The Clock is ticking

The day depicted by Theron’s eyes, breath, and temperature was a feast of lewd moans and flesh.
Theron Cox kept getting erect like some kind of beast, and because of that, he was so out of his mind that he didn’t even know how time was passing. When he came to his senses, it was already dark outside.
Strictly speaking, even a beast would not mate like that.
Nevertheless, the reason Theron Cox couldn’t solely be blamed was because the act was not one-sided.
Selene had learned for the first time that such sounds could come from her own throat.
Aroused cries and breath that seemed about to stop at any moment.
But Theron Cox was good enough that she didn’t feel her own actions were excessive.
Even without a point of comparison, she could say that with some certainty.
The pain she had wanted to stop at any moment had turned into pleasure before long.
In conclusion, Selene was satisfied with that day.
Although it was a radical choice that would never be erased from her memory, it was a good decision.
Even without the fussing love that Evelyn had talked about, sleeping with Theron Cox was fine.
“If you win the international competition, are you still planning to study abroad across the sea?”
At Gwendolyn’s sudden question, Selene broke free from her lewd memories of that day.
‘Studying abroad.’
Come to think of it, that was what she ultimately wanted.
“Yes.”
Selene nodded without hesitation.
“The grand madam and Lady Evelyn will be very heartbroken.”
At Gwendolyn’s words, Selene looked up.
Evelyn had already cried her eyes out when she had entered Velora University, but it wasn’t right to talk about her grandmother in the same class as her.
Gwendolyn would sometimes talk about her grandmother as if she were a doting grandmother.
Although she didn’t understand it every time she heard it, she didn’t bother to correct her.
“Of course, the person who will be saddest is Mr. Cox.”
At the name that followed, Beatrix, who had been wandering in Selene’s mind, was erased.
“Will you continue your relationship with Mr. Cox even if you go to study abroad, my lady?”
‘Relationship.’
Selene had to think for a moment.
‘Should I end my relationship with him?’
‘No, first, do I need to define what kind of relationship we have?’
Strictly speaking, she didn’t like him, but they met regularly, kissed, and recently even slept together.
Still, Selene did not want to be in a relationship that tied her down.
Theron Cox was decent among men, but if she married him, her dream of traveling the world and holding piano concerts would be impossible.
“I don’t know.”
Selene answered honestly.
She would have to reveal her plan to study abroad at a graduate school in a far-off country when Theron, who had told her to just use him, started wanting more from her, but since it wasn’t that stage yet, she had no choice but to watch him a little longer and decide how to end the relationship.
“You seem confused.”
Gwendolyn chuckled.
“Actually, you don’t have to give up one of them. If you truly love someone, you’re supposed to respect their dream, whatever it may be.”
‘Respect?’
Selene wondered if Theron Cox could understand her dream, which ordinary people would see as crazy.
‘I don’t know.’
‘If he’s someone who values money, he might just dismiss it as the complaint of a rich girl who was born into a ducal family and has never lacked anything.’
Although Theron didn’t talk about money in front of her, businessmen who spent all day rolling money were usually like that.
“I’ve said something I shouldn’t have.”
Gwendolyn, seeing the silent Selene with a furrowed brow, chuckled softly.
“By the way, I’d like to hear you play ‘Ashes Nocturne’ after a long time. I feel like listening to that piece when autumn comes.”
Selene nodded at Gwendolyn’s request.
Since she had been immersed in one piece for a while, it wasn’t a bad idea to play another piece for a while to refresh her ears and fingers from the familiar pattern.
As she placed her hands on the keyboard, a fluent performance immediately flowed out.
Since it was the piece she had played at the competition in Velora, her fingers moved naturally as if it were engraved in her body.
She had practiced so much that for a while, if she closed her eyes, she would hear this sound in her ears like a hallucination.
Still, she felt it was not enough, and recalling how she had rented a first-floor practice room for pianists without sponsors and practiced until just before the concert on the day of the competition, she had truly done her best.
And when she finally won at the end of that effort, she was so happy she felt like she could fly to the sky.
Selene continued to play, mulling over the past that had suddenly come to mind.
The exquisite notes brushed past Gwendolyn’s gently smiling face.

“The Colonel has asked for you.”
On a rare day off, Theron was greeted by an unwelcome visitor early in the morning.
The visitor was Colonel Orlando Ashcombe’s adjutant.
‘I guess if you’re a colonel’s adjutant, you can knock on someone’s door early in the morning and take them away like you’re kidnapping them.’
Although Theron was reluctant and sneered inwardly, he had a hunch that he would be looking for him around this time, so he grabbed his coat without much resistance.
As he got into the car parked in front of the mansion, the wheels immediately started to roll.
Theron, who was in the back seat with nothing to do, just looked up at the dry sky.
‘The weather is nice. On a day like this, it would be perfect to go on an outing to an art museum with Selene. It would also be nice to go to the zoo to see the moles.’
‘Then I wouldn’t have to go to the colonel’s private residence, which is teeming with men, in this musty officer’s car, so it would have been perfect.’
But that was not possible because he had recently been rejected for a date by Selene.
She had said her performance was going well lately, so she didn’t have time to spend leisurely.
‘Leisurely.’
That word was deeply embedded in Theron’s mind.
And not in a good way.
When he received that reply, Theron had suspected for a while that this woman had erased that hot time they had spent together from her mind and had to glare at the letter.
Nevertheless, he was still not in a position to argue.
Although he had found out Selene’s original lip color or heard the hot moans coming from her cold lips, as he had dreamed of at first, their relationship had not changed much.
Although it was somewhat miserable, he knew very well that Selene did not love him, and that the reason for all those actions was just for the piano.
“We’ve arrived.”
As the adjutant stopped the car and announced, Theron scattered his thoughts about Selene like smoke.
He didn’t know what kind of criticism he would face if he had a dazed face like now in front of the colonel.
“It’s been a while, Theron Cox.”
As he walked into the private residence, Orlando greeted Theron with a smile.
It was a welcome as if he had completely forgotten what he had said to him last time.
“Well. We’re both busy people, aren’t we?”
Theron gave a rough nod and sat down on the reception sofa familiarly.
Despite his listless reaction, Orlando sat down opposite Theron without any sign of displeasure.
“Yes, I’m always busy. That’s why I called you today.”
“Didn’t you think I would be busy?”
“If you were busy, you should have refused.”
‘Anyway, this sly old man.’
In fact, Orlando was not that old, but every time Theron saw him, he thought of him as an old villain from a children’s cartoon, so he had come to call him that.
A villain who smiled like a good person on the outside, but planned all sorts of sinister things behind his curved eyes.
“Enough with the useless talk. It seems you’re getting along well with Selene, doesn’t it?”
Even though it was the expected topic, Theron didn’t feel very good.
“How did you know that?”
“No need to ask so fiercely. I had the surveillance removed as you requested. I just know because I hear stories about my niece here and there.”
He didn’t particularly doubt the colonel’s words.
It was true that after Selene had accepted the bouquet at the reception of the launching ceremony and news had spread that Theron was regularly visiting the ducal estate, other women no longer looked at him with interested eyes.
It was closer to the look of someone avoiding a taken man.
“Yes, well.”
“So, if this continues, do you think you’ll marry Selene?”
Theron felt a fleeting sense of déjà vu at Orlando’s question.
The colonel had asked the same question once before.
‘What did I answer to that question back then? Did I say it wasn’t a difficult thing at all?’
Theron mulled over the saying, “Ignorance is bliss.”
At that time, he was just brave because he knew nothing about Selene, but the more he got to know her, the more he doubted if this was the right path, rather than gaining confidence.
The colonel’s nonchalant question made his stomach ache.
Because when he faced the colonel, he was once again reminded of his situation, which he had momentarily forgotten, that is, that he was dealing with Selene all for money.
The thing he had thought was no big deal, even a very easy thing, when he started, now seemed to make him miserable.
Theron answered, his gaze thrown somewhere outside the window.
“…I have to marry her.”