After meticulously fixing even the cravat on his sleeve, Teore pressed a brief kiss to Raha’s forehead and walked out.
Raha sat dazed for a moment, staring at the door Teore had exited, before collapsing right back down onto the bed.
Belatedly, his entire body began to ache as if he had been beaten with a hammer.
The soreness in his lower half was nothing new since he had felt it continuously during sex with Teore, but his inner thighs, calves, and lower back were incredibly painful.
Lying on the bed as if sinking into it, Raha blinked his eyes slowly, wondering if Teore had really only inserted his penis into his backside while he was asleep.
Reaching a hand back to tentatively touch his opening, his fingers came away with something thick and slick, feeling as though medicine had been applied.
Though it was a bit swollen, it didn’t feel torn, so he assumed nothing other than a penis had entered.
‘Well, a total sex novice like Teore wouldn’t even think of inserting anything else besides his penis in the first place.’
Feeling his eyelids grow increasingly heavy, Raha slowly drifted his gaze toward the door.
Since he was hungry, he decided he would fill his stomach as soon as the food arrived and go right back to sleep, letting his dropping eyelids close completely.
When he opened his eyes again, the sun was glaring brightly.
As if he had felt too guilty to wake him up from his deep sleep, the breakfast Teore had ordered at the crack of dawn sat untouched on a tray upon the nightstand.
Blinking his heavy, stiff eyes slowly, Raha turned his head to check how much longer he had slept. Seeing that it was still well before lunchtime, he felt a sense of relief.
Glancing instinctively out the window, he noticed the heavy snow had finally stopped. Realizing that was why the room was as bright as midday, he turned his head back to look at the food on the nightstand.
Since it wasn’t even 10:00 AM yet, he figured he could just eat the food that had been brought up. However, the moment he tried to slowly lift his body, a deep, pulling ache flared in his groin.
Despite Teore’s claim that he had only done it twice after Raha lost consciousness, he must have hammered inside him and ejaculated way more than twice.
Otherwise, there was no way he would feel this completely drained of strength.
“Ugh…”
An involuntary groan escaping him, he bit his lip tight and turned over onto his stomach.
He intended to push himself up using his momentum from that position, but the moment he flipped over, the door swung wide open without a single knock.
“High Priest…”
Duke Grey, who had called out to Raha as he stepped through the door, froze dead in his tracks, utterly stunned by the sight of Raha lying on his stomach stark naked, looking straight back at him.
“……!”
Upon hearing that Edrion wouldn’t be able to provide treatment for the time being, Grey had rushed to the Grand Duke’s castle to find Raha.
But because they had left him waiting at the entrance—just as they had done to Hayden—he had gotten irritated, asked a servant himself, and made his way directly to the bedroom.
He never expected to walk into a sight like this. It was his first time seeing Raha entirely unclad, and his body locked up so hard he could barely breathe.
“Duke Grey.”
Surprised by Grey’s sudden appearance, Raha slowly raised his upper body, dragging the blanket up to cover his midsection as he called out to him.
Leaning his shoulders against the headboard with a faint groan, as if even sitting up took considerable effort, Raha let his disheveled hair fall slightly against the edge of the bed.
The sight was indescribably sensual, causing Grey’s Grey eyes to waver turbulently.
“Is your body… unwell?”
Only then realizing that the door was wide open, Grey shut it behind him and walked over toward the bed.
Raha let out an “Ah,” and gave a small nod.
“My apologies, it is a bit difficult for me to get up right now…”
“It is fine. More importantly, are you capable of performing treatment?”
Before coming to Raha, Grey’s head had been throbbing painfully due to a near-rampage state.
Yet the moment he laid eyes on Raha, the splitting headache vanished, making him wonder if Raha had released his light attribute into the room again just like last time.
“Ah, I am a bit indisposed at the moment, but High Priest Edrion should—”
“I heard he was unable to treat Hayden yesterday.”
“Ah, right…”
Raha debated whether he should be the one to do it after all, but then, remembering that Edrion’s light attribute couldn’t have vanished completely, he spoke to Grey.
“Please wait a moment. He might be able to perform the treatment now.”
With that, Raha picked up a golden bell sitting on the nightstand and rang it a couple of times.
At the sound of the bell, the door opened and Fargo quickly stepped inside, bowing his head upon spotting Grey.
“Fargo, could you please call High Priest Edrion to the drawing room?”
“Yes, High Priest.”
“You are calling Edrion?”
Before Fargo could even leave after answering, Grey questioned Raha.
Pulling the blanket up a bit higher to ensure his body was covered, Raha gave a firm nod.
“Yes, since my physical condition is like this right now, I think it would be best for you to see Edrion first.”
He then asked if Grey could come back to him later if Edrion truly turned out to still be unable to treat him.
Grey stared intently at Raha for a long beat before giving a single nod and turning on his heel.
As he closed the door and walked out, the highly erotic image of Raha lying bare on his stomach refused to leave his mind, causing Grey’s throat to work heavily against his will.
A sudden, surging urge to touch the man flared up within him, leaving him completely bewildered by his own reaction.
At the same time, a sense of bitter resentment welled up because Raha hadn’t shown the slightest intention of holding his hand—both during the previous encounter and this one.
He felt a flash of anger, wondering if Raha intended to avoid touching him entirely from now on.
He couldn’t comprehend why Raha would willingly spread his legs for Teore, yet recoil at a simple holding of hands with him.
Those dark, spiraling thoughts ultimately brought Grey’s footsteps to a grinding halt halfway down the hall to the drawing room.
Knitting his brows tightly, he turned right back around.
As he retraced his steps toward Teore’s bedroom, a cold resolve settled over him: if Raha had no intention of reaching out to touch him, then he would simply be the one to initiate the touch himself.
