Chapter 206 (End)

Epilogue: The King and His Knight

Roana whimpered uncomfortably, squirming in her mother’s arms. Rezette, who had been leaning in with a frantic hunger to taste the sweetness of Elise’s lips, flinched at the sound. He tried to subtly ignore the infant’s protest, tilting his head to find a better angle to continue the kiss, but the pathetic, persistent groaning of his daughter held him back like a physical weight.

Just as he was about to swirl his tongue against hers, Rezette finally pulled back, his chest heaving.

“…Cherry,” he groaned, the name surfacing from the very depths of his soul like a weary sigh.

He was on the verge of intoxication, drowning in the dizzying, potent scent of fresh flowers that always clung to her. The fleeting taste of Elise’s sweetness lingered mockingly on the tip of his tongue before vanishing. He looked down at his daughter and muttered in genuine agony, “You… could you just yield to me once? She’s my woman before she’s your mother. Why do you insist on keeping her all to yourself?”

Deep down, he knew such a grievance was ridiculous—she was a baby, after all. But in his current state of desperation, logic was a distant second to desire. Whether she understood her father’s plight or not, Roana simply wiggled and turned her head the other way, her tiny fist tightly bunching up the fabric of Elise’s dress with stubborn strength.

“Ha…” Rezette breathed out, stunned. Roana was truly the first being in existence to ignore him with such blatant, unabashed confidence.

A flicker of childish competitiveness rose within him. Rezette wrapped his arm around Elise’s waist, pulling her flush against his side. Not to be outdone, Roana clung to her mother with every ounce of her infant strength.

Caught in the middle of the tug-of-war, Elise shifted her gaze awkwardly between the two. Whose side am I supposed to take? she wondered.

After a moment of deliberation, she gently pressed her elbow against her husband’s broad chest, creating a sliver of space. “Rezette, wait a moment. I think Roana is being squished.”

“It’s always Roana,” he grumbled.

“She’s a baby,” Elise countered, her eyes dancing with mischief as she teased him. “She’s only been alive for three months. You’ve lived more than a hundred times longer than she has.”

Rezette let out a dry, hollow laugh. At thirty years old, he had officially become a man who was jealous of a daughter not yet a hundred days old. “It seems I have no allies in this house.”

Elise looked away, her face heating up. The brief exchange of saliva had left the heavy, masculine taste of him in her mouth—a rich, dense flavor that only served to provoke a deeper thirst no matter how much she drank. A flush had already spread from her chest down to her thighs.

Rezette bumped his forehead gently against hers, his voice thick with resignation. “I am always second to her, aren’t I? I should be used to it by now.”

“Second? That’s not true at all. Don’t misunderstand,” Elise whispered.

“Then give yourself to me tonight.”

The conversation veered sharply back into dangerous territory. The heat climbed up Elise’s neck, staining her earlobes a vivid crimson. Despite the tension, a stray thought crossed her mind. Is he actually going to do it today? Lately, he had a habit of getting her hopes up, only to pull back at the last second. Even though I already got permission from Freya… she thought wistfully.

Swallowing hard, her eyes wandering as she sought the right words, Elise finally managed a reply. “When the baby falls asleep… then. I’ll give it to you then.”

“Come here, Cherry,” Rezette said without a second’s hesitation. He reached out and scooped Roana from Elise’s arms.

“Uwaaa!”

“That’s enough playing. It’s time for babies to sleep,” Rezette declared firmly.

Roana’s lip curled into a sorrowful pout. By now, even Elise had noticed that the child only acted this fussy and temperamental when dealing with her father. Elise cupped her hand over her mouth and leaned toward her daughter, whispering conspiratorially, “You’re getting revenge on Daddy, aren’t you? Because he said those mean things last year. I understand, I really do.”

Rezette flinched visibly at the remark. Roana, as if understanding the joke, suddenly burst into a bright, ticklish giggle. Elise laughed along with her, the sound light and airy.

“But don’t bully him too much,” Elise added softly, touching Roana’s chubby cheek. “Daddy is just as precious to Mommy as you are.”

“Maa.”

“Well… I don’t know if you actually understood that,” Elise murmured affectionately. “Sweet dreams, my beautiful girl.”

Rezette carried Roana into the adjoining room and returned shortly after. With the child settled, Ivetsa and Lady Pettison would take over the watch for the night.

As Elise blinked her sleepy eyes, she reached out her arms. Rezette didn’t hesitate, pulling her into a crushing embrace and pressing her down into the mattress. Elise naturally found herself beneath him, her fingers tracing the sharp line of his jaw.

“You’re getting much better at putting the baby to sleep,” she noted.

“Is that so?”

“Mhm. Sometimes I think the two of you have some secret code I don’t know about.”

“There is no code,” Rezette replied, “though she does seem to have a rough grasp of my intentions.”

If she didn’t, she wouldn’t have found ways to make his heart drop ten times a day. It wasn’t just today, either. Rezette swallowed a sigh so his wife wouldn’t hear it. Just yesterday… He remembered the sheer terror of looking over to find an empty cradle. He had turned pale, convinced the infant—who couldn’t even crawl yet—had somehow rolled out and vanished. It wasn’t until he heard a faint cry from outside the door that he found her. Once he realized the truth of what had happened, his head had begun to throb.

It was an incident he had no intention of confessing to Elise. How do I even tell her that our daughter was flying before she could even walk? If she was causing this much trouble before her hundred-day mark, he shuddered to think what would happen once she started talking.

“But she’s still lovely, isn’t she?” Elise nudged him.

“She is a miniature Elise. Of course she is,” he said. He hesitated, then added, “The things I said last year, Elise…”

“Mhm?”

“Please don’t take them to heart. I was wrong back then.”

“That’s easier said than done,” she teased.

“…Then what must I do to make you forget those memories?”

Elise hummed, pretending to think deeply. As the silence stretched, Rezette’s expression grew increasingly worried. It had only been a short while since Elise had truly begun to trust him with the baby. Even as she watched him become an adept father, she still carried a kernel of anxiety. On days when Roana was particularly inconsolable, Elise would watch his reactions with fearful eyes, a sight that made Rezette’s heart ache with guilt. The fear that he might find the child a burden still lingered in the corners of her mind.

“Mmm…” Elise leaned in, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered, “Just love our baby as much as you do now. I think that will serve as a sufficient pardon.”

It was the same request as always. Elise lowered her voice, feigning sternness. “For the record, this is an order. There is no right of refusal.”

“That is something you don’t even need to order,” Rezette replied.

He continued to murmur apologies, using every expression of regret he knew, until Elise finally had to stop him. “That’s enough, truly. I know. I’m not trying to blame you now.”

She laughed softly, burrowing into his chest. She remembered the moment he had truly surrendered to her—the day he sent her away on that ship from Norella. From that day on, his iron-clad stubbornness had begun to crack and peel away. The man who had once been a wall of ice had broken himself down, reshaping his soul until he fit perfectly against her.

She had no choice but to believe him.

After a long silence held in his embrace, Elise spoke up. “You are my knight, right?”

“For the rest of my life. Always,” came the firm, unshakable answer.

A sense of profound satisfaction filled her. Elise climbed up his chest, rubbing her lips against the bridge of his nose before whispering languidly, “But… occasionally, I’ll let you be the King.”

The blue eyes looking up at her went blank with shock. Just as she had done once in the past, Elise took his hand—the one with the prominent veins and rough calluses—and kissed the back of it.

She knew Rezette was a man who bowed to no one. She knew that the reason this man, who held the world beneath his feet, became so desperate only before her was nothing other than love. And yet, deep within his nature, the hunger to possess her still burned. Even now, her black Knight was looking at her as if he wanted to swallow his Queen whole.

In the past, she might have recoiled from such intensity, but now she wanted to be consumed by that lightning, trapped in those flames forever. She leaned her flushed cheek against his palm.

“I love you. I think, sometimes, I actually wanted to be imprisoned by you.”

The whisper took a moment to register. Rezette’s lips, which had parted in surprise, slowly curved into a brilliant arc. A laugh escaped him, sounding like a long-held breath finally being released. He cupped her face and pressed his lips firmly against every inch of her skin.

“How did you know?” he murmured against her cheek. How did you know I wanted to swallow you whole?

She was an unbearably lovely woman. The only person capable of stirring his possessiveness, igniting his lust, and shaking him to his very roots. King, knight, or anything else—Rezette was ready to be whatever she needed.

He pressed his body against hers, leaving no gap between them, and sought her lips. The kiss they had abandoned minutes ago was rekindled with a desperate, thirsty passion. In an instant, the world flipped as he lifted her, pinning her beneath him like a conqueror. His tongue swept past her teeth, invading the depths of her mouth.

“Nngh… hah…”

Elise struggled to take him in as he swept through her like a tidal wave. Rezette explored every corner of her mouth as if claiming a long-awaited reward. It was a kiss that felt like being devoured.

Memories of their past trysts—those intense encounters where he refused to give up control—flooded back. Elise’s body, easily ignited, shuddered beneath him. Even when their lips parted for a frantic breath, he wouldn’t let her go. His heavy knee forced its way between her thighs, the fabric of their clothes rustling loudly in the quiet room.

“Huu…”

His hot, unrestrained breath scorched her skin. Elise realized her chemise had been pushed up to her chest, and her face burned with heat. The hard, heavy evidence of his desire pressed against her lap.

Yet, Rezette made no move to undo his buckle. Frustrated, Elise nudged him. “Just… don’t hold back. I already used recovery magic and everything…”

“Not until the year is over,” Rezette gritted out, his voice low and firm. He bit her earlobe and traced the curve of her ear with his tongue, sounding as if he were trying to brainwash himself. “And even then… never. I am never going inside you again.”

“No second child,” Rezette murmured under his breath.

Elise made a face that was somewhere between a laugh and a cry. While her heated body hummed with disappointment, she felt a thrill of excitement for what life would be like once they returned to Rotiara.

He’s going to spend the rest of his life chasing me around trying to get me to do this…

Elise let out a happy sigh. She found herself looking forward to the tomorrow that would soon dawn.

<THE END>