“You do know I want you, right?”

Of course, she did. She knew it rather too well, but she closed her eyes and shut her mouth tightly like a clam.

Edgar was very eager, but he knew she was nervous. Just like she could read his thoughts between the small movements of his face muscles, he could tell what she was thinking.

“What about you? You don’t want me?”

He caressed her shoulder as she opened her eyes. Her eyes were always so pure, unlike his eyes that were now full of desire.

“I do.”

His heart beat fast. How could she say it so innocently? She couldn’t answer the question if she knew he wanted her, but she didn’t hesitate to say yes when asked whether she wanted him. It made him feel even hotter.

“You…”

His hand slowly went down from her shoulder.

“Really drive me crazy.”

Rubica covered her mouth to avoid screaming at the thrill she felt under her collarbone. She wasn’t immune to a hand touching what was under it. She didn’t know how to react to the sensation she was feeling for the first time.

“Are you afraid?”

However, she shook her head to his question. If it had been anyone else, she would have cried in shock and embarrassment. But it totally felt different when it was him. She was just surprised as it was her first time.

“May I proceed?”

She nodded. She was honest, although she was embarrassed, and it was so lovely. She never backed off even when she was scared, and it was one of the things that made her who she was.

“Rubica.”

Moreover, Edgar himself knew he was a coward who would always follow his principles, although that would surprise many.

“I want you too. But… I will not do it in a place like this.”

However, his hands were still caressing her. Her red cheeks and heavy breath didn’t let him stop.

His body already knew what it was craving for, and it refused to be controlled by his reason. He was hoping she would push him away at this point.

He could easily stop if only she only said no. Even his brain couldn’t control his body, but it followed her orders and her orders alone.

“Ed… gar.”

She called his name. His eyes were moist, not with tears but with desire.

“Where we are doesn’t matter, we love each other.”

Really, she never gave the answer he anticipated.

“No.”

He urgently whispered, “You must stop me.”

He said so, but his body couldn’t hide its excitement. He was still a youth, after all.

If only she wanted, he was ready to do anything no matter where they were. But neither he nor she had any experience in this, and that was a problem.

Their first time was precious to him as much as it was to her, and he wanted to satisfy the woman he loved.

“Edgar.”

She gently stroked his cheek. She knew what he feared and what he was worried about. She was afraid and worried as well. Who on earth wouldn’t be afraid to take the first step into the unknown?

“Then you shouldn’t do this to me.”

He smiled bitterly, their bodies still pressed together. None of them wanted to go away.

“This is a punishment for teasing me earlier. Plus, I can’t even move my legs now.”

“But… you don’t need to move your legs to do it.”

She countered, still dazed with passion. He was trying to tease her, but of course, he ended up teasing himself.

He couldn’t restrain himself anymore and passionately kissed her.

However, it didn’t let him go down. His reason, that had been controlling him, was about to snap.

When she was out of breath, his lips went away. She breathed in the air, but he didn’t seem to be short of breath at all. Instead, he was frowning.

“Something’s coming.”

A strange feeling and pressure disturbed his nerves. He could sense a powerful being was approaching.

Was something about to happen? He sat up on the bed and asked Rubica to bring him the gun in his jacket’s pocket.

“Run away if anything happens.”

“I won’t run away.”

“Then stay right next to me.”

He pointed the gun at the door and waited. However, what was slammed open was not the door but the window. It surprised them so much that Edgar almost fired the gun.

“There you are. I had to look for you for a long time.”

They heard Ios’s voice, and then two men were thrown inside through the opened window.

Their faces were full of bruises and their bodies were swollen, so it was hard to know who they were.

Soon Minos was thrown after them. The small goblin rolled on the floor and then got to his feet as if he had done this quite often.

“Oh, we must have interrupted your goof time together.”

Minos smiled sheepishly at seeing Rubica and Edgar together on the bed. Rubica blushed and yelled, quickly moving slightly away.

“It’s not like that!”

“Yes, they don’t look like they’ve been having a good time.”

Ios agreed with her as he came through the window. Edgar’s face changed color at seeing him, which made Minos realize he was never going to win the duke’s favor.

“Did you leave us after we fell from the cliff to go after them?”

“These two little rats were so good at escaping, I had to set some traps to capture them. It took some time.”

Ios proudly said. He had failed as he attacked without any thinking, but he thought it was all because his games were so small.

How could he be so full of himself? Was it because he wasn’t smart enough to reflect on himself?

“I’m so embarrassed that I thought so hard on how to beat you.”

“You can’t beat me. Don’t you dare provoke me, or even your wife won’t be able to save you.”

That answer was so foolish that Edgar couldn’t even laugh at him. Earlier, he had been afraid, but although Ios was strong, he was only as smart as a three-year-old child.

“Anyway, thank you for saving us earlier.”

“What do you mean?”

They thought they had been able to survive the fall thanks to Ios’s power which he had over the land, but he asked back as if he didn’t know what Edgar was talking about.

“Then you went to catch Stephen, not caring about us at all?”

“Why would I ever worry about you when you have your wife? You should know what kind of game these men and your wife were playing, and then you will bow to thank me.”

Ios still thought Stephen and Rubica were playing some kind of game that included abducting and teasing each other.

Edgar didn’t like the word ‘game’ very much, but talking to the stupid dragon made him feel like he was becoming a fool himself, so he didn’t ask. It would be better to ask Minos later.

“Then, it wasn’t you who softened the ground?”

Ios shrugged as if he couldn’t see why Edgar was asking. Then, he smiled mischievously to Rubica. Now that he brought evidence of her adultery, she had to give Ios what he wanted.

Thinking he was toying with a nymph made him feel like he was the smartest being of the whole world, which felt quite good.

“Anyway, thank you for capturing them, and also for beating them up that hard.”

“Oh, I didn’t beat them up. One of Minos’s trap did that to them.”

What kind of a trap had it been that they looked more like two bags of meat than humans? Maybe Minos, who was smiling politely, was the really scary one.

Edgar called Carl to take care of the captured.

“Oh my, who are they?”

“Ios has captured and brought Stephen.”

“It’s Lord Ios, not just Ios! You can’t be that rude even if you’re a nymph’s husband!”

Edgar clenched his teeth. Really, that dragon had been irritating him a lot.

“I call everyone like that. My only exception is the king.”

“But I’m far greater and mightier than that king! He’s only a human!”

No creature was greater than Ios, except for nymphs. He insisted, even though he couldn’t recognize the nymph right in front of his eyes.

“Hey, you should do something about this. I tried to be nice to him, but he keeps being rude.”

Ios even ran to Rubica to tell on Edgar. He looked like he was asking his older sister to scold their spoiled youngest brother.

He was a really strange dragon. How would he change if he ever got to find out Rubica was only a human? It was good that he was so stupidly naïve and easy to fool.

“But husband and wife are equals.”

“What?”

Ios’s face turned red. Edgar recalled how she had protested about the way he talked to her when they first met and smiled.

He liked her for being who she was, even in front of the creature that was capable of doing anything when offended. Even he didn’t have that much courage.

“You’re equal to a man? That makes no sense!”

“It is written so in Hue’s holy book.”

“Oh, please!”

Ios ruffled his hair and protested, but then he shut his mouth, not able to find anything more to say.