The Cold Realm

Ensi, who had intended to pull away after merely rubbing their lips together briefly, suddenly felt a sense of regret. Since they hadn’t been able to meet for two days, even this kind of contact was a long time coming, wasn’t it.

Since they had already overlapped their lips anyway. Finishing his judgment in a brief moment, he immediately bit Agniele’s lower lip. As he bit hard enough to purposely make it sting, the startled Agniele opened his eyes wide.

“—Ugh.”

Following that, he parted his lips as if to bring out some words, but Ensi did not miss that moment. As Ensi inserted his tongue right away, the lips that were closing stopped midway. Because the gap was narrow, the lump of flesh that had dug in with good momentum bumped against the teeth.

As that was thoroughly unsatisfactory, Ensi, who pouted his mouth slightly, swept the alignment of teeth. Soon, as he urged while licking the lips slowly, Agniele also eventually closed his eyes and permitted the intrusion.

Ensi, who laughed lowly, bit the lips this time without hurting him while hanging onto Agniele’s nape. And digging through the parted gap, he intertwined their tongues.

Agniele moved in accordance with Ensi’s movement. Because he had been making expressions of affection only within a line that wouldn’t be burdensome while considering Ensi’s body condition, this kind of stimulus was a long time coming.

The squelching sound made while sharing saliva tickled the eardrums. Agniele, who was enduring while clenching his fists tightly without daring to push Ensi away, shook his shoulders at the touch tickling around his eyes.

When he opened his closed eyes at the hand gesture that was even persistent, the blue eyes were looking straight at him. As if waiting only for their gazes to intertwine, Ensi, who curved the corners of his eyes roundly the moment their eyes met, stimulated the tender mucous membrane. The slow and furthermore cool lump of flesh felt just like ice, so goosebumps rose on his nape.

The pheromone that began to flow out upon receiving the stimulus gradually grew its body size. The scent, which was riper than just being thick, felt as if it would paralyze his sense of smell.

Agniele responded to the kiss that shared even a single breath and dug into his waistline. He, who was unearthing the tightly wrapped clothes in a familiar manner, came to his senses at the cold skin that touched his fingertips. Hesitatingly stepping back, he caught Ensi’s shoulders and pushed him carefully.

Simultaneously, the deeply intertwined lips pulled away with a squelching sound. Ensi, who wiped the long-stretched silver thread with the back of his hand, looked up at Agniele unsatisfactorily.

Then, because he ended up reading the fluster and faint guilt lingering in the golden eyes, he folded the mind that wished to throw a tantrum.

Therefore, Ensi merely breathed out a lazy breath and leaned his cheek against Agniele’s shoulder. Agniele did not reject him either. He pulled Ensi tightly into a firm embrace with both arms.

Ensi, who was enjoying the lingering emotion while blinking his eyes slowly, suddenly recalled a matter Agniele had spoken of as if passing by, and opened his mouth.

“By the way Iel, what does it mean that Lady Lacius will send a contact?”

The Duke whom he met at the banquet hall clearly said to share detailed stories after the marriage ban was lifted. It was strange that he suddenly changed his words.

“When I told her I wished to hold the engagement ceremony along with the end of the marriage ban, she said the time was pressed.”

“It is so.”

Adjusting the conditions on the premise of an engagement, and furthermore a marriage, was an affair that took quite a long time. To the extent that it would be difficult to hold the engagement ceremony simultaneously with the marriage ban being lifted even if they started right now.

“Since it is fine no matter how the conditions turn out, I persuaded her because I didn’t wish to postpone the date, and she eventually listened. Therefore, Lady Mother said she would send a contact soon.”

To put it nicely, it was persuasion, but it amounted to nothing different than meaning he eventually threw a stubborn fit. Ensi ended up bursting into a chuckle at Agniele’s confident attitude.

“So you did so.”

“Is it perhaps not to your liking?”

“No way. You did well.”

Before the Lacius house displayed the meaning of permission, they had shared conversations like when would be good for the engagement, but…… it was right that Agniele proceeded with this matter on his own.

Therefore, when Agniele carefully examined Ensi’s notice, he smiled faintly and patted Agniele.

It wasn’t a bad story for Ensi either. Rather than such a thing, Ensi was more concerned about whether Lady Lacius would try to have a meeting personally, or if she would try to end it with only letters.

Whichever direction it was, because it seemed it wouldn’t be easy to adjust personally with this kind of body condition, furthermore.

While Ensi, who suffered inwardly at least, was agonizing over whom to make handle the work instead, Agniele, who was watching him intently, suddenly picked Ensi up in his arms.

“—Iel?”

“There is no need to worry already. It is a later affair.”

“But it is an affair that will happen soon.”

“Examining your body is the priority. Since we decided to go to the Celyn Principality soon, you must be more careful.”

The fact that it would be difficult to receive the help of a healing priest incited Agniele, who was already fussy. Like that, Ensi was laid down on the bed while being held by Agniele, who was overprotecting him more than usual.

Haa—.

As he exhaled his breath into the empty air, a white breath stretched out into the empty air. Ensi newly recognized that they had arrived at the Celyn Principality at the smoke that scattered without meaning in an instant.

Of course, even if it weren’t for that, the coldness that felt as if it would cut the skin even though he was wearing clothes thickly reminded him where this place was. Seeing Ensi shrinking his body, Agniele took off the cloak draped on his own shoulder and covered Ensi with it.

“You must be cold too.”

“I am fine.”

Because it was a body bundled up considerably, his movements were dull, but it wasn’t to the extent that he couldn’t recognize the added weight. As Ensi quickly lifted his head and tried to return the cloak, Agniele pressed his shoulder to stop him.

“More than that, the welcome is late.”

“It seems it is because it snowed in the meantime.”

How could it be fine in this kind of weather. It was clearly a lie, but Ensi, who saw Agniele’s stubborn expression, smiled as if it couldn’t be helped. He lifted the edge of the cloak and rubbed his cheek which was frozen by the cold air.

“Is that so?”

“They said that even just this morning, there was no sign of snow falling. No matter how much it is a country familiar with snow, wouldn’t it be unavoidable with sudden snow.”

Because he buried his defencelessly exposed face in the edge of the cloak, a mumbling voice came out. Agniele firmly supported such an Ensi’s back.

“Still, fortunately it seems to have arrived.”

Ensi, who was wearing even earmuffs faithfully, could not catch even small sounds unlike Agniele. However, because he knew he wasn’t a person to tell a lie with this kind of affair, Ensi extended his head and stared at the path. Not long after, a carriage running carefully on the road where the snow was cleared but ice was frozen here and there was seen.

“The crest is……?”

Naturally he thought it would be a carriage commonly operated by the Eclipse Merchantry, but the carriage was bearing the crest of Celyn. Ensi knit his brows slightly.

Since there was only a teleportation station around here, the destination would naturally be this place. If so, the problem was why a carriage bearing the crest of the Celyn family was coming to the teleportation station—.

“Ensi!”

The moment Titania kicked open the door of the carriage that stopped exactly in front of Agniele and Ensi and came out, all doubts were explained.

Ensi, who willingly held Titania as she ran actively and hugged him, stroked her hair with his gloved hand.

“Have you been well?”

“So-so. Titania, what about you?”

“The people in the castle treat me well. More than anything, Ensi, there are also the people you attached for me.”

Going along with the maid whom one was close with during childhood when getting married was not an strange affair at all in this world. Since it amounted to being dropped into an unfamiliar environment, there was no family that wouldn’t understand the mind wishing to accompany someone trustworthy.

It was just that Titania didn’t have a servant worth that, so Ensi had picked two decent ones among those his connection reached and attached them to her.

“The maid is so extremely devoted that they say the Head Maid of the castle was tongue-tied. A maid I became close with told me.”

“Is that so?”

Since she adapted well to the estate to the extent that a person who would even tell her the Head Maid’s behavior subtly had appeared, it meant he didn’t need to care.

Ensi read Titania’s atmosphere, which looked more stable than when she was at the Academy, and only then set his mind at ease.

“Ensi.”

Agniele intended to watch the reunion of the two without a word, but at the conversation that was becoming longer than thought, he called Ensi in a low voice.

“Ah, sorry. You were cold, right?”

“It’s fine.”

The one who reacted to that immediately was Titania. She loosened the arms that embraced Ensi and hurriedly guided them inside the carriage. Entering inside the carriage at the bustling urging, Ensi felt that the air changed in an instant.

‘They plastered money on the carriage.’

In addition to heating magic, even shock absorption and protection magic. Perhaps more magic he couldn’t read might be hidden. Whatever it was, he could know how they treated Titania with just this single carriage.

“Sorry for being late. Of all things, it snowed only near this mountain so…….”

“Weather is a realm a person cannot do anything about, so do not care too much.”

As Ensi sat with his back to the driver’s seat, Agniele who followed naturally occupied the seat next to him. Titania, who closed the door so that the cold wind wouldn’t seep in, offered a blanket to Ensi.

“Do I look that cold?”

“Uh-huh, your cheeks are too red.”

Ensi, who smiled faintly, did not reject Titania’s consideration and accepted it. With this, he came to have a more heavy body, but it was a quite pleasant feeling.

“What about Donovan?”

“He is in the castle. He told me to go and come back alone, saying he is busy calculating the shortest distance to the Mystery.”

“Is that so?”

Even though he had been squeezing his head since a few days ago, because of the whimsical weather, cases where a perfectly fine road was suddenly blocked were frequent, so it appeared it was difficult to hand down an answer easily.

“Will we be able to depart tomorrow.”

“We will. Because he said he is busier because he has to finish it by tomorrow.”

Looking at Titania who lifted the corners of her mouth while saying that there was no need to worry too much since it would go as scheduled, Ensi nodded his head calmly.