REFDL 66

Though separated by a saddle, the two felt as if they were touching.

……That was probably because they already knew that sensation.

Without the interference of clothes or blankets, their skin was a shock to each other.

It was rough and hot.

It felt like what flowed beneath their skin wasn’t blood but lava. The defined muscles quivered with the man’s movements.

A huge, heavy body greedily crushed him.

He felt ecstasy in the suffocating pressure. Weight was presence. He wanted him to press harder, to torment him more.

Or, it was soft and yielding.

If a person were molded from milk foam, this is what they would be like. A sweet scent vibrated from his entire body. His tousled red-gold hair was more beautiful than a poppy adorned with golden stamens.

With each breath, his reason blurred. Both hands roughly seized the small, dainty breasts, forcibly molding them into mounds. Kaelus buried his head there and thought he could die like this without regret.

Even so, his dazed mind repeated the same thought.

…He absolutely had to get his hands on this.

‘I’ve gone mad.’

The dragon knight’s face darkened as he recalled that moment.

As time passed, the memory expanded and sharpened. Kaelus now held that ecstatic instant perfectly within him.

In the cavern, he had sucked on skin as soft as whipped cream. His tongue felt like it would melt. The sweet scent, numbing his senses, made his head spin.

He indulged in Yuram. He tasted everything he could, imprinting himself onto his body.

Pleasure was merely a bonus. If anything, it was collateral gain.

Kaelus focused on the being in his arms. If he could, he wanted to spread his entire body like a net to envelop him.

“……”

“……”

Yuram and Kaelus’s nerves were stretched taut toward each other.

Yet, each was too preoccupied hiding his own thoughts to truly see into the other’s heart.

Two emotions, dropped alone into the sky, quietly boiled toward each other. It was a storm only they didn’t know about.

* * *

Tortan welcomed the returning subjugation force with open arms.

When Kaelus entered the Grand Hall, the emperor was waiting at the entrance, abandoning all decorum. Kaelus’s steps halted mid-corridor when he spotted the emperor pacing restlessly before the door like a dog desperate to relieve itself.

……Should I just turn back?

“Duke!”

‘Too late.’

The emperor bounced up and down, waving his hands.

The attendants stared at the wall. The knights, bound by the weighty duty of guarding the emperor, couldn’t turn their heads. Their glazed eyes drifted into contemplation of their profession.

And Kaelus.

‘……I should have just gone straight back to the manor.’

Why did I come here, seeking some kind of glory? It was a mistake. ……But then, if I think about it that way, becoming a duke during this bastard’s reign was the mistake to begin with.

Haa.

It wasn’t exactly a mistake, but the top retainer serving this irritating emperor sighed.

He had come too far to turn back now.

Kaelus turned his gaze toward the emperor as if he were looking at something filthy.

It was a grave act of disrespect, but Tortan paid it no mind.

Instead, he praised his achievements and hardships, listing each point he had been briefed on beforehand.

The emperor slapped the duke’s shoulder with his palm.

“You really went through a lot this time!”

“…….”

“……I am the emperor.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you looking at me like you want to break my hand?”

“You’re mistaken.”

Tortan quietly lowered his hand, suddenly adopting a solemn expression before once again praising Kaelus’s achievements. He had already heard through Odan about the changes deep within the Sea of Trees.

What Kaelus had accomplished this time was a monumental feat, one that no amount of praise could fully honor.

But the more Tortan mentioned it, the darker Kaelus’s expression grew. To others, it remained the same impassive look, but Tortan, who had been by his side since childhood, noticed the change.

‘Hmm?’

He sensed something.

Tortan’s antennae, which sharpened specifically for Kaelus, quivered.

‘I heard a rough account of what happened at Anax…’

But there’s more to this.

Tortan chuckled inwardly. He decided it would be wise to investigate further!

* * *

Several days after the subjugation force’s return.

A grand banquet was held at the imperial palace to celebrate the heroes’ return. The capital buzzed with festive excitement once more.

Though it was early spring and the festivities didn’t last into the night, the people were thoroughly delighted.

To be precise, they were wildly excited.

“I heard Lord Kremlis played a huge role?”

“I heard His Grace personally rode out and wiped out the monsters!”

“I heard it directly from soldiers, they said there’s never been a spectacle like it!”

Though it began in the mythic age, the Monster Wave persisted to this day, making it very real.

Alongside war, it was the greatest threat capable of ruining their entire lives.

Yet this Monster Wave, rumored to be unprecedentedly powerful and perhaps unstoppable, was easily resolved by the Kremlis dragon, hailed as the incarnation of Julan!

News of Yuram’s feat spread like wildfire through the capital, carried by the soldiers present at the scene.

As rumors often do, it was exaggerated, but even accounting for that, it was an extraordinary achievement.

The citizens cheered.

They toasted with beer mugs, smiling at the guarantee of five years of stability and the dragon’s continued presence to protect them even after that.

Every member of the subjugation force, down to the lowest-ranking soldier, received a reward.

The faces of those who received pouches filled with glittering gold coins bloomed as brightly as the metal itself.

Naturally, Kaelus received the largest share.

Chests brimming with gold and a small iron mine were added to the Irelion estate.

Yet, for some reason, Kaelus didn’t seem particularly pleased. Of course, the duke was never one to readily reveal his emotions or inner thoughts, but lately, it had become particularly pronounced.

To be precise, he was constantly in a low mood.

“He’s upset because we haven’t finished clearing all the monsters left in the forest.”

“No. He’s worried about the future of Firmus.”

“What are you all talking about? His Majesty has clearly caused some trouble again.”

“…Sounds plausible?”

Speculation ran rampant, but no one knew the exact reason.

After that, the Kremlis dragon was naturally assigned to the Duke Irelion’s residence.

People kept a close watch on the duke’s residence.

But for some reason, after he landed in the duke’s courtyard, his whereabouts became unclear. No one inside had seen him either.

Some members of the Council of Elders, who were particularly zealous about the Kremlis, were so obsessed they risked danger by secretly slipping their own people in.

“I, I had no other intentions! I just wanted to make sure the Kremlis deagon was safe and sound……!”

Yuram thought that people like that were the reason migratory bird habitats got ruined.

Kaelus’s opinion was similar.

“Like master, like servant.”

“…I can tolerate insults against me, but I cannot tolerate insults against the Count… ugh!”

“Grow up.”

Kaelus used his unique intuition to quickly uproot the intruders like weeds from a field.

They were flung over the white wall of the duke’s residence, where climbing roses bloomed beautifully.

The Kremlis’s whereabouts remained unknown.

Instead, rumors began circulating among the expelled intruders.

An unidentified beauty with red-gold hair was staying in the Duke’s annex.

Kaelus’s relationships with people were, at best, sparse; at worst, nonexistent.

No noble had a personal connection with him strong enough to warrant lending him the duke’s estate, let alone its annex. If one had to name someone, it would be Tortan, an acquaintance since childhood. But Tortan had no reason to stay at the duke’s estate in the first place, so he was excluded.

Anyway.

The existence of this beauty, which started from the mouths of spies, stirred the curiosity of gossip lovers.

It wasn’t just anyone. It was that Kaelus.

The very Duke Irelion who had rejected marriage proposals regardless of family standing, who had proven his lack of interest in marriage through his actions!

All kinds of embellished speculation spread in an instant.

Yet, even amidst this, no one had actually seen the Kremlis.