ETCHY 05

Chapter 05

The scent of a cool summer night mixed with Erich’s body fragrance, tickling Crescentia’s heart. The fragrance of elegant cypress and fresh bergamot blended together, carrying a power that was both refreshing and made her body feel languid.

“Is it really you, Princess?”

Erich pulled something out from inside his jacket with an expressionless face. Crescentia received what he handed her and gasped so deeply her shoulders shook.

“This… How did you find this?”

“It is you, indeed. What a relief. I had it repaired in a hurry, but I’m not sure how it turned out.”

Crescentia listened to Erich’s explanation and slowly grasped the object placed in her hand.

The fan she had lost when swept up by the crowd during the explosion at the exhibition had been returned to her. Even Crescentia herself hadn’t been able to retrieve it, but Erich had found it and even had it repaired.

She had assumed he had naturally forgotten about her since there had been no contact after the terrorist attack. But he remembered Crescentia.

Just as she had thought of him, he had thought of her too.

That simple fact alone made naive Crescentia’s heart swell with joy.

“Thank you.”

Crescentia was genuinely moved by Erich’s consideration. She thought that while the Grand Duke appeared cold on the outside, he was actually a warm-hearted person.

“Oh, I have something to return to you too. The handkerchief I received last time…”

“Give it to me later. I’ll need another excuse to see you next time.”

Erich stopped Crescentia as she tried to pull the handkerchief from the small bag hanging on her wrist. She replied in confusion.

“But I have to return to Regina soon. I need to take the ship tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

At Crescentia’s answer, Erich’s expression hardened. At the same time, all warmth vanished from the man’s face, which had been wearing a faint smile.

Erich was rarely showing his emotions on his face. After stroking his chin in apparent bewilderment, he suddenly looked at Crescentia.

Noticing her clear eyes looking up at him, Erich lowered his hand and spoke.

“I thought you would be staying longer. This is sudden.”

“That was the plan, but due to this incident, my homeland is very worried. So…”

“That’s tight.”

Crescentia, who had been speaking gloomily, tilted her head at Erich’s mutter. When he frowned, she blinked.

‘Why is he suddenly like this?’

Crescentia looked at Erich with uneasy eyes.

He was such a difficult person. She couldn’t even understand why he was so difficult.

Was it because he was from the Empire, a different nationality from her? Or because he was a man, unlike her? Or perhaps because he was a noble, not royalty?

If not even that, was it simply because he was Erich?

To Crescentia, who had never experienced a man before, he seemed like nothing but a tangled ball of yarn.

“Grand Duke?”

“I apologize. I’m a bit taken aback that I have to part with you sooner than I expected.”

Erich, perched on the balcony railing, said as he ran his large hand down his face.

Hearing that the cause of his low mood was their separation, Crescentia felt a sharp pang in her chest.

“I’m sorry too. But friendship is forever, after all. Even after I return to Regina, I won’t forget you, Grand Duke. I’ll write to you often.”

“…I apologize, Princess.”

Erich, who had been silently listening to Crescentia, pulled up one corner of his mouth in a smile. With a mischievous grin, he lightly shrugged his broad shoulders.

“Nothing in this world is forever. And I have no intention of cultivating a friendship with you, Princess.”

“Oh…”

At Erich’s cutting words, Crescentia’s bright pink eyes trembled slightly.

Even though he had spoken calmly, his words struck her like a pointed awl piercing her heart.

“I see… You’re right…”

Crescentia was greatly flustered by the Grand Duke’s response, which seemed to indicate he wanted to end their connection here. She felt her mind go blank as she moved her lips.

“I…”

Crescentia’s mouth went dry as she couldn’t find the words to continue. She had been born a princess and raised surrounded by people’s gentle kindness.

So being openly rejected was a first for her. Crescentia didn’t know how to respond in such a situation.

She just felt humiliated. If she could, she wanted to sink into the ground.

But she couldn’t just run away from her conversation partner. No matter how much she wanted to escape this situation, she had to see it through.

Crescentia, steeped in embarrassment and panic, stammered.

“I’m sorry. I thought we—I mean, you and I—had grown close… I was being presumptuous.”

“It’s fine.”

Erich, who had been quietly watching Crescentia flounder, cut in.

“I’ll be presumptuous too.”

And then, in the next moment.

Erich rose from the railing, pulled her toward him, and cupped Crescentia’s small face in his hands.

“Grand Duke?”

The man’s beautiful face slowly approached, reflected in Crescentia’s wide, startled eyes. Erich, having curled his large frame down to her eye level, kissed her.

“…!”

As their soft, warm lips met, Crescentia gasped in shock. Her heart pounded so loudly it felt like it was running through her entire body.

Erich gripped her chin with one hand and supported her slender back with the other, licking at her red lips.

Crescentia froze, not even understanding what was happening to her.

“Part your lips.”

At Erich’s low whisper, Crescentia dazedly opened her mouth. No sooner had her tightly closed lips parted than a hot, soft mass pushed into her mouth.

Trapped in his embrace, Crescentia moved her tongue as he guided her. Her delicate body flinched at Erich’s relentless movements as he invaded her mouth.

At first, he gently swept the soft tissues inside her mouth, but when Crescentia didn’t resist, he grew more aggressive.

He would plunge deep, making it hard to breathe, then tangle and rub his tongue against hers. At the vivid sensation of their mucous membranes rubbing together, a moist moan escaped from between Crescentia’s teeth.

Crescentia pressed her legs together as she kissed Erich. The area where her legs began, a little deeper than her lower abdomen, had been feeling hot for a while.

She couldn’t understand why simply intertwining tongues would make her burn with such heat.

“Ah…!”

As she kissed Erich, Crescentia let out a cry and staggered. The strength suddenly drained from her legs, which had been trembling for some time.

But Erich didn’t waver. As if he’d been waiting for this moment, he caught her and sat her on the railing.

Erich spread Crescentia’s legs and stood between them.

It was an embarrassing position, but already heated beyond measure, she willingly spread her legs. As he pushed into her skirt, the man’s firm thigh touched her leg.

Erich’s left thigh, which touched Crescentia, was much thicker than the other. Perhaps that’s why it felt especially hot.

He rubbed his hard, hot right leg against her calf and frowned. Erich, who had been growling lowly, called to her in a hoarse voice.

“Huff, Princess.”

Crescentia couldn’t answer Erich’s call, only gasping for breath. She was out of breath. And she was on edge.

Every time Crescentia panted, her chest, exposed above her bodice, heaved. Erich stared at her with thirsty eyes and whispered.

“Don’t go.”

“Grand Duke. I…”

“Delay your schedule. Even just a week. If you truly want to cement our friendship as you say, we’ll need time, won’t we?”

Erich seduced her enchantingly, stroking her flushed cheek with the back of his hand. When his hand traveled down her straight neckline and reached her collarbone, Crescentia turned her head away sharply.

“I can’t do that.”

Crescentia forced out the words of refusal, her heart aching. At the rejection that followed their sweet kiss, Erich wore a bewildered expression.

“Surely you’re not saying you’ll leave tomorrow?”

Erich stepped back and asked. His heavy voice carried resentment. His eyes seemed to ask, ‘You’re leaving me?’

Feeling his gaze fixed on her face, Crescentia struggled to continue.

“I’ve already received royal orders. To return home promptly.”

She had already delayed her schedule enough by attending the party. She couldn’t postpone her return any longer.

Crescentia had to return to her homeland as soon as possible to reassure her mother, the Queen Sheila. That was her duty as a princess.

“The ship from Regina has probably already departed. I can’t delay any further.”

“Can’t…”

At her refusal, Erich stepped back. His expression turned cold in an instant, as if the heat that had been burning so intensely was a lie.