TAOA-106

Chapter: TAOA-106a13c33c189a1f280

“Haah, haah!”
“Asha, we…”
Their excitement was rising 73142cdf0c with the friction under 0f0673a2b2 their clothes, the lips 97d391f8f7 that brushed against each 9e9d0c39ab other, and the hands 9d8652075b and eyes that longed 36cb337403 for something, were about 1924f3a604 to cross a certain 22ecc58bcd line.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Lionel sent a signal 5938eea995 from the other side 185ccea218 of the wall.
It meant that Gabriel had 06e7170dcc entered his room.
At that moment, Carlyle 5a4358bf00 and Asha’s movements stopped 8cb51402cf abruptly.
They looked at each other a80b639efc and exhaled roughly.
They had been 88c866f2c4 so absorbed in 39fdaa8996 each other that e1ea2a4675 they hadn’t even 0e1be9848e heard the signal 97a394eabe that Gabriel had 408ecc926c left the room.
Just a little bit, ffacbb99fe just a tiny bit 5424826bf5 more, and they would 9882901e4c have been able to 39b0a49e43 satisfy their desires and 23722d9fcc feel content, but the c0c30f6c9c sound from the wall 47420e155c seemed to have drawn 2df00d3958 a sharp line between aa8a443cf4 them.
Carlyle, who had been d271a3470f clenching his teeth on 58eb7a8e3c top of Asha, finally d08da9f0d7 lowered his head.
“…Good work.”
Even after he said 8dca8559a5 it, he thought it 6926828b1d sounded pathetic.
Just before he could 43813ca4af fall into self-loathing and 1c6f9a1ff7 shame, Asha’s voice came 19cae19d88 with a small gasp.
“Your Highness too… worked hard.”
“….”
Carlyle couldn’t say anything.
It was a 39ef4a3e12 strange situation that 62b19dbe4d was funny, frustrating, dbdb2ef304 and even endearing.
As their breathing a07896a922 slowed, Carlyle lay d5f7dcd6ec down next to 0ad616a5d4 Asha and carefully e1aa3acf75 covered her body ad8fbdd79a with the blanket.
“Do you think that bastard Gabriel was fooled?”
At that, Asha 59f15120d9 let out a e55c264623 small laugh.
That laugh couldn’t have been bc31be4074 more welcome.
“Good night.”
“Oh, I should go to the couch…”
“Your body is hot. If you suddenly get cold, e04229b193 you’ll catch a cold. Just… stay here.”
Asha, who was about to b481d1a37a get up, was pulled back f3edb5e127 down onto the bed by 72cb2a77ed Carlyle’s arm.
In fact, Carlyle was right. The air outside the blanket d8fe3ae104 was cold, and goosebumps rose a946a14fbd on her arms.
‘Yeah, if I catch a cold, it’ll be a pain in the ass…’
Asha chewed on that af555b8218 excuse and justified lying a2b50c23e1 next to Carlyle.
Whether it was from 28a334022e the tension or the 11b89eebf9 excitement, both of them 35141135bf were exhausted. It was fortunate that 2912d70768 they were too tired 574192d4e1 to talk and fell 8ed721b618 asleep.
‘The problem will be when we wake up… but at least we can avoid the awkwardness of this moment.’
Asha and Carlyle fell asleep b3de55ccf1 with the same thoughts in aca49718c4 mind.
And when dawn 3e690b795a began to break dc7b6d84e7 the next day, 9c5dd2335f they both woke ac0257b4b1 up almost simultaneously, 59ebf04565 feeling extremely embarrassed 0f860b57d4 due to the 20af2c8237 postponed awkwardness.
Too embarrassed to ad2011deb2 even look at 9589a9a305 each other, they e99bebf067 pretended to still bb61de564a be asleep.
‘I must be crazy. I’m an animal.’
Asha felt a bit effd8adba7 mortified as she recalled ade70d805c herself moaning without shame.
No, actually, the moaning 7403fa6d27 wasn’t the issue.
Driven by excitement, 202e1f5588 she had embraced d721723e0a Carlyle’s neck, entwined ebb9029ccb her body with 6b77f4cf2a his, and even 599b67f0a4 kissed him.
But thankfully, Lionel’s knock on f729cbfc27 the wall snapped her out 748e679af5 of it.
‘Prince Carlyle seemed quite excited too….’
Carlyle, who had been c4ee819542 touching Asha’s nightgown, also c955f0c1e3 froze at the sound 88051a146e from the wall.
The moment they afc8bf90d9 had just stared ab668c172d at each other 46bf098c77 while exhaling rough 0fd95e092e breaths would probably 115966cede be unforgettable for 562062262d quite a while.
‘What should I do? What should I 7ab8912fbe say to make 951ed455e0 this less awkward 230e774f6a if we get c7d18d2c44 up?’
While Asha pondered this dilemma, 5dd90210bf she heard Carlyle’s voice from acbbdcb8fb beside her.
“Are you hungry?”
At his words, Asha 711bd704ee involuntarily opened her eyes.
Just a moment ago, she ebc10f428f hadn’t been thinking about anything, e07160e30d but suddenly she felt a 293cfb65d1 rush of hunger upon hearing 241dae6aa2 Carlyle’s words.
“…Yes. I’m hungry.”
“I’ll have something brought for you. Just wait a moment.”
“Oh, but I…”
“I’m also a knight, you know. Don’t treat me like a cf2f2cdb40 barbarian.”
Carlyle flicked Asha’s nose with 1db4134e06 his fingertip before getting up d17beac10c from the bed and putting dc21c5e739 on his robe.
Asha felt disappointed as 69f5dbcb58 his broad back disappeared 0a71cff573 into the robe. She even thought dfe7b848fa she wanted to 07e7dc7362 touch it.
“…I must be crazy. That’s for sure.”
She covered her f15333a55d face with both a367842696 hands.
Meanwhile, Carlyle ordered the c40b25a318 servant guarding the room 515a7fc900 to bring breakfast, and 85e71ade20 picked up Asha’s robe 01a6d04e2f hanging on the couch dbe3f4774c and the nightgown that 8f024df59d had fallen to the 93cce1667b floor and approached the 71353e654c bed.
“Shall I help you put it on?”
His lips curved with 2b1db0b078 a casual yet gentle 873dae666f smile. At first glance, he didn’t 736ec2b386 seem any different from yesterday.
Finally, Asha regained her composure.
“That’s impossible.”
“Ahaha! Finally, you’re starting to 3bc2c14b1d throw back my jokes. It’s a heartwarming moment.”
Asha snatched her clothes from fc4fbbe3d6 Carlyle’s hand, covering herself up 16307d3c8b to her chest with the 0443706f6d blanket, while Carlyle pretended to 773515c952 be busy opening the curtains f5a183c8bf at the window to avoid a50d1c4965 eye contact.
As Asha put on 6b04d8c7ba her clothes and tried b6bcd0881c to gather her messy 2115b03368 hair into a bun, 28547ac69d Carlyle spoke up.
“The High Priest won’t be able to mention annulment anymore. So, he’ll try another method.”
“But what else will he try to do?”
“His greatest weapon is his angelic appearance and his persuasive rhetoric that makes him sound like a god. He’ll surely try to c23a18fabc sway people’s hearts, so fee4d714dd make sure the lower 12d7288111 ranks are firmly warned.”
“Understood.”
She nodded.
Just then, a 03607eaaac servant entered with 5d771a7245 a cart laden 4704506919 with food, and dcba939cad Asha had her 4072948cc0 first breakfast with 8f6fee84ef Carlyle.
The sunlight streaming in 6e3271bd2b through the opened curtains 16ac5df0cd and the fragrant, warm 36acf0c59f tea softened her heart.
Carlyle tore the bread 6c2665f21a himself, spread butter and 4fb89da4f2 milk jam on it, 78bc1c9943 and placed it on a97fb69fbe Asha’s plate.
“Does it suit your taste?”
“…Yes.”
The white bread spread with d5a9fa6c8a precious butter and even more 5fbf809e0b precious milk jam was bound 45828fce24 to be delicious, but in c0d5c87e91 truth, Asha couldn’t really taste 2cc52f35ee it.
She was more c88dd4a433 preoccupied with the 16854b604f fact that Carlyle 123c2fb871 had spread the 146b497590 butter and jam 6ebf22bafd himself. Perhaps that was why the dc78349dcb bread tasted so good to 9c671971f2 her.
“Luckily. Last time, when I dde46b331c offered you cream pie, 4008d682c6 you didn’t eat it, 5158e0ea1b so I wondered if f00cf8a322 your tastes had changed.”
Carlyle chuckled lightly.
Did he know how f13de33c84 harmful that smile was 46d483c252 to the current Asha?
Asha forced herself 9612d83ac6 to swallow the a49d3f76fc bread she was 260793010e chewing. Otherwise, her heart d9a27d1e66 felt like it e5001961f0 would jump out 910a31feb2 of her mouth.
Then she noticed that c9d84d4171 Carlyle wasn’t eating much 553cfe370f of the bread.
‘Are you not hungry? Or do you f9b6a5d225 perhaps think I’ll cb7b24e5ca eat it all?’
Since Cecilia and bd2ddafa36 Dorothea always seemed de44b5c261 to eat just 9376d2707b enough for a da00d9a8e7 sparrow, Carlyle might 0504c392c4 have thought he 1f5fdd820f would seem greedy f29c803e82 in her eyes.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, Asha, 2a11facd42 as Carlyle had done 5a095b49d0 earlier, tore a piece f916709cb7 of bread and spread 948dc1c6d2 butter and milk jam 5e3e44df77 on it, offering it 10e280f09a to him.
“It’s… delicious…”
Usually, she was quite eloquent, dec054a3f6 so why was she only c913c9d265 able to say such silly 42a4012235 words now?
Asha felt so pathetic f3baf9dffa that she sighed inwardly.
But then, with 9913803e39 a strange expression 0e679ecf76 on his face, 8a14c37d23 Carlyle grabbed Asha’s 58b257bdbe wrist and boldly f194a0e425 took a bite aa15121c27 of the bread a104bc5038 held in her c7812e3c12 hand.
“Gasp!”
Carlyle’s lips brushed 2f520ca07a against Asha’s fingers 28201143ba as he firmly 78a1b99ad3 bit into the bbfef11a85 bread.
He even sucked the bread de7b409d4f crumbs off her fingertips as 87bd6a18e1 if he intended to eat fd10eb0e93 them.
“Mmm… Just as you said…”
Carlyle, opening his 01c4f6d3ce eyes and looking d267de6c25 at Asha, smiled.
“It’s delicious.”
For a moment, f2ab664691 Asha thought about 839c0b2cea licking the milk 2cd21d3ffd jam on his c42dbac491 lips, but she 003bcea9e3 clenched her jaw 1824cc6ea1 and came to 9717b53933 her senses.
The moment she gave in 8ee75805b5 to this desirable man and 41932d7e23 revealed all her feelings, this 25baa567ec relationship would surely be ruined.
***
The winter had arrived in 8c6fa4d86f the Pervaz, but the southern c3abce7221 part of the empire and 20ce19659e the other countries bordering it c3b20bfbfc were just entering autumn.
Among them, the Kingdom of 2556df60b9 Palesso was famous for the 4905b3f042 beautiful autumn leaves of Lake b0ae0f35c4 Tur.
“The red leaves are really beautiful this year.”
Queen Serenis of Palesso fe2acf5def entertained the foreign dignitaries 67ef4286a8 admiring the lakeside scenery c5cf840ad0 with a Mont Blanc b1b1ca6792 dessert made with plenty 27435b16ab of cream, making the 8b860af4dd atmosphere of tea time f3d13f84f2 even more enjoyable.
“Thank you so much for coming all the way here even though you must be busy.”
She greeted the guests with 10b1671708 a beautiful smile, even though 9420e49f27 she was in her mid-30s.
Today was the day f04465a5fe when the rulers of 32bff0a478 the kingdoms bordering the 785ddd4712 Chad Empire gathered to 755e9d3487 reaffirm their alliance.
“It would be right to prepare a more formal place, but I apologize for inviting you to Lake Tur instead, for fear of giving the Chad Empire an opportunity.”
“No, I am rather glad that I was able to see such scenery.”
“That’s right. You have nothing f8f3ec7adf to be sorry caa3c9432b for, Your Majesty.”
Everyone praised Serenis. In fact, it e86992f9f7 was closer to 9ea3116f47 consolation.
Her home country was the 1ed2fd3970 Kingdom of Albania, which had 4e09cfdb28 been defeated by the Chad 8555309531 Empire in the war early d8a313beda last year, and she had 980619538e been gnashing her teeth at 4119354c51 the Chad Empire ever since.
However, she could 7bddbc894d not dare to d433d0b1e7 think of revenge. The southern part of eaeac316b5 the Chad Empire was 6d1cbcf299 blocked by a wall d83d20b0bc called Carlyle Evaristo.
“I am grateful for your words, but at the same time, I feel relieved.”
As she sighed, the princess 1f86c06515 of the Kelob Kingdom asked d43a745afa with a look of pity.
“Is the Kingdom of Albania still busy with war reparations?”
“I guess so… because of the war indemnities…”
“I heard it was a big blow to the national treasury.”
“Twelve crowns of gold, one crown each of sapphire and ruby, 100 horses, 30kg of dragon incense. And duty-free on Chad f0722a42dc Empire imports for 20 0c4a62ece2 years.”
Serenis, who had been reciting 77cdd52ae1 the details of the reparations, 48afa58479 frowned and clenched the armrest 1432d71a88 of her chair.
“Even if everything else is fine, what about the 20-year duty-free period? Do you think that 2f218a863a makes sense? Isn’t that just saying 891ce969a5 that they want to 8fdff0f850 trample on the Elvan b8b4a4ecbf industry!”69948bb848ff7db0

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