Editors: Mars, Agneya
content warning
nsfw
Perhaps it was the result of the vigorous exercise he had done, but Michele enjoyed a deep sleep that night, devoid of any dreams. When he finally awoke, an entire night had already slipped by, and it was now the morning of the following day. The chilly winter sunlight bathed Michele’s face in light.
“Mm…”
Michele tossed and turned. The sensation of his sleepwear and the bedspread rubbing against his bare skin felt nice. He rolled around on the bed for a bit before finally mustering the energy to open his eyes.
“Ain… Ain?” Michele called for Ain as soon as he woke up. He had grown accustomed to waiting, given that there was only one servant in Sheleg Mansion.
However, Ain was nowhere to be seen, not even after some time had elapsed.
“Where did he go this time?” Michele grumbled, scanning his surroundings. The flames in the fireplace blazed, as though recently stoked. Large logs of firewood were arranged around the flames, with one end touching the other, ensuring they would last for several hours.
Michele lifted his head. There was a reindeer mount suspended above the fireplace. Though it surprised him at first, he had grown accustomed to it and even cared to offer it a greeting.
Nothing seemed different from usual—apart from the absence of the ornate flowers and vase from the table.
“Did he dispose of them…?”
Michele had been the one to instruct their removal, so there shouldn’t have been room for any sort of regret, but… Plates concealed beneath a drape now occupied the empty table space instead of the vase.
“…Oh, right.” Michele’s green eyes lit up. Ain had mentioned that he’d be going out in the morning. It was only after fully waking up did that memory resurface.
Michele slowly got out of bed. Just in case, he decided to look out the window, and like a miracle, the snow had ceased.
“It really is true.”
It was just as Ain had said.
“Hmm…” Michele, gazing at the dazzlingly white snow fields, rested a hand on his stomach. Was it perhaps due to the fact that he had slept throughout the night, not waking once until morning?
Growl.
“…I’m hungry.”
He was famished. Michele rarely felt famished.
As if possessed, Michele approached the table and lifted the cover, revealing a mountain of beef and ham. They were all cut into bite-sized pieces, making them ideal for easy consumption. Michele searched through the array of meats. The meat, having already been sliced, was then pierced through, its hollow interior filled with more smoked meat, ham, fried fish, and pickled vegetables. It looked just like a sandwich, but with the meat slices serving as a substitute for bread.
Just the day before, merely glancing at the food would have left him feeling bloated, and would not have roused his appetite at all. Today, however, the salty aroma stemming from the spread alone was enough to make his mouth water, and he couldn’t understand why.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Having recently experienced hunger once, it instantly snowballed, prompting him to act with haste. This wasn’t the time to fuss over dignity or etiquette. In any case, he was alone right now. Michele hastily devoured the tough meat. It seemed that Ain had anticipated Michele’s hunger upon waking, preparing the food to be easily consumed in advance, so Michele encountered no discomfort, even without the aid of a fork or a knife.
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After rapidly filling his stomach, Michele noticed a glass with some wine in it. With no wine bottles in sight, the glass, covered and waiting, seemed to have been filled for Michele alone to drink. Michele’s eyes widened as he took a sip. Oh, how sweet it tasted! In a single gulp, Michele emptied the entire glass into his mouth.
“Phew…”
Having completed his meal, Michele wiped his hands with the neatly laid cloth on the table. He then laid back down on the bed.
When he looked out the window, he noticed the sun sitting squarely in the middle of the sky. No matter how generous of a timeframe he imagined, there was no denying that it was well past noon.
Ain had mentioned that he would return late. Thinking it over, Michele figured it would be at least six hours before Ain’s return.
So, what do I do now?
Such a question was only natural. Yet, no matter how hard he racked his brain, Michele couldn’t come up with a suitable way to pass the time on his own. Even if he wanted to play chess, it would require two people…
He contemplated whether to explore the mansion while Ain was away, but it went against etiquette to roam around Lord Sheleg’s space as he pleased without permission. Besides, it didn’t seem likely that there would be some kind of magical entertainment laying around in a mansion that was devoid of decoration—save for a severed reindeer head—that could make the time pass like magic either.
Just thinking about how to pass the time left Michele feeling bored. He lay face down on the bed, slowly blinking. Just like that, he slipped into a shallow slumber, waking up intermittently and repeating the cycle.
If he were truly that desperate to find something to entertain himself with, he could read the poems he had brought from the South, enjoy the snacks he had on hand, or even flip through his diary. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the items from his homeland no longer piqued Michele’s interest.
The thought of leaving the mansion without Ain’s knowledge and embarking on a gallant adventure never crossed his mind either. It was self-evident that the cold outside would feel even harsher in his shabby attire, consisting only of a layer of sleepwear. Besides, Ain had advised him against going out if possible…
Michele was the youngest son, the one who was doted on and monopolised the love of the Anatold family. In a household like his, with many sons, it wasn’t a guarantee that he’d be loved just because he was the youngest. Though his resemblance to their mother, who had passed on early, might’ve evoked sentimentality, it didn’t guarantee boundless affection. Nevertheless, Michele was loved.
The love Michele received leaned more towards fondness. As evidence of this, Michele had never once defied the words of his brothers or father. Even when he was sold to an older noble in the North, someone whose face he had never seen, he simply agreed. Michele was the same as a kitten or puppy that had never left its owner’s lap. Doused in love and discarded when necessary, but never holding any resentment towards its master. That docility of his was one of the traits that made him so endearing, but it was also a fatal weakness that rendered him powerless.
So, even now, Michele followed Ain’s instructions without complaint, doing nothing but obediently staying in the room.
“……”
With his index finger, he traced an image on the bedspread. Silence was an unfamiliar thing to Michele. His surroundings were always bustling with maids and servants, family and friends. There was always someone available to converse with him, ensuring that the young and pitiful Michele wouldn’t succumb to unnecessary contemplation and loneliness.
“……”
That was why the most painful thing for him to bear was not the fact that he’d been sold to a foreign place, but that he’d been left all alone.
“Ain!” Michele suddenly and loudly yelled in the stillness, then proceeded to fervently beat the pillow he had been resting his head on. He smacked the pillow as if it were Ain.
“…Huh?”
In the midst of all this, Michele felt something and stuck his hand under the pillow and pulled out a long piece of fabric.
“This is…” It was a white shirt, larger than Michele’s frame, with long sleeves. Michele buried his face in the shirt.
At first, he had assumed the shirt was his. However, the scent he took in was definitely…
<Ngh, Sir Anatold…>
—The events of the previous night flashed through his mind like a lightning bolt.
“Agh…!” Startled, Michele hastily threw the shirt away from himself.
Why are there traces of Ain still lingering in the room?
It wasn’t too difficult to infer that Ain had cleaned up the room before leaving. It was evident from the vase and plates of food. However, it appeared that he had been unable to retrieve his clothes, as Michele had fallen asleep while holding his shirt.
Michele buried his face deep into the bed.
…In reality, since waking up, he had been striving to pretend that everything was fine, but his mind remained consumed by memories of the previous day. Left alone in an unfamiliar place, he couldn’t interact with others or go elsewhere to free his mind from those memories.
He hadn’t even gone through with the marriage, yet he had slept with someone else. He could swear that he had never, not even once, imagined that his first experience would unfold in such a way.
Despite knowing that he was alone, Michele cautiously lifted his head and looked around. Perhaps it was because he had buried it in the bed for so long, but his face was flushed.
“It’s weird…”
Was it commonplace for Northerners, whether noble or servant, to engage in such activities without any concern? How could Lord Sheleg order me to share a bed with someone else, and how could Ain nonchalantly go about his business the next morning as if nothing had happened?!
How could this be…!
“So barbaric…”
I became an entirely different person from yesterday, though… Michele’s voice sounded muffled as he had his face planted against the bedspread.
“So this is the North…” Michele clenched the bedspread. If he were to act according to his emotions, he’d want to shout and question the people of the world.
Northerners were reputed to be cold and indifferent towards everything, letting matters pass without much concern, regardless of their nature. However, Michele hadn’t anticipated it to be to this extent. Ain, at the very least, had taken care of him and shown him kindness, so he didn’t think that he’d be like that as well…
“……”
Michele stretched an arm out slowly, face buried in the bed. His claw-like hand held a white piece of clothing. Using Ain’s shirt as a makeshift bedsheet, Michele tucked it beneath himself.
…The smell of a man other than himself.
Unlike the South, the North was cold year-round, so it didn’t give rise to strong bodily odours. Consequently, its fragrance culture didn’t thrive as much as in the South. Even from their clothes, there was just a faint whiff of sweat, and no pleasant aroma emanated from it.
Michele had encountered diverse and sweet scents in the South. But, somehow, the entirely plain body scent felt surprisingly fresh.
Michele pressed his face against the white garment. He buried his nose in Ain’s fading scent, inhaling deeply. “Haa…”
Closing his eyes, he remembered the events of that night vividly. A firm and pale body flickered before his eyes, like a sculpture with bones crafted from ivory and plaster poured atop it. The impeccably sculpted muscles, devoid of excess or dearth, as if meticulously carved by a skilled sculptor, continued to occupy his mind.
But above all, what had left the deepest impression were the faint scars that decorated that perfect body. They seemed out of place and poignant, akin to reckless scribbles etched by a passerby on the most flawless sculpture crafted by the greatest sculptor.
Caught up in the hectic nature of his first time, Michele could only look at his body, unable to get a good feel of his firm skin. Michele had clung onto him, begging for help.
Even his hands differed from Ain’s. Unlike Michele’s soft and delicate ones, which hadn’t been roughened by hard work, Ain’s hands were calloused and had a masculine aspect to them.
Will I grow more like Ain in the future?
“Mm…” Michele pressed his lips against Ain’s shirt, indulging in similarly meaningless thoughts. With just that, it felt as though he was reliving the sensations he felt when their lips touched.
It was all a first for him… Yes, maybe that was why it felt like it was everything. Simply thinking of the memories of that day made Michele’s body burn up. His white cheeks reddened as his breath began to quicken. Michele furtively reached a hand downward.
“Ah…!” He was surprised. His cock had swollen again, looking as if it didn’t belong to him. Michele, having always been subject to the gazes of others, even within private spaces, was ignorant when it came to sexual matters.
It was the first time his lower half reacted in such a way simply by thinking of someone. Though he felt a little troubled, Michele tentatively took hold of his shaft. It had swollen to the extent that he couldn’t encircle it entirely with his hand, leaving half of it untouched. He had never experienced anything like this in the South… It felt both strange and embarrassing.
It’s not unusual at all. You’re a respectable man.That was what Ain had said, but…
“Ngh, ugh…”
Michele recalled what Ain had done to him and tried to replicate his actions. However, simply grabbing and stroking his cock felt lacking in some way.
This time, Michele shut his eyes and envisioned Ain. Gradually, his touch began to feel as though it were Ain’s. Michele had many servants in the South, all dedicated, but none had served him to the extent of taking him into their mouth and inserting him into their body.
Ain, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be all that devoted, despite serving him in such a way. He seemed familiar with such activities. He guided Michele inside himself with practiced ease, as if tending to a horse or doing some cleaning.
…How many times has he done this? Michele thought of Ain’s hand, which he had held. No remnants of a ring were left on his fingers. This implied that he had partaken in such an act without ever being married… The act of making… love…
“Ah… agh…” Michele bit his lip. A rush of blood surged between his thighs. It felt as if all his sensations were concentrated there, as if he had transformed into a creature dominated by its lower half.
It felt like a form of punishment. Michele’s eyelashes trembled. The price for experiencing his first time with someone other than his wife was turning into a beast.
This was all because of Ain. Even though he was a servant, even though he was just a servant…
<Dare I say, no matter how exceptional of a Northerner one may be, even if they’re great enough that those of their standing can be counted on one hand, they’ve probably never received this many flowers in their life.>
“Ngh…!”
The moment he thought of Ain, holding a bundle of flowers in his arms, a warm liquid spurted onto Michele’s hand. It was a swift release. Michele panted heavily. Ain’s shirt, pinned beneath his body, was quickly soaked.
Michele shifted his body. After lifting his face from the bed where it had been buried, he turned towards the ceiling, causing his vision to spin in circles. Cold air entered his lungs with each and every breath. “Haa…”
Michele slowly pulled Ain’s shirt towards himself, rolling it into a round bundle with his soiled hands and hugged like a teddy bear. The languid effect his release brought about made his vision flicker. Michele closed his eyes.
orcinus comments:
hi… it’s me, lol 😭lots of things have happened, including breaking my arm for those who aren’t in the server and haven’t seen the announcement haha but I’ve been rather busy with some real life stuff like school and work and honestly didn’t want to spend all of my free time translating when I could be catching up on sleep LMAO hopefully I’ll be able to get some more frequent updates and not like once every few months now 🤞
Thank you for the chapter and sorry about your arm 😟
I was so excited to see this is back! I love their dynamic + rlly looking forward to the rest of the story, thanks for the translation! Take care of yourself ^^
Thank you for the new chapter!
Wahhh finally it’s here, thank you so much for ur hardwork translator-nim, hope you’re always healthy and well 😭😭
Thanks very much for the chapter, hope you be better
No worries, take care of yourself. Thanks for the chapter!!