The night grew colder

The carriage gently jolted along the cobblestone path of the Eckhart Ducal Estate.

Inside the carriage, the air was thick with a suffocating, humid heat.

“Mmm… hah…”

A faint sigh, reminiscent of someone savoring a delectable dessert, emanated from my chest.

Chloe hadn’t actually broken my skin.

Like a kitten indulging in catnip, she repeatedly worked her wet tongue and teeth against the spot where my heart beat, all through the thin silk of my shirt.

The sensation was incredibly peculiar.

It wasn’t painful, but a damp coolness mixed with her warm breath seeped through the fabric, creating an undeniable tingle.

“…Is that enough?”

Leaning weakly against the seat back, my voice sounded hoarser than usual.

I didn’t push her away, primarily because…

I lacked the strength.

Ever since I swallowed that Holy Appraisal Stone in the assembly hall, while it hadn’t felt like much at the time, the after-effects were now kicking in.

The once-dormant sea of magic within me was now churning violently, like a furnace, continuously releasing astonishing heat.

This intense heat left my limbs weak, making even lifting a finger an arduous task.

“Mmm… just a little more…”

Chloe mumbled indistinctly.

She seemed to sense the surging, active magic within me, growing even more excited.

“Today’s taste… it’s so special.”

She lifted her head.

Her amethyst-like eyes were hazy with moisture, and a glistening strand of silver saliva clung to the corner of her lips.

“It has a taste mixed with light… like highly concentrated condensed milk added to black coffee. It’s so sweet it makes my scalp tingle, Sister.”

She extended a finger and lightly poked my now slightly flushed cheek.

“And… Sister’s body seems to have gotten hotter, hasn’t it?”

“…It’s probably just stuffy in the carriage.”

I turned my head away, unwilling to meet her gaze, which seemed to promise she would devour me whole.

“Alright, the information fee has been paid. We’re almost there.”

Hearing the carriage slow, Chloe pouted regretfully.

“What a pity… I wanted to try other places too.”

She nimbly hopped off me, then tidied the slightly disheveled hem of her Gothic dress.

“Well then, I wish you sweet dreams tonight, Lady Lilliana.”

She gave me an exaggerated curtsy.

Then, the moment the carriage rolled into the shadow of the ducal estate’s main gate, she transformed once more into a wisp of purple smoke, vanishing without a trace.

I was left alone, my clothes disheveled, my face flushed, and the fabric over my chest still damply clinging to my skin.

‘That girl, she absolutely did that on purpose,’ I thought.

I awkwardly pulled my shawl tighter, attempting to conceal the embarrassing wet patch.

The carriage came to a complete stop.

Butler Sebastian opened the carriage door, and for a moment, the seasoned gentleman froze.

He saw his young mistress slumped in her seat, her face flushed with a sickly crimson hue, her breath ragged, her hair damp with sweat, and her eyes hazy and unfocused.

“Young Lady?!”

Sebastian’s voice held a rare note of panic.

“You… what has happened to you? Were you injured at the gathering?”

“…No.”

I tried to force myself to stand, only to find my legs as weak as noodles.

‘Damn it!’

‘That stone’s energy is simply too potent.’

‘My body feels like it’s being incinerated by this digestive heat.’

“I’m just… a little tired.”

Sebastian immediately conjured a plausible explanation…

His young mistress, to uphold the family’s honor at the gathering, had exerted immense magical power to contend with the Church’s sacred artifact, resulting in magical exhaustion and backlash.

‘This isn’t ‘a little tired’ at all!’

‘This is clearly…’

‘She suffered immense pain alone, all for the family!’

The old butler’s eyes immediately welled up.

“Quickly! Inform Anna! Prepare ice water and a magic soothing agent! The Young Lady has suffered a magical overload!”

After a flurry of hurried activity.

Anna practically carried me back to my bedroom.

Only when I finally lay on the soft, large bed did I feel as though I had come back to life.

Yet the heat within me had not subsided; instead, it raged more fiercely due to the comforting environment.

“So hot…”

I unconsciously tugged at my collar, the elaborate gown now feeling like an unbearable constriction.

“Young Lady, forgive my impropriety.”

Anna’s voice trembled slightly.

Swiftly yet with extreme gentleness, she unfastened my gown, peeling away the heavy, sweat-soaked garment.

“Mmm…”

As my body was exposed to the cool air, I couldn’t help but let out a comfortable sigh.

Anna, however, gasped sharply.

In her sight, Lady Lilliana’s skin now glowed with an alluring pale pink, a clear sign of magic surging through her subcutaneous veins.

And upon her fair chest, a small, distinct wet mark lingered, the surrounding skin faintly reddened.

‘What… what could that be?’

Countless conjectures flashed through Anna’s mind, but they were quickly drowned out by a wave of concern.

“Anna… water…”

“Yes! Right away!”

Anna returned with a basin of ice water infused with calming herbs.

She dampened a towel, wrung it out, then knelt by the bed and began to wipe my body, cooling me down.

The cool towel met my scorching skin.

“Mmm…”

The extreme temperature contrast made me involuntarily arch my back, my toes curling and gripping the bedsheets.

For Anna, this was nothing short of a test of willpower.

She watched her young mistress, usually so aloof and unapproachable, now lie before her like a defenseless infant, completely at her mercy.

She wiped my slender neck, my delicate collarbones, and my lower abdomen, which gently rose and fell with the intense heat.

Each stroke elicited a subtle shiver and a soft gasp from me.

“Here… too…”

I vaguely gestured towards my back; it was slick with sweat, uncomfortably sticky.

“As… as you command.”

Anna swallowed hard, then carefully helped me up, allowing me to lean against her chest.

Her body was soft, carrying the faint scent of soap.

Leaning against her, I felt like a drowning person clinging to a piece of driftwood.

Anna’s body was soft, yet taut with tension.

Through her black and white maid’s uniform, I could hear the frantic pounding of her heart.

“Thump, thump, thump!”

It rattled me, making my own heart feel a little anxious.

“Young Lady… um… I’m going to wipe your back now.”

Anna’s voice was dry, as if her throat were filled with sand.

The cool towel pressed against my back.

“Hiss…”

The chill shot up my spine, making me instinctively want to flinch away, yet I leaned back even harder, craving the relief.

My shoulder blades pressed against Anna’s soft chest, gently rubbing with my every breath.

This posture was far too intimate.

Anna, who normally adhered strictly to the etiquette between master and servant, cautiously avoiding even a direct glance, was now half-reluctantly, half-willingly, controlling my body.

Her hands trembled at first, but soon grew steady.

The towel slid down my spine, past the small of my back, carrying away the sticky sweat that had gathered there.

“So hot… how can it be this hot…”

Anna’s eyes reddened as she saw my normally fair back flushed with large patches of crimson from the intense heat.

To her, this wasn’t mere indigestion; it was clearly the sacred mark of a forbidden power’s backlash, endured alone by her young mistress for the family’s honor.

Anna couldn’t help but feel a pang of heartache, and alongside her pity, a newfound reverence blossomed.

Simultaneously, a hidden impulse to claim this vulnerability for herself began to grow wildly within Anna’s heart.

“Anna… my front… is hot too…”

I murmured drowsily, unconsciously grasping her hand at my waist.

Anna’s entire body stiffened.

Slowly, she moved her hand forward.

When the cool towel touched the area below my collarbone, the very spot Chloe had dampened…

Anna’s movements paused for a second.

She saw the wet stain on the fabric, and smelled the scent—a mixture of sweet black tea and something…

…something illicit.

As a personal maid, she instinctively knew this was not merely sweat.

‘Who was it…?’

‘During the carriage ride home, with only the young mistress and myself…’

‘Who left this mark?’

‘Jealousy…’

A bitter emotion, a possessiveness she had never felt before, instantly pierced her heart.

“…It’s soiled.”

Anna murmured, her tone carrying a hint of stubbornness she would never dare display normally.

She didn’t use the towel to wipe it.

Instead, she suddenly lowered her head, and at that very spot…

…gently blew a cool breath.

“Hah…”

The warm, cool air caressed my sensitive skin.

“Mmm!”

I sensitively recoiled my shoulders.

“Anna…?”

“I will wipe it clean for you.”

Anna’s voice deepened slightly.

With a bit more force, she repeatedly wiped the stained area with the towel…

She continued until the skin was faintly reddened, until the unfamiliar sweet scent was thoroughly masked by the cold, minty water.

“You are… clean.”

She spoke as if emphasizing it to herself, yet also as if swearing an oath to me.

The wiping continued downwards.

As her hand glided past my lower abdomen, reaching my inner thighs, I finally couldn’t help but let out a faint whimper.

“W-wah… w-wah~”

That area was where nerves were most concentrated, and where the heat had accumulated most severely.

The icy touch made my legs instinctively clamp together, trapping Anna’s hand between them.

“Young Lady… please relax…”

Anna knelt by the bed, her cheek almost resting against my leg.

She looked at my long legs, flushed pink from the intense heat, and at the texture of my skin, which appeared incredibly alluring in the soft light.

She felt her throat dry to the point of scorching.

This was not merely service.

This was a ritual of transgression, confirming through the touch of her palm that even a goddess could fall to the mortal realm.

“…Haah…”

As the last vestiges of excess heat were carried away, the chaotic sea within me finally began to subside.

The parching heat that had threatened to consume me receded, replaced by a profound weariness.

Leaning against Anna, my eyelids grew heavier and heavier.

“…Anna.”

“Yes, I’m here.”

She responded immediately, her voice filled with boundless tenderness and devotion.

“…That stone was really unappetizing.”

I mumbled one last complaint before drifting off to sleep.

“Next time… I won’t eat random things again…”

With that, I plunged into a deep, sweet slumber.

Anna froze.

She gazed at her young mistress in her arms, whose breathing had now become even.

On that face, usually as cold as ice, there was now a defenseless, childlike innocence.

“…Silly girl.”

Anna let out a soft chuckle, and tears finally streamed from the corners of her eyes.

She did not leave.

She carefully pulled the covers over me, then sat on the rug by the bed, resting her cheek against the back of my hand, which lay outside the duvet.

In the quiet of the deep night, within the grand ducal bedroom.

The small maid watched over her mistress—who had just saved the world but was now feverish from overindulgence—her eyes burning with the flame of protection.

“No matter what you consume… be it poison, be it a curse.”

She swore softly in the darkness.

“As long as you need it… I will wipe it clean for you.”