Unintentionally taking a step towards Asha, Carlyle bumped his thigh hard against the table beside him.
"Ouch!"
"Are you okay?"
Asha looked at Carlyle in surprise, and only then did he come to his senses.
His heart was pounding, and he felt feverish all over, but Carlyle tried to regain his composure.
'What was I doing? Pull yourself together.'
He swallowed his saliva and smiled nonchalantly.
"I'm fine. Must be feeling a bit tipsy."
Then, pretending to glance at the clock, he tried to come up with an excuse to send her away.
"It's getting late. What I was going to say earlier…"
"Oh! I'll get ready right away."
Asha, inadvertently glancing at the clock, began to loosen the robe's belt.
As she loosened the robe's belt, the gown slipped down from her shoulders, revealing a thin nightgown.
"Ah…"
Carlyle muttered softly, dumbfounded.
Her nightgown cast a faint shadow of a small bump around her chest area.
Due to the dimly lit candles, it wasn't clearly visible, but Carlyle could almost instinctively tell that Asha wasn't wearing anything underneath the nightgown.
As Asha draped the robe over the gown and slowly raised her head to look at him, Carlyle surrendered to temptation.
He felt like he would regret it for the rest of his life if he missed tonight.
"You're quite fast."
He led Asha towards his bed.
As he got closer to her, he could tell that Asha was tense.
Her neck and shoulders seemed stiff, and her breathing seemed uneven.
Seeing Asha like this, Carlyle felt oddly satisfied. And a mischievous thought crossed his mind.
"You're fast, but lacking in charm. No wonder you're not moving anywhere."
As expected, Asha's eyes wavered even more.
Had she ever had occasion to display "charm" in her life?
"You've boasted with your own mouth that you'll pay the price, so you should take responsibility."
"W-what… should I… do…?"
"I'm not asking you to kneel and beg. Do I have to spell it out for you? You may not know how to seduce a man, but you certainly seem to know how to ruin the mood."
Asha's complexion seemed even paler.
'Should she stop messing around now?'
Trying to suppress the laughter that kept welling up, Carlyle reached out to Asha.
At that moment, Asha grabbed his hand and lifted it, then started kissing each of his fingertips.
"What are you doing…!"
He wanted to ask what this incomprehensible behavior was about, but as Asha kissed his fingertips and rolled her eyes, he lifted her.
When the candlelight illuminated Asha's eyes, which appeared almost black in the dimness, a mysterious gray hue sparkled transparently.
"Because I don't really know what 'charm' is…"
The murmured words with lips against his fingers were probably an unintentional action.
But every time Asha's lips brushed against his skin, Carlyle's chest fluttered.
"Do…more…"
As Carlyle murmured, Asha hesitated for a moment, then tentatively slid her tongue between her lips, licking between his fingers.
Feeling her moist and supple tongue touching the sensitive skin between his fingers, from his cheeks to his neck and even his spine, sent shivers down Carlyle's spine.
Though embarrassed by the request to do more, it was Carlyle who couldn't resist the stimulation any longer.
He pressed his thumb firmly against Asha's lips.
As he pressed, her lips parted, revealing white teeth hidden inside, along with a red, wet tongue that licked his fingers.
"For someone who claims not to know what they're doing…"
He lowered his head closer to Asha's lips.
"You're quite adept at it."
And without a shred of guilt, he greedily devoured those lips that had haunted him incessantly for the past month.
Carlyle kissed Asha again and laid her down on the bed.
It was his first time as well, but his deceased maternal grandfather had taught Carlyle 'how to hold a woman' when he was fifteen, all in the name of creating the perfect emperor.
So he wasn't going to let Asha know that this was his first experience.
"Then I don't ask for anything. In this bedroom tonight, call me only by my name."
"Yes? B-but how can I… ."
"You called me well on the battlefield."
"But that was a wartime situation. Calling you by name was like a code… ."
"You said you'll give me anything I ask for."
Asha's words were blocked.
Carlyle brought his lips to Asha's neck and whispered.
"Come on, Asha."
Carlyle's voice, calling her by name only, was as sweet as the night melting away.
Asha, tense enough to throw up, barely squeezed out her voice.
"Car… lyle… ."
"Yes, Asha."
"Carlyle."
"Keep calling me."
As she called Carlyle by name, his hands caressed Asha's body.
"Lift your waist."
Carlyle whispered, pulling the nightgown down from Asha's shoulders.
As Asha arched her body and lifted her waist, he skillfully pulled the nightgown down to her lower body.
The sound of the sheets falling to the floor was followed by goosebumps on her exposed skin, which was then covered by Carlyle's hot skin.
"Ah…!"
A moan involuntarily escaped her lips.
The feeling of being physically intimate with someone for the first time was much warmer and more stimulating than she had feared or imagined.
"It won't hurt much. Don't worry."
"Ugh… hiccup… ."
Carlyle gently stroked and soothed Asha, who was so flustered that her mind was racing.
'What do I do? What am I supposed to do?'
Asha, who trembled and shook her body whenever Carlyle touched her, was truly confused.
Like a child tasting candy for the first time, she felt too sweet to spit out, yet at the same time, she wanted to lick it again.
Carlyle, who I thought would be rough with me, was too sweet, and the feast of sensations exploding like firecrackers in my sensitive areas felt like it would melt my brain.
"You're still tense. Why, are you scared?"
He traced his tongue down from Asha's neck.
'This is what it feels like to have someone else's tongue lick my skin…!'
I had done the same to Carlyle earlier, but I swear I didn't know it would feel like this. No, to be honest, I don't even know why I thought of licking him with my tongue back then.
Her breath caught in her throat as this wet lump of flesh rubbed and sucked against her sensitive skin.
Did Carlyle feel this way earlier too?
"Carlyle, I, I…!"
Asha gasped, calling out Carlyle's name, at a loss for words to say to him.
She couldn't describe how she felt right now.
It was similar to the fear she felt when facing the unknown for the first time, as he had said, but it was much more thrilling and exciting.
"But your body seems to be responding quite well, doesn't it?"