Chapter 108
Kaien moved his weary body forward.
The number of monsters that had suddenly poured in since yesterday was immense. Kaien had to fight longer than usual to deal with the relentless onslaught of monsters, without even a moment to rest, and he used a lot of aura.
The mental fatigue was greater than the physical, making him feel even more drained.
However, contrary to his tired body and mind, his spirits were incredibly bright.
This was because the place he was heading to was his office, where Philome was waiting for him.
Eager to hold Philome in his arms as soon as possible, Kaien quickened his pace.
Jake was standing guard in front of the office, and when he saw Kaien, he bowed his head. Kaien exchanged a brief nod and was about to enter.
“Duke, I have something to tell you.”
Kaien turned back to Jake while holding the doorknob.
“What is it?”
“Today, the Third Prince visited Lady Philome. He wanted to speak with her alone, but Lady Philome refused, so they talked in front of me…”
Jake hesitated over whether to mention the details of their conversation, but Kaien interrupted him.
“I’ll hear the rest myself.”
“Yes.”
His previously excited expression dimmed slightly.
However, upon entering the office and seeing Philome sleeping on the sofa, he couldn’t help but smile reflexively.
As the door opened, Philome woke up, and Kaien immediately approached her.
“Philome.”
“You’re here?”
Philome smiled with a hint of sleepiness and reached out her hand to Kaien. As her arms wrapped around his neck, Kaien pulled her in tightly.
A languid sense of satisfaction filled them as their upper bodies pressed tightly against each other.
Kaien rubbed his head against Philome’s shoulder. Philome instinctively flinched at the ticklish sensation and brushed Kaien’s hair away.
The feeling of his soft hair gliding between her fingers was pleasant.
“How was your day?”
“There were quite a few injuries, so it was hectic. How about you, Duke? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
Kaien released the embrace but continued to hold Philome from behind as he leaned back on the sofa. He began to twirl her hair with his fingers and asked,
“And you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Of course not. If I were hurt, you would have known before me.”
“That’s true.”
Kaien nodded in agreement with Philome’s words without arguing.
Philome closed her eyes, enjoying Kaien’s touch as he played with her hair. Kaien kissed her temple and gradually moved his lips to her cheek.
Finally, when Kaien’s lips met Philome’s, they softly and slowly kissed.
Now that they knew they didn’t have to rush, the time spent exploring each other became longer. Kaien held Philome’s cheek and tilted his face to delve deeper.
Philome had also learned how to breathe, allowing them to share a lengthy kiss without needing to break apart.
As time passed, Kaien felt Philome’s body temperature becoming similar to his own, and he smiled faintly as he pulled away.
After giving Philome’s glossy lips a light kiss, he left small pecks on them.
Philome took a slightly breathless moment before recalling something.
‘Right, Winston!’
She had intended to tell him as soon as Kaien arrived, but she had completely forgotten in the midst of their kiss.
“Duke, I have something to tell you.”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
Even as he answered, Kaien continued to leave small kisses on Philome’s skin, as if his lips shouldn’t part from her.
Knowing that it was quicker to just speak rather than stop him, Philome immediately added,
“The Third Prince came to see me today.”
At the mention of Winston, Kaien recalled what Jake had said earlier.
However, he only hesitated for a moment before pressing his lips against Philome’s cheek again.
“Yeah.”
“But… he said something strange to me. He told me not to come out of the castle tomorrow and called me ‘Mel.’”
At those words, Kaien lifted his head.
Philome furrowed her brow slightly, lost in thought.
“It seems the Third Prince is certain of my identity. And it looks like he plans to execute his scheme tomorrow. The problem is, I have no idea why… he told me this.”
“Well, I think I know.”
“Really? What is it?”
Kaien took a strand of Philome’s hair and kissed the end of it.
“He still hasn’t forgotten you. So he remembers the connection from ten years ago.”
“What kind of nonsense is that? Winston?”
Philome, too flustered, called out Winston’s name. Kaien narrowed his eyes when he heard Winston’s name come from Philome’s lips.
Unaware of his reaction, she continued with a look of disbelief.
“Winston isn’t like Nadia. It doesn’t make sense for him to long for someone he wanted to kill!”
“To me, they’re on the same level. And it’s not about Winston; it’s the Third Prince.”
“Excuse me?”
“I don’t like you calling out Winston’s name.”
Philome blinked in surprise, and only then did she realize that she had mentioned Winston’s name.
“Anyway… it’s clear that the Third Prince isn’t in his right mind.”
“He’s always been like that. Just a hypocrite.”
Kaien smiled cynically as he thought of Winston.
“I’ll tell my mother and father about this.”
Philome nodded.
“Yes, they need to know too.”
“You should…”
Kaien hesitated slightly, trailing off, but then added,
“Don’t come out of the castle.”
“Excuse me?”
Philome asked back.
“Why?”
“Is Nadia Alice really only targeting the territory residents? She might pretend it’s an accident and kill you.”
“If Nadia has any sense, no.”
Philome shook her head, recalling that Nadia usually doesn’t think things through.
“If she were a person, she wouldn’t at least consider that.”
“Even animals would be smarter than Nadia Alice.”
“…I can’t argue with that.”
Philome rolled her eyes as she replied.
“Still, being confined to the castle makes me uneasy. Of course, I’m not doing that much, but it feels wrong to be safe alone, and above all, this might also be part of their plan.”
Philome didn’t trust Winston.
Therefore, she didn’t believe that he genuinely cared about her safety when he said that.
“…It’s certainly not an unlikely possibility.”
“Right? So I’ll just act as usual. After all, with Sir Ken and Sir Jake here, it’ll be safe.”
“Philome, while it’s true they have excellent skills, they’re not transcendent beings. They can’t handle multiple monsters at once.”
“At least we can buy some time until the Duke arrives.”
“You have a way with words.”
Kaien sighed, unable to find a flaw in Philome’s argument.
Philome smiled bashfully at Kaien’s reaction.
In response to her smile, Kaien cast a more subdued gaze. Knowing well what that meant, Philome tilted her head slightly before quickly asking,
“By the way, will the reinforcements really come?”
“They should arrive in about two days.”
“That’s early, isn’t it?”
“I informed His Highness the Crown Prince in advance that I would soon be requesting reinforcements.”
After coming down from the north, Philome realized for the first time that Kaien had been in frequent contact with the Crown Prince.
“Will His Highness be coming too? If he does, I feel like the Third Prince won’t be able to act properly because he’ll be wary…”
Kaien nodded at Philome’s words.
“Yeah, that’s true. However, it would be more impactful for the Crown Prince to discover decisive evidence against Winston himself, wouldn’t it?”
As he spoke, his hand wrapped around her waist and slowly began to move upward.
Philome tried to grab his hand, but her shoulder was already held, and their positions had shifted.
“Have you said everything you wanted to say?”
Before Philome could respond, Kaien pressed his lips against hers. While it was true that she had finished speaking, she wished he would take a break at this moment.
But there was no sign of that, so Philome eventually relaxed her body and wrapped her arms around Kaien’s neck.
She thought she could hear his satisfied laughter softly in the background.
