“Is this all……?”
Kail exhaled as he looked at the cross tattoo on the back of his hand, its light fading. The stigma that the Virgin Saintess had engraved on him only had two functions.
Healing wounds or blessing the body and sword.
It wasn’t something he could use endlessly—roughly three times a day. If he tried to use it more than that, the stigma would lose its light and disappear.
‘Not bad though….’
However, gaining a superpower that could be used freely three times a day without any cost was an enormous advantage.
After all, holy power was something anyone could obtain but also something no one could easily possess—a contradictory ability.
The fact that he, an Aura User, could wield this holy power was a tremendous advantage.
‘Why me though?’
But what he couldn’t understand was why such an incredible thing was bestowed upon him.
If the Virgin Saintess could engrave this tattoo on just anyone, the Holy Kingdom would’ve already conquered the world. That they hadn’t, and that none of the other Paladins bore such a mark, meant that wasn’t the case.
Something so precious that even fellow Paladins didn’t receive easily was just handed over to him, someone she met for the first time?
‘Something’s fishy here. What’s going on?’
No matter how much Kail racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out the true intentions of the Virgin Saintess.
Deciding that good things were just good, Kail finished his training and returned to his room. Yuri, who had been studying magic in the room, wrinkled her nose and grimaced at the sweaty Kail who returned reeking of sweat.
“…Go wash up before coming in.”
“I’m going to wash up in the room.”
“Then hurry up and get in.”
Ignoring Yuri’s scrunched-up face, Kail entered the bathroom in the room. After finishing his shower with the magical showerhead inside, he dried off the water droplets from his body with a towel and stepped out of the bathroom.
Yuri glanced at Kail after he came out and quickly turned her head away in surprise.
“…At least wear clothes.”
“It’s my room, so what?”
Kail snorted at Yuri’s overly sensitive reaction and started putting on clothes from the wardrobe.
His neck prickled. Pretending not to look, yet Yuri seemed quite interested in his body too.
Well, she was a teenager who could develop an interest in male bodies. Honestly, it would’ve been strange if she hadn’t caused some trouble by now.
After fully dressing, Kail turned around and approached Yuri, who swiftly turned her head away. He pressed his lips against her cheek.
Watching her face turn red, he smirked and flopped onto the bed.
He cooled his body, heated from training, with a bath and enjoyed the relaxation of his exhausted muscles.
He felt a drowsy sensation envelop him, wishing this moment could repeat forever.
Without resisting the feeling, Kail drifted off into dreamland.
* * *
‘……Did he fall asleep?’
Yuri, who had been continuing her magic research next to Kail, carefully got up from her seat after hearing his peaceful breathing.
Approaching the sleeping Kail, she quietly cast a spell on herself and then lay down beside him with movements subtle enough not to wake him.
Perhaps because he had just washed up, the scent from earlier had diminished somewhat, which was slightly unsatisfying.
‘……Kail.’
It was undeniable that her fiancé liked her. He gazed at her with loving eyes, expressed affection clearly, and occasionally peeked at her chest with a lewd expression that annoyed her.
But at the same time, Yuri often doubted whether he truly loved her.
He kissed her but never went further. Though he verbally expressed wanting to touch her chest, he never actually did. He said he loved her but never tried to claim her body.
‘Kail, Kail, Kail…’
In the process, Yuri began to feel increasingly frustrated. She wanted to be strongly bound by his hands, to be embraced so tightly by him that her body would shatter. She wished her body could be ravaged by his scent, his pheromones, his traces.
Lacking the courage to convey her feelings directly, she sent these signals every day. By now, her body had reached a state where just catching his scent excited her.
‘I like you.’
Not because of noble obligations, but sincerely.
As person to person.
Man to woman.
Male to female.
She adored him.
“Kail, I love you.”
She whispered softly into his ear. Perhaps tickled by her voice, Kail, who had been murmuring faintly in his sleep, suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace.
Hugged firmly against his chest, she squirmed, trying to escape his arms, but realized she wouldn’t be able to leave without waking him.
Ultimately, giving up on escaping his embrace, Yuri cautiously burrowed into his arms and felt him. Her vision filled with his presence, his heartbeat echoed in her ears, and his scent overwhelmed her senses.
Just like that, Yuri began to feel a sense of fulfillment.
“Hmm… Yuri? What are you doing here?”
“─!!”
Yuri, who had been nuzzling him, startled when she realized Kail had woken up. She buried her face deeper into his chest to hide it.
Then, in a barely audible voice, she quietly said,
“…It’s your fault.”
“Huh?”
“You pulled me closer in your sleep. That’s why I’m like this…”
It was an utterly ridiculous excuse that Kail, an Aura Master, unknowingly pulled her closer—but Kail chuckled and stroked her lower back.
“Alright, it’s my fault. So can I make another mistake?”
“…No. Let me go now.”
“I’ll take my punishment later, all at once.”
With that, Kail pulled her even tighter into his embrace. Feeling Kail’s overwhelming hold as if her body might break, Yuri let out a faint moan.
Her heart began pounding as if it would burst. Blood rushed through her veins so fast that her head started to feel dizzy. It felt like she might lose her mind.
But Kail never let her go. Eventually, after becoming completely dazed for the rest of the day, Yuri was finally able to return to her room.
* * *
“—That is all, Your Majesty.”
[Hmm…… I see. Good work, Count.]
“It was only natural to ensure the stability of the Empire.”
Before the communication orb, the count knelt respectfully and reported to the Emperor on the other side. Satisfied with the outcome of the Black Mage expedition, the Emperor smiled faintly.
[It’s unfortunate that an entire city disappeared…… But cities can be rebuilt, right? Isn’t that so?]
“Yes, indeed.”
[Then handle it yourself.]
“……Your Majesty? Did I hear that wrong?”
[I intend to grant you Etalin Viscount’s territory. Since it’s now your land, rebuild the city as you see fit.]
Sweating profusely at the Emperor’s offer of new territory, the count was already overwhelmed managing just the Mayer territory. And now he was being given another?
Moreover, while Etalin territory wasn’t ideally located, its size rivaled the vastness of Mayer territory.
“Your Majesty, while I am deeply grateful, Mayer territory alone is sufficient for me.”
[Why not give it to your son?]
“……My son, Your Majesty?”
[Yes. Your son who has become a Master. He’s still a student, correct? For now, I will send an administrator to manage it until he graduates—]
* * *
Time seemed to flow unbelievably fast, or so Kail felt.
Since returning to his territory, all he’d done was analyze the stigma on the back of his hand with Yuri, train to keep his body sharp and train the knights, and roll around with Yuri in affection. Yet, somehow, vacation had ended.
“I don’t want to go back to school.”
Even as a Master, this part hadn’t changed much. Kail stared at the carriage with a face full of reluctance.
The carriage heading back to the Academy. The coachman, seeing Kail frowning at the carriage without making a move to board, awkwardly chuckled.
“Get in quick. Don’t block the road standing there.”
Watching Kail, Yuri gently tried to push him into the carriage. Of course, the muscular bulk twice her weight wouldn’t budge easily, but Kail yielded to her nudging.
Once inside the carriage, Kail paused as he saw the knights lined up to see him off.
Meeting his gaze, they immediately straightened their postures and shouted loudly.
“To Young Master, yes!”
Swish-.
The sight of dozens of knights and hundreds of soldiers uniting in perfect harmony was nothing short of spectacular.
As the carriage slowly moved forward, passing the motionless knights, Kail lightly waved his hand.
‘Ah, right.’
Waving, he realized there was someone he hadn’t seen in the territory.
The private tutor who had nagged him relentlessly about studying, claiming Masters didn’t need to study.
In the end, he hadn’t seen that person.
‘Damn, I wanted to chew him out for saying studying wasn’t necessary.’
Feeling quite regretful, Kail left the territory.
Vacation was over.
Now, the second semester begins.
