If I Disobey the Duke

Unfamiliar Feeling (1)

“There are flowers that only grow where there are diamonds. Vallogia candida… My mother taught me a lot about that.” Lily lowered her body. She was there to see the little ugly flowers blooming at her feet, the deep pink petals, clustered like insect eggs. “This flower grows where there are copper veins.  It’s not always like that, but since the floor of the greenhouse had copper buried…”

The petals were soft against her fingertips.

“It means there are copper veins. On the Ataka Plateau…”

She had grown up knowing that these little flowers grew in one place only.

Ataka.

A harsh highland desert that refroze the dead in winter and burnt down all living things in summer.

It was the most barren land on the continent and a habitat for monsters.

Watching Lily mumble, Vlad folded his arms as if intrigued. “There is a lot of copper and granite in Ataka. It is buried deep enough to supply everyone in the territory.”

“Granite…” Lily squatted, staring blankly at the plants.

Jewelry, after all, was a luxury. But metal and stones were needed more than jewelry everywhere.

Now that the continent had suffered from war, those who owned metal mines were in fact the wealthiest.

Iron mines belonged to the imperial family, so copper was practically the most precious metal.

Granite was also a much harder and more practical stone than marble. Even if the palace was built with marble, the walls had to be made of granite.

Therefore, copper and granite are buried….

“It’s a land that has it all. Arcadia…”

The landscape that looked like a masterpiece oil painting now looked completely different.

This is it. It’s money. All money.

“Do people know about this?”

Unlikely.

Vlad himself managed it.

The area had a low tax rate in the first place, so there was no need to be conscious of the imperial family.

Those who happened to find out about his wealth thought it was just a temporary glory from the wars.

Still, it took a lot of hard work to cover up such wealth. If information could be easily discovered like this, he had to come up with another solution.

Lily slowly got up and turned to look at him. “Those who know how to write are not usually interested in things like flowers.”

It was not easy to find someone whose interests and education intersected like so. That’s why it was practically information only she knew.

“You’re amazing, Lily.” He narrowed the distance. “Memory, information organization, and even judgment. They’re exceptionally wonderful. You…” His large hand gently stroked Lillie’s cheek. “You’re an extraordinary woman.”

Lily almost burst with the excessive praise. She lowered her eyes down and wiggled her toes. “That, not much… It’s nothing great.”

The compliments felt nice. It was the first time she was recognized for her ability.

She’d been a dumb girl all her life.

Her father did not recognize her, even though the flowers that Lily had spoken of were found near the mines he had bought at auction.

Even though she was useful, all she heard was that she mustn’t tell anyone.

Vlad grabbed her chin with her head down and made her look at him. “When we go back… How about meeting the administrators, Lily?”

“I… Administrators?”

He nodded. “You will be very much needed. By them.”

Now wasn’t the time for her to pick out the ballroom tiles for the castle.

* * *

“I feel like I’m dreaming.” Lily rested her arms against the railing of the bathtub and placed her chin on her hand.

Is this a luxury I can enjoy?

It was such a satisfying scene that Lily was recognised.

Beyond the glass wall, stars shone as if they were sugar sprinkled across the ultramarine night sky.

Thee dark, snowy mountains were cold, but she was currently soaking in hot water.

It was truly a luxury.

“I would love to come with Buttercup. I think she’ll like it…” Lily turned her back. Stars seemed to come pouring down from the domed ceiling.

The floor was lined with granite-processed gray tiles so that you could walk around barefoot, and flowerpots with seedlings were placed in the empty space of the bathroom, giving off the scent of flowers everywhere.

Next to her was a statue of a mermaid with her bucket on her head, pouring hot water eagerly.

It was an unbelievable technology that existed in this era.

With such wealth and technology, why?

“Did you really build a glass greenhouse? You…”

He was an efficient man. It was so obvious that even five minutes of being with him would tell as much.

He was good not only in manor management and castle structure, but also in speech and movement.

To be honest, it was much more efficient to do something else with the money to build a glass greenhouse like this.

Just to be extravagant?

“Is that possible?”

If it was Vlad, there must have been a clear purpose for this building.

If that’s so, was it made to show a woman?

“…He said he wouldn’t get married to anyone else.”

He didn’t seem to be lying.

“Phew.” Lily sighed and squatted down on the steps of her bath, resting her chin on her lap.

The tips of her long silver hair spread wide over the water.

What were those eyes today?

The eerily beautiful man was looking at her as if he was seeing something precious.

As if the flowers in full bloom behind her back were like those that had bloomed in a garden of heaven.

That just looking at me is enough…

A question that should have been raised before echoed round and round in her mind.

Why are you being so nice to me?

The marriage proposal was also sent by him.

Precious, extraordinary, wonderful.

He kept calling her that kind of woman. Always and sincerely…

Her heart pumped blood throughout the body.

She knew well that her hot face wasn’t just because of her bath.

The throbbing feeling down there. That was it.

Lily covered her face with her hands. “Really, what should I do…?”

Just thinking about it, she got wet.

She quivered, closing her eyes.

His low voice had whispered in her ears. Whenever he gave her a prize, he whispered even more persistently and seductively…

“Good job. Lily.”

Her stomach was tight.

“You are the only woman in my life. No matter what, I promise.”

His voice echoed vividly in her ears.

“…”

The bigger problem was that, unlike before, she now knew how to deal with this sensation.

It was a quiet bathtub, no maid nor husband in sight.

He said he would be checking the water pipes while Lily was bathing.

Could this be done?

The secret longing prevailed more than the prickly remorse of conscience.

A little bit. Only once…

Lily’s hand slid down between her legs. “Ah…” Her waist trembled as she pushed her finger into the wet seam.

She rubbed. Hard. “…Ngh!”

Her neck was tingling. Her groan almost leaked out, so Lily hastily covered her mouth.

Now, she couldn’t stop.

As the rubbing speed increased, the water in the bathtub splashed and created circular ripples on the surface of the water.

“Ahnng, mhm…”

The noise started growing louder.

She felt dizzy.

Lily grabbed the railing with the hand that covered her mouth and supported her trembling body.

Her palm pressed on something, but she was completely unaware of it.

Suddenly, Lily was leaning against the wall of her bathroom, shaking her back.

The pale pink tips of her breasts stiffened in the cold air.

When she came above water, it felt ticklish.

Lily held her own flesh with one of her hands. “Mhm…!”

It was a light climax.

Lily exhaled, curling her toes in the afterglow of her pleasure.

“…”

I want to put it inside.

With one hand on her breast, the other slid inside.

“Hah…”

Her soft, smooth flesh swelled and tightened as if she had mistaken her own slender fingers for his.

This was what he felt.

He taught me. How to touch, how to put… Vlad, how did you move? A little deeper, heavier, hotter…

As she thought of him, heat simmered in her stomach.

Oh, just a little bit more. Not this… His…

“Vlad, ah…  !” Lily’s body twitched. Her body staggered forward, and the muscles in her buttocks stiffened.

Blood rushed to her face, and a sharper sense of pleasure rushed to the top of her head.

Lily placed a hand on the steps, supporting her trembling body as she relaxed slowly.

That’s…

Lily opened her eyes.

I’m thinking of him now…

“…Ah.”

Any remaining thoughts flew out of her mind.

He was there.

He had bright red eyes. He stood as if rooted on the bathroom floor, dressed in a white uniform shirt, black pants and bare feet.

It looked as if he had been struck by lightning.

Belatedly, Lily’s rationality returned. She blushed from head to toe as she realized what she was doing.

She hurriedly pulled her finger from under her.

“…Ah.”

It was a reflexive moan.

The water splashed. He gripped her cheeks and swallowed her lips.