In Aldrant, the sound of a crackling fire wakes Rensley Maelrosen instead of the usual sounds of birds or insects. Slowly opening his eyes, just like when he woke from an afternoon nap, Rensley noticed that his previously trembling eyelashes had settled into place.
Instead of getting up right away, he turned his head. Warm and snug, something covered his bare body on the bed. Slowly sitting up, he realized it was the Duke’s cloak. Surprised, Rensley addressed the owner of the garment.
“Your Grace.”
The man standing by the water jug at the bedside turned his head at Rensley’s voice. Gezell Jivendad, dressed in a dark robe lighter than usual, met Rensley’s gaze.
“Don’t get up.”
Gezell approached the bed. In his hands, he held a large basin of water and a clean towel. Placing them on the nightstand, he looked at Rensley.
“How is your body?”
“I’m fine. Nothing… um…”
The back of his hand touched his cheek. Though it seemed like a cooling motion, Rensley unintentionally let out a soft moan. His eyes became slightly red. He realized that the aftermath of their intimacy still lingered. It seemed he hadn’t been asleep for too long.
After the first round of lovemaking, without withdrawing, the second followed. Rensley, inexperienced with reaching climax through penetration, thought he could maintain composure better than his partner who was experiencing everything for the first time. However, the unfamiliar pleasure left him unexpectedly powerless.
The third climax, more intense than the first two, came amid the thrusts. Unable to bear it, Rensley, forgetting his role as a subject, pushed Gezell away. Sobbing, he pleaded for it to stop.
Now, he was certain. Gezell Jivendad on the bed was an unstoppable tyrant. Even though he apologized, he didn’t stop. Gezell released Rensley, who was crying, after fervently thrusting inside him once more, then took him into his arms.
As Rensley sobbed in his embrace, Gezell spoke with a somewhat melancholic tone.
“I’m sorry. I should have exercised more patience.”
“No need to apologize. Even Your Grace would find it challenging to endure in such a new world.”
Silently cursing the tyrant in his mind, Rensley played along, covering his body with the cloak. It felt sinful enough just to let it fall on the floor, but wearing it over his unwashed body felt like challenging the authority.
“I know. Don’t be stubborn, I’ll decide what to do.”
With those words, Gezell behaved like a senior with understanding. Rensley, offering the cloak, whispered, “Your Grace.” Feeling stubbornness in his personality, he already grasped the situation. If it’s a royal command, then it’s a royal command.
“Even though it’s not cold inside, dropping body temperature can be dangerous. Stay covered.”
“No, you don’t have to…”
“Would it be a problem if the Duchess were to wear the Duke’s clothes? Lie back down.”
In a seemingly casual manner, Gezell proceeded to clean Rensley’s body. Having wet the towel again, he brought the cloak up to Rensley’s shoulders and lifted the lower part, wiping the inside of his thighs. Rensley quickly closed his legs.
“It’s fine.”
“We don’t have a bath in the laboratory. Even if you go back to your room to wash, it would be better to tidy up quickly.”
“I will take care of it. There’s no need for Your Grace to go this far.”
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.
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Gezell’s expression softened at Rensley’s words. After a faint smile, he once again covered Rensley with the cloak. Rensley was more concerned about the cloak becoming dirtier than his own body left unwashed.
“I will put on clothes. Please tidy up the cloak since it might get dirty.”
“It’s not mud. What’s the problem? It’ll be clean after washing.”
Of course, the king’s clothes would be washed, but such everyday words didn’t seem fitting for the dignified attire of a sovereign. As Rensley sensed that complaining further would be futile, he fell silent. Gezell brought him a drink. After quenching his thirst, Rensley took a deep breath, and the quiet laboratory fell silent.
“Is your body okay?”
Gezell’s voice gently broke the brief silence. Rensley stood up from the bed, still draped in the cloak. After a few steps, he smiled.
“As you can see, I’m fine. A knight of a whole nation shouldn’t make such weak sounds.”
In truth, he was quietly surprised. Even though his waist and legs felt weak–the body covered by the cloak was trembling slightly–it was a different fatigue from lying in bed due to fever and pain; it came from standing quickly.
However, resting a bit would make it better. After standing for a moment, Rensley felt sluggish and forced a strained smile. Gezell, sitting by the bed, also stood up.
“Your Grace!”
Then, Gezell embraced Rensley in the cloak. Surprised, Rensley called him, but there was no reply. How many times had this happened? Unless using magical devices, moving without setting foot on the ground didn’t seem to become familiar to him.
Before Rensley could ask him to let go, Gezell, still holding Rensley, sat down on the comfortable chair where he spent a lot of time. Naturally, Rensley ended up sitting on Gezell’s thighs. To avoid putting weight on him, Rensley bent his knees and adjusted his position.
“Your Grace, I am a knight who should be at your service, not someone who needs your protection. It becomes troublesome if you keep insisting otherwise.”
“But right now, you are not by my side as a knight.”
“Why not? Even though my role as a Duchess may be temporary, I will continue as a knight. Just imagine lifting a sturdy man like me, and consider the possibility that Your Grace might sprain a hand, foot, or waist while doing so. Especially when I am with you. When the Commander asks about the reason for your injury, imagine explaining that it happened while lifting me, as if I were a useless burden without the qualifications of a knight.”
Gezell looked at Rensley with a subtle expression, seemingly emotionless but with a hint of a smile. What kind of verbal mistake had he made? Rensley closed his mouth.
Gezell’s hand rested on his head. While lying down, he spent some time tidying the scattered hair that spread out like a nest in the wind, as if trying to straighten them.
“Do you plan to continue as a knight for the Duke’s Guard in the future?”
“Yes! I’ve wanted to become a knight for a long time.”
“Even after a new Duchess arrives?”
“I will serve both Your Grace and the future heir born between you. By then, I’ll probably have shed the apprentice label.”
After answering cheerfully, Rensley glanced at him with suspicion as soon as he finished speaking.
“But until then, are you planning to continue spending good times with me like this?”
“Yes. Now, please sit properly.”
A faint smile crossed Gezell’s lips. Rensley, feeling embarrassed, smiled back and inevitably leaned against him slightly.
Observing Rensley with a scrutinizing gaze, Gezell asked another question in a hushed voice.
“Didn’t you say you would go on an adventure when a new Duchess comes?”
“At that time, I wasn’t a knight yet. Except for pretending to be a Duchess, there’s nothing I can do here. If I had to step aside, I’d have to find something else. What else could I do?”
Rensley looked up. The large silhouette of the two people sitting in front of the hearth had merged into one and spread to the ceiling like a single object. The faint shadows–like silver leaves over water–flickered gently around the room. Like many children, the swaying shadow had been a long-standing plaything for Rensley. Spending countless nights imagining all things in the shadow of objects cast by candlelight, he envisioned animals, plants, places he had only heard stories about, forms seen only in books, people he had never met, and so much more.
“But I am indeed interested in adventures. The world is so vast, and it would be a shame to die without setting foot in places other than predetermined locations. In the past, I lived by giving up such thoughts, considering it impossible. But now, it’s different… I wonder how Ivet is doing in some unfamiliar place by now. When we were young, we used to talk a lot while looking at maps or books. How about Your Grace? Do you occasionally take breaks or go on trips? Although it might be difficult for a king to move for leisure, there are times when you have to visit other countries due to diplomacy.”
Gezell didn’t answer immediately. His silence seemed to have the hesitation of a storyteller contemplating what tale to tell a child. However, Rensley–not a child–waited without urging him.
Gezell’s mouth slowly opened. “When spring comes… there are times when the castle is empty.”
“Spring?”
“Yes. When spring arrives, creatures beyond the ramparts fall asleep. Usually, living beings hibernate during winter, but they, on the contrary, cease their activities during spring and summer. At that time, even the guards who were stationed outside the ramparts return to Roudken when Commander Frida comes back to the castle. Spring is still far away.”
“A vacation for Your Grace. Then, please take me with you at that time.”
“Would you like that?”
Gezell hugged Rensley even more tightly. Rensley faced him and enjoyed the embrace. The embrace of the Northern Duke was spacious, firm, warm, and the cloak covering his naked body was soft, carrying the scent of the dry wind of the plain.
Whether due to the duty as a spouse, human affection, or the pleasure he just learned being irresistibly enjoyable–for whatever reason, Gezell was exceptionally kind to Rensley, and Rensley had no intention of wasting this sweet time with unnecessary worries.
If the end is predetermined, it’s best to cherish and enjoy each day as if it were the last. Surrounded by warmth and coziness, Rensley closed his eyes and whispered vaguely, as if recounting a dream he had.
“In fact, I once thought that if the opportunity arose, I would like to go to Cornia with Your Grace. Although my body now cannot return to Cornia, the place I was born and raised, the desire remains.”
“Do you want to go back to Cornia?”
“I don’t mean I want to go back and live there. But not being able to go and choosing not to go are different. Still, it’s where I was born, so there are times when I miss it. Due to the king’s abrupt decision, I couldn’t even say goodbye to my friends before leaving.”
Surrounded by warmth, he longed for something cold. The time spent drying the wet body under the warm sun by a sea with waves crashing on the white sandy beach, the shadows of the dense forest dyed in blue under the clear sky, and things like the cold streams in deep valleys.
“It’s okay if other things are different, but what I find most regrettable is the difficulty in obtaining certain crops when cooking and the inability to find certain ingredients. Especially for Cornian cuisine, where tomatoes are heavily used, it’s disappointing that I can’t find fresh tomatoes here. And, I’m really good at swimming. Does Your Grace know how to swim?”
“No, I’ve never tried.”
“If you ever go on vacation to a warm place, I’ll teach you then. I’ll be your teacher at that time.”
As Rensley’s words trailed off into a mumble, Gezell’s voice became low and small.
“Sir Maelrosen, you seem sleepy.”
“No, not at all.”
“Go up and sleep. I’m sorry for being so overbearing to a sick person.”
“I’m not in pain, and you haven’t been overbearing. It was very pleasant, Your Grace…”
As if in response, Gezell lightly kissed his lips a few times, and this time too, he lifted Rensley, who was now dressed, and headed towards the Duke’s bedroom. Just as it happened in the stable, in the blink of an eye, the two were back in the Duke’s chamber. Rensley, already drowsy, felt the soothing touch of warm water and soap bubbles as Gezell began cleaning his body.
To receive a bath from the king, what sacrilege and impropriety. Despite feeling guilty, Rensley sat quietly like a doll in the bathtub, lifting his sleep-deprived eyes to gaze at Gezell.
Having bathed Rensley, Gezell–delaying his own bath–dried him off. He dressed Rensley in a fluffy new robe and laid him on the bed. Unlike the makeshift bed in the research lab, the Duke’s bedroom had thick curtains surrounding the bed like walls. The warm light of the fireplace, which brightly illuminated their faces during the day, was distant here. Gezell’s expression, shrouded in darkness, was not clearly visible to Rensley. The silent man, as if attempting a polite farewell, softly called Rensley.
“Sir Maelrosen.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you for saying that you like me.”
“…Yes.”
“I apologize for not returning the same words… I’m sorry.”
Rensley chuckled. Everything about Duke Gezell was precise and clear, yet on this particular matter, he took an ambiguous stance. It was a matter that, upon closer thought, was not as simple as it seemed. Even if, by any chance, he harbored feelings similar to Rensley, Rensley could not be made the true Duchess. The king’s marriage differed from that of ordinary people; he stood too high to enjoy the give-and-take of affection and romance. The stubbornness that didn’t match, the seemingly plausible nonsense, Rensley pondered deeply, realizing that it couldn’t be a straightforward matter.
“You don’t have to explicitly state that; I won’t misunderstand. Your Grace, please don’t overthink it. I hope you enjoy our time together now, until you are properly married in the future. You don’t have to worry about the other aspects; this was my initiative.”
“…Understanding your feelings is difficult.”
At his words, Rensley couldn’t help but smile.
“People who are hard to understand say that. I think there’s hardly anyone in the world as easy as me.”
Enough. Was affection really that important? Once time passed, only the fleeting excitement of enjoyable memories would remain. Rensley had experienced brief moments of excitement that touched his heart now and then. Back then, as now, he didn’t intend to burden himself with this emotion.
The momentary pain near the heart and the brief emptiness inside the chest, like wind passing through, were side effects that naturally followed the emotion called affection. For the sake of such trivial suffering, Rensley Maelrosen, who had endured much in his life, wasn’t foolish enough to ruin significant matters.
‘Look at yourself. If he were to change his attitude, endure all trials, and genuinely propose that I be a true duchess, what then?’
Rensley hesitated. He had faced threats to his life without hesitation, yet in the face of heavy sincerity, he didn’t know if he would run away. Renowned for being light-hearted even at Celestine Plaza, Rensley Maelrosen wasn’t fit to shoulder the title of a ruler’s consort.
One day, while preparing for the entrance exam, he had thought that if luck was on his side, he might meet a good spouse and build a family. However, the silhouette he vaguely imagined at that time… Duke Gezell Jivendad wasn’t it.
“Good night, Your Grace.”
Unable to return the same words, Gezell, who had expressed regret earlier, didn’t hesitate and embraced Rensley. Rensley set aside other thoughts and closed his eyes. The gentle and low voice bidding him good night, the weight of their arms embracing each other, and the warm body temperature. At least for now, this was enough for Rensley.
Aww this was such an emotional chapter. Road to become real Duchess seems far away for now 😢 husband’s no aware!!
Also Rensley your tomatoes are coming soon ~~~~~
Ayee tysm for rolling out this chapter ♥️
I wanna spoil you so much… but I won’t😂
I also wanna get Spoiled but its the curiosity which pulls me here everytime so no spoiling (≧▽≦)
Ahh ! Such a tough road 😌
yeah, they won’t know what hit them with all the feels 😀 can’t waaait
Rensley longs for Gezell’s affection so much, even though he says he’s okay to never get it, that’s not really it T^T