North x Northwest

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“What on earth do you think of me?”

“Or… do you have some other kind of problem?”

“..?”

Lil carefully placed her palm under Ed’s half-undone belt. Ed suppressed a groan and squeezed his eyes shut, but Lil didn’t remove her hand.

“I don’t think you have a problem… I don’t think there’s much to worry about at all…”

“No, that’s not it. I’m worried about your injury! Your injury! What makes you even say that, what kind of guy do you think I am?”

“..!”

Ed muttered a few more words out of perplexity while Lil looked down at her stomach. She didn’t even have to take her clothes off as it was clearly visible through her chemise.

‘Now that I think about it, it was crushed by Venua just a few hours ago.’

When Lil’s stomach throbbed upon realisation, Ed continued his explanation while lightly holding her waist.

“Not only was your stomach torn, but your insides were damaged as well. I’ve never read an opinion about how long it would take someone with injuries the size of yours to be able to enjoy intimacy again… I’ve been searching through my memories, but I can’t find anything.”

Lil frowned.

She didn’t understand much of what he was talking about, but Ed looked very serious. It made her recall a concern she had missed even though it was a question that almost every ordinary person would’ve wondered about.

‘I’m not sure if I ever want to bear children, but I at least would like to know if the organs I have to do so function or not…’

“By any chance, is my…”

“No, your womb wasn’t hurt.”

Ed answered so resolutely that her momentary doubts disappeared without a trace. Now, there was only one question remaining, Lil looked at him inquiringly.

“..?”

“You have to live a long and healthy life.”

“…”

“So, you can’t take risks with your body.”

“…”

Ed nodded like someone who had already made up his mind. For that reason, Lil became caught up in an indescribable mood, not knowing whether it was one of regret or bewilderment. She felt so embarrassed that she didn’t know how to deal with their situation right now, whether she should simply accept his hesitation or be angry with herself for initiating something like this in the first place. contemporary romance

‘The short while when we were obsessed with sensuality and indulging in each other feels like a lie now…’

Seeing Lil’s expression, Ed smiled slyly and raised his upper body.

“But Liloa.”

“Hm?”

“Why do you look so disappointed?”

With Lil sitting on his legs, they were facing each other at eye level.

Ed stroked the inside of her thighs. Her body, whose excitement had not subsided yet, was still sensitive and easily responded to the caressing fingertips that teased her. A tingling sensation lingered along the skin he traced.

Lil replied while struggling to keep her trembling voice in check.

“No… I’m not…”

“I just meant we can’t do it the way we intended it to do. But I didn’t say I’d give up for today altogether.”

“..!”

Ed’s hands rose to further push up the hem of Lil’s chemise until they once again landed on her waist. Lil stared at her completely bare lower abdomen and saw the water droplets that flowed down her stomach drip down onto his. Ed was clearly in no hurry as his hands gradually moved further up her belly. Inch by inch, tickling her intentionally. When the hem of her dress was pulled up to her collarbone, half of her breasts were exposed.

Ed whispered as he licked the reddish bump.

“…There’s no law against not going through the royal road*…”

As soon as Lil slipped her chemise over her head, Ed pushed her over and landed on top of her body. With both their bodies drenched from the rain, their connected points were slippery.

Now, lying on her back, Lil licked her lips in anticipation.

“Then?”

“Then…”

“..?”

Ed brushed her lips in response. Their kiss continued for a long time before he gave a more concrete answer. His hand, which had been caressing her breast, went further down and his voice that flowed from between her lips lingered in her mouth.

“We should find another way, right?”

Ed’s fingers dug between Lil’s legs.

The fatigue that had clung to her body melted away along with her hazy consciousness. First it were her clothes, soaked in rainwater, that had been weighing her body down, so now it was her drenched body’s turn to sink into the bed. It sank like a drop of water pressed into the abyss.

Far down and deep…

***

‘Weird… Somehow, it feels like someone is lifting my eyelids…’

Lil tried to ignore it and calmly closed her eyes again every time it happened. So, whenever her eyelids were popped open, she would perceive dull light and when the touch disappeared, it would be complete darkness again. Ed repeatedly pulled Lil’s eyelids up and released them, like he was playing with a toy.

Lil eventually swirled her arms in front of her face and murmured.

“..Stop…”

However, Ed’s voice still hovered close to her face.

“How long are you going to sleep? It’s way past noon and the sun is about to set soon.”

This time, Ed pressed his lips to her cheek. This also wasn’t a one-time thing. He moved around and kissed both her cheeks continuously until Lil turned her head away and lay down with her back to him.

‘Just yesterday, I was dragged to the villa by Venua’s men and overexerted myself. Then a couple of hours after that, I was served by Ed for a long time. So today, I don’t even want to lift a finger… thinking about fingers… Ed truly looked like a man of genuine inquiry and commitment… Seeing how he was so preoccupied with trying to carve his way into me… Of course, I was equally engrossed in the mysteries of the human body, but my limbs eventually became exhausted because of the series of peaks I experienced…’

Lil couldn’t even bring herself to move her sprawled arm over the blanket.

“I’ll just keep on sleeping like this…”

As she was no longer bothered, Lil let out a sigh of contentment and was about to go to sleep again…

[ “…Edgar. I don’t know what to say first…” ]

“..?!”

After hearing those familiar words, Lil immediately flung her eyes open. Looking behind her, she saw her unfinished letter in Ed’s hand. The crumpled, sparsely wet paper was definitely the letter she had thrown away somewhere yesterday. When Lil’s eyes met Ed’s, who was glancing down at her due to sitting with his back against the headboard, he merely smiled and cheekily raised his eyebrows before continuing reading.

[ “…Everything in my head is a mess right now. Since when…” ]

“Give me that!”

Whimpering, Lil stretched out her hand and thereby her upper body, but Ed simply lifted his arm further into the air. Lil, not fully awake, flopped helplessly and fell into the bed. Ed continued the letter, stroking the back of Lil’s head that was tucked in the blanket.

[ “…Since when did you know me? Since LeBrun?…” ]

“Stop it!”

After a quickly failed attempt to retrieve it again, Lil threw down her hand and lifted her gaping face. When she glared at him with disgust, Ed shrugged his shoulders and spoke.

“This is only the second letter you have ever written to me. How can I just throw it away? Of course, I have to keep it.”

Lil, who was now completely free from the blanket, snatched a pillow and threw it at him.

“Ack!”

In the midst of screaming at him, Lil struggled to move her tired body to approach Ed, who was trying to escape her attack, and instead clung to him.

[ “…How could you know me? I’ve never seen you, no, that’s not what’s important…” ]

Ed’s body, now carrying the weight of Lil on his shoulder, fell backwards. At this point, Lil tried to retrieve the letter by stretching out her hand again, but it wasn’t enough to reach the tip of Ed’s long arms that stretched all the way out of the bed.

“Hey… Hey!”

Lil then tried stretching her fingers while crawling upwards, but it was futile. Ed, on the other hand, just laid his head to rest on top of Lil and continued to read her letter. In the end, Lil decided to attack Ed instead of focusing on the letter she couldn’t reach for the life of her, so she poked his eyes with her index and middle finger.

[ “…I’m glad someone thought of me that way!…” ]

Ed quickly closed his eyes. Of course, as it was only his eyes that were attacked, his mouth could still be seen smiling.

‘Incredible. He has the guts to not even bother hiding his twitching mouth!’

Lil had no choice but to grit her teeth because Ed seemed to be planning to annoy her until the very end. In a last resort Lil switched tactics again and tried the mental approach.

“You said you loved me, and you said you meant it!”

“..!”

Lil pulled a pillow and hit Ed with it as she climbed on top of him.

“Well, all good for you! But for me! I couldn’t even sleep properly!”

Even though Ed was being repeatedly hit by a pillow, he made excuses with that same smile on his face.

“Because you wouldn’t wake up…”

“So you did this instead?! Is this what you call love? Huh? Is that what it is to you?”

– – – – –

Footnote:

Royal road: An auspicious or easy way or means to achieve something.

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