Chapter 37

“Stop.”

Briseyes said this as if to restrain him when he started touching her earlobe after stroking her hair.

“Why? You like it.”

She felt her body tremble when he suddenly began stroking her back with the hand that had been touching her ear.

“Did you hate it?”

Briseyes felt confused at his words.

It wasn’t that she hated it. But strangely, since yesterday’s incident, she was finding it harder to reject him. She felt unfamiliar with herself.

“I really want to have you.”

“I’m not an object.”

“You’re a person.”

“Why are you treating people like objects?”

“When did I? You are more precious to me than any person.”

She didn’t believe his words. The proof was that he was still talking to her despite seemingly being in excruciating pain from the chastity belt.

All of this started from possessiveness.

He was a monster who would get bored after possessing her.

“I saw Demian kissing Miss Delilah.”

“Yes, I heard. We were together in Jeronis Abein’s office.”

“But me being this close to you…… it’s strange.”

“What have we done? I just nursed you, and now we’re just spending time like usual. Is stroking your hair such a big deal?”

“Do you want me to become an unfaithful spouse like Demian?”

“You and the Grand Duke are different. He made the mistake first, and he even tried to kill you with allergies. Didn’t he push you down the stairs too?”

Callisten said this while removing a strand of hair that was stuck to Briseyes’s confused face. Perhaps because they were close enough for their noses to touch, Briseyes felt as if he was going to kiss her.

She moved away from him and said:

“I don’t want to talk. Leave.”

Briseyes’s face was hot with what might have been shame or an unknown heat. Callisten looked at her, trying to make eye contact as if checking her condition.

“Do you hate me?”

Briseyes couldn’t answer Callisten’s question.

“Or do you hate this?”

To that question too.

Briseyes’s lips remained tightly sealed, unable to part.

But seeing her confused expression and tightly closed lips, he smiled brightly and said:

“I really enjoy spending time with you.”

“Do you want to be like Miss Delilah?”

“Should I become a mistress too? I can if you tell me to.”

“The Crown Prince as a mistress.”

“What does position matter? I want to have you, Bri.”

His eyes again contained madness while seeming affectionate.

“Now really go.”

When she said this, he looked at her with a slightly regretful expression. He also knew why she was changing the subject.

Briseyes was someone who would say she hated something if she did. But the fact that she couldn’t be certain was also a joyful thing for him.

“I’m going to sleep here.”

“How could I trust you and let you sleep here?”

“I won’t do anything.”

“Would you believe that? You…… yesterday……”

Her face flushed with shame. Yet she didn’t find what happened yesterday to be terrible.

Besides, it was true that he hadn’t done anything.

“You haven’t bathed yet today either, right?”

She couldn’t answer his question.

“The Grand Duke has already deceived you. So why can’t you do the same?”

Callisten spoke as if he were being kind, but he was already looking at her with the eyes of a madman. If it had been the usual Briseyes, she might have been resolute when he spoke like this.

But now, perhaps due to the effect of the painkiller Arpen that was periodically administered, or perhaps because she was grateful for the kindness he showed her.

She couldn’t be harsh to him.

Above all, his eyes had changed a little too.

Those eyes that used to sparkle like a dog mad with lust now looked deeper, as if the emotions beneath were flowing out.

But all of this must be fake, and he would discard her the moment he possessed her.

Briseyes knew this. Yet this was the first time his seduction felt so strong.

“Why? Are you going to wipe my hands again?”

She spoke sarcastically. It was her usual tone, but her voice cracked a little at the end. She worried that he might have read her mind.

“Yes, should I bathe you?”

His voice became even more solemn.

He was humble, as if he were a servant who desired that task the most.

“I don’t want to undress in front of you.”

“You need to undress to bathe, Bri.”

“I’ll bathe myself.”

She said this while barely maintaining her reason. But he smiled innocently, as if trying to squeeze through even that small gap she had left.

“Then would you like to watch me bathe?”

“……What?”

“I came straight here so I couldn’t bathe either. Don’t you want to watch me bathe?”

“The hospital bathroom is small.”

“This is a VIP room, so it’s spacious. I’ll make sure water doesn’t splash.”

She couldn’t answer his words. She lowered her head and bit her lip hard, and he inserted his finger between her lips to part them.

“You’ll hurt your lips.”

She inhaled at the feeling of his calloused thumb, which felt hard yet rough.

“Or are you scared? Do you want to run away, Bri?”

At his provocative words, Briseyes unconsciously said:

“No.”

He smiled with satisfaction as she acted like a cat trying to scratch him again.

“Then watch. It’s only fair that you watch me bathe.”

“What’s fair about it?”

“Because I’ve seen you disheveled. I’m the only person in this world who has seen you crying in such a mess, right?”

She was confused by his words. What she remembered was just him wiping her face, neck, and hands. Of course, she had answered honestly as if she wasn’t in her right mind due to the medicine. Crying was obviously a lie.

“Right?”

She tried to ignore her flushed face and answered:

“I don’t know.”

“You can run away if you want to in the middle. I won’t do anything to you. You’re just monitoring me using your bathroom.”

After tracing her lips with his thumb, he said this and stepped back.

Briseyes couldn’t take her eyes off him as he stepped back.

He casually took off his coat. His deep red cape that had been hanging on his coat, along with his black outer garment, was loosened and placed on the chair in front of the guest table.

Then he took off his vest.

Soon he was unbuttoning his white shirt.

“Did you deliberately choose clothes similar to yesterday?”

“Yes, so you would remember better. Memories become stronger when repeated.”

Callisten said this while unbuttoning with casual hands. He acted casually, but his eyes were very persistent.

When he saw Briseyes swallowing dryly, a pleased smile flowed out.

He felt more excited when he saw her patient gown, which showed her sensitive skin protruding because she wasn’t wearing underwear.

He unbuttoned his shirt and went near Briseyes.

“Touch me. I touched you, so you should touch me too for it to be fair.”

She couldn’t respond to his words. He took her hand and placed it on his neck. Then as her hand scratched past his Adam’s apple, he pressed her hand more firmly.

As if he wanted her to deliberately scratch him.

“Why is your body trembling so much?”

“The chastity belt is too tight.”

He said this casually while pressing her hand firmly and stroking his neck with it.

Briseyes unconsciously sighed as she traced his hard skin with her palm. His skin was smooth, but his chest had many scars.

She wanted to touch the long scar.

“Let go.”

At her command, he reluctantly released her hand.

“Bri, touch me harder.”

She raised her nails and scratched his scar hard, as if defying his words.

“Ha.”

He laughed as if enjoying her touch, and Briseyes pressed his scar harder, moving along its texture.

As she moved her hand down along the long scar on his chest, he again pressed her palm and made her place it on his chest.

“Can you feel my heart beating?”

“You’ll die if your heart stops.”

He laughed at her cold response. His expression was as if he found her so lovable that he didn’t know what to do.

That’s why Briseyes was more confused. Not only was his expression unlike the madman she knew, but the fact that she felt satisfaction rather than humiliation from this act was confusing.

And even her own behavior of being pleased at his submission to her.

“It’s hard and disgusting.”

He was pleased even at her harsh words. He moved her hand to trace his pectoral muscles, serratus anterior, and abdomen.

She kept tensing up unconsciously as she felt his firm body under her palm.

“I think Bri would be all soft.”

When he said this, she unconsciously applied more pressure with her hand.

“Do you want to touch lower too?”

As her hand rested on his iliac crest, he said this. She gasped when she saw the taut wrinkles of the black cloth visible through his waistband.