TPOP 76

Chapter 76

***

He wanted Diana, her eyes unfurled, begging him for pleasure.

He wanted her standing in the middle of the river, covered in ripples, creating currents, and he wanted her who, though unable to look him straight in the eye, clearly stated her demands.

He wanted Diana, alive and breathing, more intensely than anything he had ever possessed.

Just as he was, he wanted to see Diana wanting him.

Felix brought his hand to the woman pinned down beneath him. The moment he pushed aside the obstructing fabric, the warm flesh his fingers touched flinched and closed. As he impatiently rolled her clitoris and teased the folds of her pussy, wetness quickly seeped from her opening.

"......!"

Diana's resistance visibly lessened at the shallow jolts of pleasure. Instead of writhing and screaming, she teasingly twitched her hips.

Felix immediately licked the love juice coating his index and middle fingers. It tasted exactly the same sweetness as that day. A savage desire to lick and devour Diana's entire body surged within him.

Lifting the thick nightgown that warmly covered her body revealed her slender, bare legs. Her underwear was designed to fall away completely once the string wrapped around her hips was untied. Without hesitation, he pulled the string, exposing her secret spring without concealment.

Felix gripped her thighs and bent her upper body forward. He felt no self-pity now. Like a parched beast, he pressed his lips to the entrance of her wetness.

The woman, hiding her lewd nature, loved it when he licked her below. Even if she whined and protested, she would eventually writhe in climax, spurting clear secretions.

"Ugh! Ah, hmm...!"

Felix probed the beautifully spread lips back and forth before snapping his teeth over it and sucking. Diana shook her thighs wildly against the unbearable tickling sensation. Ignoring her, he sucked hard on the clit, a bundle of concentrated nerves.

It felt like rolling a small, unmelting candy on his tongue. A vulgar ecstasy paralyzed her thought circuits. Had she not known from the start, it might have been different, but the moment she realized its addictiveness, it was already too late to turn back. So, no matter what, it could only lead to the conclusion that this woman was his.

Diana swept her hand downward, brushing Felix's hair. Unable to bring herself to grab the Crown Prince's hair, Diana struggled to push his forehead away. Her trembling clit heralded her impending climax.

"Ah, ah, hmm, not there, no, ugh...!"

She pushed with all her might, but he didn't budge an inch. The man was a wall taller than Mount Tai. His hot, thick tongue slithered like a snake over her slit, his sharp nose rubbing against her bundle of nerves. As she clenched her pussy with all her might, Felix bit down hard on the tender flesh inside her thigh.

"Ah!"

"Say 'no' one more time. There's nothing you need to hide from me."

"It hurts, hmm, it hurts..."

"Relax. Before I penetrate your back passage."

The man wanted to witness every shameful moment of hers. Everything, even her howling like a beast surrendered to pleasure, not a human.

In this moment of brutal lust, she had no idea how to protect herself.

Her drained pussy clenched spasmodically around the intruder. The pressure sucking up the juices flowing deep from her inner walls felt maddening.

Diana felt the wave she had already experienced once before. It was the wave of ecstasy that would snatch her up, push her toward the clouds, then mercilessly hurl her back into the depths.

Not even the elementals taught how to resist a tidal wave.

"Ah...!"

The moment Diana let out a cry mixed with moans, her body, reaching its peak, sent a signal. Her back arched wide, her toes curled tightly. Something gushed out between her legs.

"Huh, hmm."

Felix pressed his lips to the tiny hole that finally released the water and frantically quenched his thirst. The gushing fluid, like a fountain, showed no sign of stopping and continued for a long while. Diana swayed weakly, absorbing every last tremor of the excitement he stirred within her.

Even after Felix reluctantly lifted his head, it took a long moment before the true Diana finally lowered her shoulders slightly. Her skin was flushed bright red from beneath her eyes to the nape of her neck. Tears streamed down the corners of her eyes, soaking the pillowcase.

Having exhausted every ounce of strength to resist, she began to hiccup.

"Ugh, hmm, hic."

"......"

"Haa... hic. Hic."

A chill kept creeping over her body. The days spent at the hunting lodge, filled with the scent of plants, where she had been as inseparable from him as one, felt as distant as a memory from a past life.

Looking back, the days spent at the lodge had been the most peaceful. Comparing them was pointless, but at least the man back then had been far more affectionate than he was now, and he had laughed quite often.

Perhaps she even liked that lazy laugh that brushed past her ear.

She didn't dislike those lips that immediately took water and swallowed it when her mouth grew dry. Even though it was obvious she was presumptuously shifting her body, seeking warmth, she was grateful for the silence that said nothing.

That's how it was.

But now, it truly meant nothing.

"If you want to die so badly, satisfy me first, Diana."

Diana writhed alone in her climax, but Felix gave her not a shred of relief. She curled up in her own darkness, waiting for the man to pierce and shake her.

After he came, then after that…

‘How will he kill me?’

He didn’t hesitate to dirty his own hands. Would he use a knife her? If he sent her to the gallows, she might escape during transport, but the odds of failure far outweighed those of success.

So everything was left to fate. She felt indifferent to whichever way it went.

I did my best.

Diana was truly exhausted now. Life was sickeningly exhausting. She wished she could just fall asleep and never wake up again.

If she ever opened her eyes again, she hoped it would be in her hometown. If only she could wake up by that beautiful spring where she used to count down the days until her parents visited once a month. If only she could swim in that clear water where the riverbed was visible, losing track of time…

But the next moment, Felix pulled her into his arms.

"Smile."

An inexplicable command followed. Diana felt his voice sounded slightly off.

"Don't cry, smile, Diana."

His voice trembled as he pronounced her name, his teeth clenched.

Had she been crying?

"...I won't kill you."

Calloused fingers brushed Diana's cheek. Once wasn't enough. The hand that brushed both cheeks two or three times withdrew, and rough lips wiped away the moisture pooled at her lashes and the corners of her eyes.

The crumpled hem of her nightgown covered Diana's ankles again. An iron body, intolerant of even a hint of chill, enveloped her. It was less an embrace than a binding pressure.

Before she could find relief in the absence of further action, consciousness faded. Pleasure beyond measure pulled her into the swamp of unconsciousness.

"Above all else, Diana, you must not lose yourself. A person cannot live if they lose themselves."

'Father.'

Diana sank helplessly into the man's embrace, recalling the face she longed for.

Father, please tell me.

How to protect myself, even in the moment of drowning.

***

"Your Highness."

Lenok, the head steward of the secondary palace, bowed deeply to greet his master.

It had been a long time since the Crown Prince had set foot in the secondary palace. Tension flowed among the servants, who had briefly enjoyed peace after moving their residence to the main palace. They too were aware of the recent incident that had erupted there.

Felix headed straight for the third floor without a word.

On the third floor of the secondary palace, at the end of the left corridor, lay the largest space in the palace: the painting studio.

Originally, the secondary palace was built by the Empress for her son during her lifetime. The third-floor studio housed every single painting he had created, from the day he first held a brush at age three to the present.

Opening the studio door revealed walls densely covered with intricate portraits. Cabinets on either side held painting supplies arranged in perfect order, and equipment to regulate lighting and humidity for optimal preservation was fully installed. This area, displaying paintings from age three to fifteen, marked the studio's entrance.

Felix crossed the space without hesitation.

The paintings created after age fifteen were beyond this point. This was where it truly began.

Only a select few possessed the key to the secret gallery. However, keeping this place hidden was entirely Duke Christen’s command; Felix himself had never felt the need to conceal this space.

The door creaked open stiffly.

The painting of Diana, made the day he retrieved her from Eisen's prison, hung at the very end.

Dragged across the floor while the paint was still wet, the left side of the painting—the bed's headboard and part of the woman's head—was smudged. Yet, the smear blended deftly into the painting, as if it were part of the work itself, given its characteristic thick, lumpy paint and rough brushstrokes.

The painting, done in a coloring technique Felix disliked, felt unfamiliar, almost as if it weren't his own. He rummaged through the box where he kept his sketches and soon found one he'd drawn at the hunting lodge's window.

Diana, her eyes softened by the lingering warmth of pleasure, looked up at him from within the painting.

"Yes, this is it."

It had definitely been like this. Where on earth had it gone?