Die Melusine - Chapter 50

The sky, the houses—everything was gray.

That was Melusine’s first impression the moment they entered the place Kieron had called “the capital.”

Triton was green everywhere. Whether because of the sea, or the lush trees thriving in the mild weather.

She’d been captivated by the lemon trees bearing bright yellow fruits along the roadside, and by the vividly colored flowers blooming everywhere.

The city market had been noisy, crowded with humans and all sorts of sounds—but it had felt friendly and fun. Laughter from children chasing after clucking chickens had filled the air.

But this place… felt rigid and cold, for some reason.

The ground was smoothly paved everywhere, and buildings larger and more ornate than those in Triton stood pressed tightly together. In every garden they passed, the trees were trimmed into neat shapes and the flowers were all cut to exactly the same height. It felt unnatural.

“Get down.”

The Grand Duke stopped his horse in a square surrounded by tall, rectangular buildings.

Though it was early morning, the place was deathly quiet—no sign of life.

A colorful flag flew atop the tower in the center of the square. Its unique shape looked a bit like a shield, and also vaguely resembled the crest engraved on every gate of the Grand Duchy of Triton.

Were there even people in this building?

Melusine looked around warily before hesitantly taking the man’s hand as he offered it to help her down from the horse.

“Ha!”

“Don’t wander off.”

Before she could react, she was pulled straight into his arms. Holding her with one arm, Kieron clicked his tongue in annoyance.

It was nothing, yet Melusine’s cheeks flushed hot. Perhaps because they had been surrounded by people for so long, and now they were suddenly alone in a strange place—she found herself reacting even more sensitively to his every gesture.

“Where… are we going now? The Imperial Palace?”

Again, he didn’t answer.

She didn’t know for sure, but she’d heard the Imperial Palace was where people of higher rank than Kieron lived. This place looked much smaller than the Grand Duchy of Triton, so it probably wasn’t the palace.

“You’ve arrived, Your Highness.”

A voice—an old man’s—suddenly interrupted.

He was short, wearing unique clothes made of leather, with thick gloves on his hands. At first she hadn’t noticed, but now she could see they were trembling—he was clearly quite nervous.

Kieron finally lowered Melusine to the ground and gave a slight nod.

“We didn’t expect you to come in person. I’ve prepared everything as you instructed, but… would you like to see it right away?”

“Yes.”

“Then please, this way. I was thinking of showing you to my personal workshop, but it’s quite small… And this being the guild building, it’s so humble, I’m not sure how to—ah, forgive me, I mean…”

“…The master seems to be quite the talker.”

The Empire’s only artisan guild, located in the capital.

Backed by the Imperial Court, the guild trained apprentices from childhood under strict discipline, accepting only those who passed rigorous evaluations to be forged into master craftsmen.

And this old man was one such master—a legendary goldsmith whose skills appeared only once in several decades.

Of course, it had been Kieron who discovered and sponsored him.

“S-sorry, sir.”

The man—referred to as “Master”—fell completely silent after that. The Grand Duke nearly supported Melusine as they climbed the narrow stairs.

Inside the dim building, the hallway was lined with rooms that had no doors.

As Melusine passed by, she peeked inside—every human was seated around a table, completely still, utterly engrossed in their work.

Each room had something different laid out on the tables. One person was working with fabric, another with animal hides and fur, another with dozens of bowls—each immersed in their craft.

“What is this place?”

It felt different from the marketplace. It didn’t have the lively energy of bustling crowds, but the focused intensity radiating from the humans working here reached her all the same.

“The Emperor’s Guild Union.”

“Guild…?”

In the final years of the late emperor’s reign, guilds like these had grown in size in each region. As they aligned themselves with the Church, they weakened the administrative authority of the local nobility.

Eventually, these guilds began encroaching on the capital, and power struggles among them, compounded by interference from the Church Council, even started threatening the emperor’s authority.

That’s when Kieron proposed a solution.

He unified the capital’s guilds under a single system, placed them directly under the Emperor’s authority, and supported them exclusively—thereby weakening the religious factions that had secretly amassed power through their ties to the guilds.

Additionally, he resolved regional issues in place of noble houses sworn to the Emperor, and, when necessary, dispatched soldiers—thus reinforcing the weakening centralized authority.

Through this Artisan Guild—comprising over seventy different guilds including goldsmiths like the old man, as well as tailors, cloth merchants, furriers, general traders, and furniture makers—the palace could manage all crafts within the capital and keep the major trading companies in check. And this strengthened authority naturally extended from the capital into various other regions.

“This way, please.”

The old man opened a door. Just as he had warned, the room was cramped and filled with half-finished jewelry pieces.

“The gem you entrusted to me was so rare, I’ve never seen its like in my lifetime. And the design… Ahem, it took as much effort to craft as the anklet from before…”

He glanced at the Grand Duke mid-sentence, then briefly at Melusine.

There wasn’t a single soul in the Empire who didn’t know which noblewoman the Grand Duke was officially promised to. What’s more, the master craftsman here had created pieces not only for the current Empress but also for the Marchioness Estelle’s daughter.

Only now did he realize the item he had spent nearly a month crafting would be worn by this woman. Discreetly, he lowered his gaze.

It wasn’t uncommon for high-ranking nobles to order specially designed jewelry or unique precious items for specific parts of the body. These gifts weren’t always meant for a spouse, either. Still, the fact that the client was the Grand Duke made it difficult to comprehend.

“Mel, turn around.”

“Huh?”

Kieron took a choker-style necklace from the craftsman, studded with pearls, and fastened it around Melusine’s slender neck. The metal was fairly heavy and clicked tightly into place.

It felt a little tight, but the glittering pearls embedded in it were beautiful.

Looking into the small mirror on the craftsman’s desk, Melusine smiled softly at her reflection.

“It suits you.”

Kieron murmured, slowly brushing his thumb over the diamond at the center of the necklace—where his initials were engraved.

Despite the use of rare, extravagant gems—including pearls that had come from Melusine herself—the initials made the jewelry resemble something closer to a collar one might put on a pet cat or dog.

“Thank you!”

Melusine, who couldn’t read, was simply overjoyed to be somewhere with Kieron, just the two of them. And the sparkling thing he had personally fastened around her neck—it was beautiful.

Her beaming smile stretched across her face… but then a sudden thought struck her—Was this like the thing on her ankle?

“Your Highness, about the finishing details you mentioned… Shall I still include the Zeolrte component, as originally requested?”

The master asked carefully, choosing his words to avoid provoking the Grand Duke’s temper.

“Forget that. Leave us.”

“…Pardon?”

The elderly man, confused, asked again, not fully understanding Kieron’s words.

The archduke’s gaze briefly swept across Melusine’s face, now flushed a soft pink.
A woman who, even knowing the truth of the shackle around her ankle, never asked to be released.
Who wore a collar bearing his initials—like a pet’s—and still smiled so innocently.

No… even knowing exactly what it meant, she would still gladly wear it. That thought stirred Kieron again.

“If you want to watch, feel free.”

Ah. Only then, upon catching the look in the man’s eyes—a look sharp, heavy, aimed at the woman—did her father-in-law understand what Kieron meant. He hastily retreated from the room.

“Kieron…?”

Melusine had been standing in front of the mirror, idly toying with the object around her neck. But just as she turned at the heat of his body pressing behind her, his voice came, low and commanding:

“Hold on. In front.”

Before she could say a word, he swept up the layers of her dress—skirt, petticoats, everything—revealing her silk-stockinged legs and bare thighs in one fluid motion. Everywhere his hand passed seemed to burn.

Melusine, as if by instinct honed over countless nights, leaned forward, gripping the desk in front of her and spreading her legs.

The natural submission in her posture triggered in Kieron a tight mixture of satisfaction… and discomfort.

“Wider.”

Kieron’s voice, roughened and low from deep in his throat, was already boiling over.

He pulled at the ties of her undergarments with slightly too much haste, slipping his hand between them before the fabric had even fallen away. As soon as his fingertips brushed against her soft flesh, a deep breath escaped through his parted lips.

That hot exhale settled at the nape of Melusine’s neck.

“Ahh… mmn…”

Following the scent of salt on her skin—like the sea itself—he pressed kisses along her neck, leaving faint marks in his wake. He made sure she was thoroughly wet, even before entering.

And yet, his arousal already ached to its limit, straining painfully.

At some point, Kieron had come to enjoy the moments just before entering her almost as much as the act itself.

The way moisture gathered at the tight entrance, how it slowly opened under his touch—the process of gradually conquering what at first seemed impenetrable. That, too, had become its own kind of pleasure.

And so, the more he wanted to hurry, the more deliberately slow he became. Because he knew—he knew—that with her, there was never any need to rush. She would still take him, still hold him perfectly. She was that kind of woman.

So this is what it feels like, he thought, to truly have something that’s yours.

“Ha… Hnng—Kieron… ah…!”

The man twisted Melusine’s pelvis, thrusting his cock hard against her loosened pussy lips.

Her back arched against the wetness that slowly opened and swallowed him whole. It was enough now, but Kieron held still, letting the pleasure push him to the limit.

“Melusine.”

At the sound of his voice, she turned her head—just as she always did. He pressed his lips to her trembling lashes, then kissed her deeply, without pause.

And then, he began to move—deliberately, possessively—driving into the space he now claimed as his own.

In the plaza, where not even a whisper of presence had been felt before, her voice rang out, long and clear. Like a song—soft and rising—her moans echoed, carrying into the stillness.