Die Melusine - Chapter 63

Melusine clung tighter to Kieron’s neck, the memory of the emperor resurfacing the moment she locked eyes with Estelle. That day had been terrifying—overwhelming. The memory made her grip him with instinctive fear.

“Miss Melusine… that day—what are you talking about?”

Estelle glanced at Kieron, confirming he hadn’t known she was involved. It was clear. So Estelle chose to feign ignorance. There was no way that girl had fully understood the situation. She could brush this off.

“But that day… when the fae—no, when His Majesty summoned me. I was all alone…”

“Lady Hesnal.”

It was Kieron who interrupted, cutting off the awkward moment.

“What were you going to say?”

“Oh, yes. I came to speak with you about preparations for the wedding.”

As she spoke, Estelle deliberately looked toward Melusine. Even an animal like her should, at some point, learn to understand her place. It was frustrating to see someone like that, someone meant to warm a bed and disappear, pretend she mattered. Pretend she could stay.

“There will surely be a wedding soon, so I thought I should begin familiarizing myself with the household. Perhaps start organizing my living quarters. If Your Grace permits.”

Traditionally in the Empire, the mistress of a household only began such changes after marriage. But after Estelle’s visit during the last harvest festival, she had concluded that the Grand Duke’s estate needed more than a few touch-ups.

It was vast, steeped in history, undeniably majestic—but it was also austere, like the man who ruled it.

As the future Grand Duchess, she couldn’t leave it that way.

She already had plans. The furniture, the carpets, the silks and velvets to import from various kingdoms. More than that, though, she needed a reason to be present—at the estate, in his life.
If she could secure a place there, she could also watch the little creature who lingered far too close to Kieron.

Kieron rubbed at his brow with a thumb. Estelle couldn’t have known—it was a gesture he made when forced to make decisions he disliked.

But to her, the seconds of silence felt like an eternity.

“…Do as you like.”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

That was it. Estelle’s smile bloomed for the first time in a while.

“For arrangements, I’ll work with the steward of Triton. Was that all?”

Kieron rose to his feet before he even finished the sentence. Melusine stood with him, as if rising by reflex in his presence.

Estelle followed suit. She hadn’t come all this way for a mere minute of conversation. She wanted to say something more—anything to make him stay—but her mind had gone blank.

“Yes, Your Grace. That’s all I wanted to say.”

Watching their exchange, Melusine’s blue eyes seemed unusually clouded with thought.

Still, Estelle felt she’d achieved her goal. She had reasserted the future that lay between herself and Kieron. And she had deftly sidestepped the incident with the emperor—just enough to remain untouched.

“Well then, I’ll take my leave. You two, enjoy… the rest of your time.”

Estelle had regained her composure. She wanted Kieron to see her as poised, unbothered—even generous. A future Grand Duchess who could tolerate a mere concubine’s presence.

“Lady Estelle.”

But Kieron’s voice stopped her just before she turned.

“Yes?”

She looked up with the soft expression of a woman reestablishing trust with her fiancé.

But the gaze that met hers was colder than she expected—like ice pressed to her chest.

“And don’t ever pull something like that again. Not even in your thoughts.”

Ah.

Estelle froze mid-step.

He had never been warm to her—but this? This piercing tone, that frigid look… it was the first time he’d shown her such open disdain.

The golden eyes, sharp as blades, said everything without a word: He knew. Everything.

“I… I understand.”

He hadn’t even questioned her. That silence was a warning—perhaps the final one.

The thought of how much colder this already distant man could become made her blood run cold.

Before she could finish speaking, Kieron had already turned away.

Estelle could only stand there, fists clenched, as Melusine curled into Kieron’s side, letting him lead her back into the bedchamber.

And Estelle… bit down hard on her lip as she watched them go.

***

Night fell much faster in the Imperial Palace than it did in the Grand Duchy of Triton.
Perhaps it was the colder weather. Even the full moon, veiled lightly by drifting clouds, looked more silver than usual.

Held in his arms, Melusine had been about to hum a Vercez tune—but stopped, suddenly asking:

“That woman… will she be the mistress too? With Kieron… together?”

She’d been unable to forget what Estelle had said that afternoon—that she would become the mistress of the Grand Duke’s household.

Melusine’s Imperial vocabulary still wasn’t perfect. Whenever she learned a new word, she had a habit of repeating it silently, tasting it in her mouth. Mi-st-ress… Mistress. Maybe that’s why the word stuck so long in her mind.

Kieron, eyes closed and his face nuzzled into her hair, answered lowly.

“Well… yes.”

It was a simple, offhand response. But something inside her went heavy and still.

Melusine didn’t understand much about the human world, and she’d never cared to.
Even if her Serenhide had a human fiancée, it had always felt like something distant. Unrelated.

But lately—every time she saw Estelle, something tightened inside her chest.

She wanted to greet the beautiful woman kindly. To smile and be pleasant.

But it didn’t work. Not like the first time.

In fact, when she saw her today… She had honestly wished she would just leave this room.

Maybe it was because of what had happened with the emperor. After Estelle had been there. After Estelle had disappeared.

Melusine gently touched her lower belly with one hand.

Could it have… already happened?

If so, then soon…

Somewhere in her ears, the sound of waves began to swell—whispers from her sisters drifting in, old stories brushing against her mind.

“Still not enough?”

Kieron murmured teasingly behind her, his arms wrapping tighter as she idly stroked her belly.

“N-no!”

She practically shouted before she could stop herself.
They’d already spent the whole day together—again and again.

It was nearly midnight before they finally rested, and here he was, acting so casually…!

Even if she did love doing it with him—

“My legs hurt… and my back too…”

When she deliberately pouted and shook her head in exaggerated protest, Kieron leaned in and bit gently at her delicate shoulder.

“Look at you… almost fully human now. Lying and all.”

“It’s not… a lie—mmph…”

As Melusine turned away with flustered motions, her lips were promptly caught and swallowed by his.

Kieron’s palm roughly kneaded her breast, fingers pressing against her swollen nipple, while his tongue pinned down the center of hers with slow, deliberate pressure.

Behind her, she could already feel the hardness of his arousal prodding at the small of her back—evidence of his readiness again.

She wondered absently… could the body be trained, just like he said? Could sensations, repeated enough, become second nature?

Her body, which had crested to its limits and then cooled, now ignited once more under his touch.

The subtle waves of sensation rippling around her navel unraveled her thoughts, leaving only the raw, rising pleasure behind.

As Kieron’s tongue invaded her mouth, Melusine responded eagerly, sucking at it while her hand slid down to grasp the tip of him, guiding it slowly along the curve above her hips.

The slickness trailing down her thighs—was it hers alone? Or already mingled with what he’d spilled inside her? She could no longer tell.

Kieron moved his hips lazily, wandering between her thighs. He slid between her tightly clasped legs, smearing her pussy with Cooper’s juices and rubbing her clit with the blunt tip of his shaft, purposely making her more impatient.

It’s one thing to force them apart, but it’s quite another to have them gaping open.

Watching Melusine raise her hips on her own—offering herself, wanting him inside—was a sight that stirred something deep in him. And the moment he pressed himself into her slick, waiting entrance, the way she clung to him, tightened around him, needed no explanation.

Sometimes, the way she held him in made even the act of moving feel like a loss—like pulling away from something too perfect to leave.

“If you can’t carry a child from this…”

Kieron’s deep, grinding voice traced the curve of her ear, seeping into its delicate hollow like a whisper carried through a seashell. Just like the echo of the sea, his sharp, unfiltered desire surged through her—crashing, pulling, relentless.

“Then I’ll just fuck you… until you do carry my child.”

“Haah! Ah—yes!”

He spread her hips wide, almost to the point of strain, and thrust into the soaked heat between them.
Melusine cried out, her voice sharp and sweet, the sound of it enough to satisfy him.

That reaction drove Kieron deeper, harder—grinding himself into her until her body trembled beneath the force of his movement.

As he filled the empty space deep inside her, pressing up against her inner walls, a sharp sensation rippled through Melusine—from her lower belly to her chest.

She knew. She knew just how much he desired her body now. Day after day, night after night, Kieron came to her with a hunger that had only grown more consuming—hotter, more urgent than her own.

She remembered what Estelle once said. That this—this act—was all Kieron truly wanted from her.

Like waves crashing against more waves, they gave themselves over to the rhythm. To the release building inside.

That’s what Melusine had told herself, too. That all she had to do was give her body to him, as often as he wanted—and bear his child, if it came to that.

But now, even as he pressed into her again and again—promising to give her exactly what she asked for—something inside still felt… hollow. Something remained untouched, unfilled. And in that hollow space, a breeze seemed to blow through—cooler, lonelier than before.

The Grand Duchy would soon have a new mistress. And what would become of her?

She had learned so many new words, yet her mind had never felt more tangled.

“Hnngh… ah—Kieron…”

Like seaweed wrapping around her legs in the tide, her thoughts threatened to drag her under.
So she emptied her mind and gave herself over completely—to his touch, to the moment, to him.