Chapter 6

R15 content included

I was led to the Crown Prince's office.

I was summoned with a pounding heart, wondering if I had been called during a break in official duties, and was brought before Albert Gil Wisterna, the first prince of the Wisterna Kingdom and the next in line for the throne.

There was an indescribable sense of déjà vu about this blond-haired, blue-eyed man. I couldn't tell if it was because of the game or because he was Nicholas's half-brother.

His Highness Prince Albert dismissed his subordinates and had the room cleared. There was no welcoming atmosphere from him; he had deep, stern wrinkles etched between his brows.

"Are you fully aware of what you wrote in this letter?"

The moment he started speaking, his words were laced with implications, making my timid heart race, but I tried to be brave and lifted my chin.

"Of course. It's very regrettable, but it seems that my value is not understood in this country, so I wish to go where my talents and beauty can be truly appreciated and utilized."

I was about to spew out more humiliating words, but I was stopped by a raised hand. Prince Albert pressed his forehead, as if he had a headache.

"Another troublesome thing..."

He muttered softly and let out a long sigh.

I was still trying to figure out when to bring up the matter, but that opportunity never came.

Suddenly, the outside of the office became noisy.

After hearing a conversation suggesting that the guards at the door were trying to hold back an uninvited visitor, the office door was opened without a knock.

The person who entered, pushing open both doors, was someone I never wanted to see again.

I clenched my back teeth and suppressed my agitation. The moment he appeared, Nicholas's usual cold smile became even sharper.

Unable to meet his gaze, I saw Prince Albert slowly turn the letter on his desk over.

Nicholas turned to the guard who was still trying to dissuade him at the door.

After whispering something, the guard's face turned pale, and he stopped moving.

The door was closed right in front of the guard's nose, and Nicholas walked straight to his brother's desk.

"You're later than I thought."

"I was out riding. More importantly, what were you hiding just now?"

"...It's better not to see it."

"Show it to me."

"...I warned you."

Prince Albert sighed and handed over the letter. Nicholas's eyes narrowed after just three sweeps over the document.

"Brother, please leave the room."

"...This is my office, you know."

"Leave."

With his unyielding tone, Prince Albert sighed again and stood up from his desk.

I screamed inwardly. I shouted in my mind to stop Prince Albert, but of course, it didn't reach him.

Prince Albert's back, which left the room without mercy, closed the double doors as if to seal the deal. We were completely alone.

Even after driving the Crown Prince out of the room, Nicholas didn't start talking immediately. He just stared at me, as if gauging my state.

He was surely probing my thoughts.

Most likely, it was about the content of the letter I had written, but for Nicholas, it must have been a godsend. If the engagement was broken, he could finally be with Lilia Auria.

That's why I didn't want him to drive Prince Albert out.

He might have been trying to be considerate in his own way, but there was no point in insulting Nicholas in a room where only he was present. For Martina to disappear from Nicholas's presence, a third party's condemnation was necessary.

I clenched my palm tightly.

A third party was still outside the door. There must be at least one guard left. But would I be charged with disrespect for shouting insults at just one guard?

Then, to my chagrin, a brilliant idea came to mind. I could scream and cling to the guards, claiming that Nicholas had assaulted me.

It would certainly become a big scandal, one that would require the Crown Prince to come running back.

But if I did that, I would be saddling Nicholas with an extremely dishonorable scandal, even if only temporarily.

I didn't want to. I didn't want to do it. I wanted to run away.

---Run away.

Thinking I had found the best solution, I cast my gaze toward the double doors when Nicholas moved. He slowly approached, and the distance between us felt unnaturally close, making me flinch.

"Did the flowers bloom?"

"...?"

I understood the words, but I didn't know what he was referring to.

"Did you like that apprentice so much?"

Apprentice. The only face that came to mind was that of the young apprentice gardener.

"Or the young son of Baron Baltz?"

I didn't know who he was this time. Nicholas took another step closer.

"Or Keith Clancy? Nordis Owen? Raymond Cabanel? There was even the Duke of Olga. Did you want to be pampered so much that you were approached by so many people?"

That's when I realized. The names Nicholas had listed were the men who had hit on me at the ball I had attended.

Before I could ask how he knew, Nicholas's hands reached for my neck, silencing the words that were about to escape my throat.

"Did you really mean never to see me again?"

I heard the words I had spoken the day before yesterday from a distance.

"Have you changed your mind?"

Nicholas was angry. I saw an unfamiliar passion in his usual cold smile, and my thoughts went into overdrive.

He was angry. Angry enough to strangle me.

It was as if my throat was being strangled with cotton. The pressure gradually increased, making it hard to breathe.

Nicholas might kill me. The calm voice in my head, which seemed out of place, was seized by my heart.

Oh, what a thing. If I did that---

If I did, I would leave a wound on him that would never heal.

My insides burned. A scorching heat rose to my lungs, and the rough impurities made my breath tremble.

Even though it was the sublimation of poison, which was poison anyway, the dirty joy wouldn't stop.

I was sure that if he killed me, I would be filled with the greatest bliss of my life. But at that moment, the pressure on my airway from his hands weakened.

My lungs involuntarily coughed for oxygen, and my vision suddenly brightened.

When I looked up at Nicholas with a mix of disappointment and reproach, his expressionless face was right in front of me. I saw a strength in his eyes that seemed to see through my shameful thoughts.

I must have been smiling. After all, his hands were still around my neck, watching my reaction. It felt like torture. He hated me so much that he wanted to kill me, but he wouldn't. I wanted to cry.

Then, I felt my head being grabbed, and my lips were bitten.

It hurt. My lower lip hurt from being gnawed, but then it was licked three times and sucked.

I didn't understand what was happening, and I looked at Nicholas's face, which was now in clear view. His lips were stained with purple lipstick, which he licked off with his tongue, smiling coldly.

When his arm wrapped around my waist and I was forced to walk, my legs stumbled several times. I was dragged onto the sofa and pinned down on the cushions.

Nicholas's hand ran through my hair, pushing it back from my temples and cheeks. His fingers touched my lips, feeling their texture, and then his open mouth approached.

A warm, wet tongue licked my lips again. After a while, it seemed satisfied and this time bit my lips in a gentle nibble.

Nicholas's hand lifted my skirt and explored the voluminous petticoat. At the same time, his hand, which had been inserted between my back and the sofa, undid the buttons on the back of my dress and pulled it off with impossible speed.

When I felt his hand caress the inside of my thighs and saw my exposed corset, my mind finally recognized the strange situation I was in.

I tried to pull the dress that Nicholas had taken to cover myself, but he saw through my movements and looked down at me.

When our eyes met, a wave of shame and confusion washed over me. Especially, Nicholas's actions were so incomprehensible that they were frightening.

I let out small sounds like "ah" and "uh" and huddled up, trembling.

Nicholas's smile seemed to deepen.

The arms that were holding me were suddenly released and moved above my head, where one hand restrained me. The other hand caressed the curve of my chest and, with a skillful movement, turned my body sideways. The pressure on my torso suddenly eased.

I recognized this sensation. It was the same feeling of relief when the corset's laces were untied.

"Ah... hah!"

Something wet was pressed against my neck.

It was a lip. Nicholas's lip, sliding smoothly.

While I was blushing with embarrassment, the corset's shape gradually lost its meaning.

"What are you doing? What are you doing?"

The sudden intruder shouted in anger, and it was the Crown Prince's voice.

I couldn't see his face as he was behind me, but it was Prince Albert, who had just left the room. I froze. I never thought I would be exposed in such a compromising position to anyone other than Nicholas.

Something soft was draped over my body. It was Nicholas's coat, which smelled of him.

"Did you watch?"

"I came to check because it was unusually quiet. And then I saw you in someone else's room..."

I could hear the groan of frustration even without seeing his face.

Suddenly, I felt a floating sensation and realized I was being carried in Nicholas's arms. He walked with a surprisingly light step toward another door in the office.

"Wait a moment. That's the guest room."

When the door opened, as Prince Albert had warned, there was a simple bed prepared for a nap.

Nicholas didn't put me on the bed but on a single sofa.

He pushed Prince Albert, who had followed him into the room, back and left the room with him.

"Where's Conrad?"

"He's probably outside."

Their voices could be heard from the open door.

I tried to fix my disheveled clothes during this moment, but it was difficult to adjust the corset on my own, and my hair was in a terrible mess, which made me despair.

From the other room, I heard the sound of the door opening to the corridor, and Nicholas calling for Conrad.

"Did you call for me?"

"I need hot water and a cloth for washing, and also makeup supplies. Discreetly."

"Understood."

The man who seemed to be Conrad nodded without hesitation, but Prince Albert interjected with a question.

"Makeup supplies?"

"She can't go back like this."

He must be talking about me. I was flustered to think that I looked so bad. The sound of them returning to the guest room made me look for a place to hide.

"You should stay out of this, Brother."

"I can't let you be alone in a room with a bed."

"Can't you trust your own brother?"

"Do you think I can?"

"...I'm just going to help her fix her appearance. I won't do anything inappropriate."

"Are you an idiot? Call a maid. A maid."

"Is it okay? This is your office and a guest room."

"......"

A half-naked woman in the Crown Prince's guest room. And her identity was the fiancée of the second prince.

I didn't think the Crown Prince's maids would gossip, but they might slip up. Moreover, the Crown Prince himself was engaged.

Prince Albert seemed to have given in.

"I'll keep the door open."

With a very dissatisfied voice, Nicholas returned to the guest room alone.

I had already stood up from the chair and retreated to the corner of the room, but when Nicholas found me, he narrowed his eyes and closed the distance.

I regretted fleeing to the wall. Nicholas, who was so close that I could feel his heat, pressed his hands against the wall and surrounded me with his arms.

Unable to bear it, I leaned against the wall and lowered my head. His breath touched my ear.

"I'm listening from here. Be very careful with your actions."

A voice came from the direction of the door, but I couldn't see anyone through the open door.

Nicholas sighed softly and turned me to face the wall.

His hand, which had entered the gap between my dress and corset from behind, made strange movements, stroking once, then twice, before starting to tighten the corset laces.

I held back a cry as the sensation of my torso being slowly tightened. The careful force applied to each part was frustrating.

I placed my hands on the wall and pressed them hard, scratching it. I passed the time this way, feeling the tightness of the corset and estimating how much longer it would take.

But just as I was letting my guard down, a sudden force made the air in my lungs spill out of my mouth.

"---Hah!"

"...Hey?"

An angry voice came from a distance.

"I'm just tightening the corset. Stop your dirty imagination."

Nicholas said without a hint of shame and tied the corset laces tightly. Then he pulled up the top of my dress and started buttoning it from the bottom.

Just as I was timing it, I heard a knock on the office door, and Conrad, who had been given instructions, entered respectfully.

Nicholas pulled me by the arm and sat me back on the single sofa. He then disappeared into the office, exchanging a few words with Conrad.

"By the way, have you ever put on makeup before?"

"Of course not. But I can figure it out. The corset wasn't as difficult as I thought."

Nicholas deftly avoided Prince Albert's interruption and returned with a bowl of hot water, a cloth, and a makeup box.

He placed them on a round table next to the sofa and began to wring out the cloth after soaking it in the water.

I was confused. Was Nicholas really going to apply makeup to me?

He took my chin and made me look up. He pressed a warm, damp cloth to my face and gently wiped it.

The warm sensation enveloped my face, and despite everything, a sense of relief washed over me.

Nicholas then took a comb from the makeup box and began to untangle and brush my hair, gathering it so it wouldn't fall in my face.

Even when it came to actually applying makeup, Nicholas chose the right items from the box, selecting a base powder, malachite eyeshadow, and pearl blush, following Martina's usual makeup routine.

Nicholas knelt on the rug, leaned in close, and touched my face as he applied the makeup, making my eyelids flutter and blink nervously.

When it came to the final touch of lipstick, I noticed that the makeup box contained a deep purple lipstick.

It was applied to my lips as skillfully as the other makeup, and I thought it was over, but when I looked up, Nicholas was staring intently at my lips.

His thumb traced the bottom of my lip, and I suddenly remembered the reason the lipstick had come off, making my body stiffen.

Whether it was an expectation or a prediction, Nicholas stood up, contrary to the scene that had been playing in my head. He lifted the hair that had been flowing down my back and began to smooth it out.

He's even doing my hair!

He played with my hair for a while, then seemed to notice something and walked over to a corner table near the door, where a vase of flowers was placed.

"Brother, are these flowers from today?"

"...Yes, they are changed daily. What about it?"

"Then I'll take a few."

"What, are you done with your preparations?"

"No, I still need to do my hair."

"Just your hair? Then I can stay. You can talk while you do your hair."

Prince Albert tried to enter the guest room, but Nicholas didn't look pleased.

"What's that face for? No way. It's taking too long. I'm a busy man, and you're occupying my office. Finish up quickly."

Nicholas pushed past Prince Albert and entered the guest room. Out of habit, I stood up to greet him.

He glanced at me but didn't say anything and sat down on the bed. On the other hand, Nicholas pressed my shoulder and made me sit on the sofa again, then began to wash the stems of the flowers he had taken from the vase with the remaining water, wiping off the water droplets.

"So, how much did you two manage to discuss?"

Prince Albert started, but Nicholas, who had been silent, finished wiping his hands and began the task of doing my hair.

Should I be the one to answer this?

But upon reflection, we hadn't really discussed anything. What had happened