In fact, after hearing that Leticia was preparing a trip as a birthday gift, Dietrian secretly made a few arrangements of his own.
Since Leticia gifted him a trip, he decided to gift her romantic memories in return.
“Undoubtedly, the menu that suits a romantic dinner between lovers best is wine and steak. The key to a perfect steak lies in fire control. To cook the steak medium-well, as Your Highness prefers, one must….”
To serve Leticia a perfect dinner, he learned from the royal chef how to prepare her favorite dishes.
“A romantic date must have music, of course. Let’s see, you said the trip is in two weeks, right? Two weeks is plenty of time to prepare a decent serenade. Trust me on this, Your Highness!”
He also invited a professor from the Academy to teach him how to play a lute serenade. Although it was the only music he could master in such a short time without any musical background, considering how disastrous the first lesson was, even that seemed miraculous.
“You’re asking me to suggest phrases for love letters? To Leticia? Thirty of them? Why on earth would you write thirty letters? Are you publishing a book with them?”
That wasn’t all. He prepared thirty letters to read to her, one each night for a month, and sought Julios’s help to ensure each letter was uniquely written.
Although Julios initially expressed reluctance, saying it wasn’t an easy task, Dietrian’s comment—”Think of it as writing to the person you’re currently in love with”—made Julios cough awkwardly before hurriedly grabbing paper and a pen. After a moment of contemplation, he quickly penned three letters.
“Here, this should do. Just tweak them a bit. Don’t ever forget that I helped you out this time.”
…The letters were entirely unhelpful. Though they were unsigned, anyone could tell they were written for Kailas. To protect his brother’s privacy, Dietrian decided to store those letters safely for the time being.
Nonetheless, Dietrian’s efforts continued. Whenever he found time, he pricked his fingers dozens of times while embroidering her initials on a handkerchief—although he wanted to embroider her face, his novice skills made that impossible. He even painted a portrait of Leticia with the children. The hardest part of creating the portrait wasn’t the drawing itself but keeping the children from spilling the secret—a fact he intended to keep from Leticia.
Thus, he planned various events to make the trip special. Despite his busy schedule, carving out time to prepare these gifts felt worth it when he imagined Leticia’s delighted expression.
…That was the kind of trip he had envisioned. A humble yet heartfelt date creating tranquil memories—something they hadn’t been able to do due to their royal duties.
What he hadn’t planned on was being unable to think straight at the thought of Leticia tied to the bed.
“Alright, choose one of these. It’s your main gift for today.”
Whether fortunately or unfortunately, Leticia pushed the ribbon away, saying she wouldn’t use it now. It seemed even she was uncomfortable with the idea of immediate use. Instead, she smiled brightly, offering something else.
Dietrian forced his gaze away from the ribbon and looked at the boxes Leticia held out. One was white, and the other was green, with the white box being twice the size of the green one. The boxes were neatly wrapped in smooth velvet, devoid of any decorations, which momentarily calmed his mind.
“Could it be jewelry?”
The green box was the size of something that might hold a necklace or earrings. Curious about the jewelry Leticia had prepared for him, Dietrian reached for the green box but hesitated.
Leticia was nervously biting her lip.
‘What’s this about?’
Just in case, Dietrian slightly altered the direction of his hand. As his fingers pointed to the white box, Leticia visibly relaxed.
However, when he reached for the green box again, she let out a short gasp.
Seeing her fidgety behavior, even though it was about selecting a gift, Dietrian eventually burst out laughing.
“Leticia. What’s going on?”
“Pardon?”
“Isn’t this something you prepared for me? What’s in the green box that has you so nervous? Is there some extraordinarily expensive jewel in there?”
Having his suspicions caught by Dietrian, Leticia lowered her head.
“It’s… kind of like a jewel….”
“What kind of jewel would cause this reaction? Are you sure it’s alright for me to take it?”
When Dietrian asked with a smile, Leticia’s face turned beet red.
“It is a gift meant for you. But I think… I’m not quite ready for it yet.”
Leticia sheepishly slid the white box toward him.
“I’ve practiced a bit with this one. Of course, you can pick the green box if you want. I haven’t practiced with it, but I’ve imagined it plenty… I think it’ll be fine.”
“Imagined?”
What kind of imagination is necessary when giving jewelry as a gift? Leticia kept her mouth tightly shut, like a clam, instead of answering. Dietrian tilted his head in confusion and finally chose the white box. He was curious about the green box, but he didn’t want to make Leticia uncomfortable because of his curiosity. To him, her feelings were the most important thing, no matter what anyone said.
“Here. I’ll go with the white box. Now, can I open it?”
“No!”
As soon as he made his choice, she now told him not to open the box. Leticia quickly snatched the box from his hand and placed a cushion in his empty hands instead.
“It needs a little preparation. Wait here and eat some cookies. It shouldn’t take too long since I practiced at the palace. Just a moment.”
With a face that almost looked determined, she went straight into the room. The door closed with a bang. Dietrian chuckled.
‘What could she have prepared that she would make such a face?’
Whatever it was, it would hardly surpass the value of Leticia’s lovely face he had just seen. He leaned back with a comfortable smile, but something on the table caught his eye.
‘…First, I should get rid of that tempting ribbon.’
The ribbon, which he had momentarily forgotten while admiring Leticia’s lovely appearance, suddenly asserted its presence, filling his mind with vivid and inappropriate fantasies. Dietrian picked up the ribbon, deliberately avoiding all the forbidden thoughts it inspired. Handling it as if it were a dangerous object, he quickly placed it in the box and set it aside.
‘Think good thoughts, think good thoughts.’
He felt a bit sorry for Leticia, who had put effort into preparing it, but the ribbon was currently too much for him to handle. Of course, someday he would use it… In fact, he wanted to use it tonight, or even right now…
Dietrian shook his head vigorously.
‘Pull yourself together.’
It was still broad daylight. Both Leticia and Dietrian had many plans for each other and couldn’t just lock themselves in the bedroom already. Later, he planned to grill steak for her and serenade her with the lute.
That was when it happened.
Click. The sound of a doorknob turning was followed by something white and fluffy peeking through the gap in the door. Finally, mustering up courage, Leticia hesitantly poked her head out. The rabbit ears bouncing on top of her head made Dietrian burst into laughter.
“Oh, was it rabbit ears? You even practiced wearing that?”
The perky white ears suited Leticia’s golden hair and her sweet demeanor perfectly. Leticia, her face flushed, nodded slightly. With a broad smile, Dietrian put down the cushion.
“It’s adorable. The best gift ever, Leticia. No, my lovely bunny. Come here. Let me hug you…?”
Dietrian couldn’t finish his sentence. He couldn’t take his eyes off Leticia as she emerged from the room. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t anticipated it. Frozen in the pose of reaching out his arms, Dietrian watched Leticia, who shyly asked as she approached him.
“Is it… weird?”
He should have said it wasn’t, but no words came out.
‘Is that… clothing?’
“It’s fine. Come here, Leticia.”
Since he couldn’t leave her standing there, he pulled her into his arms. Dietrian mechanically embraced Leticia as she leaned gently against him. This made him acutely aware of just how thin her outfit was. Although she was wearing clothes, her warm body heat was fully palpable.
‘This is… clothing?’
He had thought the rabbit ears were the main feature, but he was wrong. The main feature was something else entirely.
The centerpiece was the short negligee she was wearing, barely covering her thighs.
‘How is that even clothing?’
It was so sheer that it seemed like not even a tenth of the material used for a normal negligee had gone into making it. It was practically thinner than a dragonfly’s wings, so sheer that her skin was exposed underneath the mesh. Apart from her chest and certain private areas, everything else was transparent.
‘Was Leticia’s gift not a present but a form of torture?’
He couldn’t comprehend it. He had spent countless nights with Leticia and knew her body by heart. Yet today, his heart pounded as if he was holding her for the first time. The sight of her flushed, pinkish skin through the mesh only intensified the feeling.
“I read in a book that changing sleepwear can be an event, so I prepared this. Oh, and it said you can make diverse memories by wearing it outside the bedroom. If you’re okay with it, I’ll wear only this all day…”
“Who’s the author of that book?”
“What?”
“I need to find out who the author is…”
…And lock them up so they can only write books.
“No, I misspoke.”
Dietrian quickly pulled himself together.
It was by no means easy to maintain composure while holding his wife, dressed in rabbit ears and a sheer negligee, but he managed.
“Thank you, Leticia. It suits you—no, it’s incredibly lovely. This will be a special memory.”
“I’m glad. I was worried, but I’m happy you like it.”
Leticia smiled in relief. With her blushing face and twitching rabbit ears, she looked just like an angel. While Dietrian couldn’t take his eyes off her, Leticia added softly.
“It seems like this is a common event among ordinary couples or lovers. It would have been nice if we could have done it sometimes, but we were always in the palace…”
“It would’ve been difficult in the palace, indeed.”
The palace always had watchful eyes. Though the people of the Genos court genuinely adored the king and queen, there were limits. Walking around in something as sheer as dragonfly wings was unthinkable in such a public place.
Dietrian made a resolution.
‘Perhaps I should yield the throne to my brother after all.’
If Julios found out about this, he might have fled to the Holy Empire to avoid such a spectacle.
Leticia continued speaking.
“To be honest, I was a bit worried you might pick the other box, but I’m glad you didn’t. I’ve worn this a few times before.”
“Is that so? Really fortunate…”
Dietrian, who had been absently answering while plotting to hand over the throne to Julios, suddenly froze.
If today’s event involved wearing only what was in the box he had chosen, for the entire day… Wait a second.
‘There were two boxes.’
What on earth was in the other box?
‘Surely not…’
Dietrian seated Leticia beside him and quickly picked up the green box from the table. He stared intently at the small box, barely larger than his palm, before slowly lifting the lid.
His heart sank.
‘Oh, damn it.’
Inside was something Dietrian recognized all too well.
The emerald necklace he had gifted her not long ago.
The emerald, perfectly matching Leticia’s eye color and about the size of a baby’s palm, sparkled brilliantly. Next to it lay earrings that looked like miniature versions of the necklace.
‘So if I had chosen this box, she would’ve spent the whole day wearing only this necklace…’
Dietrian closed the box with trembling hands.
He had somehow maintained composure through ribbon-clad Leticia, rabbit-eared Leticia, and negligee-clad Leticia.
But Leticia wearing only a necklace…
“Wearing just the necklace seemed a bit much, didn’t it? It was recommended in the book, so I prepared it. It said wearing only jewelry could be an event. But, well… practicing it felt a bit awkward…”
Leticia misinterpreted his reaction and laughed nervously, tucking her hair behind her ear. Dietrian, who had been staring at the strand of hair brushing against the curve of her pale chest, calmly adjusted the box lid. He neatly stacked the scattered boxes on the table and placed the cushion in the empty space. After creating some order, he sat beside Leticia.
“Dietrian?”
Instead of answering, Dietrian gently laid her down. Cradling the back of her neck, he leaned in and kissed her softly. Leticia’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Mmm?”
Without a word, Dietrian continued the tender kisses. Though he had kissed her countless times before, her lips felt especially sweet today.
He made a decision.
Once they returned to the palace, he would secure the book Leticia had referenced. He vowed to devour every book written by its author.
Leticia’s eyes softened with a faint smile. She had been worried that the event might be too much, but seeing Dietrian satisfied filled her with immense joy. She quickly embraced his neck and began to respond.
“Hmm…”
A subtle sound spread throughout the room. Dietrian persistently explored Leticia’s lips while caressing her waist. Since her negligee was exceptionally thin, it felt as though he was touching her skin directly. The strange yet familiar sensation made her feel tight below. Resisting the urge to enter her immediately, he caressed her thigh. He knew very well how important foreplay was for a fulfilling encounter.
“Hng, hmm…”
As Dietrian’s hand reached the most intimate part between her legs, Leticia couldn’t suppress a moan.
“Uh, ah…”
Her eyes flushed red. Without any underwear beneath and with the unique texture of her negligee, the sensation of the fabric brushing against her sensitive area was both unfamiliar and stimulating. Dietrian stimulated her below while gripping her hair a little tighter.
“Dietrian…”
Being with her was always exhilarating from start to finish, but if he had to choose the most magical moment, it was undeniably now. When everyone revered her as a saint, and yet she began to unravel in his embrace. When she moaned his name as if drenched in the heat that bloomed from his touch. The sublime satisfaction filled his heart as fully as when he was entirely inside her.
Dietrian whispered softly.
“Leticia. Was there anything else?”
“Something, uh, else?”
“You said you studied. Aside from the ribbon, the bunny headband, the negligee, and the necklace, is there anything more?”
“Hnng…”
Leticia briefly bit her lip and shivered slightly. The persistent stimulation of her sensitive spot caused her to experience a brief climax.
Rather than pushing her further, Dietrian caressed her thighs and hips. Tonight, he wanted to take his time to unravel her more thoroughly than usual.
He knew how much effort she must have put into preparing this gift. He wanted to savor the joy she brought him for as long as possible.
“There was, uh, something.”
Leticia finally opened her mouth, her words halting due to the lingering throbbing between her legs.
“What is it?”
“Trying… a role reversal…”
“A role reversal?”
“Something different, from what we usually, ah, do.”
Leticia grabbed his shirt tightly as his hand suddenly ventured inside. She had forgotten she wasn’t wearing underwear and had let her guard down. She panted as she felt his thick fingers stimulate her wet inner walls. Watching her with satisfaction, Dietrian untied the ribbon of her negligee with his teeth.
“A different role, huh.”
As the front slowly unraveled, her delicate, fair chest—previously veiled beneath lace—was fully revealed. Gently licking her pink tips through the negligee, he whispered.
“What do you think would be good? Do you have something in mind?”
“Actually, hmm, not really that far…”
“What did the book say? Didn’t it give examples?”
“It did. But…”
For instance, master and slave. It described this as one of the most stimulating terms for lovers, but Leticia hesitated. She thought of how the Wings saw her as their master. Hearing her explanation, Dietrian chuckled softly.
“I see. That must have been quite a dilemma.”
He could imagine his wife agonizing over what the book recommended, feeling pressured to try roleplay but conflicted over the titles. He regretted not being able to see her adorable expressions at that moment.
“If ‘Master’ feels uncomfortable, how about ‘Saint’? After all, you are the saint of the Holy Empire, so it should feel familiar. I’ll be whatever you want—whether a priest or a noble. Oh. Should we choose a location too?”
“A location?”
“Let’s say it’s a temple. During a prayer session. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”
The idea of being intimate with a priest in the presence of the goddess was something she could never have imagined from merely reading the book’s examples. Overwhelmed by the depravity of the thought, Leticia’s face turned red.
“That’s… a bit. What if the goddess finds out?”
“The goddess probably wouldn’t concern herself with the playful games of a married couple on vacation…”
Leticia shook her head while burying her face in his chest. Even though they weren’t actually engaging in intimacy at the temple, her ears turned red, making her look adorable. Dietrian chuckled softly and embraced her shoulders.
“Understood. Then, I’ll simply call you Leticia tonight. Right now, your name sounds the most provocative to me. Leticia.”
The last utterance was clearly deliberate. The way her name tickled her ear caused Leticia to shiver slightly. Dietrian kissed her reddened eyes before standing up. He adjusted her position without removing her negligee.
“I’ll leave the clothes as they are, Leticia. You insisted on wearing them all day, after all.”
“…I-I will.”
Leticia let out a short gasp as she felt the hand that had filled her withdraw. Since the sofa was narrow, she also had to shift her body. As she leaned back slightly, supporting herself on the table—
*Whoosh.*
Suddenly, something flew through the air and wrapped around her slender wrist. Both of their gazes instantly turned to it.
“Huh?”
“…?”
The crimson ribbon from earlier—the one that had completely captivated Dietrian—had slipped out of the box and coiled twice around her wrist. Dietrian raised an eyebrow.
“I thought I was the only one who could tie and untie that ribbon. Was I wrong?”
“No, you’re right. But…”
Leticia’s cheeks turned a faint shade of pink.
“It’s originally designed for catching thieves. It reacts to heartbeats.”
“Thieves? And it responds to heartbeats? Wait, was this ribbon also commissioned from the former Tower Master?”
“Yes. Along with a lock. I couldn’t exactly explain the true purpose, so I said it was to safeguard important documents at home. The lock is for securing a safe, and the ribbon was designed to catch anyone suspicious near it.”
“Hmm. For something so functional, it’s awfully pretty.”
“I asked for it to be made beautifully. Since the true purpose wasn’t that…”
Contrary to Leticia’s concerns, the former Tower Master, eager to impress the first client he met in Genos, didn’t harbor any doubts about her request. In fact, rather than being suspicious, he became so enthusiastic about providing quality goods for his first sale that he even considered embedding jewels in the ribbon.
Had Leticia not stopped him, unable to bear the thought of gems adorning a ribbon meant for bedroom play, it would have undoubtedly been the most extravagant restraint ribbon in existence.
“So, the ribbon has a magical backstory. But how do you untie it?”
“Only you can. It’s enchanted so only one designated person can undo it.”
“Ah, I see.”
That explained it. Earlier, when he first examined the ribbon, his heart had been pounding wildly. He had wondered why it didn’t react at the time, but it turned out Leticia had designated him as the ribbon’s owner.
Dietrian grinned.
“Got it. Since it’s already in play, let’s use this gift now as well.”
While he generally preferred to save the best for later, he decided to use it tonight. Seeing Leticia flustered and disheveled was reason enough to seize the moment.
‘How should I tie this to maintain my composure?’
If he hadn’t left her negligee on… Just imagining the alternative made his breath catch. Even though the garment didn’t fully conceal her body, removing it entirely would mean tying the ribbon directly onto her bare skin. Surely, that would obliterate any remnants of his self-control.
And then, at that very moment—
“Huh?”
“…Hmm?”
As he looked for the opposite end of the ribbon to tie it, the remaining length, still inside the box, suddenly whipped through the air and coiled tightly around Dietrian’s wrist as well.
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