“Hooop… Oop…”

Jina squirmed on the bed. The bath robe she was wearing had fallen to the floor long ago.

When he said he would suck her, she thought he would do it for a while and then she would kiss him again.

But he continued kissing her until Jina was breathless and on the verge of collapsing. Finally, suffocated, Jina tapped his shoulder. It meant to stop.

He ignored Jina’s signal. Then, he pulled her head closer, holding it so their lips wouldn’t part.

Her breath grew more and more ragged.

Her vision spun, and her gasps intensified, making her body thrash as if struggling. Yet, Ian never backed down.

Will I die like this?

Feeling her limbs go limp, just as Jina was about to lose consciousness, he slightly parted his lips.

As she gasped for air, feeling like she had narrowly escaped death, he once again pushed his tongue in, saying he would do it this time.

Several repetitions of such acts left Jina completely exhausted.

“Did you like it that much?”

He laid Jina, too weak to even answer properly, on the bed.

“I’ll take it off. You can’t suck me like this.”

Before she could even ask what he meant by sucking, the bath robe was torn off.

From then on, Ian moved just like in her dreams. He nuzzled his lips from her head to toe, all over her body, like the strictest supervisor in the world.

There was no part exposed to the air that his lips hadn’t touched.

As if a beast marking its favorite prey with saliva, he smeared his essence all over her before sitting up.

“I missed a spot here.”

He then reached out and cupped her breasts together. His hot gaze landed on the hardened tips.

Jina, realizing where he meant, shook her head with difficulty.

“No, no… Ah!”

Ian lowered his head and buried his face in her glistening breast. At the same time, she felt a sharp pain.

He was gnawing on her nipple with his teeth.

“Ah, ah! Eung!”

Her sensitive nipples soon accepted the pain as pleasure. Jina clutched the bedsheets, her chest heaving.

But he, clinging to her breast, didn’t let go of what he was biting. He even bit down harder, as if threatening her to stay still.

“Ngghh! Haaa! Ah, ah!”

Yet, Jina didn’t push him away. The desire for him to stop and the desire for him to do more were chaotically mixed.

Ian finally let go after a long while. Her reddened breasts were covered in deep bite marks. A smile appeared on his face as he looked at what he had made.

He sat up and got off the bed. Along with the relief of being alive, an absurd sense of longing washed over her.

As Jina tried to sit up to follow him, he narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“Are you disappointed?”

“No… Aaahhh!”

Before Jina could say it wasn’t like that, she let out a surprised cry as he suddenly pulled both her ankles.

He knelt by the bed, bringing her body towards him. Then, he spread her thighs apart.

“Don’t worry. There are still many places I haven’t sucked yet.”

A sinister desire flickered in his blue eyes.

I have to push him away.

Her mind screamed this, but her body wouldn’t move.

Jina covered her face with both hands, thinking about what her spread legs must look like.

She had already reached climax several times from just kissing. Her body had felt strange every time she woke up, and she hadn’t realized it had become so weak to pleasure.

From the moment he started sucking her body, she felt herself leaking even more.

She rubbed her body against the sheets, embarrassed by the feeling of fluid dripping down her vulva. She wondered if it would help conceal her lewdness even a little.

He held her legs apart as if telling her not to close them.

Crack.

Her wet flesh made an embarrassing sound, oblivious to Jina’s feelings.

Jina squeezed her eyes shut. She knew she couldn’t escape her shame by doing so, but if she didn’t do this, she felt like she would die of embarrassment.

But even with her eyes closed, she vividly felt his hot gaze sweeping over her vulva.

She wished he would just do something quickly, but he just stared at her parted center like someone admiring a work of art.

“Hoo…”

Her already highly aroused and wet core gushed with more lubrication. Jina was dumbfounded by her body’s reaction. To be wet just by being looked at.

Her lewd appearance brought both shame and anticipation.

“Jina.”

He brought his face close to her vulva and softly called her name, as if her core belonged to him alone.

His gentle breath brushed over her fine pubic hair, making her body flinch.

Then, Ian’s lips curled up.

A mischievousness, like that of a boy who had found a fun toy, appeared on his face.

“Jina, do you know how it is here right now?”

“Ugh, don’t say… don’t…”

“It’s soaked. To the point of dripping.”

As he said this, Ian deliberately blew a puff of air. Her tightly closed inner parts twitched and poured out more clear fluid.

His sinister gaze scanned her quivering center.

Her skin was white, but her insides were red.

All humans were like this, but Jina’s color uniquely captured his gaze. Even though he saw her every day, she looked even more delicious today, likely because she was acutely aware of her situation.

“Quickly, just…”

“Hmm? What do you want me to do quickly?” He asked back as if he had no idea, and Jina looked at him.

His face, half-buried between her thighs, looked innocent. As if he truly couldn’t understand what she wanted from him.

So, a sense of injustice welled up in Jina. Why did I become like this, why did I become so lewd…

Her glaring eyes turned red and moist, but Ian remained still, pretending not to know.

“If you don’t tell me, I won’t know. Is it like this?”

Then, he kissed the soft skin of her inner thigh.

“Hut!”

“If not here, then a little deeper?”

He pulled her struggling legs onto his shoulders and kissed a deeper spot.

Dots of red marks appeared on her white skin.

Her sensitive skin reacted acutely even with a light touch, but with his sucking kisses, she couldn’t endure it.

“No, not there…! Ah!”

Then, Ian suddenly slid deeper and pressed the soft skin at the boundary of her thighs and vulva.

“Hooop!”

Jina’s body convulsed for a moment.

It was an explicit kiss.

He knew exactly where she wanted it, yet he only circled around the edges.

With that calculated caress, Jina grew more and more impatient. Then, finally, when he pressed his lips deep into her thigh again, she moved her hips on her own.

Ian’s relaxed eyes narrowed for a moment and He licked his dry lips.

Jina seemed to have reached her limit, and he too was nearing the end of his patience. In fact, he might not have had any patience from the start.

He was merely waiting for the moment his prey weakened.

“Tell me.”

“Ian, please…”

“Say it, tell me to suck you with your own mouth.”

He was resolute even in the face of her pathetic plea.

Jina wanted to cry. He was like this in her dreams too. He would lick, suck, and even gnaw and bite as if her body were food for him. Each time, pleasure would steadily build. With every slurp, she would leak.

Her sensitive body screamed at her to beg him, and her mind was already melting, unable to think properly.

Yet, she couldn’t muster the courage to say such words herself. It felt like there would be no turning back…

“Come on, Jina.”

Ian’s urging voice also held impatience.

He licked his dry lips, his gaze fixed on her wet vulva. Then, as if to help her choice, he reached into the parted gap.

His long, shapely fingers dug into her very wet vulva.

The slippery opening greedily swallowed his fingers.

“Ah, ah!”

As his fingers entered a place that was already exquisitely sensitive, Jina shook her head wildly as if to say no.

“Jina. Quickly.”

He then inserted a single word, rubbing inside. The shallow stimulation made Jina impatient, and she said,

“Don’t. There, ah, ah! No! Please…!”

The shallow stimulation, which could never lead to climax, was nothing short of torture. Meanwhile, his fingers moved in and out of her opening, sensually brushing against her sensitive inner walls.

Her hips lifted, and her held thighs convulsed. Her small opening continued to leak lubrication.

Jina couldn’t understand him. Even if he were to simply thrust his cock inside right now, it would be no issue.

She was already slick and utterly open, and his desire was a palpable thing, a heavy pressure in the air.

So why did he need to hear an answer like this?

“It doesn’t matter to me. You decide,” she managed, her voice thick and unfamiliar.

It was clear they both wanted this. But his stubborn insistence, as if he absolutely had to hear the words spoken aloud, was baffling.

“No. You have to want it. So… hurry.”

He pulled his fingers away, the ones that had only been tracing her entrance, and kissed the suddenly cool, sensitive skin. The gesture was a silent promise: he would bury himself deep inside the moment she answered.

Finally, Jina’s resistance crumpled.

“…Do it.”

It was barely a whisper. So quiet she had to strain to hear it herself.

But for Ian, it was the only answer that mattered.

Finally.

Pure, raw triumph bloomed across his face.

For the past three weeks, every action had been a calculated path leading to this single answer. Every night, he’d come to Jina’s room like a man possessed, working tirelessly to tame this body.

He’d sucked, he’d bit, he’d stretched the narrow opening to ensure the fluid flowed unchecked.

At first, her lower half had struggled against him, but with time, it had begun to accept his ministrations with a feverish ease. Once the long taming period was over, he would lift his head and lick up every single drop she shed.

He had considered just thrusting in, many times. But the mere taste of her earlier spurred a far darker, more exquisite desire in him.

He wanted Jina to look at him directly. He wanted her to truly perceive who was consuming her, who was devouring her—he wanted to see it in her eyes.

He desperately craved to watch the descendant of the bloodline that had imprisoned him willingly offer her body into the maw of a monster, practically begging to be eaten.

How exhilarating to witness such foolishness.

How beautiful to hear her moan in pleasure without even knowing what I am.

So he endured the wait.

Consuming nothing else.

He only wanted to fully savor the utter sweetness of this moment of surrender.

He pulled Jina’s legs up, settling them firmly onto his shoulders. Her vulva, trembling violently at the mere touch of his breath, pressed against his face.

His sharp nose parted her labia and rubbed the wet interior. Jina’s cry was heard, muffled against the sickeningly wet, slapping sound.

Thwack.

The tip of his tongue, now rigid with purpose, plunged deep inside.

“Haaagh!”

His tongue, now pointed and hard, dug deeper than where his fingers had teased. It moved with a wild, hungry playfulness, working greedily as if to quench an ancient, suppressed thirst.

“Ah! Aah!”

Jina gasped for breath, her hands clutching the hair at the back of his head dangling between her legs.

Even though this was clearly her first time experiencing this, she was already moving her hips, entrusting her body to him, her silent movements asking for more.

“No, there, ha! Ugh!”

She had experienced this countless times in dreams, but those were fleeting, faint things, mostly forgotten upon waking. Compared to that, the sensation she felt now was terrifyingly vivid, raw, and real.

A familiar yet violently stimulating pleasure surged within her, growing impossibly stronger.

Ian’s Adam’s apple bobbed greatly as he buried his face, determined not to miss a single drop of the fluid flowing out.

With every suck, Jina writhed and clawed.

As her moans grew louder and reached an unbearable peak, her legs, resting on Ian’s shoulders, flailed helplessly.

The tongue that had been wriggling inside, lapping at her vaginal folds, delved even deeper.

“Hk!”

The tongue, reaching its physical limit, nudged a place it shouldn’t have. The movement conveyed an intent to taste even further inside.

As he went deeper, a tingling, dangerous current seemed to flow down her spine. Then, a sudden, chilling thought broke through the haze.

How could he possibly go this deep?

As she recognized the strangeness, a knot of fear washed over her.

A human tongue, reaching this deep. How could it reach… places it shouldn’t…

Ian, lost in his tasting, keenly noticed the subtle change in her scent and the sudden stiffening of her hips. He slowly pulled his face away.

His tongue, which had gone to the very end of her opening, licked the gaping entrance as if nothing had happened.

He lightly kissed the trembling Jina’s lower half, a possessive, gentle claiming, then murmured.

“Delicious.”

Since his existence began, this was the first time such a potent, sweet sensation had so completely satisfied his body and mind.

“Then…”

The beast, now fully sated on her surrender, grasped his hardening erection.

The pleasure he had yet to taste was only just beginning.

In Ian Aylesford’s memories, his human host had always been engaged in ‘that act.’

Ian Aylesford, naked and panting, had acted as if only that moment held meaning for him.

He knew that act was human procreation. But the pleasure derived from it was something he was completely unaware of.

To him, in a world where only he existed, sex was an unnecessary act, and therefore, he had no need for its pleasures.

His indifference hadn’t changed much even after becoming Human. A fleeting sense of physical fullness was enough, so he thought he would continue to pay it no mind.

But after obtaining Jina Troll, that singular thought had cracked and shattered.

The more he licked her, the more he realized the existence of a new, unfamiliar sensation—something he had never known before. It was the first feeling he had registered since his existence began.

Ah, so this is what it feels like.

For the first time, he understood the futility of Humans. If pleasure was like this, he understood why they moved Heaven and Earth to obtain it.

At the same time, he felt a scorching jealousy. Why had he never been allowed to feel this wonderful, consuming thing until now?

His hunger, which nothing else could satisfy, disappeared when he was with Jina, finding an absolute fulfillment. Moreover, he felt a longer-lasting satisfaction than from devouring Humans.

He didn’t know why he felt such satisfaction only from Jina among all Human females, but he suspected it was because she inherited the blood of the clan that had imprisoned him.

In a world without him, the hateful things had ripened abundantly. Perhaps it was a feast prepared for him to awaken once more.

He hastily shed the few clothes he was still wearing. The pleasure had already consumed his body, though the mating had not even begun.

Naked, he climbed onto the bed and pulled Jina’s slender body towards him.

She was still not fully conscious. Her exposed lower half, which had been the target of his mouth moments ago, was vulnerable as she merely panted. It was quite arousing, a pathetic, sweet sight.

The mating would be more intense than this. How would she endure it?

He positioned himself between Jina’s legs.

He knew how Humans had sex, but he had never done it before, so he was cautious.

What if I accidentally thrust wrong and kill her?

He knew she wouldn’t die easily—she was too resilient for that—but looking at her slender waist and limbs, and her flat stomach that seemed like it would bulge out when he entered, he hesitated.

A long time ago, Humans had gathered to capture him.

It was a ridiculous endeavor.

In the darkening wilderness, the sight of Humans gathered was no different from a nest of ants waiting to be crushed.

As they kept trying to escape, he had picked up the wooden sticks they carried and thrust them between their legs. What entered from below emerged from the Humans’ crowns.

Looking now, there wasn’t much difference in thickness between those wooden sticks and what was currently between his legs.

Of course, the length wasn’t the same, but still, if he thrust too hard and hit an organ, it would be deeply troublesome.

Still, I don’t think I’ve ever killed a woman by thrusting before, he reasoned, channeling the host’s fading memories.

According to Ian’s memories, women would cry as if they were dying, but they never actually died.

However, there was no harm in being careful.

Thinking he would insert it slowly and carefully this time, he brought his glans to Jina’s wet opening.

As Jina was wet, so was he.

His thick, erect penis, which had been dripping saliva since earlier, was wet and glistening.

When he held it upright and placed it against Jina’s lower half, the fluid that flowed out made a wet, slapping sound.

The sound, which grew louder with every slow advance, was lewd enough to be exciting just to hear.

Since it was his first time, he intended to proceed with painstaking caution. So, he very slowly pushed his blunt glans inside.

“Ugh!”

He had barely inserted the tip, but a light returned to Jina’s unfocused eyes. Then, she hiccupped and tried to pull back.

He held Jina’s hips steady. It was vexing and absurd that she tried to escape when he hadn’t even fully inserted the tip of his glans.

“Ah, no.”

Jina, regaining a sliver of her senses, pushed him away with her hand.

“Why?”

“It’s too, too different… It wasn’t like this…”

Her fumbling words scratched at some raw nerve. Strangely, he felt an immediate, unpleasant sensation twist in his gut.

Why? How could it be?

He paused his movements for a moment, contemplating why he felt this way. Then, the realization hit him like a physical blow.

‘Different’ is a word used when there is something to compare it to. Therefore, Jina was… thinking of another Human male while taking him into her.

At that moment, an unbearable, scalding unpleasantness surged through him. He was astonished by its intensity. He hadn’t felt this enraged even when he missed a Human he was about to devour right in front of him.

“This won’t do.”

“What won’t…!”

Before Jina could finish her question, with a sudden, dull thump, he thrust inside.

Jina couldn’t even scream, her breath catching as her body felt like it was splitting in two.

Her vision spun for a moment.

Her ears went deaf, and all sounds faded. Jina realized for the first time that pain beyond her limit completely stole the body’s five senses.

“H… Ugh…!”

His penis, having pierced to the deepest point, stopped moving, as if to make her physically feel how deep it had gone.

Her legs, spread taut, trembled violently.

Her surprised, tense vaginal walls cautiously probed the sudden, brutal intruder. It squeezed him so tightly that he had to brace himself against the bed to prevent being pushed out.

“Haa…”

He trembled slightly at the overwhelming, tight pressure, as if she were milking him dry.

He had only entered her body. But… could it feel this intensely good?

Only a part of him had entered, yet he felt as if his entire being had plunged into warm, consuming water, body and mind. He deliberately moved his deeply inserted penis slightly.

“Ugh, hk!”

With even the slightest movement, Jina’s body convulsed. The stimulation doubled, tripled, with that tremor.

As he slightly lifted his hips to move properly, Jina pushed against his chest with weak, useless hands.

She was looking at his face now, her cheeks flushed scarlet and her eyes streaming with tears.

Gulp.

He swallowed dryly. The sight of her whimpering while biting down on his cock was maddeningly appealing. But it didn’t entirely quell the sudden, searing irritation inside him.

Jina, realizing there was no way out, grabbed his arms and pleaded.

“It hurts, take it… out.”

His deeply inserted penis gave a sharp, stinging pain with every internal shift, as if it were embedded with thorns.

Cold sweat trickled down her face from the pain that felt like it was tearing her apart. There was only one way to escape this agony.

For the source of the pain, him, to withdraw.

“Please, take it out…”

“No.”

Jina blinked, stunned by his cold refusal. She hadn’t expected to be rejected so outright. He was the man who had worn a rather gentle expression just moments ago.

But why, so suddenly…

“I don’t like being compared to something else. So…”

He pushed the part that had already reached the end, more forcefully and slowly. There was no longer any gap between them.

“I’ll make you forget about the other thing.”

Nevertheless, he burrowed deeper.

“Ah, ah…”

Jina’s eyes glazed over again. The intense, blinding pain had stolen her reason. He liked that utterly broken look, yet he also hated it with an equal fervor.

Every night, he had softened her with his mouth and stretched her with his fingers.

If that were the case, she should have remembered the shape of his entry and stretched a little, but her inner walls, which he thought he had widened, were still too tight, making it difficult to enter.

What had been moving slowly bumped against her cervix. Realizing that it was truly dangerous to go any further, Jina thrashed her head violently from side to side.

“Stop. Please, stop. It’s too deep… It wasn’t like this. Surely, in dreams, not this…”

At Jina’s pained, confused muttering, his movement, which had been about to push further, stopped dead.

That was it.

He wondered what she had compared it to, and it seemed she had compared it to the fingers he had thrust into her in her dreams.

Upon confirming that fact, his scorching irritation vanished in an instant, astonishingly.

He removed his hands from her waist and stroked Jina’s cheek. It was her favorite action. He now knew well that she would gasp and writhe for him whenever he did this.

It was the same this time. As he patted her as if she were a good, obedient girl, her shallow breaths, previously expelled in pain, gradually eased.

The same was true for the part he was holding inside. Until a moment ago, it had been clenching tightly as if to tear him apart, but now he felt it gradually loosening, softening around him.

“Does it not hurt now?”

When he asked, Jina nodded with difficulty, her face tear-streaked and wet.

He hesitated for a moment.

Should he push deeper and contort this face with agony, or should he act tenderly and make her smile with pleasure?

The desire to make her cry and the desire to make her smile warred within him, a dark calculus weighing on his mind.

Then, he finally made his decision, the beast within winning.

“Jina.”

He lowered his head, licked away the tears she shed, and whispered the command.

“Endure.”

As much as I endured, you will too.

Jina had to know how much he had endured over the past few weeks, and what kind of intense, violent desire he had suppressed for this moment.

He pulled his hips back.

Ignoring the flesh that bit down on his thick penis, it slid out with a wet, sucking sound. Even as it was inside, his member was thoroughly wet from her continuous flow.

“I knew you had a lot of fluid, but it’s even more today. You’re going to burst.”

“What do you know… Hck!”

Without answering Jina’s question, he thrust in forcefully, just as he had when he first entered.

Even the sound of him thrusting was accompanied by a deep moisture. The slick interior clung to the re-entering penis like a second skin.

He found it amusing how familiarly it clung after being thrust in once, and he rubbed it vigorously against her most sensitive core.

“Hee, k! Hk!”

He had learned from probing her insides with his fingers every night that Jina was extremely sensitive to such stimulation.

When he rubbed her core with his penis, she reacted twice as strongly as when he had merely touched her ears. Amused by her powerful reaction, he rubbed the deepest part with his blunt glans and pressed down hard.

“Ngh, ugh! Wait! Eek! Ugh!”

With every thrust, her body flailed, arching like a fish thrown onto land. It was a thrashing that brought him immense satisfaction.

“Ah, it hurts. Stop…”

He didn’t believe her pathetic lie. As proof, with every thrust he delivered, her face turned a deep, bruised red, and her moans were now violently mixed with cries of pure, unrestrained pleasure.

After tormenting the area near her cervix for a long time, he began the movements he knew.

He moved his hips, repeating the motion of entering and exiting the deep cavity with his shaft. The wet, rhythmic sounds were intensely pleasant to hear.

Then, when his glans scraped somewhere deep inside, he felt the vaginal walls constrict in an unusually powerful reflex.

“Hng!”

At the same time, Jina lifted her hips. Trembling, her eyes hazy with a sudden white pleasure, she shook her head again.

“You like that spot?”

If he had known, he would have scratched it more with his fingers beforehand. Swallowing that possessive thought, he lowered his hand and spread Jina’s thighs wider, impossibly wider.

He wanted to spread them wider still. He wanted to thrust not just his penis, but his testicles, no, his entire being into this opening and drown in her.

Even though he wasn’t eating it, the fluid that wet his lower half felt incredibly, intoxicatingly sweet.

The fluid that flowed when he stimulated her with his fingers flowed even more profusely when he thrust with his penis. Then… couldn’t he just stay like this forever?

From morning till evening. And until morning again.

Whether awake or asleep, if he kept thrusting like this, she would wriggle, emitting this sweet scent without rest.

Ah.

He exhaled the breath he had held in his chest, a sound of absolute, dark bliss.

It was a method so satisfying it could make him lose his mind just thinking about it.

He thrust violently, reaching the very end, and moved his hips again. As if pressing with his hands wasn’t enough, he lifted one of Jina’s legs and placed it squarely on his shoulder.

Her legs crossed and overlapped, forcing an intimacy she couldn’t escape.

“Aahhh! H… Ugh…”

As his member, as if mocking her weakness, dug deeper than she thought possible, Jina thrashed her head, signaling she couldn’t take any more.

Swish. Swish.

His body slid as he moved, slick against her legs.

With every movement he made, fireworks seemed to explode in Jina’s mind.

It felt like a shower of sparks from clashing steel. Every thrust was a sharp, splitting sensation, tearing through her insides.

If only the sensation were pure pain, she could fight it, could ride the violence of it. But with agony and ecstasy perfectly twined, Jina was lost, unable to choose between pushing him away or begging him closer.

Her body betrayed her mind first.

“Ah! Ahh! Yes!”

The sound was a ragged, sobbing plea, her arms flailing out, grasping for purchase in the air. She needed something solid, something real to hold onto.

A place to anchor herself, so she wouldn’t drift away on the tide of sensation.

As if he understood her desperate, unvoiced need, he lowered his legs and bent, allowing her to loop her arms around his neck.

Her struggling limbs clamped tight around his nape.

His body, heavy and slick with sweat, pressed down on hers. Her full breasts were crushed and distorted against his chest, the pressure a startling new wave of pleasure.

He read the feeling on her skin. Did she like that? He applied a deliberate pressure, his entire weight crushing her beneath him.

The sensation of being utterly enveloped wasn’t just not bad; it was dizzying. Jina tightened her grip on his neck. Their bodies merged closer still. Her slick, softened core swallowed him whole.

Haa.

They exhaled a single, ragged, hot breath together. Their bodies were locked in a geometry so perfect, it defied separation.

Even in the quiet stillness, without a flicker of movement, an unbelievable, consuming satisfaction filled the space between them.

He was deliriously savoring a perfect sensation that had been alien to him since the first moment of his existence.

Humans…

So this was the taste they lived for. This was the satiation that opposed his eternal hunger.

Now he understood why they could smile, these beings born for consumption.

They were terribly flawed creatures compared to him, a being of perfect, singular existence.

The very dichotomy of male and female was a testament to their imperfection.

Beings who needed union to create another.

Beings who perpetually divided and merged, desperately seeking the impossible wholeness they believed awaited them.

He had questioned how they endured life, knowing they were nothing more than meat. It was because they felt pleasures, satisfactions like this.

His own cock, still clenched within her moistening heat, began to stir, a familiar tremor running through its length. He knew what this vessel was preparing for.

“Jina.”

He called the prey in his arms, the word laced with something that felt shockingly like devotion. Light broke through the haze in her eyes. Her round gaze, fixed on his face, was achingly beautiful.

He wanted her to witness this clearly, not as a dream, but as brutal, inescapable reality. He shuddered, a long, primal tremor, as the onset of climax washed over him.

He wanted to leave his scent deep inside Jina, an absolute, territorial claim. So deeply that everything in existence would know Jina belonged to him.

Just then, Jina’s stained red lips parted.

Was she going to tell him to stop?

He had no intention of obeying, but her voice was a siren song, and he would listen to the music. Jina let out a strained, seeking sound.

“Ian…”

A voice desperate for a name, a focus. At that sound, he dropped his head, mesmerized.

“…Who did you say?”

“Ian. Ian…”

Jina looked at him and called him Ian. To her, he was nothing else.

Good.

His mind was made up.

If Jina called him Ian, then that was who he would be. From now on, he was Ian.

“Jina.”

He spoke her name in return and drew his mouth closer to hers.

They collided, a frantic, hungry meeting of lips, tongues tangling into an indistinguishable knot. In that instant, his member, buried deep within her, swelled to its absolute limit and finally detonated.

A thick, profound release.

Enough to fully permeate her, to saturate Jina’s body with his proof.

How long had it been?

Jina’s eyes cracked open slowly. It had been dawn when they began to mesh bodies.

Now, the sky outside the window was bleeding with the brutal colors of a London sunset. Even with the short winter days, several hours of daylight should have remained.

“My god…”

Had she spent the entire day, from sunrise to sunset, tangled up in him?

Her memories filtered back in bruised, fragmented pieces.

She had foolishly thought his momentum would taper off after the first shattering climax. It had been a complete miscalculation. The first was only the prelude; he’d moved with a savagery that only intensified.

Even when she’d begged him to slow, he’d simply piston his hips harder, deaf to her pleas.

Had the monster no fatigue?

When his eruptions surpassed five, Jina stopped keeping count.

Even then, his cock showed no sign of retreating, growing only harder and more vigorous. Any normal man would have been in agony from the sheer, frenzied activity, yet he acted as though the word satisfaction was utterly foreign to him.

When she’d finally dissolved into tearful pleas for him to stop, her distress had seemed to ignite his arousal further, and he’d ejaculated while watching her face, a slow, predatory smile twisting his lips.

Eventually, she’d given up, collapsing beneath him, but that hadn’t pleased him either. Keeping his cock buried deep inside her, he’d simply scooped up her limp body and pulled her tight into his embrace.

The hand stroking her shoulder was gentle, but the instrument inside her immediately turned ferocious again.

Then, the moment her strength returned, he’d started all over.

It wasn’t a matter of experience. It was something primal.

Could any human truly sustain such madness?

No matter how she analyzed it, his actions were infused with the frantic haste and blinding madness of a creature who had just discovered the terrifying power of sexual desire.

As if he would expire if he didn’t do this…

When he thrashed and drove like that for long, interminable stretches, Jina would let out gasps that sounded like death rattles.

The sick, absurd truth was that even the sound of her suffering only made him harder.

Regaining a fraction of composure, she cautiously touched her body. Everywhere her fingers landed, she found dried, sticky white residue.

She didn’t need to smell it to know the truth. The potent, heady musk now clinging to the room must be his scent.

“I need a shower…”

Jina mumbled the words, trying to push herself up.

A sudden realization—there was something heavy between her legs. Jina slowly lowered her head, her blonde hair swaying in the fading light of the sunset.

He lifted his head from her thighs and offered a slow, satisfied smile.

“Sleep well?”

Then he extended his tongue and licked his lips. Lips that were definitely not his own, now glistening and sticky.

“Wh-what! What are you licking—!”

“What else? I was licking you.”

As if stating the obvious, he darted his tongue out again, trailing it over Jina’s swollen vulva from below.

“Hk!”

The sudden wetness on the sensitive, ravaged skin made Jina seize her breath, biting down hard on her lip. She had learned one thing during his merciless torment:

Ian had a fetish for licking every single part of his partner. He was utterly indiscriminate. From the crown of her hair to the soles of her feet.

If he only tasted her body, she might have endured it. But even the liquids that dripped from her center seemed to fall within his range of obsession. No, perhaps he preferred that part most of all.

“Don’t, please don’t do that…”

“Why? You loved it. Every time my tongue touched you, you screamed for more…”

“Don’t say things like that, either!”

His utter lack of shame infuriated her, and Jina snatched a nearby cushion, throwing it hard.

But it fell short. Jina’s waist seized up in a sharp, blinding pain, and she instantly collapsed.

“Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay right now?”

Jina glared at the man who had scrambled up with a performance of concern.

Who else but him could be the cause of this?

His expression, a picture of false innocence and complete incomprehension, was utterly detestable.

“Why are you looking down there…”

“Ah, it kept dripping, so I was just trying to wipe it for you. Look.”

“Look at what… Hhht!”

As his fingers brazenly slipped between her legs, Jina shrieked, twisting her body away from the trespass. It was something she’d been thinking the whole time; this man entered her body as if it were a casual extension of his own, without a flicker of hesitation.

He waved the finger—inserted one knuckle-deep just moments ago—in front of her face.

“Look at this. I wiped it so many times, but it kept flowing…”

“Get it away from me!”

Jina’s face flushed scarlet as she slapped his hand away. Mixed in with what had seeped out from her core was a cloudy, viscous liquid that was unmistakably his.

Jina instinctively lowered her hand and pressed it to her lower abdomen. Even without him filling her, a persistent, uncomfortable ache throbbed low in her belly.

It was a residual pain, likely from having his heavy weight inside her for so long.

Her stomach was smeared with dried white smudges. Feeling the sticky texture on her skin, she realized what was there and let out a dry, hollow laugh.

“My god.”

“Why? You told me to cum on top.”

“That’s because you kept trying to cum inside…!”

She had panicked, afraid her stomach would literally rupture if he continued, and asked him to finish outside.

Saying the words aloud, Jina pulled a pillow over and buried her burning face in the fabric. To speak such things while entirely sober made the back of her neck burn with shame.

At her reaction, Ian let out a low, predatory chuckle and slipped his arm beneath her armpit, effortlessly lifting her body.

“Let’s go wash.”

He scooped Jina up as if she were a paper doll, so light in his arms, and carried her toward the bathroom.

The bathroom was a massive expanse, mirroring the size of the bedroom they’d just left.

Ian produced a large, soft towel from somewhere, spread it over a nearby rattan chair, and gently deposited Jina there.

The red marks scattered across her pale skin brought him a deep, visceral pleasure. They were the diligent etchings of hours spent marking his territory.

The way she cried out and wept every time he’d bitten her, just a little, had been so intensely erotic that it obliterated any thought of stopping.

Every time he was about to relent, she’d unknowingly driven him further into madness. It was, ultimately, her fault.

He strode to the faucet, turning it, and hot water poured forcefully into the vast porcelain tub. It would fill quickly, but as if even that small delay was intolerable, he returned to the chair and lifted Jina onto his lap.

Her full breasts bounced softly. He reached out, cupping them in his hands. He’d been so obsessed with the new, hot flavor of her lower half that he hadn’t focused on these familiar delights enough.

Still, they hadn’t gone entirely untouched; deep red bite marks were scattered across the swell of her flesh.

When he tapped those marks with his fingers, Jina let out a pained sound and pushed his hand away. But he was not a man to be dismissed.

He claimed a handful of the soft flesh he adored with both hands.

“What are you doing now…”

“I think I neglected this part yesterday.”

It was a part of her he touched freely every day, yet the sudden knowledge of having neglected it left a strange, inexplicable emptiness in his hands. This, he realized, was what humans called habit.

Too exhausted to fight, Jina simply slumped against his chest and went still. It was her silent declaration: Do as you please.

Her surrender brought him a sharp, possessive joy, and he kissed the tender skin of her neck, right over her pulse. He could feel the slow, steady rhythm of her heart beating beneath his lips.

He loved the sight of her resting peacefully inside his hold, utterly oblivious. He wondered what kind of expression she would make if he were to sink his teeth in now.

He wanted to do it immediately, but the thought that he couldn’t afford to lose this prize made him quell the sudden rush of arousal.

Jina was the human he would consume last. The one he would cherish, and protect, the most…

The tub was now full. He entered the water, carrying Jina in his arms. The water sloshed, a warm, soft envelope around them both.

“Ah…”

The sudden heat on her stiff body drew a gasp of pain from Jina. As her tension finally eased, the true agony of being smeared, bitten, and ravished registered completely.

There was genuinely no spot that didn’t scream in protest. Licked. Bitten. Thrust into.

Watching the water swirl, Jina finally registered the full reality of her actions.

She had slept with Ian Aylesford. She had chosen this. It wasn’t surprising, though.

No, she felt a fatalistic sense of inevitability.

Since when?

When had she first suspected that this was her unavoidable trajectory with Ian?

She traced back through the memory of her dreams, back to the day they began.

In truth, they had been closer to nightmares. Her body was a puppet, unwillingly violated in their phantom encounters. She would wake up dizzy from the embarrassment and shame.

But then, somewhere in the endless dark, she, too, began to anticipate him. To yearn.

Perhaps it was the shift. Because she loved the sound of his voice whispering praise, telling her she was good, asking if she wouldn’t try harder…

Even though all he asked were the most obscene things, she’d worked her tongue, her body, desperate to hear that encouragement again.

What now?

Ian said he liked her. And now… she was trapped in the sickening reality of her own reciprocation.

The hours she’d spent tangled with him like an animal were a revelation. As she swayed with his relentless movements, pleasure layering on top of pleasure, her consciousness would shatter, and she would fall into a state of pure, mindless ecstasy.

Why did the violence and the pain make her cling to him with such raw desperation?

Through it all, their bodies had remained a single, inseparable unit. Even when his strength momentarily waned, he never retreated from Jina’s body.

Instead, he would murmur lewd, filthy promises in her ear, stimulating her exhausted form.

Her body, reignited, would tremble, and his own strength would surge inside her again. Their forms were a perfect match, as if stamped from the same mold. She knew it, intuitively.

Is this what they called chemistry?

Her real-life experiences were few, and only with her second boyfriend. With him, there was no pleasure; only constant, unyielding pain until the end.

He had taken her unprepared body so harshly that she’d been injured and suffered for weeks.

Jina slowly lowered her hand, tentatively touching her vulva.

Swollen. Sore. Exquisite.

“What are you doing?”

The sound of Ian’s whisper against her ear was a shock.

“Thinking of having all the fun by yourself, leaving me behind?”

“No! I was checking how swollen it was. That’s all.”

“Ah.”

Ian nodded, the picture of understanding. She expected a flicker of guilt from the architect of her agony. Instead…

“Let me see.”

He moved with the abruptness of a predator, standing and lifting Jina’s body out of the water, sitting her on the edge of the tub.

The rim was wide enough for her to sit and brace herself. Ian settled her, then took her rounded knees in both hands and gently but firmly parted her legs.

Despite the hours they had spent with her legs spread, Jina instinctively turned her head, overwhelmed by a sudden, inexplicable shyness.

He chuckled, a low, pleased sound, and raised his hand, tracing the engorged tissue of her vulva with his knuckle.

“It is very swollen.”

“As if I didn’t know that…”

“And my cum is still draining out. It looks like I’ll have to scoop it out for you…”

He flashed her a predatory, knowing smile.

“Wouldn’t something a little larger than a finger be necessary to retrieve what’s inside?”

At the flagrant, deliberate invitation, Jina slapped his sticky hand with a sharp, loud smack.

“Stop talking nonsense. I am serious. I truly can’t do this anymore.”

“Liar.”

“I’m serious. If you do more…”

“You’ll only feel more sensitive?”

“……”

Jina clamped her mouth shut. It was the crushing, undeniable truth.

Splash.

He stepped out of the bathtub, the water pouring out with a visceral sound.

“I was holding back.”

His husky voice dropped from above Jina’s head, a promise of violence.

“There’s no need for that now.”

It was a long time before they finally emerged from the bathroom.

Ian meticulously dried Jina’s body, every secret nook and cranny, as she was too depleted to lift a hand for herself.

Even the washing was punctuated by brief, intimate touches, but she lacked the will to protest, submitting to his care.

Finally, as if sensing the true, absolute depth of her exhaustion, he simply dried her in silence.

Jina fell into a sleep like death.

When she awoke, the digital clock on the bedside table read 8 PM.

Wait. I had sex from morning until afternoon, collapsed, slept, did it again in the bath, and fell asleep until now?

The passage of time was unbelievable, and Jina mumbled the only word that came to mind.

“Insane…”

“What is?”

“Ah!”

Jina shrieked at the voice from behind her and instinctively rolled over. A pain in her lower back, sharper and more vicious than hours ago, immediately crippled her.

“Ah… ugh…”

Her back felt tender, throbbing, as if it might simply fall apart, and Jina held her breath, patting her lower spine. Her back had never ached like this, not even after hauling heavy boxes all day.

With effort, she turned her head. Ian was lying on his side behind her, propped up on his elbow. He looked impossibly refreshed, wearing a clean white shirt and pants, entirely unlike Jina, who was currently a groaning, broken mess.

Seeing him without a trace of fatigue or dishevelment, she shot him a venomous glare.

“Ah.”

A fresh wave of pain forced another moan from her lips.

“Don’t make that sound. It makes me want to start over.”

“You’re a genuine psychopath…”

“Were you talking to me?”

She had been talking to herself, but annoyance won out, and she snapped back at him.

“If you were next to me, you could have made a sound. Then I would have woken up earlier.”

Ian let out a low, endearing chuckle, finding even her fury charming, and pushed himself up from the bed.

“I was planning to wake you up soon anyway.”

Jina, slowly rising to follow him, realized she was naked as the blanket peeled away from her skin.

“You said you threw away all the clothes I was wearing?” she asked, clutching the blanket to her chest. “Could you at least give me a robe? I need to put something on.”

“Forget the clothes for a moment. Can you even walk?”

Ian came over, extending his hand as if he were escorting her to a royal ball.

The pretense of gentlemanly charm after his bestial performance felt absurd, but she took his hand, accepting the strange game.

Leaning on his arm, she pushed up, but her legs were pathetically weak, trembling with an uncontrollable tremor. She’d always thought that image—the shaking legs after sex—was a cinematic exaggeration, but it was horrifyingly real.

Could a person truly be reduced to this after simple intercourse?

She considered asking him to just carry her back to the bed. While Jina hesitated, Ian opened another door connected to the room.

“What is this place?” Jina’s mouth went dry as she looked inside.

It was a dressing room. If it had been a standard closet, she would have dismissed it, but this space was packed, floor to ceiling, with women’s clothes.

The meticulous organization made it feel like walking into a luxury department store display.

Seeing the sheer volume, she immediately assumed it belonged to another woman and started to step back, but Ian’s hand clamped onto her arm.

“Where are you going?”

“No, this is someone else’s dressing room…”

“Someone else’s?”

At Jina’s murmur, he looked at her with a baffling expression. Then, after a moment, he burst into a low, rumbling laugh and pulled her into the closet, opening a drawer nearby.

Inside the drawer were stacks of neatly arranged undergarments.

“Put these on.”

Jina took the piece of silk he handed her.

She had to acknowledge the truth.

There was no sign of them ever being worn. They were clearly new… But why this staggering quantity?

As Jina looked around in confusion, something familiar snagged her attention.

That.

A light brown, luxurious wool coat.

It was one of the pieces she’d tried on at his insistence when they’d gone to the department store. She turned her head, spotting another item.

That, too, was a dress she’d briefly modeled. The one next to it. And the one next to that.

“Ian, just in case… are the clothes here, by any chance…?”

“Yes. They are the things you tried on that day.”

“……”

His completely nonchalant answer left Jina breathless.

Looking down at the bra in her hand, the memory suddenly clicked: the people who had measured her body with unnecessary, forensic detail while she was trying on the coat.

She pulled the underwear he’d given her on. The size fit with a precision far greater than her usual undergarments, leaving her utterly speechless. Fully dressed, she searched for something comfortable to wear.

As if he knew exactly what she needed, a silk pajama set was hanging neatly on a hook. She slipped into it and turned to face him.

He was standing there, arms crossed, watching her with a profound satisfaction. Why are you so proud? I’m the one wearing them.

“You distinctly said you were buying a gift then.”

“I did. A gift.”

He confirmed, pointing his finger directly at Jina.

“But you definitely said it wasn’t for me…”

“I said I wouldn’t give it to you. I never said I wouldn’t buy it.”

What more could she say to a man who twisted his words with such cynical ease?

Jina, roughly clothed, marched out of the dressing room. She dreaded the thought that the countless shoes, bags, and accessories inside might also be waiting for her.

Heading down the stairs, a large black dog lying at the bottom lifted its head when it heard her approach.

Ian, following close behind, spoke,

“That dog helped.”

“Helped how?”

“When I went to find you, I couldn’t pinpoint your location immediately, but that dog barked, drawing my attention to your whereabouts. I was skeptical, as I’d never seen the animal before, but on a hunch, I went there and found you.”

“……That’s impossible.”

After a moment of careful thought, Jina asked Ian,

“Where exactly were you when you found me?”

Ian named a quiet residential area, roughly halfway between Angel Station, where she’d been taken, and Hampstead Heath.

It was a distance the dog could have covered alone, but she had definitely taken a bus to leave the area.

How, then, had this dog followed her?

Where had it been while she was with her friends? And how did it know that the people looking for her were the people she needed?

“Incredible.”

Jina crouched down, meeting the dog’s gaze.

Its eyes, looking back, shone like black pearls. The dog, whose claws were also black, had not a single white hair on its body. Staring into its pupils, where the whites were entirely absent, she wondered if it was truly a living creature.

Jina cautiously extended her hand.

As if it had been waiting, the dog nudged her palm with its wet nose and gave her a gentle lick.

“……Thank you.”

Grrr.

At Jina’s soft words, the dog whined, a small, humble sound, and rubbed its face against her hand. Seeing the small gesture, the surreal doubt she’d felt moments before vanished.

It was just an ordinary dog that happened to like people.

Dogs entirely black were often shunned, however. It was likely due to the dark legends surrounding black dogs, passed down through folklore.

Hadn’t they become the motif for countless novels, whispered to be ill-omened beasts that herald death?

And hadn’t the guards she’d seen earlier already exchanged glances, clearly wanting to chase it away from the mansion as quickly as possible?

“What am I going to do with you?”

She couldn’t keep it.

Since it had helped her, she felt a profound responsibility to find it a good home. She pondered paying for a private shelter until a permanent owner could be found when—

“Do you like it?”

“Like it or not, it’s the dog that saved me.”

As Jina stroked the dog’s head again, Ian stepped forward.

“That’s good. I checked—it seems to be a stray. There was no registered chip. It would be difficult to find its owner anyway, so we’ll keep it here at the mansion.”

“What? At the mansion?”

“Yes. My grandfather was quite upset when his old hunting dog died recently, so the timing is perfect.”

“No, it would be wonderful to keep it here, but…”

How vast was this Aylesford mansion at Hampstead Heath? It was one of the best places in London to raise a dog.

The problem was whether the actual owner of the house—the chairman—would accept this particular dog.

“It’s a black dog. Will that be okay with him?”

“Don’t worry about that.”

Ian’s immediate, firm assurance settled Jina’s mind for the moment. If the chairman did refuse, she decided she would find a place for the dog with her own money.

Jina stood up, turning toward the kitchen, but then stopped, a troubled expression clouding her face.

She looked at Ian. “Where is the nearest drug store?”

“Why? Are you feeling unwell?”

“It’s not that…”

Jina stammered, then forced a wry smile.

“I need to buy some emergency contraception.”

At that moment, Ian’s pleasant smile froze, a chilling mask falling over his features.

Emergency contraception.

Ian understood the term perfectly.

It was a pill designed to prevent pregnancy after an unexpected sexual encounter.

It was only rational for Jina, who had been ravaged by him without the protection of a condom, to seek it.

But he couldn’t understand why the thought of her taking it filled him with such cold displeasure.

He searched his memory for any cultural meaning or insult embedded in the act, but found none.

As Jina made a move to leave, Ian’s hand shot out, clamping around her arm.

“You don’t need to go out. I’ll have it brought soon.”

“No, this is something I should—”

“Where do you think you’re going in that state?”

Then Ian pulled out his phone and made a call. She tried to tell him it really was okay, but Ian, as if ignoring her protest, jabbed Jina’s chest with his finger.

“……!”

At the sharp, specific pain, Jina doubled over. He had precisely poked the area that had been bitten and was still tight with bruising.

Tears sprang to her eyes. She glared at him with pure resentment. He clicked his tongue and said,

“See?”

“This has nothing to do with—!”

“Ah, I have a favor to ask.”

Just then, the other party answered the phone, interrupting Ian’s harsh line of questioning.

He had a list of items and made various requests, the call dragging on.

During that time, Jina lifted the silk shirt she was wearing. Exactly where he had poked her finger, the largest, darkest bite mark was visible.

Anyone who saw this would think I was torn apart by a beast and barely survived.

Ian had left marks all over her body, as if he were desperately trying to devour her alive.

Jina, realizing this must be another of his sick fetishes, felt a sliver of relief that it was winter.

Otherwise, she would have been forced to wear unseasonal clothes just to hide these shameful, humiliating stamps of ownership.

“They’ll bring it soon.”

A moment later, Ian returned, having ended the call.

“I could have just gone and bought it myself.”

“It’s fine. Just wait.”

Meanwhile, the black dog followed Jina around the living area.

“No chip, huh? Where did you suddenly appear from?”

Judging by its size, it had been an adult for a long time. Had it been living on the streets all this time?

Pity welled up in Jina’s chest, thinking about the life this dog must have survived.

“We need to give you a name.”

Jina bent down and stroked the dog’s head. The dog nudged its head forward, silently asking for more.

“It would be better if Ian named you, not me. Since he’s the one who will be responsible for you right now.”

Even though it wouldn’t understand the words, the dog nodded its head as if it comprehended everything.

“Smart boy.”

Despite being a black dog, its intelligence was clear. Surely that was enough to earn its master’s love.

While waiting, Jina looked around the first floor.

It was smaller than the grand main house at Hampstead Heath, but still enormously spacious. Although no staff seemed present now, this was still one of the Aylesford properties. There would be people working here.

They would be people who spent all day tracking the movements of the chairman and Ian. They would have already guessed exactly what Ian and she, alone in this mansion, had been doing.

This is a bit… mortifying.

To think that the day would come when she had to ask an unknown servant to procure her emergency contraception.

A few minutes later, a discrete knock came from the front door.

Before Jina could move, Ian went to the door, retrieved a small package hanging from the doorknob, and handed it to her.

“Which way is the kitchen?”

“This way.”

He led the way. Following him, she found a magnificent kitchen that was truly breathtaking in its scale.

She opened the refrigerator; it was stocked with fresh, perfect ingredients, just like at the Hampstead Heath mansion.

She took out a bottle of water and swallowed the pill, then read the small text on the back of the box.

If taken within 72 hours of intercourse, the contraceptive rate is about 97%.

I took it early. There shouldn’t be a problem.

Jina fiddled with the box, her thoughts turning to her own cycle.

It had always been irregular since she was young, making it impossible to predict. Lately, likely due to stress, it had stopped altogether for several months. Honestly, the chances of pregnancy were already very low.

Still, it’s better to be sure.

As she was about to toss the paper case, her eyes met Ian’s. He was watching her, his expression tight and severe.

“Ian?”

She couldn’t fathom why he looked so displeased over her taking a necessary precaution.

Or perhaps, he’s just worried too.

“Why the long face?”

“I’m… I’m just worried.”

“About pregnancy? You saw, I took the pill. It should be fine.”

“It’s not that. I’m worried about your body.”

He reached out, snatching the paper case and pill wrapper from Jina’s hand. He held them, sniffing, and frowned as if he’d smelled something foul, then immediately threw them into the trash bin.

“Next time, I’ll take care of it first.”

Jina, about to nod in agreement, blushed fiercely at his use of the phrase: Next time.

It seemed perfectly clear that Ian intended to continue this strange, brutal relationship for the foreseeable future.

“What is this…?”

Detective Chief Inspector Haywood leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped behind his head.

The London Metropolitan Police had been thrown into complete chaos last night. Count Carrington, a prominent nobleman and one of Britain’s foremost real estate magnates, had suddenly died.

“A fall.”

The responding police had announced the death was accidental.

He was found at the bottom of the stairs in his two-story study, his neck cleanly broken.

However, there were disturbing anomalies. If he had died from such a severe impact, other parts of his body should have shown signs of trauma. Yet, only his neck was snapped.

In such cases, it was standard procedure to suspect someone had broken the neck and then staged the death as an accident.

But no one had entered the room.

All entrances to the mansion were monitored by 24-hour CCTV, except for Count Carrington’s private quarters.

The police immediately reviewed the footage. Nothing was captured.

Not on the balcony, nor at the entrance to his study.

After the Count entered, his secretary briefly went in and out. The Count was alive then. But by the time the morning maid discovered his body, the feed showed absolute stillness. No entry, no exit.

They also claimed nothing was stolen.

The maid testified that the Count had mild obsessive-compulsive tendencies, and his belongings were always kept in their proper places.

Everything in the study was untouched. Even the cash in the drawers.

However, the family members stated that the distinctive ring he always wore was missing from his finger.

But when he had last entered the study, his hand was in his pocket, making it impossible to confirm the ring’s presence.

Haywood sat up and clicked on a newspaper website. The news was already widespread, with several outlets reporting the death as breaking news.

Count Carrington Dies

Continued Misfortune for the Carrington Family

Their heir had recently suffered a crippling brain injury, and now the head of the family was dead.

“This is a family where heirs are scarce, much like the Aylesford lot. There will be utter chaos now,” he muttered.

Haywood—Andy to his friends—thought he would likely see the Carrington businesses fragmented and torn apart in the financial sector for some time.

He looked at the open browser for a moment longer before sinking back into his chair.

It was a major incident, but it wasn’t his responsibility.

This was a case for the higher-ups to handle with polite decorum. What was truly regrettable was that the drug case he had been diligently investigating was now likely to fizzle out.

Sighing in frustration, he looked up as a colleague entered the office and beckoned him over.

“Why?”

“Jin Durvis. Do you know him?”

Andy’s expression stiffened when the name of a freelance paparazzo he personally used for tips was mentioned.

“Why Jin?”

“He’s dead.”

“What? Why?”

The weariness that had been creeping in vanished instantly.

“We’ll know after the autopsy. But it’s obvious, isn’t it? He was old, a heavy smoker, drank like a fish. Plus, he had pre-existing conditions. Since he has no family, he’ll likely be cremated without a fuss. Anyway, this is some of his belongings.”

The colleague handed him several memory cards sealed in a plastic bag.

He then lowered his voice conspiratorially.

“I managed to get this quietly. Copy it quickly and bring it back. If there’s anything in there that could lead to a case, give me a cut.”

Andy quickly took the memory cards and hurried back to his desk. Before inserting them into the reader, he offered a brief, cynical prayer for the deceased, then immediately slotted the cards and began the copy.

A message popped up, warning of a large volume and requiring patience.

“Let’s see…”

Jin Durvis was a paparazzo who specialized more in personal assignments than celebrity shoots.

Because of this, he sometimes captured compromising photos of politicians, nobles, and even the occasional royal.

There might be something explosive among the files.

Andy began to review the copied photos. After scrolling through only a few…

“Huh?”

He stopped, a jolt of shock running through him.

A photo filled the screen: Jina Troll standing, looking small in an oversized men’s coat, with Ian smiling, watching her from just behind her shoulder.