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~Chapter 38~
The Night Is Only Beginning
Surprised by the unfamiliar touch, Regina struggled. But a weak mage couldn’t match the strength of a powerful knight.
If she truly wanted to escape, she could have used magic—but she had no desire to do so.
All she could do was gently grab Conrad’s black hair as her only form of resistance.
Conrad’s tongue was warmly welcomed by her sensitive skin.
“Too… ah!”
Her sweet moans soon became mixed with wet, sticky sounds. The strong sensations were too much for Regina to handle.
She gripped the bed sheets tightly, but the stimulation kept coming. Her ragged breaths slipped out between her lips, and her mind was a mess.
After focusing on her for a while, Conrad sat up.
When his blue eyes looked down, he saw Regina, her cold and calm face now completely flushed and disheveled—all because of him.
This thought brought a secret satisfaction deep inside his chest.
“The night is only beginning.”
Conrad stroked the corner of Regina’s burning eyes with his finger, certain that he could torment her all night long.
What started as a way to recover her magic and get what he wanted had now changed into something else.
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He bent down and gently bit her white, round shoulder, making Regina’s body shiver. Conrad grabbed both of her wrists with one hand, raising her arms above her head and roughly pulling away what little was left of their clothes.
“You need to focus.”
His gentle tone was direct in its meaning.
Conrad moved right over her.
“Conrad, ah!”
He left red marks all over her white body.
Regina’s head turned to the side, and thin moans escaped her parted lips.
“Regina.”
Conrad called her name with satisfaction, but soon lost his patience.
His powerful movements brought tears to Regina’s eyes, not from pain, but from the overwhelming sensations—Conrad knew this already.
“Should I stop?”
He asked teasingly, with no intention of stopping. His movements didn’t pause.
Conrad released Regina’s hands and pressed a gentle kiss to her soft cheek, at the same time softly touching the places she liked the most.
“Nngh! No, don’t.”
Her pale arms wrapped around Conrad’s neck. He gladly accepted her wishes and smiled with his eyes.
With the next rush of pleasure, Regina’s eyes opened wide.
“Ah!”
“You like it here, don’t you?”
Heavy breaths left his lips too. The exchange of magic between them grew fiercer.
The tingling at her fingertips and curling toes made it hard for Regina to even let out a proper moan.
“Ah! Conrad, just for a moment…!”
Hearing his name come from her lips, Conrad’s eyes shone.
Taking in all of Regina’s reactions and heavy breathing, Conrad exhaled roughly.
“Regina!”
As heat spread through her entire body, Regina closed her eyes.
“Regina.”
She heard Conrad’s voice calling her name, but didn’t have the strength to answer.
The last thing she felt was his soft lips touching hers before she fell asleep.
A few days later.
Regina read through the report Remutan handed her with practiced skill. She could see clear signs of imperial budget embezzlement everywhere.
“There are even more empty spots than I thought.”
Remutan flinched at her mutter.
Lately, the palace atmosphere hadn’t been good.
The Grand Empress, Chloe, stayed hidden in her palace, protesting and blaming Regina’s rudeness.
Ever since their clash at the Grand Empress’s palace, whenever the two met, sparks flew. Outwardly, they smiled politely, but wherever they met and parted, a trace of that clash remained.
‘Like what I see now.’
There were now only a few maids and servants left in the Empress’s palace.
Anyone sent from the Grand Empress’s palace had been kicked out and all the furniture was replaced. Chloe had sent new furniture herself.
But that wasn’t all.
The palace guards had changed, too.
“Is this really the salary the knights receive?”
Remutan couldn’t forget the shocked voices.
The knights’ real pay was reduced so cleverly that even Remutan, the assistant, didn’t notice at first.
It had to be Chloe’s doing.
Before, the palace paid to fix the knights’ armor and swords. Now, those costs were included in their salary.
‘They probably noticed something was wrong but couldn’t easily tell His Majesty.’
When asked, the knights were told their pay was lowered because more funds were needed to fight monsters, and they should accept it as loyal subjects.
On top of that, people said not to bother the busy emperor with annoying problems like this.
The innocent knights believed all of Chloe’s nonsense.
Besides their pay, knights also got risk allowances, which came straight from Emperor Conrad.
With more monster hunts, risk pay increased, but the regular salary kept shrinking, thanks to Chloe.
It all happened because the Ministry of Internal Affairs didn’t properly monitor the palace budget while Conrad was busy fighting monsters.
‘It’s a good thing Her Majesty the Empress stepped in.’
Only a few people had the right to see the palace’s financial reports.
They were only shown to outsiders during audits, so nobody realized how bad the corruption had become.
“They made the paperwork look so pretty.”
Regina joked, but her eyes were cold, so Remutan didn’t dare look up.
“How could anyone play tricks like this on the people who protect the country?”
“Your Majesty, a servant from the Grand Empress’s palace requests an audience.”
A knight with a long ponytail entered and reported. In the Fredericks Empire, both men and women could be knights, since anyone who could use aura was considered equal.
Knights of all genders worked side by side and trusted each other with their lives, so they didn’t care about such differences.
‘If a servant came inside to report instead of telling me outside, it means someone from the Grand Empress’s palace acted up again.’
It was a secret signal between Regina and the knights.
If staff from another palace were rude, Regina had already told them to come inside and report.
Regina sat up straight.
“Let them in.”
The servant from the Grand Empress’s palace entered. Though less arrogant than before, the attitude was still unpleasant.
‘Ugh.’
After delivering Chloe’s letter, the servant tried to leave, but Regina didn’t let him go so easily.
She made him stand a bit further away and opened the letter. It was an invitation to a tea party in the Grand Empress’s palace.
Regina had expected Chloe would call her again.
Chloe seemed ready to get revenge right away, but waiting longer meant she was preparing even more.
“Hmmm.”
Regina felt her magic was full and smiled faintly. No matter what tricks the Grand Empress tried, as long as she had magic, she had nothing to fear.
At least in the Fredericks Empire, there was no one who could overpower her magic.
“Her Majesty the Grand Empress is waiting.”
The servant from the Grand Empress’s palace urged her to get up. Regina’s blue eyes turned ice cold.
