“Kyle, did you know?”
“What?”
“I sometimes think… marrying you feels like I’ve committed a huge crime.”
“…Where’s this coming from?”
Kyle looked at me with a slightly offended gaze, but… I got it. It’s been years since we got married, and here I am talking about this.
“No, it’s just… there are times when it feels like I married a kid I raised.”
“When does it feel that way?”
“Um… when you do things exactly like I taught you when we were younger?”
I could see traces of that in his eating habits and manners. When I noticed those times, it didn’t feel like a crime right away, but when I thought about it later… it felt kinda weird.
It just… felt a little… um… weird.
“I didn’t see you as a younger brother, but there were times when I genuinely thought of you like one, you know?”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and maybe that’s why it feels even more like that…?”
“I’ve never thought of you that way.”
“Right, so of course, you confessed right after becoming an adult and planted a kiss.”
“…Haha.”
Honestly, the Kyle from back then was… intense in many ways.
Now that he was an adult, he naturally conveyed feelings he hadn’t before and acted on things he had suppressed up until then.
Kissing, physical affection… I allowed it, so he did it. If I had said to stop, he probably wouldn’t have.
I was a bit foolish back then.
I mean, it was the first time a guy, especially Kyle, ever confessed to me… so I was all mixed up.
But at the same time, I couldn’t completely push Kyle away because I was soft-hearted.
“I think doing that temporary relationship made it more like that.”
“Haha….”
“If I hadn’t done that, um… but still, you probably wouldn’t have been able to resist kissing sometimes. I did say not to, but you did it anyway.”
“That was… true.”
“Well, I didn’t completely dislike it, so I just let it go.”
If I hated it, I would have firmly refused.
But… in the end, I never rejected Kyle, and our temporary relationship just turned into a real one, and we even ended up married.
“Anyway… it feels super weird that I kind of took advantage of someone much younger than me, so I feel really sorry about that!?”
“Sorry for who?”
“Um… all the noble ladies who had a crush on the splendid Duke Kyle…?”
“Honestly, Sophia is prettier anyway, so it’s all good.”
Well… if that’s how it is, then so be it, but I felt a tinge of guilt. Especially…
“I saw a lady I’d never met before crying at the wedding, you know!?”
“Uh…?”
“Well, I guess she thought of you as her first love after meeting at some debutante gathering… but it felt pretty… um… like a thief.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
The age difference between Kyle and me was six years.
It wasn’t a huge deal, but still… it wasn’t a very common combination. After five years, age gaps like ours weren’t that frequent.
Of course, it didn’t show at all because I looked so young.
But the age difference was definitely there.
“Still… I’m not really a thief.”
“Is that so?”
Kyle slowly wrapped his arms around me from behind.
Since we’d hugged like this plenty of times before, I accepted it without minding.
After all, this wasn’t just anywhere; it was in the room where Kyle and I slept together, in our bed, so there was no reason to avoid it.
“Sophia didn’t take me away; I took Sophia.”
“Um… that’s not entirely wrong.”
“Right?”
“Yeah.”
Well, that’s what marriage is, after all.
It’s about becoming each other’s, but maybe I was just thinking too selfishly.
“But… do people usually take advantage of the ones who raised them since childhood?”
“If you like them, that can happen. Plus… Sophia liked you too, right?”
“I still like her.”
I didn’t say who I was referring to.
It felt a bit embarrassing, and besides, it was something we both kinda knew.
“I do too.”
“Thanks.”
In many ways, our relationship developed in a strange manner, but at the end of the day, Kyle was my husband, and I was his wife.
Now, it was hard to imagine a life without him.
Of course, that also included our daughters.
“Kyle, if we kiss like this, my neck will hurt. Can we shift positions?”
“Sure.”
*
“Hah… Chaa!”
I woke up early in the morning.
It wasn’t one of those mornings when kids were busy sleeping… honestly, it was still early enough that calling it dawn wouldn’t be a lie.
“Ugh….”
No matter how much I was a succubus or whatever, I simply couldn’t compete with his overwhelming stamina.
He did get a bit strong when excited, but still, it wasn’t enough to really win against Kyle… so in conclusion, I got thoroughly devoured.
During the day, he always let me win, but at night, he was incredibly strong.
With the pleasure already affecting me, I couldn’t do anything more, and Kyle’s stamina didn’t wear out, so I was completely at his mercy.
“…I’ll have to toss the condom in the trash.”
The maids do come to clean, but showing them this whole mess would be quite embarrassing.
The sheets and bed were wet, but… the condom was really a bit much.
It wasn’t the kind of condom I knew, but still, there wasn’t much difference.
Just like with condoms, it went over Kyle’s member and stopped the ejaculate, so there really wasn’t any difference.
“Ugh… should I wash up…?”
I had to wash up before meeting the kids.
I should’ve washed up before, but I sweat a lot yesterday.
“…Kyle, wake up.”
“….”
“Kyle.”
He had to wake up too.
Today, Kyle had a lot of work to do.
Even if I didn’t wake him up like this… well, he would be waking up soon anyway.
But still, I decided to wake him.
The reason was…
“Let’s go wash up together. Get up quickly.”
“…Sister.”
“What?”
“Five more minutes….”
“…Alright, sleep for five more minutes. I’ll wake you up in five.”
Five minutes was fine… I understood.
He had been vigorous as I was, after all.
And besides, he hadn’t caught up on sleep in a long time, so five more minutes wasn’t a huge deal.
*
“Kyle, rub that spot for me. Yeah, there….”
“Do you not want me to do it a bit harder?”
“I don’t know… just rub my back adequately….”
After we roughly washed each other, we relaxed in the tub.
Since there was no chance of anyone else coming in, we were resting very comfortably.
Even with me nestled between Kyle’s legs, there wasn’t any issue.
Really… the bathroom in the castle was just fantastic.
It was on a whole different level than a regular inn’s bath.
“Ahhh…. So refreshing….”
“That’s good to hear. By the way, when did the Princess say she would be leaving?”
“Um… don’t you know? She might stay for about a month? Or she could leave in about two weeks.”
“I see she’s set to visit again this time too.”
“She’s always got a lot on her plate. She doesn’t just stay in the castle like we do; she travels around.”
“Thinking about it that way, it does sound comfortable.”
Exactly.
She’s the imperial princess, an extremely lofty…? position one would think.
But ironically, it seems like all she does is keep moving around.
Well… according to her, she says she does it because she wants to.
“But she does work hard, doesn’t she?”
“With someone like her around, I guess the empire runs well.”
“But it is kind of ridiculous that she works so hard without thinking about the emperor position, right?”
“True.”
Really.
She wasn’t fighting over the throne with the prince or anything, yet she worked on a whole lot of things.
And those were all things she had taken on herself… just how much does she love work?
She always says things are difficult, but almost every communication we have includes some work-related topic.
“Honestly, the princess might just really enjoy working… huh…. Ah….”
“That could be true.”
“Huh….”
By the way, maybe it was because I was too immersed yesterday.
My back felt way too good.
Usually, it wouldn’t feel this good during massages, but it was so relaxing that I found myself letting out involuntary sounds.
“Just a little higher… ahhh….”
“Sister, that sounds provocative.”
“What can I do about it…? It’s because of you… ahhh….”
It was Kyle who was making my back hurt, and it was his massage causing those sounds to come out.
Honestly, I didn’t think I did anything wrong.
I mean, can I help it if sounds come out?
If he didn’t want that, maybe he shouldn’t do it… though last night was quite enjoyable.
“Kyle….”
“What?”
“…Wanna do it one more time in the morning?”
“….”
*
“Mom, are you hurt?”
“Huh?”
“You look like you might be in pain….”
“Hey, what part of me hurts?”
I answered Astrid’s question like that, but in truth, I was actually a bit sore.
It had been a while since things got intense.
Not just at night, but until this morning it was more than usual.
It felt just like the early days of our marriage.
“Then I guess that’s good….”
“Our Astrid should stop worrying about that and just go play with Elissa, okay?”
“Uh… Elissa is sleeping.”
“…Huh?”
“She just suddenly lay down while playing and fell asleep.”
“Uh….”
Hmm.
It was about nap time.
Considering it was after lunch, little Elissa would definitely be sleepy.
“Astrid, aren’t you sleepy?”
“Um… Yes.”
Hmm.
If that’s the case… there was only one thing to do.
I carefully picked up the sleeping Elissa, who was sprawled on the floor.
She really wouldn’t know if someone took her away.
“Astrid, let’s move Elissa to the room first. Is that okay?”
“Yes.”
I held Elissa in one arm and took Astrid’s hand with the other, starting to head toward the room.
“Astrid, when was your study time with Teacher Louise today?”
“More than an hour left.”
“Then… how about we read some books in the library until Elissa wakes up?”
“…Yes!”
For Astrid, who loved books, this suggestion was irresistible.
The class with Louise didn’t really matter if it was late or not.
After all, since Louise was the younger one, she couldn’t really complain if we were late.
And if she did complain… it would just mean spilling the beans that Louise got involved with a man, and that was it.
“So what book will we read today? A fairy tale?”
“Today….”
“Ohhh….”
“I want to read a fairy tale. I’ll read it to Elissa tomorrow.”
“Oh really? Then we need to find one that’s super fun so Elissa can enjoy it too!”
“Yes. I want to read her something fun.”
Raising our daughters, I often thought… our girls are way too sweet.
It feels like they bond better than with Adela and Kyle.
The library had so many books that Astrid would definitely be able to pick one she liked.
Initially, I had bought a ton of storybooks specifically for the children.
“Haha….”
Well, later when the kids grew up… it wouldn’t really be needed, but when that time comes, I could just donate them to the big library in the territory.
“Mm… Big sister….”
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