Inside the room where no sunlight seeped in due to the tightly closed curtains.

The light that leaked out from between the curtains wasn’t a dazzling white, but a faint orange.

“…Kalia?”

Simon called out Kalia’s name with a voice that had been hoarse from calling her all night.

His raspy voice echoed through the empty space.

Considering how sensitive Kalia is to movements, seeing her not respond to his voice suggested that she was still asleep.

Yes, it made sense. Last night was truly remarkable.

Simon smiled sheepishly, his face a bit dazed as if he hadn’t fully woken up.

The passion they had shown until the break of dawn had left him feeling like he had been beaten up all over his body.

The first pleasure they shared was continuously surprising, and their night didn’t easily end. Every touch of their lips was hot.

The areas where they united, with every repetition, drove the two of them crazy with new sensations.

Yet, he couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face.

‘She must have been really exhausted from last night, even though it’s Kalia. She hasn’t woken up yet.’

He was a little proud to wake up before Kalia, and he was slightly smug about exhausting her to the point where she fell asleep.

She was none other than Kalia Tacskate!

The Empire’s strongest woman. A monstrous stamina, an amazing endurance. A symbol of patience and strength.

…And now, Simon’s woman.

Simon covered his mouth with a pillow to hide his mouth splitting into a grin, stretching out his arm, searching the empty space next to him.

“Kalia.”

He wanted to touch her firm, smooth skin.

For years, it was something Simon desperately wished for.

To hold Kalia’s scar-ridden body tightly, to comfort her gently.

He wanted to hold her more warmly, more firmly than anyone else.

With his two hands, his two arms.

“…Kalia?”

But for some reason, his reaching hand found nothing, and there was no response to his calling her name.

Feeling a sense of unease, Simon quickly opened his eyes and looked around.

She was gone.

No matter how much he looked around, Kalia wasn’t there. The big bed, a mess from the night before, was only occupied by Simon alone.

For a moment, Simon froze. An eerie thought crossed his mind that maybe everything that happened last night was just a dream.

But soon, he found a strand of long, light-colored hair on the white bedspread, and his anxiety disappeared like it had been washed away.

Just a strand of her hair made him sigh in relief.

Phew, that was close…

“…I almost went crazy.”

He took a deep breath and got up from the bed.

He walked straight to the terrace, pulled back the curtain, and bathed his body in the orange sunlight.

Even though he was a wizard, he had a daily workout routine, influenced by someone who worked out daily.

Whenever, whatever happened, he didn’t want his body to look more frail and weak than hers, not even at the cost of his life.

His muscles, although not as bulky and large as a knight’s, were appropriately distributed, rhythmically pulsating in tune with Simon’s movements.

Looking over the royal palace basking in the red sunset, he felt so pitiful he couldn’t stand himself.

‘…Did I really spend the whole day just lying down?’

He couldn’t help but let out a laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Well, it was Kalia who would wake up at dawn even in the harsh battlefield. There was no way she would oversleep just because it was today.

As usual, or maybe a bit later than usual, she probably spent a while feeling awkward before returning to her mansion.

Sitting there without knowing what to do, just like that…It was all too clear without having to see it.

The image of her, who must have been dumbfounded while recalling the night before, looking at him sleeping naked.

He let out a few dry laughs before lazily searching for his clothes to wear.

Kalia probably left the room carefully to not wake him up while he was asleep.

‘…Shall I visit her leisurely tomorrow?’

Simon anticipated Kalia’s reaction with a delighted heart.

Would she blush, uncharacteristically shy?

Or maybe, if she hides and sneaks around to avoid him, wouldn’t that be cute?

Or perhaps, what if… she denies the previous night with him?

Thinking up to there, Simon let out a boastful smile.

‘It doesn’t matter. I’ve left plenty of marks she cannot deny.’

He had kissed all the wounds left on Kalia’s body, licked and sucked on her rough fingertips and lovely cheekbones.

Last night, Kalia was his from head to toe.

She, who lived each moment passionately, was brave even at that first moment.

Moment by moment, Kalia desired and urged the climax more than Simon.

As a skilled general, her strategy to arouse, push and advance was amazing.

She was a born strategist and a conqueror.

‘Oh, Kalia. Kalia.’

The memory of her warm embrace, as she held him tight and honestly expressed her pleasure, brought a smile to Simon’s face.

That was, until he spotted someone waiting for him in the lobby of the Mage Tower.

Descending the stairs, Simon spotted a stranger sitting comfortably on the spacious sofa, reading a book as if she were in her own study.

The woman, dressed in a voluminous blue dress, seemed to sense his presence and looked up at Simon.

“You finally came down. I almost read a whole book while waiting here. And it’s the only book I brought.”

Her voice, filled with confidence, resonated.

The woman who had nearly finished her book, closed it with a thud, and stood up to face Simon.

Her ruby-red eyes stared straight at him.

Her gaze was clear as if she knew him.

Although unfamiliar, it was definitely a face he knew.

He had vaguely been introduced to her somewhere, but judging by how he couldn’t immediately recall, she wasn’t an important figure to him.

“It’s finally nice to meet you. Did you sleep well?”

At the provocative woman’s voice, Simon pulled out a monocle from his pocket and put it on.

On especially tiring days, his right eyesight weakened, and he wondered if he couldn’t recognize this woman because today was such a day.

However, even with a clear view, the woman in front of him was still not the one to act so boldly towards him.

A distinctive smile lifting one corner of her mouth reminded him of where he had seen her.

‘Wasn’t she said to be the third princess of Ains?’

It was when Kalia was downing her 26th glass of wine at last night’s victory party.

Even Kalia would get drunk if she drank like that.

When Kalia got drunk, she laughed a lot, and then Simon would get angry.

He hated that her precious smile was shown to everyone.

‘I need to stop her now.’

The one who stopped the desperate Simon was Louismond.

“This is Princess Luina from Ains. She seems bored. Do you know of any special events?”Surrounded by the talkative Marquis Carlroy and his son, and the foreign guests, he mumbled something only Simon could hear.

“Help me, please.”

He didn’t really care about Louismond, who was sweating and stammering.

But Simon also needed something to divert everyone’s attention.

That way he could quickly whisk Kalia away.

Without saying anything else, he stretched his hand towards the sky over the terrace and cast a firework spell without a chant.

Whooh! Whooh! Boom!

“Oh my, look at that! Fireworks!”

“Oh dear, it’s the first time I’ve seen such splendid colors!”

“It’s as beautiful as a flower!”

Soon, everyone’s attention turned to the sky.

The eyes of the idiots offering wine to Kalia, Princess Luina who was next to the Crown Prince and watching Simon, everyone was focused on the fireworks.

Taking this opportunity, Simon quickly took Kalia outside.

That was the extent of his memory of the Princess of Ains.

There were no other points of contact between Princess Luina and Simon.

“I’ve been waiting since morning, but you didn’t come down. Other wizards were making unbelievable excuses saying they didn’t know where you were. General Kalia came out earlier, but because you didn’t come out, I had to wait. I thought you’d come out eventually.”

…There was certainly no reason for her to wait for him like this from morning to evening.

Looking directly into Simon’s golden eyes, Luina smiled slightly.

Her famed beautiful ruby-red eyes and shimmering honey blonde hair were in front of him, but Simon didn’t feel anything.

What he loved was not simply captivating beauty.

Despite Simon’s indifferent expression, Luina, who didn’t lose her confidence, stood up and faced Simon directly.

“Do you have any idea why I was waiting for the Duke?”

“Well. I have no idea.”

Nor any interest.

His lack of interest was obvious from his expression, which made Luina’s gaze waver very slightly.

But she quickly regained her composure and with a trembling voice, she got to the point.

“I am here to propose marriage to you, Duke of Magic Simon Terroan.”

At her unexpected words, a wrinkle formed between Simon’s brows.

“…Won’t you marry me?”

Marriage.

He had heard an absurd word first thing in the morning.

Especially from a woman he barely knew.

Since the Rojas Empire was a rather egalitarian nation, seeing women proposing wasn’t unusual.

Simon had already received dozens of marriage proposals, so receiving a proposal wasn’t that shocking.

But this was an utterly illogical approach.

It was so ridiculous that the tiny bit of politeness he had left turned ice cold.

Without a moment of hesitation, as if rejecting an offer of a transaction, Simon responded clearly.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept. I decline. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear your offer for the sake of your honor.”

He bowed his head slightly, turning her proposal into nothing.

Luina’s face turned a shade of red in apparent surprise, but she didn’t back down.

Instead, she touched on his weak spot.

“Is it because of General Kalia?”

Simon looked at Luina, squinting his eyes.

His mood rapidly dropped.

No, it became extremely foul.

It felt extremely disrespectful hearing Kalia’s name from this unfamiliar princess’s mouth in such a way.

But apparently unable to read the freezing look in Simon’s eyes, the princess smiled kindly, pretending to be friendly.

“Early in the morning, I saw her coming down here. It was too early for friend’s visit. But hey, it’s okay. I have no intention of blaming you for the time I didn’t know you.”

The expression disappeared from Simon’s face.