Chapter 26: Reunion (3)

“Oh, this is…”

A voice thick with fluster escaped Elkain’s lips. Even with the light at his back, it was clear his pale face had turned a deep shade of crimson. Claire’s mind went blank, but Elpian’s expression didn’t shift an inch. Instead, he pushed his fingers deeper, circling them as if to loosen the inner walls, and spoke coldly.

“Don’t interfere. Get out, Elkain.”

At the provocative tone, Elkain’s face flushed even further as he looked away, yet he did not leave.

“You can’t do this here.”

“And if I do? What are you going to do about it?”

Elpian clearly didn’t believe the man who couldn’t even look them straight in the eye was capable of anything. With a leisurely air, he kissed the frozen Claire’s cheek, providing a thick, deliberate stimulation with the fingers still inside him. Claire’s body jolted, a moan escaping his lips.

“Listen to the sounds he makes. He’s quite sensitive.”

“Ugh, no. This… stop…”

The intense sensation snapped Claire out of his panic. He let go of Elpian’s member, which he had been clutching, and tried to writhe away. However, as Elpian’s fingers pressed firmly against his most sensitive spot, his weak resistance proved futile.

Claire tried to cast a pleading look toward Elkain, but another unrestrained moan leaked out.

“Hng, ah…”

Hearing Claire’s lewd voice, Elkain’s face grew even redder. He had intended to stop them, but seeing Claire’s physical reaction, he seemed to hesitate, unsure of what to do. Amidst the panic of two people in the room, only Elpian wore a satisfied smile as he quickened the movement of his fingers.

Claire’s heightened body responded to the touch with intensifying arousal. He shook his head desperately, but he was powerless before Elpian, who already knew him inside and out. Accompanied by wet, lewd sounds, the thrusting fingers were no longer causing pain—only pleasure. As Elpian began to piston his own wet member against Claire’s, Claire lost the ability to think.

“No, no… stop…”

Despite the pushing hands and the pleading words, Elpian did not let go. He too seemed far too aroused to stop. For a while, the room was filled with wet friction, the creaking of the bed, and the sound of heavy breathing. Eventually, Claire’s eyes lost focus, and his entire body went rigid to the tips of his toes. The moment of release. Following the trembling Claire, Elpian spilled his own heat over Claire’s body.

The climax lasted as long as the pleasure was peak. Covered in his own seed, Elpian looked down with satisfaction at Claire’s dazed, flushed face. He then leaned back against the bed in a languid posture. With his strong arms, he pulled Claire’s limp, corpse-like body up to sit on his lap.

“Come back with me, Claire. You can no longer escape me.”

Elpian brushed a stray, sweat-soaked lock of hair from Claire’s face. He kissed the pale cheek softly, acting tender for a brief moment before glancing toward Elkain.

“Are you going to keep watching like that?”

Elkain, who had been staring, bit his lip. With an expression of pure triumph, Elpian kissed Claire’s defiled lips.

Now that the release was over, Claire’s head began to cool, but no thoughts on how to handle the situation came to mind. To have shown such a sight… it was all over. Dazed and yielding to Elpian’s tongue, Claire’s blue eyes looked toward Elkain in despair. When their gazes met, a single tear rolled down Claire’s cheek.

“He hates it.”

It was Claire’s tear that finally seemed to convince Elkain. However, his low murmur didn’t seem to reach Elpian’s ears. Elpian simply continued to kiss him, attempting to slide his fingers back between Claire’s legs as he sat on his lap. Realizing Elpian intended to continue, Claire pushed back in horror just as Elkain commanded in a firm tone:

“Let him go, Elpian.”

“What?”

“He is not going with you.”

Elkain stepped to the side of the bed and reached out for Claire. Elpian pulled Claire tighter into his embrace, glaring at Elkain.

“I’ll say it again. Let Claire go.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I told you I’m taking him.”

“And I said he isn’t going.”

The voice was calm, but Elkain’s expression was anything but. His violet eyes surged with a rage so intense they almost looked red.

“And what does it matter what you say?”

“I don’t care what you take from me. But no one—no one—takes anything away from me.”

An undeniable pressure radiated from Elkain. This was no longer the innocent face that was teased by subordinates or couldn’t look at a sexual act; it was the dignity of the King of the Caribbean who commanded thousands of pirates. Yet, instead of submitting to that frost-cold face, Elpian bared his teeth and growled.

“Take? This thing was mine from the start.”

“The moment he left of his own accord, he was no longer yours.”

As Elkain reached to pull Claire toward him, Elpian grabbed his arm. Elpian’s eyes flashed with a lethal glint. Claire was terrified by the violent aura that suggested a sword might be drawn at any second, but Elkain didn’t so much as twitch an eyebrow.

“You’ve learned nothing from the past.”

“What?”

“Are you going to force someone into a corner where they don’t want to be, in the exact same place, all over again?”

The words weren’t harsh, but surprisingly, the once-domineering Elpian faltered at this simple question. To Claire’s shock, Elpian murmured something that sounded almost like an excuse.

“This time is different. He really…”

“It isn’t different at all. Go back.”

Elpian looked ready to argue, but seeing Claire’s tear-stained face, he fell silent. Elkain lightly pried Elpian’s frozen arm away and helped Claire up.

Elpian didn’t look completely defeated. He seemed incredibly angry, but remarkably, instead of attacking Elkain, he adjusted his clothes and stepped back.

“I’ll leave for now, but I am not wrong. No matter what happens, I will come back for him.”

After making the declaration to Elkain in a voice like grinding teeth, Elpian looked down at Claire.

“Enjoy your freedom while it lasts.”

His green eyes were so full of obsession that Claire trembled slightly. Yet, despite the look, the sight of Elpian’s back as he walked past them reminded Claire of a wounded predator.

Elkain shook Claire’s shoulder as he sat there in a daze.

“Are you okay?”

Claire nodded awkwardly. After a moment of silence, Elkain spoke again.

“You probably don’t want to stay here. Shall we move to another room?”

When Claire nodded again, Elkain wrapped Claire’s body in a sheet. Instead of heading back to his own room, Elkain led Claire down the hallway.

Passing the stairs and turning a corner Claire hadn’t visited before, they reached a hallway lined with blue carpet. Elkain opened the fourth door.

“This is likely the only empty room left.”

With practiced movements, Elkain lit a lamp, laid Claire on the bed, and pulled the bell cord. A moment later, a maid knocked. Elkain stood in the way to keep Claire hidden while ordering hot water and towels.

After sending the maid away, Elkain personally wiped Claire’s cheeks with a wet towel as Claire kept his head lowered. Only then did Claire realize that he was still covered in the remnants of the act. When the face was clean and the sheet was pulled back, both of their faces turned bright red.

“I’ll do it.”

“Ah, right.”

Claire took the towel and wiped himself. He felt a wave of self-loathing while cleaning between his soaked legs, but he was more conscious of Elkain sitting beside him.

An awkward silence fell, but Elkain didn’t leave. He simply sat there with his head slightly turned. It was impossible to read what thoughts were passing through Elkain’s handsome profile.

What was certain to Claire was that it was all over. He felt he could never show his face to Elkain again. He was thinking it would be better to leave this place as soon as the sun rose when—

“Um, I suppose I’m a bit late in asking, but…”

As Claire set the towel down, Elkain spoke tentatively.

“You aren’t, by any chance, in a relationship with Elpian, are you?”

“Absolutely not.”

Startled by the tone that suggested Elkain was worried he had interrupted something, Claire denied it vehemently.

“Then, was the reason you wanted revenge on Elpian because of… this?”

“Yes.”

Silence returned to the room. Looking at the silent Elkain, Claire’s face grew hotter. His words and actions were completely contradictory.

Elkain had seen Claire reaching his peak in Elpian’s arms. This wasn’t the first time. Already twice, Claire had been taken by Elpian in a place where someone else was present, and despite hating it, he had reached his limit. The thought of himself speaking of revenge made him feel pathetic.

“You must despise me, right?”

Claire asked gloomily. His own answer was a resounding ‘yes.’

To speak of revenge while feeling pleasure at his touch—he felt an unbearable sense of self-loathing at the thought that he had been ‘trained’ to be unable to escape Elpian, just as the man had said. Claire let out his frustration in a sharp tone.

“Everyone already treats me like a pervert or a whore. It’s unfair, it makes me angry, it’s unbearable… I want to say it isn’t true, but…”

“…”

“I’m even angrier because I really am that kind of person.”

He hated himself even more than he hated Elpian. The bitter self-hatred intensified the more he spoke. Tears welled up in Claire’s eyes again.

“Huh? Calm down. I don’t think you need to be that discouraged.”

As Claire began to cry, Elkain became visibly flustered. He started to offer the towel from the basin, realized it was dirty, and instead took a very expensive-looking red decorative towel from the side table and pressed it to Claire’s eyes. While wiping the tears, he tried his best to comfort him.

“I’ve heard that Elpian is… well, very skilled in that area. I heard women can’t forget him and cling to him after just one night. So, it’s not really that you’re a pervert or strange…”

Elkain fell silent as he caught the increasingly cold expression on Claire’s face. After a moment, Elkain scratched his cheek and asked cautiously:

“What I just said wasn’t very helpful, was it?”

“No.”

“Sorry. Everyone tells me I should probably avoid giving comfort if possible. Oh! This is bad.”

Elkain looked at Claire’s face and wore a look of utter shock. He searched frantically before suddenly stripping off his thin robe. He soaked it in water and began rubbing it over Claire’s confused face.

“Ouch, that hurts.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry!”

Due to Elkain’s poorly regulated strength, the skin almost felt like it was being peeled off. Seeing the robe come away from his face stained bright red, Claire momentarily thought his skin had actually come off or his nose was bleeding. But he soon realized it was just the dye bleeding from the red decorative towel Elkain had used earlier.

In the mirror on the side table, he saw his own face looking like a bloody mess and Elkain looking utterly frantic. The charismatic man from before had vanished, replaced by someone with the expression of a child who had broken a plate and was looking at their mother. After staring blankly for a moment, Claire burst into a giggle.

“Ahahaha, this is… just stupid.”

“Sigh. I always do this. Sorry, sorry.”

It was hollow to be laughing in this state, but he felt too pathetic to even be depressed. He was still naked, with Elpian’s marks still on his body, yet the misery felt surreal, and his mind felt strangely at peace. As he wiped the laughing Claire’s face, Elkain asked gently:

“Are you feeling better now?”

“I don’t know. It’s like… I just don’t care about anything anymore.”

“It’s best to forget the things that don’t help to think about.”

Looking into the distance, Elkain added:

“I don’t know much about what’s between you two, but I’ll help you as much as I can.”

When Claire looked at him with a puzzled expression at the kind offer, Elkain smiled.

“You saved my life, so it’s only natural.”

“It was a serious wound, so it would have taken time to heal, but you probably wouldn’t have died even without me.”

“You are the best doctor I have ever seen, Claire.”

At Claire’s bashful response, Elkain shook his head and stroked Claire’s hair with his large hand. They had both had their lives saved, yet the attitudes of the brothers were worlds apart. A short while later, Elkain looked at the wall clock and spoke.

“It’s late, so get some sleep. You can rest tomorrow if you’re tired.”

Elkain stood up as if to leave. Claire felt that if he were left alone, the reality of the situation would come crashing down, and he found himself wishing Elkain wouldn’t go. But he couldn’t bring himself to say it for fear of being a nuisance.

Unexpectedly, Elkain looked at Claire’s face and then flopped down on the bed.

“Ah, my robe is dirty anyway, I’ll just sleep here.”

Claire wondered if the perceptive man had read his desire for him to stay. For a moment, he looked down at Elkain’s beautiful face. Despite the many horrible things that had happened since being caught by pirates, he felt he had done well to come to this man.

“Let’s sleep, Claire. Lie down.”

Nodding and about to turn off the lamp, Claire’s eyes were drawn to a portrait hanging near the door.

It was a portrait of a very beautiful woman in an ornate dress.

Flowing platinum hair, elegant features, and a commanding gaze. The lovely appearance with jewel-like eyes felt strangely familiar. When Claire turned to look at Elkain, he was also looking at the portrait.

“Is that the Marchioness of Marchand?”

“Yes.”

“And she is your…?”

Elkain nodded lightly.

“Yes. She is my mother.”

Claire tilted his head. Why was she the Marchioness of Marchand and not a Capfrancis?

However, feeling it would be rude to ask, Claire asked a different question instead.

“Is it because it is your mother’s mansion… that you don’t fight each other here?”

“Who knows.”

Elkain shook his head and fell silent. His vague answer and attitude suggested he didn’t want to say more, so Claire turned off the lamp and lay down quietly beside him.

“She is my mother, but she is not Elpian’s.”

A low whisper drifted through the darkness. Feeling a sense of understanding, Claire quietly closed his eyes.

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