EWOWMAIBTYPF Chapter 201

Chapter 201

 

After I gave my consent, Lucio pressed his lips to mine softly, as if to keep his promise not to make me faint.

But only for a moment. As soon as my lips parted slightly, he began to reveal his true nature.

It wasn’t as aggressive as our first kiss, but the way he entangled my tongue was far more persistent.

With the deep, entwining heat, I found myself holding my breath multiple times.

It felt like all the sensations in my body had concentrated in one place.

It tickled, tingled, and at times burned so intensely I flinched, trying to escape the overwhelming feeling.

But Lucio held the back of my head with one hand and gripped my waist with the other, not allowing me to run away.

He didn’t leave even the smallest gap.

As we exchanged breaths again and again through our tightly sealed lips, I was completely drained.

“Hngh… Wait a minute. Haa…”

Short of breath again, I pushed Lucio away. This time, he allowed himself to be pushed back, though his breathing had grown heavy as well.

Still, in his eyes, I could see a deep thirst-like longing that hadn’t lessened one bit.

I had a feeling that saying ‘That’s enough’ wouldn’t work, so I asked between ragged breaths,

“More?”

“Yeah, not enough.”

His firm response left me dumbfounded, and I found myself staring at his lips, which had been locked with mine moments ago.

His lips, red and full, were smeared with saliva—whose, I couldn’t tell.

Noticing my gaze, Lucio deliberately licked his lips to clean the trace.

“!”

Seeing it with my own eyes was far more shocking than kissing with my eyes closed. I blushed and quickly turned my gaze away.

The ornate ceiling and canopy came into view.

“…Huh?”

I blinked in surprise, but it wasn’t a mistake.

“Why are we lying on the bed?”

I was sure we’d been sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room when we started kissing.

I had felt Lucio lift me at some point during the sweet kisses, but I’d thought we’d just shifted onto his lap at most.

But at some point, we ended up on the bed…

As I sat there in confusion, Lucio gave an awkward laugh.

“No, don’t just laugh, answer me. When did we…?”

Smooch.

Before I could press him further, Lucio kissed my forehead, eyes, cheeks, and along my jawline in quick succession.

It was obvious he was dodging the question, yet I couldn’t bring myself to scold him.

Then he whispered against my ear.

“Good girl.”

“For what?”

“To be honest, I was really worried you might faint again.”

Then, chuckling, he added,

“Thank goodness. If a kiss makes you pass out, I’d be seriously worried about what comes next.”

“…What is coming next?”

“Eh, this and that.”

Lucio smiled vaguely, and though his face was handsome, it was a bit scary too.

Sensing danger, I quickly sat up.

“Get off.”

“…Huh?”

“Off the bed. No, you should go now!”

It had already been several hours since Lucio came to my room.

We’d seen each other, and I’d heard about the Duke of Elard’s reaction, which had been on my mind.

As I pushed him away, making it clear I was about to throw him out, he looked betrayed.

“I’m really tired… Can’t I rest just a little longer…”

“You were practically pinning me down a second ago! If you’re tired, go home and rest. The duke’s mansion is right next door.”

At my firm reply, Lucio slowly got up, though he kept glancing at me.

“What? You have more to say?”

I asked coldly when he kept hesitating, and suddenly, his expression turned serious.

I grew wary, wondering what he was going to say now to try to sway me again.

“What brought Ascart all the way to the Empire?”

It was a completely unexpected question.

Though he didn’t sound accusatory, I swallowed hard without meaning to.

“What do you mean? You escorted me at the Founding Festival ball, and I danced with Prince Nicholas too. He probably heard about it and came out of concern. He’s a little overprotective, you know?”

I laughed it off, pretending not to know anything, but the look in Lucio’s eyes said he’d already figured it out, that Ascart had come to take me back.

“…Are you going back to the Principality?”

As expected. Lucio’s voice held a hint of anxiety.

I nodded slowly.

“I have to. That’s my home.”

“….”

Lucio didn’t have a response to that. He fell silent.

I continued speaking.

“You may already know, but the Emperor invited our family to a banquet at the palace.”

The delegation that had come for the Founding Festival hadn’t left yet, staying in the Empire after receiving urgent news about monsters appearing.

But with no official announcement from the Imperial family, the mood had started to shift. People were beginning to prepare to leave.

Our family, too, had likely decided it was time to return, and the Emperor had invited us to the banquet.

My parents accepted, hoping to glean some information about the monsters through the occasion. Ascart and I were not included.

“After that banquet… we’ll probably return.”

Though not immediately, since my grandfather wasn’t well, it was only a matter of time.

‘Of course, if I insisted on staying, my parents wouldn’t force me…’

But in truth, I had already made up my mind to some extent.

There was no reason for me to wait here until Raizel arrived.

Regardless of whether the relic was real or not, Diana hadn’t awakened—that was the truth. So it made more sense to return to the Principality and monitor the situation from there as Raizel searched for the ancient texts.

“I’ll write to you when I return.”

I hoped it might comfort him a little, but Lucio’s expression only darkened.

“Hey…”

“I don’t want to be apart from you.”

Then Lucio covered his eyes with one hand and finally let out the feelings he had been suppressing.

I froze, unable to say anything, and he swept a hand down his face before speaking again.

“I heard how you were doing through Ascart, but I never got to hear it from you. Just that you were doing fine, that’s all.”

“…”

“I thought I’d finally get to hear how you’ve been these past nine years, if you were happy meeting your family, if you had any hardships… directly from you. But now I’m supposed to say goodbye again?”

“It’s okay to meet Diana now, so I’ll come to the Empire more often. I know you’re busy, but you can also come to the Principality with Diana. I’ll show you around myself.”

I tried my best to reassure him… that it wouldn’t be like the seemingly endless goodbye of before, and that he wouldn’t have to wait alone anymore.

Lucio probably knew there was nothing he could do. He was just sulking, upset and disappointed.

Honestly, I didn’t feel completely at ease either.

We had just confirmed our feelings for each other, and I didn’t want to part ways with him so soon.

I wanted to spend more time with Diana, Jack, Allen, and the Duke and Duchess too—people I hadn’t seen in so long.

But like I told Lucio, now we could meet whenever we wanted.

‘Of course, Raizel might tell me to keep my distance again…’

My friendship with Diana had already been revealed, and even though monsters had appeared, it didn’t seem like Diana was being targeted. That likely meant the demon worshippers had no idea who the real Saint was.

So while I would be cautious, I didn’t think we had to go back to living without even being able to see each other.

Just then, when he had remained quiet for a while and I thought my persuasion had worked, Lucio suddenly said something unexpected.

“Then get engaged to me before you go.”

“…What?”

“I’ll propose to you properly later. But I’m serious. I want to marry you.”

Although marriage had been mentioned before, I never thought he’d actually propose, so I was left speechless.

Seeing how flustered I was, Lucio spoke seriously.

“Of course, I know we can’t get married right away. Realistically, your family would never approve. But maybe I can push through at least an engagement?”

“We’ve only just started seeing each other, and you already want to get engaged…?”

That seemed way too fast.

When I asked hesitantly, Lucio furrowed his brow.

“I heard your estate is already flooded with marriage proposals and love letters.”

“That’s just because they’re after the position of the grand duke’s son-in-law…”

“You don’t truly believe that’s all there is to it, do you?”

“…”

Because I did think that, I couldn’t say anything back.

Lucio let out a deep sigh as he looked at me.

“Even if every noble in the principality is blind and can’t see how amazing you are, and even if all they want is the title… that doesn’t change the fact that they’re still after you.”

“Well, that’s true…”

“I know I said I’d wait for you to accept me. But now that you have…”

Lucio, who was always so rational, couldn’t hide the vulnerability in his expression as he said,

“I’m scared someone will take you from me. The very thought of another man having feelings for you drives me crazy with jealousy. I want the whole world to know you’re mine, that I’m yours. Am I being too greedy?”

His voice was lower than usual, as if choked with emotion, so straightforward and raw.

Honestly, I didn’t think anyone could love me as deeply as Lucio did. Seeing him so anxious was both endearing and a little overwhelming.

But I could understand, at least a little.

Because I knew better than anyone how many women had feelings for Lucio.

Serphin, for one, had been obsessed with him for years. And back when I used to loiter around the academy gates, I overheard girls shrieking and gossiping about him every day.

Even now, many noble daughters were clearly holding off on engagements just in case—pretending to hesitate while secretly hoping.

That’s why, in truth… I was the one who wanted to publicly declare that I was his girlfriend.

After a short moment of thought, I took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Okay. Let’s get engaged.”

 

Mission accomplished. Brilliant, just brilliant.

The site doesn’t have the option for me to reply to anyone, so forgive me if I don’t reply to your comments. But please continue commenting as it helps me know you are here.

If you have a question, I will answer it, but you will have to figure out whom I am talking to 😂