Chapter 103
Since Philome was already in his arms, there was no more room to get closer, yet Kaien tightened his embrace even more.
With one hand, he gently and slowly caressed Philome’s chin.
Their lips met, and their breaths intertwined. Unlike the initial urgency to entangle deeper, both moved with a sense of ease.
As if rolling a marble in their mouths, their movements were cautious and playful, causing their cheeks to gradually flush.
Kaien’s hand, which had been playing with Philome’s chin, moved up her cheek.
He liked that Philome’s entire face fit within his hand. When he stroked her cheek, a satisfaction bloomed, reminiscent of when he tasted her soft, plump lips.
After a while, when Philome leaned back, Kaien reluctantly withdrew his hand, his gaze lingering.
“Why? Is it too late at night?”
“…That’s not it.”
Whether it was from lack of breath or another reason, Philome’s cheeks were slightly red.
“…It’s uncomfortable.”
Kaien blinked, realizing what Philome was saying.
“…Should I change positions?”
Philome lightly hit Kaien’s shoulder.
“Did you die without getting a kiss in your past life?”
“Yeah, I guess I must have died without meeting you in my past life.”
At his shameless words, Philome couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“Enough. You should rest too, Duke. The battle was long today.”
“Then doesn’t that mean you should kiss me more? I’ve worked hard.”
…Is that so?
As Philome paused, feeling like there was some truth to his words, Kaien rose and effortlessly lifted her, placing her on the table.
And he bent down to kiss her.
Knowing that time was running out, there was a sense of urgency from Kaien that hadn’t been there before.
He didn’t give Philome even a slight chance to pull away from his lips.
Whenever Philome tried to breathe and pulled her lips away, he gently sucked on them and pressed his teeth against hers, urging her to stay.
Though Philome had intended to stop soon, she found herself lost in the sensations Kaien was giving her, held captive for quite a while.
“L-Let’s really stop now.”
Snapping back to reality, Philome turned her head away.
Having satisfied his desires to some extent, Kaien let out a low sigh of contentment and kissed Philome’s cheek.
Then suddenly, recalling something Philome had done a few days ago, he playfully nipped her cheek.
“Ah!”
Startled, Philome’s shoulders jumped, causing Kaien to burst into laughter.
“How was that? Surprised, weren’t you?”
After a moment of fluster, Philome realized he had returned the action she had done to him.
“It feels… really strange.”
“Really? I liked it.”
Kaien lightly kissed the spot he had bitten and then straightened Philome’s wrinkled clothes.
“I think I should fix your clothes first…”
Philome had been gripping tightly, leaving Kaien’s clothes covered in crumples. She awkwardly smoothed out his shirt.
“I’m not going to fix it. I need to see your disheveled clothes to remember our kiss well.”
Kaien took Philome’s hand, which was trying to smooth out his shirt, and kissed her.
Recently, it seemed like Kaien was determined to kiss Philome at every opportunity. Whether it was her hand, cheek, or temple, he was busy bringing his lips to any part of her body.
With how much he was kissing and sucking on her, Philome felt like she was a small candy.
“Shouldn’t you be working?”
“Yeah. I still have work to do.”
Kaien held Philome’s waist and set her down from the table.
“You must be tired from the battle, so you need to sleep early. Understand? Why are you working at a time like this… You’re just going to sleep later.”
“You’re really harsh. If I didn’t have this time, I would have collapsed long ago. The time I spend with you isn’t exhausting; it’s actually replenishing.”
Still holding onto Philome’s waist, Kaien lowered his head and rubbed his forehead against her neck.
As he curled his large body and nestled into her, Philome smiled and brushed his hair back.
From the arms wrapped around her waist and the large hand rubbing her back to the soft hair brushing against her neck, Philome felt just as good in this moment.
“Is it really hard? I wish I could help more.”
“Just being here next to me is enough. Don’t think like that.”
As Kaien spoke with his lips against her collarbone, Philome flinched slightly from the ticklish sensation.
“But it’s hard to not think that when you seem to be struggling so much.”
“If you really want to help me…”
Kaien tilted his head slightly to look up at Philome.
“You just have to kiss me. Then I feel like I could come back to life even if I died.”
Philome nodded with a smile.
“I will. By the way, did you get anything from the watchers?”
After discovering that a sorcerer disguised as a temple person had infiltrated through the prince, they had attached watchers to them.
She had completely forgotten about it for a while due to the battles with the monsters.
“Nothing yet. I think it’s about time to start moving…”
Kaien trailed off.
“Now you really can’t be apart from Jake for even a moment, Philome. Do you understand?”
“I understand. After all, we’ve never been apart until now.”
Philome didn’t take Kaien’s words lightly. For the past few days, she had always been with Jake, no matter what happened.
“Sometimes I wish you were a little selfish.”
“Why?”
“Because then you would prioritize your own life and safety first.”
“I’m not that nice. I can be selfish sometimes, you know?”
“I never said you were nice.”
“…I’m leaving.”
As Philome turned her head sharply, Kaien smiled and took her hand.
Naturally interlocking their fingers, they left Kaien’s office and headed toward Philome’s room.
It was late in the evening, but many people were on watch outside the castle to prepare for monster attacks, so the area was well-lit.
“Lord Theodore must be having a hard time.”
Among those on watch at night was Theodore as well. Because of this, Philome hadn’t seen him for several days.
“I’ll give him your regards when I meet Father.”
“Yes, please do. Oh, by the way, Liazell also asked to send her regards.”
“Is Liazell still busy digging up potatoes?”
“Yes. She’s become well-known among the locals for her hard work.”
“She must take after me with her capable hands.”
They walked together, chatting about trivial matters.
As if they had made a promise, they walked as slowly as possible until they arrived at Philome’s room, just like always.
“It’s a pity.”
They stopped walking, but Kaien couldn’t let go of Philome’s hand.
“Me too.”
“Since it’s a pity, can I have a kiss?”
“Do you want to be bitten again?”
“I wouldn’t mind that either.”
Philome knew that if she continued like this, she would get caught up with him again, so she quickly let go of his hand.
“Please go now. I’ll see you tomorrow, Duke.”
“I hope you have a good night. I’ll find you in my dreams.”
Philome burst into laughter and nodded.
“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Sleep well, Philome.”
With his farewell, the door closed.
* * *
“Sophia!”
“Yes, miss!”
At Philome’s call, Sophia hurriedly brought clean water.
The injury was not deep but long, and more importantly, dirt had gotten into it from rolling on the ground, raising concerns about infection.
Philome first cleaned the wound with the clean water and performed simple first aid before quickly bringing the injured person inside the castle to have the wound stitched.
“Phew. There are many seriously injured people today.”
“That’s true. It’s chaotic. But now, I don’t tremble at the sight of blood anymore.”
“Are you okay now?”
“Yes. I feel fine!”
Sophia had struggled a lot during the first few days at the sight of blood. However, as she became desensitized to it, she was able to help Philome more actively.
“Miss, aren’t you hungry?”
At those words, Philome placed her hand on her stomach.
As she felt her stomach rumble, Philome became flustered, and Sophia added, “It’s well past lunchtime. You didn’t know, did you? I’ll go get some food, so just stay here.”
“Thank you.”
Having sent Sophia away, Philome was about to take a short break when she noticed an injured person being carried in by Ken and got up from her seat.
As she hurriedly checked the injured person, she reached out her hand to the side.
“Sophia, can you pass me some bandages?”
Philome then realized that Sophia had gone to get lunch.
“I’ll give them to you.”
Jake, who was wrapping bandages around another injured person, said this, but Philome shook her head.
“It’s okay. Just helping out like this is enough. I’ll do it myself.”
As Philome finished speaking, she tried to withdraw her hand, but the bandages were placed on top of it even faster.
Confused, she turned her head, and there stood none other than Winston.
