Chapter 458: First Night (2)

“Master, are you perhaps sleeping?”

Hearing Eunbyul’s voice from outside the door, I naturally started to feel a bit tense as well.

I hadn’t expected her to come to my room like this on the very first night.

Still, there was no need to reject her for approaching me first, so I relayed to Eunbyul that I wasn’t asleep yet.

“No, not yet.”

“If, if it’s not too much trouble…”

“……”

“C-can I come in for just a moment?”

“Sure, come in.”

“……”

After I answered, a brief silence followed, and then the door slowly began to open from the outside.

And beyond that door was Eunbyul, looking at me with a cautious expression.

“What’s wrong? Is your sleeping situation uncomfortable?”

“N-no… It’s not for that reason…”

If it wasn’t for that reason, then it must be for the other reason, perhaps.

I had a slight guess after seeing the amount of ‘Expected Acquisition Points’ floating next to her face.

However, the first thing Eunbyul said was an answer that was slightly different from what I expected regarding sexual desire.

“I-I’m sorry… I know I shouldn’t be saying this to you, Master…”

“I’ll be the judge of whether you should or shouldn’t, so just tell me.”

“I-I don’t think I can possibly sleep alone tonight… That’s why I’ve come here, throwing all shame aside, to tell you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, yes…”

When she said she couldn’t sleep alone and came to find me, I initially thought she meant she couldn’t control her urges and came to ask me for something.

But the reason Eunbyul gave for not being able to sleep was a much more serious and heavy answer than I had anticipated.

“When I close my eyes and lie down quietly by myself, the scenery of that room keeps coming back to me.”

“……”

“I know now that I’ve escaped from that dark room, but the thought that this current situation I’m experiencing might be a hallucination I created myself to escape phantom pain keeps lingering in my mind.”

“…I see.”

“Th-that’s why I wanted to check. To see if you were alright in the next room, Master… or not…”

It’s true, it’s not strange at all for Eunbyul, who was rescued not long ago, to be confused.

Just a few hours ago, Eunbyul wasn’t in this room but was locked alone in that dark, cold solitary cell.

It was an unavoidable phenomenon for her to think that perhaps even her current situation, escaping from that room, was a hallucination she had created herself.

Since I hadn’t experienced it myself, I couldn’t fathom the fear and pain Eunbyul must have gone through, so the best I could offer her was comfort and encouragement.

“I-I apologize for bothering you in the middle of the night, Master. I’ll be going back…”

“Eunbyul.”

“……Yes.”

“Close the door and come here.”

“……”

Click. The door closed quietly with the sound.

And Eunbyul slowly approached me with a slightly tense expression.

When her body was close enough to be within my reach, I suddenly pulled one of Eunbyul’s arms towards me.

“…!”

Startled by my sudden action, the maid ended up being embraced by me.

I instantly leaned my face close towards hers as she half-leaned on the bed.

Our lips, naturally meeting, began a quiet, wordless kiss.

tsueup, tsueup.

“……”

haljak, haljak, haljak.

“……”

The kiss between us, which started so suddenly without any warning or conversation.

However, neither I nor Eunbyul had any intention of pulling away carelessly, and we quietly continued our prolonged kiss.

In the process, we took the time to reaffirm our feelings for each other, feelings we had forgotten for a long time.

tsueup, tsueup….

“……”

jjok, jjok….

“……”

Our lips met and parted several times even within that short period.

And every time our lips met, our tongues inevitably followed.

And the saliva, breath, and body heat transmitted between our joined lips.

The intense kiss, sharing every part of each other without omission, continued for what felt like several minutes.

Only after a time so long that counting it became meaningless did I properly pull my face away to meet Eunbyul’s expression.

“……”

“……”

Her beautiful appearance couldn’t be hidden even by the dim light filtering in from outside.

The faint moonlight illuminated more than just her beauty.

Right after the kiss, her flushed face and embarrassed expression showed every part of Eunbyul without omission.

“Eunbyul.”

“…Yes, Master.”

“Does this moment still feel like a fantasy created by you, Eunbyul?”

“…No.”

Of course.

Because the intense kiss just now had clearly told her where she was now and who was in front of her.

At the very least, until she fell asleep tonight, it would be difficult for her to even imagine this moment as something she had created.

The brain doesn’t understand the concept of negation.

No matter how much I told Eunbyul, ‘Don’t think about what happened at the Geumhyang Group’s mansion,’ upon hearing that, Eunbyul would inevitably recall her situation of being kidnapped by the Geumhyang Group.

To erase what had just happened from her mind, a slightly different shock therapy was needed.

Leaving a much more intense experience in her mind, so much so that there wouldn’t even be room for everything she experienced at Geumhyang to intrude.

This was the most certain method when it came to making someone ‘forget’.

It was natural that the much more intense and prolonged kiss was part of that plan.

Even so, there was a possibility this wasn’t enough, so I made my presence a little more firmly imprinted on her.

“Eunbyul.”

“…Yes, Master.”

“Who do you think I am, standing right in front of you?”

“…You are my Master, Kim Sungchul-nim.”

“And?”

“……What?”

“Is that all? In Eunbyul’s opinion, am I just Kim Sungchul, your temporary Master?”

“……!”

Eunbyul answered by shaking her head as soon as she understood my words.

This was the most crucial moment from now on.

Because I had to fill her mind, which was complicated with all sorts of thoughts, entirely with thoughts about me.

“Tell me more. Who I am.”

“…You are Do Sihee-nim’s lover, and a benevolent Master who shares that undeserved love with me too.”

“Is that all?”

“You are a precious Master who sincerely understands and respects the sexual preferences of both me and Do Sihee-nim, irreplaceable by any other man.”

“And?”

“…You are a grateful Master who saved me from the endless despair I thought I could never escape, and who said you would protect me yourself.”

With every word, the ‘me’ filled her mind more and more, adorned with modifiers.

The bad memories from the Geumhyang Group must have already been pushed aside entirely by the impressions of me.

Still, if possible, I wanted to fill even the last remaining gap in her mind with everything about me.

Once more, I made eye contact with Eunbyul and asked the final question.

“More than those objective facts, how does Eunbyul think of me?”

“Wh-what?!”

“Do you simply think of me as someone fortunate enough to share your tastes? Or do you just feel grateful because I saved you?”

“N-no…! I’ve never thought that way even once!”

“Then tell me. How does Eunbyul think of me, and what kind of relationship do you want going forward?”

“……”

Eunbyul’s lips moved, her face flushed redder than the midnight moonlight.

With fragile courage, her lips slowly began to part.

“I-I…”

“……”

“Master… M-Master Kim Sungchul… I love you…”

“……”

“I-I want to be with you forever… I truly, desperately wish for it… Even if I rank lower than Do Sihee-nim, or perhaps if I’m less attractive compared to your other lovers…”

“……”

“Even if it’s just a small corner of your heart, I want to love you forever and be loved by you.”

Eunbyul poured out all the emotions she had held in her heart, even shedding tears.

Every single word she spoke was more than enough to move my heart.

I naturally pulled Eunbyul’s body, which was already leaning halfway onto my bed, further inside.

“You said that well, Eunbyul.”

“M-Master…”

“You said you couldn’t possibly sleep alone tonight, right?”

“I-I think I’m okay now. Thanks to your concern, Master, my mind feels much more settled…”

“…If that’s the case, then I’m glad.”

Perhaps wondering if she was overstepping, Eunbyul now cautiously took a defensive stance.

I cheekily grabbed one of her buttocks.

And naturally pushed the beautiful maid’s body completely further into the bed.

“Unlike you, Eunbyul, I’m completely wide awake now.”

“I-I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. I didn’t say it specifically for you to apologize.”

“……”

“But still, you should take responsibility for waking your Master up completely, right?”

Eunbyul nodded cautiously, instantly understanding the true meaning behind my words about taking responsibility.

Just as I expected, it seemed tonight was going to be a little longer.