“What does that mean…… Hup!”
Yellian’s lips, which were about to retort to the incomprehensible words, were blocked. None other than by Leonard’s lips.
Yellian stared at Leonard with wide eyes. He was right in front of them, kissing them.
“Hng, mmph…….”
While half-dazed, Leonard’s tongue tickled Yellian’s lips. They were so out of it that they couldn’t even think to clench their lips shut. Thanks to that, Leonard easily parted Yellian’s lips with his tongue and pushed inside.
Once his tongue entered their mouth, there was no turning back. Yellian finally came to their senses, but they had no way to push out the tongue that was already inside.
All they could do was frantically move their own tongue here and there to avoid his, which kept entangling with theirs.
However, even that became a fresh stimulus for Leonard. Though Yellian tried to evade, it was happening in such a confined space that their tongues kept colliding. Each time the soft, wet flesh brushed against each other, Leonard felt an indescribable, intense thrill.
“Hng, mmn…….”
Leonard’s tongue teased Yellian’s tender mucous membrane. Yellian let out an involuntary nasal sound, and the overlapping moans spread suggestively between their locked lips.
Yellian was startled by the sound they made, but Leonard was satisfied with it. No, actually, he was dissatisfied. He wanted to hear more. A strange desire welled up in him to make Yellian moan endlessly until they were hiccupping and crying.
“Mm, mmm.”
The kiss grew as fierce as his desire. Leonard held Yellian’s cheeks with both hands, blowing hot breath into their mouth, and then lightly bit their plump lower lip.
Since he bit just enough not to hurt, Yellian didn’t feel any particular pain, but separately, they felt their body heating up.
Heat rose throughout their entire body, and it felt like their palms were sweating. The deeper Leonard’s kiss became, the more Yellian wanted to run away somewhere.
Whether or not he knew Yellian’s feelings, Leonard traced their teeth with his tongue. Not only that, he stimulated every part, from the hard palate to the softer, deeper mucous membrane, without missing a spot.
As the intensity of the stimulation increased, Yellian was enveloped by a strange feeling, as if something was coiling in their stomach.
As the kiss prolonged, their head grew hazy, perhaps due to a lack of oxygen. Yet, that sensation wasn’t bad. No, to be honest, it felt quite good.
Yellian was only afraid of their body’s honest reaction. It should be normal to dislike kissing the mad duke, so why were they not only accepting this kiss with him but even enjoying it? They couldn’t understand.
After a long while, Leonard slowly pulled away. A long strand of saliva stretched between their lips.
Yellian, still in a daze, quietly watched him pull back, then touched their lips, which had just been kissing him, with their fingers. The lips, wet with someone’s saliva, felt slippery.
“Now I have my answer.”
“What…….”
At Leonard’s words, Yellian asked a beat late. The afterglow of the kiss still lingered heavily. But at Leonard’s next words, Yellian snapped back to reality.
“The probability that my assumption was wrong. It’s not wrong.”
“What?! What does that mean…….”
Yellian’s eyes widened in shock. They couldn’t even finish their surprised words. Because of Leonard’s immediate follow-up.
“It means I do like you.”
“…….”
Not knowing how to react, they couldn’t respond at all to his call.
Meanwhile, Leonard lightly kissed Yellian’s cheek. It was a completely different kiss from the intense one earlier-gentle and tender.
“Yellian.”
“…….”
“I like you.”
Beep- Beep- Beep-
An alarm sounded in their head. They definitely heard it. Somewhere they’d seen that hearing a confession would make bells ring, but bells be damned, a loud red alert blared instead.
The reason was simple. He was the mad duke from the original story, and they were just an uninvited guest who somehow ended up in this novel. If he came to like them, they had no idea how the original story would change.
Of course, the fact that he was the mad duke also scared Yellian. Who knows when he might turn around and decide to cut off their ankle?
Having read in
“I, um, so…….”
“Do you dislike it?”
“Ye……s, I mean, no.”
Seeing Leonard’s expression cool rapidly, Yellian awkwardly laughed as if nothing had happened and responded.
It was like eating mustard while crying. They disliked it, really disliked it, but they couldn’t dare say so. Their tongue was too precious to be cut off just like that.
“From now on, I plan to woo you with all my might.”
“…….”
“Brace yourself.”
Leonard had a confident expression. The faint air of ease he exuded was, well, not just a little…… but quite annoying.
“Well, it’s fine if you pretend to give in eventually.”
His confession lingered in Yellian’s ears. At the same time, the reality of the present hit them anew.
They had received a confession from Leonard.
* * *
“What on earth is the problem! They haven’t woken up for days!”
Leonard shouted with a ferocity as if he would slaughter the physician in front of him at any moment. Elton, seeing Leonard like this for the first time, was quite taken aback, but knowing it was his job to calm him, he spoke as calmly as possible.
“My lord, please calm down and…….”
“Do you know how many times I’ve heard to calm down? Yellian has been unconscious for five days already!”
Leonard, as soon as he woke up, dragged his still-unhealed body to check on Yellian’s condition first.
Yellian had far fewer injuries compared to Leonard. Even so, they strangely couldn’t regain consciousness. Because of this, Elton also worried if there might be another issue besides the injuries.
That said, it wasn’t as if he could fully understand Leonard’s rage. Having served Leonard as his superior for a considerable time, Elton knew him to be a cold and composed person in all matters. In other words, he always maintained his calm.
Yet, the last time Leonard found the person who had hunted Yellian, he had raged in a way that was unlike him. Elton had been surprised then, but this time it was even more intense.
“Isn’t there some other issue? A disease or something, there must be a reason they can’t wake up!”
“Well……. As of now, the wounds are healing well…… and no particular external injuries are visible. There are no specific symptoms to suggest a disease either…….”
The physician trailed off, gauging Leonard’s reaction. The more they spoke, the darker Leonard’s expression became, and the physician felt like crying.
“I will look for other physicians.”
Fortunately, Elton stepped in at this point. He gestured for the physician to leave. The physician’s face brightened as if they had been saved, and they hurriedly left the room.
Thanks to that, only the sleeping Yellian, the angry Leonard, and Elton remained in the room. Elton, still trying to soothe the furious Leonard, cautiously spoke up.
“Since the wounds are healing well, don’t worry too much. They’ll wake up soon.”
“……I don’t know what to do.”
It wasn’t a statement expecting a response. Yet Leonard replied in a deeply subdued voice. His voice was heavy with emotion.
“I just thought of them as some cheeky stray cat that showed up one day.”
“My lord…….”
In that subdued voice, there was an unmistakable regret. Elton knew that emotion well. He had felt the same when he first took in a cat. When the child was sick, it felt like it was all his fault, and not knowing what to do made his chest tight.
Because of that, Elton could somewhat understand Leonard’s feelings. Moreover, though he wasn’t there and didn’t know the details, he had heard that Yellian had been hit by an arrow while protecting Leonard.
“My lord, I understand how you must feel, but let’s wait. Yellian will be fine.”
At Elton’s calm words, Leonard quietly looked at the still-unconscious Yellian and spoke.
“I realized it when they lost consciousness.”
“…….”
“I can no longer live without this cheeky stray cat.”
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