Chapter 68

### Chapter 68: How to Steal the Woman from the Extra (16)

“Ha…, she’s really beautiful.”

Caught off guard by the sudden comment, Lena’s mind went blank.

‘…Huh?’

Lena thought she must have misheard.

She couldn’t imagine any dim-witted man liking her.

Lena believed that, aside from her position as a princess, she had no feminine qualities to speak of.

She was always rolling around in the dirt, getting punished by the Duke, and looked like a raggedy girl.

She would charge into battle without hesitation, and her strict upbringing left her with no flexibility.

Her relatively tall stature made men feel intimidated, and her lack of social skills made women hesitant to approach her.

Lena felt guilty towards her deceased mother for not possessing the dignity a woman should have.

But she thought that as long as she had her father as a pillar, it was enough.

Moreover, if her father told her to marry, she was confident she wouldn’t care who the person was.

She was certain that she didn’t have the capacity to love a man.

But she was mistaken.

Lena’s heart began to race as if it would burst through her chest.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

‘Ah, no… It must be a mistake. I need to calm down….

If the man holding her had been someone else, she wouldn’t have been this excited.

The first time feeling a man’s chest only heightened her excitement.

‘What is he trying to do? Is he going to do something more?’

But despite Lena’s suspicions, the man only held her and whispered to himself.

However, his tone was different from before.

“…What?”

“…?”

Lena, startled by the man’s strange voice, tried to focus on his words.

But the heartbeat she felt from his chest was distracting her.

Thump… thump… thump…

‘Ha… ha… Just a bit… What…?’

Lena, focused on the heartbeat rather than the man’s muttering, suddenly felt sleepy.

..

..

“…?”

Lena found herself in a situation she couldn’t understand.

She was clearly lying down a moment ago, but now she was in a different place.

The place she was in was one she would never forget.

It was the bedroom of Feron IV.

And she saw Feron IV standing weakly, shedding tears of gratitude.

“Lena… It’s thanks to you. If it weren’t for you, this war….”

“….”

Lena immediately realized it was a dream as soon as she heard those words.

She always had this dream whenever she slept in the Demon King’s Castle.

The scene was always the same: her weakened father clutching her and crying pitifully.

‘A dream? But can I recognize it as a dream?’

Lena, intrigued by the lucid dream she was experiencing for the first time, began to look around.

She tried changing the shapes of objects around her.

She turned the tulips in the vase into roses and the landscape painting on the wall into a portrait of her mother.

Lena, amazed, continued to look around and noticed a man.

He was the same man who had been holding her and lying down a moment ago.

‘This dream, before….’

Lena blushed, recalling a scene she had seen before.

‘Could it be the same…?’

Since the dream started similarly, Lena naturally thought she would get a spanking from him.

But the situation began to unfold differently.

Suddenly, Feron IV shouted.

“Who are you! How dare you intrude into my bedroom! Is anyone there?!”

“…?”

Feron IV was trying to apprehend him.

Guards rushed into the bedroom and pointed their spears at him.

The man, surrounded, was fidgeting.

‘This won’t do, not like this!’

Lena decided to protect the man.

She didn’t think she could control people, so she stepped in front of the man to stop the guards.

Lena said urgently,

“Please calm down, Duke!”

“Who is he that you’re stopping?”

“W, well….”

Lena, despite knowing it was a dream, didn’t want him to get hurt.

But only the guards, advisors, servants, and family members were allowed in the Duke’s bedroom.

The man she was protecting didn’t belong to any of these groups.

‘Father knows the names of everyone in the castle. A clumsy lie won’t work….’

No matter how much Lena thought, she couldn’t come up with a solution.

‘I can’t say he’s family….’

Lena couldn’t bring herself to say such an embarrassing statement, even in a dream.

“Everyone, step back.”

Suddenly, Feron IV spoke, and the guards lowered their spears and stepped back.

Lena, confused, looked around and saw the Duke smiling brightly.

“…?”

“I’ve committed a grave rudeness. Please forgive me.”

Lena, not understanding, asked Feron IV,

“Duke, what?”

“To treat the man who will become Lena’s husband with such rudeness, please forgive me.”

Lena, with wide eyes, looked at the man beside her.

The man also looked at Lena, clearly flustered.

““…Yes?””

***

I was overjoyed to be able to hold the princess again today, so I went to the brat’s room, got the key, and entered the princess’s room.

I gently held the princess as I did yesterday and muttered to myself,

“Ha…, she’s really beautiful.”

Even without any lewd actions, just holding her brought me joy.

I then cast a sleep spell while holding her.

But the spell didn’t work, and all I could see was the top of her head.

‘What? The sleep spell isn’t working. I need to try again.’

[Be careful, as this is an unmastered skill.]

I concentrated and cast the sleep spell again.

It felt different from usual, but I managed to enter the dream.

‘Something’s off….’

What I saw was the princess talking to Feron IV in the Duke’s bedroom.

‘I need to step up the intensity and give her a good spanking today.’

I expected the soft, plump feeling of her bottom and commanded the Duke to act.

But nothing happened.

‘What? Wait, what’s going on….’

No matter what I did, Feron IV only looked at the princess and cried, showing no reaction.

‘I need to wake up… How do I wake up?’

I had only experienced entering dreams, not leaving them.

As I was thinking, Feron IV suddenly shouted at me,

“Who are you! How dare you intrude into my bedroom! Is anyone there?!”

“….”

Guards rushed in and pointed their spears at me.

‘Damn… If I die here, it will affect the real world, right?’

I judged the situation to be more serious than I thought, but the princess stepped in to protect me.

“Please calm down, Duke!”

‘…Huh? This is different from last time…’

Last time, the princess tried to drive me away, but this time, she was protecting me.

Just to be sure, I tried to control the princess.

But as expected, it didn’t work.

‘The princess can’t be controlled separately.’

I had tried to control the dreamer before and realized it was impossible.

They wouldn’t follow my commands unless I gave direct, specific orders.

After the conversation between Feron IV and the princess, the guards suddenly lowered their spears.

‘…What’s going on? Why are they doing this….’

I couldn’t control them, and I felt frustrated. Then the Duke spoke.

“I’ve committed a grave rudeness. Please forgive me.”

“…?”

“To treat the man who will become Lena’s husband with such rudeness, please forgive me.”

I looked at the princess after hearing those words.

The princess also looked at me, her face showing confusion as she spoke.

““…Yes?””

..

..

I found myself in the princess’s room.

The princess was sitting at the same table as me.

She was looking down at the table, not saying a word.

I tried to understand the situation.

‘…Could it be that her mental strength has returned?’

One of my theories was that her mental strength had recovered, making my sleep spell ineffective.

‘Or maybe it’s my condition…’

I considered the possibility that my sleep spell didn’t work the first time.

‘Surely she wasn’t awake, right? If she had been, I would have twisted her neck by now.’

It didn’t make sense that she wasn’t asleep.

Beatrice had mentioned that the sleep spell had side effects.

While the risk of side effects from control was high, the sleep spell only caused problems within the dream.

‘Side effects… I understand that I can’t control her, but what if I can’t leave the dream?’

Time in the dream and the real world was the same.

It had been over 5 minutes, but I couldn’t leave the dream.

‘I need to think of a way to leave the room calmly.’

The situation was worrying, but I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.

Since the princess was in a dream, I thought I could leave the room and get out of her sight.

‘From the princess’s perspective, I’m in a lower position before marriage. I’ve never thought about marriage, so I’m not sure…’

My only experience with marriage was in games.

Most of the games I played didn’t involve me getting married.

I usually just put a marriage seal on another man and a slave mark on the woman.

Even in common romance stories, marriage usually ends the story.

I smiled at the princess and said,

“Princess, thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to clear up the misunderstanding.”

“Huh! N, ah… No, no. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”

“…?”

The princess, suddenly flustered by my words, made a strange cough and smiled awkwardly.

‘Is the princess’s dream always this fresh every time I enter?…’

She either asked for a spanking or acted differently from usual.

Understanding the cause of the punishment dream, I felt another challenge.

‘I need to make a vague excuse and leave.’

“Today, my visit disturbed your meeting with the Duke. I’ll be going….”

“…Please don’t go.”

“Huh?”

As I stood up to leave, the princess approached and hugged me.

Her height in heels matched mine perfectly.

‘Wow, look at that figure….’

I held her and asked,

“Princess?”

“Ha… Don’t go.”

I was faced with a situation I couldn’t understand.

***

“Princess, thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to clear up the misunderstanding.”

“Huh! N, ah… No, no. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”

Lena, hearing the princess title, blushed and felt flustered.

‘This feels good…’

Just being addressed with a formal title by someone she always served made her feel refreshed.

Moreover, she felt the tenderness she showed to Viola.

‘This can only happen in dreams. But if this is a dream….’

A mix of disappointment and excitement rose within her.

This was just a dream.

Lena thought that whatever she did to Sung-ho in the dream, the real Sung-ho wouldn’t know.

‘Yes, it’s a dream… This might be the last time… I’m leaving in a few days….’

Lena didn’t want to miss this lucid dream.

She knew from her experience of not keeping a promise to her father that missing an opportunity was foolish.

The man suddenly stood up and prepared to leave.

“Today, my unnecessary visit disturbed your meeting with the Duke. I’ll be going….”

“…Please don’t go.”

“Huh?”

Lena approached and hugged the man.

‘I want to stay with him, even if it’s just here….’

But her wish couldn’t be fulfilled.

…Huh?

Lena’s vision changed from the Duke’s bedroom to her own room in the Demon King’s Castle.

But Sung-ho was still in her arms.

***

‘…Something’s off today.’

I suddenly found myself outside the princess’s dream.

The cause was unknown.

‘Phew… Armonia, this is a side effect….’

[Sung-ho….]

‘Huh?’

Armonia interrupted me and spoke.

I instinctively looked down and saw the princess looking up at me from my arms.