Slowly, he withdrew from her.

Her body shuddered.

He ejaculated onto his discarded underwear and exhaled a long breath.

Compared to the pleasure of being buried in her soft flesh, kissing her all over, and touching her skin, the sensation of his own climax felt insignificant.

He embraced her and kissed her lips, then softly placed kisses on various parts of her face.

His hands gently caressed her breasts, and Cecilia lacked the energy to react. The soft, wet sound of his lips touching and parting from her skin was slightly bothersome.

But the sensation of his hands on her body and the warmth of their shared heat brought her a sense of satisfaction.

Her closed eyes grew warm.

His touch was tender and careful.

She felt deeply cherished. The memory of this night alone seemed like it would keep her from ever feeling lonely again.

And so, she gradually drifted off to sleep.

 

 

When she opened her eyes, her surroundings were dark and quiet.

‘Is it still early morning?’

She moved slightly and realized he was lying behind her, his arm wrapped around her.

‘He didn’t leave.’

If he had returned to his own bedroom as if nothing had happened, she would have resented him.

Cecilia closed her eyes again, but she couldn’t fall back asleep.

Her body felt sticky.

The thought of her skin being covered in sweat and bodily fluids popped into her mind.

She became fully awake.

‘I need to wash.’

She thought about calling a maid to bring bathwater.

‘Can they bring hot water quickly at this hour?’

She moved to sit up, but he pulled her back into his arms.

His breath brushed against her ear as he kissed the back of her neck and murmured,

“Why? What do you need?”

“I want to wash. Call a maid for me.”

She heard him moving behind her.

He adjusted the blanket covering her.

Before she could say she was fine, he wrapped her in the blanket and lifted her.

She almost asked, ‘Where are we going?’ but stopped herself.

In her past life, constant marriage troubles, divorces, and an unstable life had made her highly irritable. She couldn’t relax unless she personally verified every small thing.

Even after her return, some of that sensitivity lingered.

But now, she didn’t feel like arguing. She wanted to let him handle it—her mind seemed as relaxed as her fatigued body.

Russell carried her into the sitting room, walking toward the fireplace on one side of the wall.

The castle’s unique heating system worked only in the bedroom, but since the sitting room was adjacent, it wasn’t as cold as the hallway. Still, the maids lit the fireplace about once a day.

‘Is he heating the room before I bathe?’

Russell pulled the lever to adjust the vent of the fireplace. Then, he reached into a hidden corner on the left side of the fireplace. There was the sound of a mechanism activating.

Cecilia, half-asleep in his arms, opened her eyes wide when the fireplace began to rotate.

The fireplace turned completely, revealing an empty space behind it. Still holding her, Russell stepped inside.

Cecilia’s eyes widened in shock.

It was clearly a secret passage.

Some of the ancient estates of continental nobles were rumored to contain hidden mechanisms like this.

He touched a bluish glowing stone plate.

The mechanism activated again, and the space they stood in began to rotate.

When it stopped, Cecilia imagined what the sitting room now looked like—probably just an ordinary fireplace visible from outside.

After a brief pause, the mechanism resumed.

“The floor… is moving?”

“Yes. We’re descending.”

‘This is so intricate. How could they… oh, right. This was once the imperial palace of the ancient empire.’

She didn’t ask what lay below.

Instead, she relished the anticipation, eager to see for herself.

The mechanism stopped again.

With a soft grinding sound, a stone door opened. As soon as it did, a peculiar smell filled the air.

Russell stepped forward, still carrying her.

The surroundings were pitch dark.

Just as Cecilia thought, ‘I can’t see anything,’ the space suddenly lit up.

Looking upward, she saw the ceiling bathed in light.

‘It’s similar to what I saw in the leather storage room.’

Now, she could clearly see the underground space.

“Ah…”

She gasped in awe.

It was a natural hot spring bath inside a rugged black stone cave.

Steam rose from the hot water, curling softly into the air.