“Your Majesty, can I come in?”

“......”

Ariel’s voice echoed outside the door. The gradually scorching atmosphere in the room was like it had run straight into a sudden, violent typhoon—cooling down in an instant.

Muen’s dirty hand had clearly already slid onto Her Majesty the Empress’s mysterious garden. He was just one step away from breaking through that heavily guarded final forbidden zone and going deeper to feel the humid warmth of the tropical garden, but he still had to temporarily halt his offensive.

That damned Ariel!

Muen’s cheek twitched, and he couldn’t help cursing a few times in his heart.

How could it be this coincidental?

How was it always this coincidental?

Could it be that Ariel’s Child-of-Destiny BUFF was bugged to this extent, to the point that even this kind of thing would set off her premonition?

No, if she really had a premonition, she would’ve already drawn the Skyfire greatsword and, under the pretext of “protecting the sovereign,” kicked the door down and barged in. There was no way she’d still be this excited, humming a little tune while knocking.

“Your Majesty?” It seemed she hadn’t gotten an answer for a long time. Ariel’s voice already carried a trace of confusion.

Muen’s mouth sank. He lowered his voice and said to Celicia.

“I need to hide.”

“Hide? Why would you hide?”

Celicia’s willow brows knit, faint displeasure showing, though it wasn’t clear who that displeasure was aimed at.

“Anyway, it feels like it’ll be a hassle if we get caught like this. Better to hide.”

Muen said it quickly. He didn’t have time to explain much. He looked left and right and realized Celicia had never liked decoration, so this spacious student council office didn’t have any place to hide at all.

In the end, his gaze slowly dropped, landing beneath Celicia’s body—

“Wait. You’re not going to—”

“An emergency is an emergency. Make do.”

With one flip, Muen vaulted over the desk and fully climbed onto Celicia, then slid down along her lovely body like an eel. In one smooth motion he parted her long legs in black stockings, lifted her already slightly messy long skirt, and drilled into the narrow space beneath the desk.

At that moment, Muen’s control over his physical body was brought out to the fullest. Every muscle in his body coordinated as one. The movement was seamless—he didn’t even make the faintest rustle of clothes rubbing.

“Pretty practiced, aren’t you.”

Celicia’s beautiful eyes narrowed as she viciously kicked Muen under the desk.

Muen hurriedly grabbed Celicia’s calf to keep the movement from being too loud and drawing Ariel’s attention, and he gently kneaded her firm calf muscle as an apology.

“Hmph.” 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Celicia let out her habitual cold snort. Only then did she lift her head again. After quickly tidying her clothes and makeup, she spread a layer of icy chill over both hands and rubbed her cheeks—which were slightly warm from arousal—until she returned them to their usual cool composure.

But with a man hidden under her skirt, skin pressed to skin, it still made her—whose desire hadn’t yet calmed after that teasing—ripples flicker faintly in her eyes.

“Come in.”

Celicia took a deep breath and answered with no emotional fluctuation.

“So you are in there? Great.”

The door was pushed open, and Ariel hopped all the way ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) into the room.

She didn’t have the respectful restraint an ordinary person would have when facing the emperor of an empire. After all, she never liked the noble set of rules, and as an illegitimate daughter she’d often been mocked for having no manners. Plus, with the help she’d given Celicia before, she already believed her relationship with Celicia had taken a solid step forward, so her movements were extremely casual—like she was meeting a friend.

But Ariel, looking a bit strange, immediately scanned the room the moment she entered, as if searching for something. Only after she found nothing abnormal in the entire room did she let out a breath of relief.

Weird. Why am I checking the room first? I’m not here to catch someone cheating.

Ariel scratched her head. Her attention returned to the front, and her gaze finally landed on Celicia’s flawless pretty face.

Hm?

Ariel’s eyes immediately lit up.

Because she discovered that although Celicia still wore that same cool expression Ariel was familiar with, the ice in her eyes had clearly melted a lot, looking much gentler—there was even a faint, intoxicating allure.

Is she... happy because she’s seeing me?

Ariel immediately puffed out her chest and lifted her head, then asked a little bashfully,

“Sorry, Your Majesty, were you busy? I-I’m not... not interrupting you, am I?”

“Not busy. Interrupting... doesn’t really count.”

Celicia casually set down the book she had just picked up again, her tone extremely calm. “I was just too absorbed in reading earlier, so I didn’t notice you outside for a moment.”

“I see.”

Ariel patted her open, unguarded chest and joked,

“I thought I’d interrupted Your Majesty’s work. Scared me to death, haha...”

“Since I came to the academy, of course I’m setting work aside for now.”

Celicia followed with a cool smile, laced her fingers together, and asked, “Why did you come to see me, Ariel? Is there something you need?”

“Ahem, ahem. Well... it’s not really anything big.”

Ariel put on a show, clenched a fist, coughed a couple times, and said, “I heard tomorrow some people from the kingdom are coming to challenge us—oh, right, not challenge, it’s that so-called exchange?”

“That is indeed the case.”

Celicia nodded. “And at this time, I think the academy has already made it public. After all, even if the kingdom is coming aggressively, we can’t be so frightened that we don’t even prepare an audience in advance.”

“Ah, that... ahem, of course I know that. I just... I just didn’t expect Your Majesty would come to watch too.”

“This matter looks like it’s merely an exchange among the younger generation, but in truth it hides a lot of clashes between the empire and the kingdom. Naturally, I have to come and watch personally.”

“Your Majesty really has it hard.”

“It’s not hard. It’s simply my duty.”

Celicia shifted her posture, propping her smooth, clean chin on her interlaced fingers, then asked,

“So? Ariel, you came because of this matter?”

“Well...”

Ariel, who had been thinking about adding a few more setup lines, blinked, then suddenly noticed that a few traces of rosy red were actually seeping through Celicia’s cold expression again. Even she could tell now that Celicia’s emotions really were running far hotter and higher than usual, and Ariel’s heart immediately heated up. She tossed all the prepared lines she’d planned to use to draw closer out the window.

Too much is as bad as too little. This was the best chance!

So Ariel immediately took a step forward, her expression serious, and said solemnly,

“Your Majesty doesn’t need to worry. I’ll help you take care of those troubles!”

“Is that so?”

Celicia froze for a moment, then lightly brushed her hair and smiled—not light, not heavy.

“Thank you.”

“No need to thank me!”

Boundless ambition surged in Ariel’s chest, and she declared boldly, “As long as it’s some bastard trying to bully Your Majesty, no matter which side they come from, I’ll help you deal with all of them—without leaving a single one! Their schemes won’t have the slightest chance of succeeding!”

“Bastards who want to bully me?”

Celicia glanced downward without leaving a trace.

“Ariel, I’m very happy you have that intention. I’ll look forward to your performance tomorrow.”

“I definitely won’t disappoint you!”

“Then go back and rest. Sleep early. It’s not that late, and at a moment like this, it’s best to conserve your energy.”

Celicia smoothly steered the topic that way, because she had someone stuffed under her and couldn’t talk for long.

“Understood!”

Ariel’s heart warmed. She thought to herself that her “carving a mark” tactic really was effective. With Celicia’s icy personality, how could she care about other people so easily?

She even told her to sleep early. What emperor would say something like that to a subordinate? Celicia was clearly treating her as a friend who would face difficulties with her together... or an even deeper relationship, that’s why she was caring about her so warmly!

This was all because she had volunteered proactively and left a deep mark in Celicia’s heart!

“Then I’ll be going.”

Ariel said her excited goodbye. “Goodbye, Your Majesty!”

“Mm. See you tomorrow.”

After another “gentle” sendoff, Ariel was satisfied and prepared to leave.

And just as she opened the door and stepped out—

“Mmm~”

An extremely faint, yet oddly meaningful little hum suddenly echoed through the room.

“Huh?”

Ariel turned her head back, looking at Celicia in confusion.

“I think I heard some strange sound?”

“Did you?”

Celicia said with a calm face,

“I didn’t hear anything. You must’ve misheard.”

“Is that so?”

Ariel scratched her head again, looking around.

Weird, she clearly heard...

“......”

Seizing the moment Ariel’s attention drifted away, Celicia hurriedly slammed her heel down hard on Muen.

Muen looked innocent as he took the kick. He wasn’t so horny that he’d do something at a time like this—he’d just seen how easily Ariel got sent away, so he’d subconsciously let out a breath of relief.

Who would’ve thought Celicia would react that strongly just from his breath blowing like that.

Muen grabbed Celicia’s ankle—the one she had used to kick him. Feeling the tension in her smooth calf, he suddenly... swallowed.

To be honest, that sudden soft little moan just now—Celicia, so out of character, like a startled little animal... was pretty cute.

So was there a way to make her a little cuter?

Muen suddenly lifted his head and looked up.

Beneath the skirt, between her legs, the light was dim.

But Celicia wasn’t wearing the knee-high stockings she usually wore. She was wearing black pantyhose!

Smooth black fabric covered her jade feet, calves, thighs... all the way up to that mysterious place.

Fine black threads veiled everything, and deeper in, they outlined an even more profound darkness. So even though he was already deep in the heart of the territory, when Muen craned his head to look, he found it was still so mysterious—full of a different kind of temptation.

“Gulp...”

Muen swallowed again, heat rising in his chest.

This wasn’t because he lacked self-control, but because there weren’t many chances to “bully” Celicia like this.

And anyway... there was no way Ariel would discover him. No matter how bold she was, she wouldn’t dare lift an empress’s skirt, right? Then this was absolutely safe holy ground!

That’s right, holy ground...

Heh heh.

Muen gave a wicked grin, quickly switching gears.

And his palm began to get restless, sliding upward along Celicia’s ankle.

My dear Celicia—As the dignified Empress of the Empire... you also wouldn’t want Ariel, an outsider, to discover that you’ve got a man hidden under your skirt, right!