“Ugh…”
Epherna forced her trembling legs to move. In her current state, crawling to stretch her hand out was all she could manage, but the table with the calendar was right in front of her.
However…
“…?”
The calendar, which should have been there, was missing. Epherna quickly recalled why, thinking back to the previous day.
‘Oh, right…’
Four long nights in a row.
With such intense nights, it was impossible for the surroundings to remain intact.
She remembered clearing things away in advance before they got caught up in it.
Tingle-!
“Ugh…!”
Pain flared in her back.
Even her usually sturdy body, which could handle sitting in a chair all day, cried out in agony. At that moment, a voice called out.
“Perhaps you should rest a little now.”
“…!!”
Merien’s voice.
Epherna was startled, not having expected to hear it.
“…Merien?”
Now that she thought about it, Ern was nowhere to be seen.
Even the traces of their mutual exploration and desire from the previous night had been cleaned away completely.
“I’ve temporarily removed Sir Astra. Otherwise, it seemed this would never end.”
“Ah…”
Epherna unconsciously nodded at her words.
Even she had to admit it had been excessive.
Four days—barely eating or sleeping and indulging like beasts.
“He’s waiting in the living room. I’ll help you up. Let’s get you washed first.”
Nod.
*****
“…It feels like my back is screaming for mercy.”
“Sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“For overdoing it, maybe.”
“…Overdoing it? Turn your head for a second.”
Ern tilted his head curiously.
Smooch—
“Do you still think it was too much?”
“…”
In that moment, heat flared in their eyes again.
“That’s enough, please. The supplies won’t last at this rate.”
Just as their gazes burned with renewed passion, Merien, the very reason they could indulge without a care, scowled darkly.
While the two rested, she and her attendants had secretly cleaned the mansion and restocked the pantry. It was their job, and they had been prepared for it, but it meant that Merien had been on edge for four days straight.
What she had thought would last at most two days had dragged into four, leaving her utterly exhausted.
“I must insist that if this is to happen again, please confine such activities to nighttime. Your irregular patterns have left many attendants utterly drained.”
The imperial attendants were all carefully selected through rigorous tests. But they were not warriors, and their stamina was no greater than that of ordinary people.
Keeping up with the superhuman endurance of those two was no easy task.
Merien had stepped in for that very reason.
“Understood. We were planning to be more restrained from now on anyway.”
“…”
Merien stopped herself from blurting out, ‘Really’?
She knew the reason their nights had stretched to four days, and why she and the other attendants had been constantly on edge.
Even when the atmosphere seemed to calm down, they never truly stopped. Just as they seemed ready to rest, they would suddenly start undressing each other again, leaving the attendants groaning in frustration.
‘Good thing I intervened.’
Had she not, this might have continued for a week. Merien silently praised herself for stepping in.
“Tell the attendants to rest. We won’t mess up the house anymore for the remaining days.”
“Yes, I will relay your message.”
*****
“Really?”
“Wow… finally…!!”
Upon hearing Epherna’s words relayed by Merien, the attendants finally relaxed, sinking to the floor.
Every one of them had beaten staggering odds to earn their position, and their professional pride kept them on edge until the message was delivered.
“…I never thought we’d be the ones to give out first. Honestly, how is it even possible for someone to have that kind of stamina? It’s a miracle neither of them collapsed.”
“Lord Astra, I can understand. But who would’ve thought Her Majesty had such endurance? I guess not just anyone can be the Empress”
“At first, she was all flustered and screaming, but that wasn’t even the problem. Honestly, who else could keep up with two people like that?”
“Right? It’s hard to even feel jealous.”
With dark circles under their eyes and dry, pallid skin, the attendants applied cream to their faces as they chatted.
The fatigue was real, and the surreal nature of the two superhuman lovers’ nights made it hard to turn the conversation into anything salacious.
Then, someone voiced a chilling thought.
“But… are we sure it’s over?”
“Huh?”
“Lady Merien is here. Doesn’t that mean the two of them are alone in the mansion?”
“…”
Ah.
The attendants felt a collective jolt of realization, as though a bell was ringing in their heads.
They had to think about it.
Yesterday, the day before, every time they were left alone in a space, they couldn’t help but devour each other with their eyes and more.
“Please, rest now.”
Merien said.
“But…”
“It’s fine. Her Majesty has instructed us to stay away and rest for the remainder of the period, so we need only follow her orders.”
Merien ordered the attendants to change into more comfortable clothes, and she herself switched into casual wear.
As the attendants enjoyed the hard-earned respite, they shared conversations about whether the fiery nights would truly come to an end, while Merien let out a quiet scoff.
‘There’s no way it’s over.’
She knew better.
‘Now that they no longer need to be mindful of others, do you really think they’ll stop?’
As someone married to Valtean, a superhuman, she knew firsthand just how astonishing a body trained from a young age could be.
Moreover, she had personally witnessed the lingering heat of passion still burning in Ern and Epherna after their four nights together.
‘They’ll manage the aftermath themselves.’
Since Epherna was a mage, cleaning and laundry would be a trivial matter for her. It might be a little annoying, but it was their responsibility. Surely, they wouldn’t go so far as to destroy the house.
With that, Merien dismissed her worries and lay down on her bed, finally at ease.
*****
“Can healing magic fix back pain?”
“The principle behind healing magic is accelerating the body’s natural healing process, so it speeds up recovery from fatigue, too.”
That’s not all that surprising.”
Ern tilted his head slightly in thought.
As Epherna had explained, using healing magic to ease muscle pain wasn’t exactly groundbreaking.
However, Ern was intrigued by the speed of her healing.
Epherna had used magic to relieve her back pain within seconds.
Normally, excessively accelerating the healing process with magic would cause side effects, but Epherna seemed completely unaffected. Was such a thing even theoretically possible?
‘She’s surpassed the limits of what I can comprehend.’
The only mage who could compare to Epherna’s magical prowess on the continent might be Bergamot Katia. Even then, her skill might surpass even that.
To think that just eight years ago, Ern had seen Epherna as a little girl.
It amazed him to see her now, someone destined to go down in history as a great mage.
“Mister, are you even listening to me?”
“Huh? … Oh, yeah. Sorry.”
His delayed response made Epherna frown.
“Mister?”
“What? You were the one who liked calling me that up until yesterday.”
“Ah… that?”
She didn’t think she had made it obvious, but how had he noticed?
“What were we talking about again?”
Resting her head on Ern’s shoulder, Epherna continued.
“I was thinking… calling you ‘Mister’ isn’t so bad. You seem to like it, too.”
“Wait, it’s not about liking it—it’s just…”
“Not in that way. I just realized titles don’t really matter anymore. It feels more comfortable to call you that.”
Not long ago, Epherna had held titles in high regard.
To her, they symbolized the bond between herself and others, something to be handled with care.
But that was no longer the case.
After their intimate nights, she felt a newfound sense of certainty.
It was as if a seal had been stamped, affirming that he was truly hers.
“I’m the only one who calls you ‘Mister’, right? It feels like I’ve claimed that title for myself. It’s convenient, gives me a sense of achievement, too.”
Perhaps the title “Mister” was a mark of her conquest—a badge of honor for having completely claimed him as her own.
Ern chuckled softly.
“What if I cheat? What then?”
“You can’t cheat.”
Epherna, her back fully recovered, skillfully twisted to face him.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she teased,
“Do you think you could be satisfied with anyone but me?”
“…”
“Who else could handle the world’s greatest p*rvert, insatiable even after days of being like a beast?”
“…”
Snicker.
Ern stifled a laugh and replied.
“You’re right. I can’t cheat. Where would I find someone as perfect as you?”
“Exactly.”
Then Ern pulled her closer by the waist.
“But you’ll have to prove it.”
“…Huh?”
“You still haven’t proven that you can handle the world’s greatest p*rvert.”
It was in that moment that Epherna realized she wouldn’t be keeping her promise to Merien.
“…Aha.”
That’s true.
There wasn’t even time to finish her thought.
“Hah…!”
And so, their night began anew.
