{Minutes Earlier}

The Spirit mages all around had a look of surprise on their faces as they watched the Ice Empress walk hand in hand with a stranger.

She always had this unapproachable aura around her, and considering what happened between her and the king just a few days prior, they thought she was completely uninterested in the opposite gender.

But the scene before them told a completely different story.

Neither of the two being observed, they did not care about the eyes on them.

Adrian just had a smile on his face as he was being led by Renelle towards her own tent and they soon reached it.

Compared to the other tents scattered around the camp, Renelle’s was noticeably larger.

Not because she demanded special treatment, but because the spirit mages here demanded that their Saviors live in tents visibly different from the rest.

Since they refused to stay in the castle.

The interior was surprisingly simple.

A bed rested at the far end along with a desk covered in maps and documents.

There were also several monster cores piled neatly in one corner, likely gathered from the expeditions outside the walls.

The air inside was cold but Adrian didn’t mind.

The moment the tent flap closed behind them, Renelle let go of his hand, much to his disappointment, and walked forward.

Crystal, the three-tailed fox that seemed to have developed an extra tail, suddenly revealed itself.

Without hesitation, it suddenly hopped towards Adrian who quickly caught it.

He let out a chuckle as the white fox got comfortable in his arms before he said,

"Did you miss me?"

"Kyuu."

Crystal immediately buried its head against his chest in response, causing Adrian’s smile to widen slightly.

"I see. My apologies for worrying you too."

From the side, Renelle quietly watched the scene and her icy blue eyes softened slightly as she looked at the fox happily curling up in Adrian’s arms.

Even Crystal had clearly been affected by his disappearance for the past month.

Adrian gently scratched beneath the fox’s chin before finally looking back toward Renelle.

"My lady appears to have been taking good care of Crystal."

"Of course I did," she answered immediately, almost sounding offended by the implication otherwise.

Adrian nodded seriously.

"As expected of my lady."

For some reason, that simple praise made her ears turn slightly red.

To avoid looking at him directly, Renelle walked toward the desk and began removing the gloves from her hands.

Adrian, meanwhile, took a step forward, only for the floor beneath him to suddenly freeze over.

His footing immediately slipped.

Still holding Crystal, the butler tilted slightly before falling backward directly onto the bed behind him.

"...?"

Adrian blinked once in confusion..... That was a lie, he had seen the ice forming beneath his foot in clear detail.

And yet, he still stepped on it, curious about what his lady was planning.

He looked toward Renelle and he noticed that she was staring at him calmly. The faint frost around her feet slowly disappeared.

Crystal immediately jumped away with an offended "kyuu!" before curling up near the pillow instead.

"My lady?"

Adrian let out a question but before he could say anything more, Renelle suddenly approached and climbed over him, both hands by the side of his head as she looked directly into his eyes.

"This is your punishment for leaving my side for so long."

Well, it definitely didn’t feel like one, hell it felt like a reward instead, one that Adrian would gladly welcome.

He.... Was going to regret that line of thought really soon.

At this distance, Adrian could clearly see the faint blush spread across her cheeks.

Renelle quietly observed him for a few seconds before asking,

"Did you enjoy disappearing?"

"No, my lady."

"Did you enjoy making me search an entire dungeon for you?"

"Not particularly."

"Did you enjoy ignoring my calls through the bracelet?"

"I was unconscious for most of it."

"That is not an excuse."

"I see."

Renelle narrowed her eyes slightly at how obediently he accepted the scolding.

Instead of trying to tease her, he simply lay there beneath her, calmly looking at her with that annoyingly devoted expression of his.

Which somehow made it harder for her to stay upset.

So naturally, she decided to make things harder for him instead.

"You know," Renelle muttered softly, lowering herself slightly closer, "I was worried."

Adrian’s grey eyes softened immediately.

"My apologies, my lady."

"And then," she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, "I spent an entire month listening to people praise another man every single day."

"Another man?" Adrian’s expression soon changed.

Renelle lay on his chest with a smile on her face as she looked at his face and nodded, "Hmm, the king."

"For some reason," she continued, "everyone here seems convinced I should admire him."

Adrian’s frown got a bit darker, but he said nothing and just quietly continued listening to her.

Renelle paused and looked up at his face before asking, "Does that make my Butler jealous?"

"Only if my lady truly does admire this man."

"...."

This, was not working.

And she couldn’t lie that she admired the damn king either, after all, the bracelets would just let her real thoughts be known.

So, she switched her strategy.

She crawled up, her face coming directly above his again and her blue eyes locked with his grey ones.

"You truly are hard to punish, my dear butler," Renelle said looking directly into Adrian’s eyes.

He said nothing in response, instead, he just continued looking at her face, which was, once again, before him.

The few hours they had been apart, felt like years to him, so he wondered how she must’ve felt given that it was over a month for her.

Unconsciously, he lifted a hand and moved a strand of hair behind her ear, giving him a clearer look at her face.

Renelle’s cheeks immediately turned red at his action, but she wasn’t going to back away from the gesture.

Hell, she would’ve preferred if he did more , unfortunately, Adrian was satisfied with just looking at her face before him.

Or at least that’s what it seemed like.

But if she peeked into his mind right now, she’d realize that he was barely keeping himself sane right now, her strawberry scent filled his senses.

And to make things worse for him, Renelle seemed to have suddenly gotten an idea, proven by the grin on her face.

Slowly, she lowered her face towards towards and Adrian immediately got an idea of what she wanted to do.

It was a bit surprising that she was making such a bold move, but he gladly welcomed it.

But what he expected was not exactly what happened.

Instead of a kiss on his lips, Renelle planted one on his cheek and then pulled back to look at his reaction.

Seeing confusion on her butler’s face, she bent down again this time moving closer to his lips, but not quite.

Adrian finally realized why this was a punishment.

Although it seemed at first like his lady was pampering him, the longer it went on, the more tormented it became.

Renelle also realized this, but instead of stopping, her grin just got wider and the kisses were soon followed by bites.

Her teasing tactic truly was working him again.

The only problem with this tactic was the fact that it was a double-edged sword.

The more kisses and light bites she planted on him, the more inviting his lips looked, and she couldn’t help but wonder how they tasted.

The atmosphere was so charged that if anyone else walked in right now, they’d immediately feel awkward even without seeing the actions of the two.

The tent had gone so quiet that it made even Crystal peek over the pillow, tail twitching once before it wisely buried itself again.

Uninterested in what the two were currently doing.

"This is a dangerous game, my lady," Adrian muttered as he looked at her.

"Is it?" Renelle answered, "Pray tell, what are the consequences?"

Instead of an answer, the butler suddenly flipped her around, now lying above her.

"It’s already hard enough to control myself around you my lady," he said, his voice sounding a bit hoarser than intended.

Renelle quickly recovered from the sudden change in positions as she wrapped her hand around his neck.

"What if I want my dear butler to let go of that control just this once?" She muttered, causing his eyes to immediately go wide.

Truthfully, Renelle was sure that she was just caught in the heat of the moment, and yet, she didn’t regret saying that one bit.

One month away from him had shown her exactly how much she was also obsessed with him.

It was almost as much as he was with her, and it had been pretty easy to accept that obsession.

Adrian looked into her eyes for a while before lowering his head and the next second, their lips connected.

They Kissed.