it!! Where do you think you’re going, Sienna?!”

It was then that the ground beneath his feet suddenly gave way, and an endless abyss swallowed him. The sensation of being pulled down endlessly felt much like drowning.

At that moment, as he flailed from the terrifying sensation of falling, someone grabbed his shoulder.

Acard, startled out of his wits, abruptly sat up. He was so confused that he couldn’t distinguish between dream and reality.

His body’s defense mechanisms reacted faster than his half-awake mind. He mercilessly grabbed the hand on his shoulder, twisted it, and forcefully pinned the body down. All of this happened in less than a second.

“…Ouch!!”

The scream that reached his ears was delicate. Moreover, the body gripped tightly in his firm grasp was extremely fragile and soft.

Startled, Acard finally came to his senses. After blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision, he saw red hair splayed out on the bed like rose petals. The color was somehow familiar.

“Sir Acard…”

A tearful voice came from beneath his large body. When he looked down, he saw a woman pinned under his muscular arm. She looked up at Acard with tear-filled eyes, her expression pitiable.

“Please, move your hand.”

She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her skin, visible through her reddish hair, was as white as snow, and her round forehead, delicate nose, and full lips were as exquisite as those of a fairy.

Her tearful face was especially beautiful. Acard was momentarily captivated by it. Had he been slightly less awake, he would have surely thought he was still dreaming.

Because of this, he almost ignored the woman’s desperate plea.

“Please, your hand… it hurts. Okay?”

Finally, the woman squeezed her long eyelashes shut and shed a tear. The tear slid down her silky smooth cheek and fell onto Acard’s arm that was pinning her down.

The sensation was like hot wax. Startled, Acard realized that this was reality.

He quickly moved his arm away and examined the woman’s slender body. Her limp limbs felt so delicate that his heart sank with an inexplicable worry.

“…Are you alright?”

An ordinary woman would have cried and panicked from the pain and fear. But despite her fragile appearance, she was remarkably resilient. Even though she panted from the pain, she merely closed her eyes tightly and endured it.

Acard looked at her pale profile. His eyes then traced over her shoulder and collarbone, reddened from being pinned down by him.

‘Surely, her bones aren’t broken, right?’

Acard frowned at the worst-case scenario. He had a bad temper, but he had never hit a woman. And now he might have broken the bones of an unmarried noblewoman!

If he was unlucky, this woman might demand marriage, claiming he was responsible for her injury. The thought made Acard shudder. He would rather have her ask for money than deal with emotional pleas.

“Let me take a look.”

Acard bluntly said, “Let me take a look,” and pulled down the sheet covering her body. He unhesitatingly examined her white, pristine skin. Pressing firmly on her neck, shoulders, and down her back, he meticulously checked the condition of her bones and felt relieved.

‘Fortunately, nothing seems broken.’

Having trained in swordsmanship, it seemed he had unconsciously used self-defense techniques in his sleep. He remembered how he had managed to lessen his grip, aware that the fragile body he had grabbed could easily be severely injured.

Just then, the woman’s pain seemed to have subsided a bit. Her tear-streaked cheeks were flushed as she cautiously lifted her wet eyelashes.

A woman who looked even more beautiful when she cried. The moment he saw those moist, shining blue eyes, Acard remembered her name.

“Damie.”

The most beautiful woman in Northern society, the daughter of Count Primula, and the woman who had warmed his bed the night before with her sweet skin.

“I’m alright. I was just… startled.”

Damie, still rubbing her reddened shoulder, smiled. Her face was serene, showing no hint of resentment.

Seeing this, Acard felt even more like a piece of trash. Even though it was in his sleep, he had raised a hand against the woman he had spent the night with.

It was all because of that cursed dream featuring Sienna Valerian. His pride wounded, he became intensely displeased with his own mistake. With a hardened expression, he questioned Damie in a blunt tone.

“Why did you touch a sleeping person?”

Anyone would feel hurt if the man they spent a passionate night with acted so coldly. However, Damie remained unfazed. She shyly lowered her eyelashes and replied in a small voice.

“It seemed like you were having a nightmare, sir. So I tried to wake you up…”

“It’s dangerous to touch the body of someone trained in swordsmanship carelessly. Don’t do that again.”

“I didn’t know. I’ll keep that in mind from now on.”

No matter how much of a bastard he was, Damie neither got hurt nor angry. Acard was quite impressed by this.

His lustrous violet eyes slowly scanned Damie’s half-exposed naked body. It was a voluptuous and beautiful form that he wanted to etch into his memory. It was a skill in itself that she could look so alluring without appearing vulgar.

‘She doesn’t seem like the type to engage in a fling. It’s surprising.’

It was unclear what could have driven her to throw herself at a scoundrel like him. However, with a woman like her, he wouldn’t mind sleeping with her a few more times.

Ah, of course, only until he got tired of her.

Unaware of his selfish thoughts, Damie climbed out of bed. Barely covered by the thin sheet, she looked around the floor. She thought she should find her clothes and leave quickly, as the night was already over.

‘There they are.’

Damie spotted her dress crumpled in the corner and reached out for it. But before she could touch it, she felt the heat of a man behind her.

“Where do you think you’re running off to?”

A large hand appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her wrist.

His face, now inches from hers, wore a fierce smile laced with unmistakable sexual intent.

“What? Running away?”

Wide-eyed like a startled rabbit, Damie asked. Their fling was just for a day, and Acard was known for quickly moving on from women. She couldn’t believe he would be satisfied with someone like her, who had no cunning or charm.

“I didn’t even know you were inexperienced… It was just a fling.”

If he had known the truth, he would never have slept with her. There’s no point in messing with a virgin; it only leads to trouble.

So, like a woman experienced in the pleasures of the night, Damie deceived him into thinking she was skilled. Therefore, Acard must have felt undoubtedly deceived. The reason Damie didn’t get angry at his harsh reaction was because of this.

She used Acard Valerian to distract herself from her pain. And now that all this trickery has been revealed, he must be disgusted with himself. So, it was only proper for her to get out of here as quickly as possible.

At least that’s what Damie thought. But Acard had a different idea altogether.

“Running away isn’t right, is it? After all the pitiful whimpering you did last night, my cock still wasn’t satisfied.”

He ignored the fact that her crying actually excited him more. Instead, he pulled Damie’s slender waist closer.

As a result, the sheet barely clinging to her body fell down in disarray. Acard attempted to kick the sheet away and push it into the corner. However, his keen eyes inevitably discovered a spot of blood stained on one corner of the sheet.

A crease formed on Acard’s forehead as he noticed it.

“Damn it.”

The shock from the previous night came back with a vengeance. He couldn’t believe it; was it possible that Damie Primula was inexperienced with men? Judging by her appearance, she seemed like she could have seduced a hundred men without breaking a sweat, so it was truly surprising.

If he had known this, he would never have succumbed to her seduction. There was a disdain in Acard’s eyes as he glared at the bloodstains.

At first, it was downright distasteful. Women often placed excessive significance on their first sexual encounter. They carried a wearisome sense of entitlement to reward the first man as if they had bestowed some great favor.

Now, soon enough, Damie Primula would likely be the same. As this thought crossed his mind, Acard felt a surge of resentment. So, before enduring the full torment, it was necessary to receive some sort of mental compensation in advance. Of course, leveraging her fantastic physique to do so.

“Um, Lord Acard.”

At that moment, Damie, held by him, hesitantly spoke up.

“I’m truly sorry, but… I really must go now.”

“If that’s what you need to do, of course, I’ll have to see you off.”

A surprising response flowed from Acard’s lips. His usually low, hoarse voice was unexpectedly soft, enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

Unbeknownst to herself, Damie felt a shiver run down her spine. Though he had said he would let her go, it didn’t seem sincere. Being unfamiliar with men, she couldn’t understand why he was behaving this way. With trembling eyes, she looked up at him, and as his sensual lips formed a cold smile, he whispered softly.

“If you can go anywhere, then go. After I’ve had my fill of fucking, if you still have the nerve to run away.”

The vulgar words made Damie freeze in disbelief. Unlike Acard, who had frolicked in the corrupt and debauched high society of the southern capital, she, being from a conservative northern background, was extremely naive. Thus, she had never heard the word “fucking” in her entire life.

Acard didn’t miss the moment when his prey froze in surprise. As he pulled her closer, attempting to resist, her ample breasts pressed softly against his sturdy muscles.

“Oh, Acard…”

Damie found herself twisting in confusion, unsure of what to do. Her attempts to flee faltered, instead pressing her nipples against his sturdy chest and abdomen. As her soft nipples stiffened against his touch, Acard chuckled while licking his lips.

Acard smirked as he remarked, “With your chest perked up like that, are you planning to go out? To whom are you intending to offer these lovely nipples?”

His well-tanned hand leisurely grasped the snow-white breasts, pinching the nipples. The lascivious touch felt as if it were igniting flames hidden within her body.

“Ah!”

Damie tried to evade his touch, but she couldn’t escape from his sturdy frame. Gripping her waist with both hands, he effortlessly tossed her onto the bed and swiftly climbed on top of her.

Damie, taken aback, widened her eyes and looked up at him. For a moment, she felt as though she was being pounced on by a massive predator. The sheer agility of such a large, muscular figure was surprising.

Facing Damie’s trembling eyes, he twisted his lips into a smirk. With a predatory confidence in his smile, he brazenly whispered to her.

Episode 2