Chapter 44

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: A Dangerous Lesson
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At his mention of a scent, I flinched at first. I was worried he meant I smelled bad.
But the longer I met his red eyes, the more suggestive my thoughts became.
His eyes looked exactly as they had that night...
Just as I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious then, I'd be mortified if this was all just my own misunderstanding. Aileen averted her gaze from Cesare's.
Meanwhile, Cesare walked slowly into the room. He stood in the center of the small bedroom and finally set Aileen down.
Then, he carefully surveyed the bedroom once more. He didn't just look; he touched things here and there. He pressed his hand firmly against the back of the small, one-person sofa Aileen often used.
The sofa, a perfect fit for Aileen, seemed incredibly dainty to Cesare. It was too small to even properly support his back.
Aileen let him look around, but when she saw him approach the bookshelf where her diary was kept, she cried out in a hurry.
“Um, Your Excellency—no, Lord Cesare. Would you like to see this? It's a rabbit doll Sir Diego gave me as a gift.”
She picked up the doll from the head of her bed and shook it frantically. Fortunately, Cesare showed a little interest in Aileen's desperate act. Perhaps he was only pretending to be interested, but in any case, she was relieved to have successfully diverted his attention.
“Would you like to see the bathroom, too? There are lots of interesting things in there.”
It was a small bathroom attached to the bedroom. There was nothing interesting about it, of course, but Aileen, desperate to distract him, rambled on as she led Cesare inside. Cesare let out a small laugh and followed Aileen.
But once she'd lured him into the bathroom, she had nothing left to say. Wondering what to do, Aileen suddenly showed him the toothpaste.
“I made this. Oh, well, not from scratch…”
She had mixed a few herbs into a commercially available tooth powder. Everyone loved it as a gift because it left a refreshing feeling.
With an attentive listener before her, Aileen strained her brain with all her might. It was to keep herself from explaining the types of herbs in the toothpaste, their appearance, ingredients, and effects.
While Aileen fought the impulse, Cesare, for some reason, had a smile on his face.
“How do you use it?”
“Uh, just like you normally would, when brushing your teeth…”
“Show me.”
At his urging, Aileen answered without thinking.
“Would you like to try it too, Lord Cesare?”
She had made the offer thinking he would refuse, but Cesare readily agreed.
She stood close beside him at the small sink and tried the toothpaste. Like the kitchen, everything here was sized for Aileen. It must have been uncomfortable, but Cesare followed Aileen's lead without any complaint.
The muscles of his forearms, exposed below his rolled-up sleeves, flexed. Splashing droplets of water landed on his forearms before falling away. Washing his hands under the stream of water—it was such a trivial act, yet she couldn't tear her eyes away.
After taking his time to wash his hands meticulously, Cesare turned to look at Aileen. Aileen, who had been intently stealing glances at him, flinched in surprise when their eyes met directly.
As the saying goes, a guilty conscience needs no accuser. Though Cesare said nothing, she felt a pang of guilt and scurried out of the bathroom. Not watching where she was going, she rushed out and tripped on the sofa.
Aileen tumbled forward, collapsing onto the sofa. She ended up in a comical position, with one leg on the floor and the other draped over the armrest. She tried to get up quickly, but a steady pressure on her back from behind kept her from moving.
Cesare had placed his hand on Aileen's back and was pressing down gently. The force wasn't strong, but it was enough to pin her in place.
At first, she thought he was just playing a prank. But for some reason, he didn't move away. The pressure on her back grew slightly stronger. It was enough to make it a little hard to breathe, and Aileen called out to him cautiously.
“Lo-Lord Cesare…?”
But Cesare didn't answer. He remained still for a moment before letting out a long sigh. Just as Aileen was about to call his name again, he spoke.
“…From now on.”
He said, as if admonishing a child.
“Don't let anyone into your bedroom, even if they ask for a tour.”
His low, subdued voice sounded unusually serious. Aileen quickly replied.
“No one has ever been in my bedroom besides you, Lord Cesare. Not even my father.”
Though, it wasn't so much that she forbade him as that her father had no interest in his child's bedroom.
“So you don't need to worry.”
She expected him to praise her again, as one would a child, telling her she did well. But he didn't. Hearing her answer, Cesare silently reached out with his other arm.
He braced his arm on the back of the sofa and leaned over her. As his large body drew closer from behind, he blocked the light, casting a dark shadow over her. Almost completely covering her, he brought his lips to her ear. And then he asked in a low voice.
“And you're not worried about what *I* might do?”
Aileen tried to turn and look back at him. But a firm command stopped her.
“Don't turn your head, Aileen.”
She quickly snapped her head, which had started to turn, back to the front. Stuck staring at the sofa's fabric, Aileen opened her lips.
“But it's all right if it's you, Lord Cesare.”
It was because it was Cesare that she had let him into her bedroom. He was someone who would never do anything bad to her.
And even if he did do something bad, it was fine. The bad things he had once warned her about. Whether it was being killed or suffering irreparable physical harm, if it came from Cesare, she could accept it.
‘My life belongs to Lord Cesare, after all.’
Just as her mother had, Aileen was prepared to devote her everything to him. Of course, Cesare had little need for something like Aileen's life, so it was a resolve she kept to herself...
“There will be no need for you to take my place. Understand?”
When the assassin had burst into the greenhouse, Cesare had told Aileen not to take his place. But if, by some miracle, such a moment ever came, Aileen wanted to die for Cesare.
‘That's a distant dream, though.’
Cesare was a powerful and beautiful being. He had the strength to protect himself, and he was surrounded by countless soldiers to assist him.
There was… nothing Aileen could do for him.
Even Morpheus, which she had prepared so ambitiously, had gone completely awry and ended up ruining things for Cesare instead.
“It's all right if you kill me or cause irreparable harm to my body. You would never hurt me for no reason, Lord Cesare. If something like that were to happen, it would surely be because I did something wrong.”
She calmly conveyed her thoughts to him. Surely this would show him that she hadn't naively let him into her bedroom. She was even a little proud of herself for having demonstrated her trust and loyalty to Cesare.
But Aileen soon realized she had completely misinterpreted his intentions.
Cesare slowly lowered his body. As his hard chest pressed against her back, something heavy and hot pressed down on her bottom. Feeling the full weight and heat of a man's body, Aileen's eyes flew wide open.
Too flustered to do more than stammer, "Uh, uh," she felt his lips touch her ear.
“Then is this, too, something you did wrong?”
He nipped gently at the shell of her ear with his firm teeth, then slid his tongue along its curve.
Frozen in place, Aileen belatedly began to struggle, trying to squirm out from under him. In response, Cesare thrust his hips up with a sharp jolt. That single, simple thrust of his hips sent Aileen's entire body, along with the sofa, shaking. As if punishing her, he bit down hard on her earlobe.
“Ah…!”
It hurt enough to make her eyes water. Aileen, who had been struggling, immediately went still again, lying obediently on the sofa. Then, in a trembling voice, she tried to reason with him.
“Th-this isn't what I meant. I don't think this is something I did wro—Hngh, don't lick there…!”
He pushed his tongue into her ear. The wet sound filled her eardrum. The slick, lewd sound echoed, and she couldn't think straight.