[SCR] 15 – Prisoner of Forbidden Fruit

"You can reveal your bosom more. It's more pleasing to my eyes that way."

"I'm not... I..."

　Clutching her skirt, Idyllia roused herself.

"I, I'm only here to look after you... I'm sorry..."

"Sent by that formidable sister. How difficult."

　He laughed amusedly and held out his hand.

"Come. I'll reveal to you whether your primness is a pretence or true."

　His careless way of inviting her was like an adult man accustomed to sex.

(In the past... he was reserved in his embraces, he used to ask me what I wanted...)

The anxiety, combined with the fact that his body was more muscular than she remembered, made her shy away from even approaching him.

"Silvio, I..."

The moment she called out, he raised one eyebrow.

"Silvio?"

"... Sir Silvio, I didn't mean to do that..."

"Idyllia."

　He interrupted her as if to block her words.

"If you're a caretaker, you'll come when I tell you. Is that clear?"

"... Yes."

　She took a step closer to him as he told her to. Silvio grasped her hand and pulled her forcefully. He sat her on his lap: thigh to thigh, separated by the thin barrier of his trousers.

"Ah..."

As she processed their position, he hugged her tightly.

"Idyllia," Silvio groaned huskily. "This colourful dress is a sight for sore eyes. I wanted to say a few things, but all that is irrelevant now."

"Ah, please let go...!"

"Tell me you're a fool. I can't let go. Your breasts are soft and have grown since five years ago, and your skin is inviting me to mark it. I cannot wait to embrace you."

"No... No...!"

　When she involuntarily refused, he turned her face to his, eye to eye, breath to breath.

"Do you have a lover?"

"... No."

　His face was terribly close. Idyllia wandered her gaze, not knowing where to look.　

Through the dress against her back, she felt his hard body and warmth, which made her nervous.

“Please don’t...”

“You’ve become so beautiful. You’ve at least had a marriage proposal, haven’t you?”

“Not for a long time now... I’ve been living in the Convent...”

She couldn’t bear the tension of his stare and lowered her eyes.　He scooped her chin with his fingertips and made eye contact with her.

“So you’re still a virgin?”

“That’s...”

　He twirled his fingertips in the trailing hairs on the nape of her exclaiming neck, nuzzled his lips against her ear and whispered.

“This is good. I see I get to pick the first flowers of the Leveaux family head’s daughter. And on top of that, I can humiliate you and throw you away, and no one will challenge me to a duel.”

“Forgive me... I only... I’m just trying to look after you...”

“Unfortunately, you are one of the offerings this country gives me. You have been sent to this room to offer yourself to me when I ask for it.”

　-A light brush against her arm, fingertips that moved lightly on her skin; sensually teasing; massaging. The touch made her shoulders twitch, and she gasped for breath.

“No matter how I treat you, the king of this country will not complain. All you are allowed to do is beg for my mercy.”

"────..."

　Unbelievable. How could this person be the kind, gentle Silvio?　

She pleaded with watery eyes, but his sweet gaze filled with desire did not budge.　

But Idyllia also had something she could not give in to.

“... It is only to God that I beg for mercy.”

　In a shaky voice, she showed him nonetheless.　

-That it was not her own will to commit sins of the flesh.

-That even though her body may sin because of circumstances from which there was no escape, he could not defile her heart.

“Ho...”

　Silvio returned lightly, kissing her exposed shoulder.

“So I am, as it were, the devil who gives an innocent woman a sweet apple and draws her into sin. Interesting.”

　After tracing her skin with his lips and kissing her repeatedly, he sat up from the chaise, carrying Idyllia.　

He carried her straight to the bedroom, laid Idyllia down on the mattress and covered her with the thick quilt.

“I will make you a prisoner of the forbidden fruit* and steal you from God.”

*A biblical allusion to Eve sinning by eating the forbidden fruit from the garden of Eden, even though God told her not to. Silvio refers to the ‘apple’, but we don’t know if it was actually an apple.

　The horrifying words make her push back against his chest.

“No...”

“Such fragile resistance will only fuel your inferiority complex.”

　He spoke with a chuckle and quickly removed her provocative dress.　Meanwhile, Idyllia resisted with all her might to prevent him from taking it off, but he was not disturbed in the slightest.　He even removed her corset and underwear with the deftness of changing a spoilt child.　Idyllia found herself in the same state as she had come out of her mother’s womb. This was the first time anyone had seen her like this, even when she was a child.