Ch.98Epilogue – The Wolf I Thought I Could Devour (3)

With a soft “poof,” my feet sank into the dark cloud.

The normally formless cloud embraced my ankles with a sensation so exquisite it felt almost rapturous.

Once I had fully stepped onto the cloud, Rahilt also placed his foot on the cloud that had spread out beneath us like a magic carpet.

“It would be safer if you sat down.”

He suggested I take a seat. Faced with this once-in-a-lifetime magical experience, I quickly nodded.

“Then I won’t hesitate… Whoa.”

The moment my bottom touched the cloud, I was greeted by a softness like sinking into a pile of wool. While “wool” was the closest comparison, there were clear limits to describing such a sensation with words. It was that peculiar of a feeling.

“If you’ve adjusted, we’ll depart now, Serin.”

“Oh… please drive safely.”

Just as I made that little joke, my body lifted gently and the night breeze wrapped around me softly. As I savored that breeze, the ground grew increasingly distant, and the large trees transformed into mere twigs. Soon, the palace lanterns looked like nothing more than tiny red dots.

“My goodness, Rian. You know what? I’m feeling excited for the first time in ages.”

“Is that so?”

“Completely. Enormously. Spectacularly.”

“Haha.”

Rahilt responded with an awkward laugh to my regressive way of expressing myself. I felt a bit embarrassed, but that feeling quickly faded as my anticipation reached its peak.

“I’ve never even been on an airplane…”

During my school days, field trips meant traveling by bus. Even when visiting other regions, we took trains, never airplanes.

I had always wondered what it would feel like to gently ascend into the sky, and finally, that curiosity was satisfied.

‘This is fantastic.’

Strictly speaking, this wasn’t my first time taking to the skies. When Rahilt was corrupted by black magic and temporarily lost his mind, he had enveloped the entire palace in force and lifted it nearly to the stratosphere.

The situation was so chaotic and serious that I hadn’t felt any excitement whatsoever. And when Rahilt lost consciousness mid-flight, I ended up skydiving from the stratosphere.

But now was different.

This gentle night stroll, maintaining an altitude of just a few hundred meters, was much more enjoyable.

The darkness beyond the visible horizon. When I turned my gaze from that to look beside me, Rahilt’s face brought me pure bliss. The truth was, the best part wasn’t the sky journey itself, but being snugly pressed against Rahilt while traveling through the sky.

“Rian.”

“Yes, Serin.”

“This is common knowledge, but temperature drops as altitude increases.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Ah, I see you were.”

Did you really think I was teaching you because I thought you didn’t know?

In any case, he still has a long way to go before developing better intuition.

What can I do? I’ll just have to spoon-feed him.

“Ah! My hands are cold. Don’t I have something warm nearby?”

“Hmm…”

Finally interpreting my careful setup, Rahilt took my hand that had been floating lonely in the air and shared his warmth with me.

If only he’d done this from the start.

Now that I’d spoon-fed him once, my mischievousness surged. That’s why I decided to take it a step further.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because I didn’t eat enough dinner? I can’t seem to engage my core…”

“…”

“What if I fall backward because I’m too weak?”

“Really now… that must be the least convincing lie you could possibly tell.”

“What?”

“Well, in terms of pure physical strength, excluding authority, I’m quite capable of handling you…”

“Oh come on, what are you saying, seriously!”

At that moment, I curled up and buried my head, feeling a sense of feminine shame.

The emotion that followed was anger.

I was angry at my physical specs that wouldn’t allow me to pretend to be a delicate woman even if my mouth were torn trying, and I was angry at Rahilt for carelessly throwing stones.

‘I don’t know. Maybe I should just stop talking altogether.’

…but that inner resolve completely collapsed and disappeared within exactly three seconds.

“That’s simply the truth.”

Saying this, Rahilt moved behind my curled-up form and supported my back. Then, wrapping both hands around my waist, he straightened my curled upper body and guided me to lean against his chest.

My surprise at this unexpected ambush was momentary.

He had instantly quelled my anger that had been erupting like an active volcano.

“Of course, regardless of the truth, it’s not that I don’t want to hold you.”

“Ugh…”

This man is evolving.

It seems he’s learned how to handle people skillfully.

I leaned my back against Rahilt’s somewhat firm chest muscles and sank into his heated embrace.

When I focused my consciousness on my ears, I could hear Rahilt’s breathing coming in like the tide and going out like the ebb, repeating. It took only a moment for me to prefer his warm breath over the cool night breeze of the open sky.

“Are you perhaps upset?”

“Oh please.”

Upset?

For Rahilt’s vocabulary, that was quite a colloquial choice. This belated attempt at normalcy felt awkward. I suppose I had always expected him to continue making efforts to choose elegant words.

“I’m not upset at all, okay? What do you take me for… hmph.”

“Just this once, I’ll pretend to believe you.”

“Well…”

Oh my.

Now he’s really trying to devour me. But I firmly believe it’s still premature for Rahilt to defeat me. The pleasure of teasing him is like sweet fruit—too early to give up.

“Rian?”

“Yes.”

“Give me your hand.”

Rahilt obediently offered his hand at my sudden request. I took both his hands and placed them against my cheeks.

His palms, full of warmth, heated my cold cheeks and evoked a wonderful feeling.

I closed my eyes and savored both the cool breeze and the warm body heat simultaneously.

“Mmm… this is nice.”

I tilted my head slightly and rested it on Rahilt’s shoulder. Our eyes met at close range, reflecting each other like windows. I was enjoying Rahilt’s bashful expression from what could only be described as a VIP seat at close proximity.

“Are you just going to stay still?”

“…Pardon?”

“Our faces are close, your hands are on my cheeks, the scenery is fantastic, and there’s no one around.”

I asked again, teasingly.

“Are you really not going to do anything?”

“Ugh.”

Rahilt finally understood my intention and blushed.

Frustratingly, I think I must be the same.

The reason I always want to win against him is because the size of my affection is just as great.

If his face turns red, undoubtedly mine is in a state perfect for teasing too.

“I thought I had become somewhat accustomed, but you often show me more than that, Serin.”

“Well, what can we do?”

I grinned.

“We’ll just have to practice more, more, more until we get used to it.”

“Haha…”

“We’re close enough for that kind of freedom now, aren’t we?”

“Indeed, you’re absolutely right.”

Rahilt ended with those words and slowly closed the distance between us.

Although we had come out for a night stroll presumably to view the night sky, now all I could see was Rahilt.

Lips meeting. A sensation softer than clouds.

Pleasant moisture passes between us, intensifying each other’s heat.

“Haah…”

“Mmm…”

Our lips refuse to part. If the gap widens momentarily as if to catch our breath, we press our lips together again as if we had indeed just been catching our breath. In this series of actions, there was no question of who initiated.

The only potential onlooker was an owl gliding through the night sky.

There was absolutely nothing to break the heated atmosphere.

“I… I don’t know what to do.”

After finishing the long kiss, Rahilt’s voice trembled.

“When I’m like this, you become so precious that I don’t want to be apart from you for even a moment.”

Saying this, Rahilt embraced me tightly, applying excessive force. Meanwhile, I didn’t mind the feeling of being completely restrained, and my heart raced. I was seriously contemplating whether I might be the type who enjoys being restrained.

‘No… I shouldn’t have had such desires… hmm.’

Maybe I just like it because it’s Rahilt.

Either way, my heartbeat had accelerated enough to disturb my calm state of mind.

‘I am a wolf… like a wolf roaming the wilderness…’

I may love for a lifetime, but I won’t be devoured.

I’ll become a merciless predator and devour you instead.

“Rian. At this point, there’s something I want to ask.”

“I’m listening.”

Encouraged by his readily permissive attitude, I playfully asked a question.

“What do you like about me?”

Of course, Rahilt immediately gave a perfect answer, but—

“Serin is always confident no matter where or when…”

“Ah, not that kind of thing.”

I instantly corrected my question to something that would trouble him.

“Limited to my exterior.”

“That’s… well…”

“For reference, describing my facial features is prohibited.”

“…”

Well, predictably, he would have gone on about sapphire-like blue eyes and ebony-like black hair. The kind of descriptions you’d find in the introduction of a romance fantasy novel.

Both Rahilt and I know how pretty my face is.

That’s why I’m asking indirectly.

What part of me triggers your lust! …like that.

It’s so crude that he might withhold his answer. But even that would be cute, so it’s fine. The goal itself is to throw Rahilt into confusion.

‘No, that’s not it.’

…… I’ve had a better idea.

I immediately put my thoughts into action.

“Hey, my lovely fiancé?”

“…Yes.”

“It’s so difficult that you can’t find anything, right?”

“Well, um, perhaps that might be the case.”

“Am I that charmless…”

“Not at all…! It’s just that saying it out loud is… a little…”

“Aha? You feel it intuitively, but it’s hard to describe?”

“That’s exactly it.”

Got you, my dear.

You’re already caught in my web.

“Then we should find out together. Don’t you think?”

“…”

Rahilt seemed to sense an instinctive threat and held his tongue.

Not that it meant my mouth would take a rest, of course.

“Rian, you don’t know this, do you? Actually, I keep a pretty little wolf in my bedroom.”

“Y-you do?”

His eyes wavered as if to claim there couldn’t possibly have been any animal presence…

Well then, I should create that animal presence.

“Rian.”

“…Yes.”

“Would you like to see the wolf in my bedroom later?”

“Is there… really one?”

“Of course, would I ever lie to you?”

I smiled sweetly and whispered in Rahilt’s ear.

“Growl.”