The light streams into the room, casting a warm glow across the walls and floor. You wake up groggily with another sore back, but this time, the person you adore is there by your side. A soft smile makes its way to your face, stretching out your hand to place it on top of his muscular chest, eyes glancing at the book he is reading.

"Shall we take a bath?" You ask hoarsely, noting how focus he is. "Wait, I'm going to heat up the water."

But before you could leave, the King stop you by pulling you back to the bed. He rolls on top of you after throwing the book to the side, his light-blue eyes hover above you, there's a hint of frustration lingering inside.

"How many times must I remind you?" He frowns. "You're no longer a royal servant. You're mine so you don't need to do all of that."

"But who else in this palace that takes care of you better than I do?"

"Still, that's not your responsibility," he brings you to his embrace, burying his face in the crook of your neck. "Your job here to stay by my side."

"I understand, Sol, but at least let me call for a servant to serve you." You patted his head helplessly.

"No need."

As if on cue, a soft knock enter your hearing and a group of royal servants enter the chamber. Two of them are bringing breakfast on a tray while the other two are quick to prepare the essentials for a luxurious bath—no doubt for both of you. The remaining of the royal servants are heading to the wardrobe to prepare The King's and your outfits for the day.

Solren releases you from his embrace once they presented the tray to him, reaching out to take a purple fruit you don't quite recognize, mainly because you are from a lower-class and fruits are a luxury to you, and he clumsily attempted to peel the skin despite the royal servants making a ruckus to take care of it for him.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't! You will dirty your fingers like that!"

"Yes, leave it to us to attend to you, Your Majesty."

Yet the man ignores their fussing and finally succeeds in peeling the skin, revealing the sweet fruit inside. He brings it to your lips, inviting you to have a taste.

You chuckle, liking how attentive he is towards you, yet believe it or not, after this man stripped you of your position from being his royal servant, there was actually a growing resentment inside you for him. You disliked the fact that he had use his position to make you his, you disliked how trapped he made you felt, but after staying by his side, you realize how narrow his world is.

You admitted that you don't really know much about anything considering your lack of recources for knowledge, but after becoming his woman, such things come easily to you and you started to learn more.

You learn that your King had been alive for more than a century. You learn that he is cursed and is unable to die easily. You learn that for some reason you had yet to pry, he is to be trapped and protected inside the inner palace, never to leave, never to wield anything that could harm him. You also learn that the crown princess and her twin weren't conceived in a way one would expect. The King can't create a life in a traditional way, hence, the crown princess and her twin are actually a homunculus—a collaborative creation created by the King and the mages, and once their lifespan run out, a new homunculus will replace them, but the King will remain eternal.

A life like that is too miserable.

That's why you couldn't really hate Solren even if you want to, and pair with the way he treats you, cherishes you, adores you, you would be a fool to bear such a petty grudge towards him.

Besides, your goal after being chosen as the royal servant was to accumulate wealth to live an easy life during your retirement days since you do not have any family nor relatives to take care of you, and though you're no longer a royal servant, your goal did not change, you're still able to accumulate wealth just by staying by His Majesty's side, and you also gain another important thing; a partner that would go through thick and thin with you.

Hence, just as much as he makes you happy, you want him to be happy too, and for people of Ilusium, the peak of happiness is when one would meet their elysian.

That's why you don't agree when he told you he's happy by your side—it’s like a bird born in a cage, content with the space it has, never knowing that the entire sky could have been its own.

"You don't like it?" He asks after seeing that you have no desire to eat the fruit he peeled.

You shake your head, leaning your head and opening your mouth to let him feed you, and you deliberately bite his fingers and give them a soft lick. His eyes widen in surprised and you know that you have successfully arouse him.

But he didn't act on his desire, mainly because they were others inside, and you secretly praise his self-control.

"The breakfast can wait, right now, I just want to take a bath with my beloved," he announces to the royal servants. "So you can leave until after we finish our bath."

—or maybe not.

You just know that it wouldn't end with just a bath.

✾

Surprisingly, it did not go like how you imagine it to go. You had expected that you would be riding his rod by now, but Solren doesn't seem to want to do it. You tilted your head, back pressing against his chest as you stare at him without a blink. Sure, he had inserted his fingers, but that's just to help you clean up his essence since his fingers are longer than yours, then just as you were ready to take the next step, nothing happen.

—or to put it in another words, nothing lewd happen.

"Why the stare?" He asks, pressing a soft kiss to your lips when you wouldn't look away.

"... Nothing."

A wave of embarrassment washes over you. You've always believed the King to be insatiable, but maybe—just maybe—the insatiable one is you, and he's merely indulging your desires.

That realization settles deep in your chest, and with a quiet sense of shame, you bury your face in your knees.