For a moment, Luvia remained still, watching Galatea with a strange expression. It was the smug smirk she usually had, but... the curve became much thinner than before. Her golden eyes narrowed slightly, no longer carrying the same ridicule.

"Eh, first love? It wasn’t you?"

Her simple words triggered something within Galatea.

She clicked her tongue and slammed against the desk with a dull thud.

The intense pain throbbed along her delicate fingers.

"I don’t know whether it can truly be called love. But back then, Luka was sickly, weak and desperate for attention in his loneliness. Yet whenever that woman appeared, everything changed, and he seemed different to me."

"Changed? In what way?"

Galatea bit down, squeezing her thigh until it stung.

"He became like a starving dog chasing her skirt, desperate for meat."

Luvia raised her brows as her smile collapsed.

"T-That guy, chasing a human woman? A-Are you sure, that feels so unbelievable..."

"How so?" Galatea cocked her head to the side upon Luvia’s strange reaction.

Her cheeks reddened as the dark elf rubbed her fingers together. Before she spoke, her long ears flopped, and her golden eyes glistened with a strange light.

"W-Well... he’s just so good... and..."

’What the hell happened between them!?’

"Stop it, I don’t want to hear this!" She shouted, unable to stop the churning waves of heat growing inside her chest.

The flames pricked at her heart, making it unbearable.

Rumours of Luka doing something to Luvia in the camp when they first captured her resurfaced, and Galatea looked away as if the memory itself irritated her.

"Enough about that... back then, it was truly fearsome. He waited near the windows and asked the servants whether the Aldebaran carriage had arrived. He insisted on dressing properly even when his body could barely stand. If she smiled, he smiled. If she touched his hand, he looked as if the Creator himself had blessed him."

’Strange... I felt nothing before. But why does it affect me so much now?’

Luvia’s expression turned strange; her face didn’t appear jealous or sympathetic, but her smirk vanished for the first time.

"Tsk, a sheltered little boy being toyed with a duke’s daughter, huh? I thought he told me I was the first..."

Galatea couldn’t quite hear the end of her sentence, but the disgust towards the bitch from Ironhold seemed complete.

"That was what I thought, at least at first."

"What about now?"

Galatea pressed her lips together to hold her tongue for a moment.

She carefully considered it for a moment and then responded while shaking her head.

"Now I don’t know, first the current Luka is so much different and... he seems to have an interest in other women."

"Hmph~" Luvia smiled to herself.

Luvia leaned back against the wooden pillar and crossed her arms beneath her breasts, causing the light robe to stretch across her dark skin.

"You don’t know, yet you call her crazy?"

"Because she is."

Galatea narrowed her eyes so sharply they formed blade-like slits.

"She never acted untoward in public, or when facing Luka’s father, but for a young noble lady to visit a male of lesser status... She acted strangely at first. The moment she met him for the first time, her lips twisted into the most disgusting grin. But then nothing happened... She acted like someone trying to keep a beautiful insect trapped in a glass jar. Her words were soft. Her manners were perfect. But her eyes..."

Luvia rocked her head from side to side, slowly licking her lips.

"This bitch is totally a groomer..."

Galatea continued in a quieter voice.

"Her eyes looked like she wanted to swallow him whole."

The tent fell silent.

Outside, the outpost remained restless despite the late hour. Soldiers moved through the muddy paths, weapons clinked against armour, and horses snorted beneath the copper firelight.

Yet inside the tent, the tension between the two women became sharper and more versatile, but despite that, they seemed more intimate.

Luvia struggled to stop her laughs as Galatea drank sweet wine from a mug, the two women now slightly tipsy after enjoying a few beers. Vaun rejected the beer, shook her head, and returned to take watch less than an hour ago.

"So, in your words, she’s worse than me?" Luvia giggled with slurred words.

"Heh, of course she’s far worse than you..."

"What’re those eyes?! So rude... just because my tits are bigger."

"You are too vulgar, what a shameless degenerate!"

"Heh, but Luka loves to suck on these things." She used her forearm to lift them slightly, allowing her pink nipples to peek through the thin cloth.

"Put them away, you damn slut!" Galatea gasped, almost spitting her beer everywhere. She glanced down at her chest, then froze.

’I don’t lose by that much...!’

"Fufu, thank you."

"But you are honest."

Galatea’s gaze returned to Luvia as she recovered.

"I know when you’re thinking about that idiot, and how serious you are whenever you approach him."

"W-What?!" Luvia’s cheeks flushed red as she tried to stop thinking about the man who took her virginity, how manly and powerful he was... despite making her feel all sorts of blissful pleasure that lingered in the depths of her body even now.

For once, Luvia didn’t answer immediately.

She lowered her eyes, seeming to think about something.

"Then why tell me, if you know how serious I am..."

"Because, I can tell you’re important to him and that he appears to shine whenever you both flirt..."

"Oh?"

Luvia’s eyes shimmered in the dark tent, the amber candle barely able to illuminate their bodies after it devoured most of the wick.

"Don’t make that face! It’s so frustrating."

"Do you think that honestly?"

"Mhm."

Galatea dropped onto the table, hiding her face between her arms, the salty taste of snacks lingering as she licked the remaining traces of sweet ale from her lips.

"I hate admitting it and hate it even more that I can’t stop thinking about it... But you and Luka, something happened in that forest, right? He never lets people stand so close, especially women... Yet you move in his shadows, sleep near his room and sometimes let him kiss you without care..."

"Lady Knight, are you perchance drunk right now?" Luvia’s face returned to normal, a faint green mist leaking from her lips as she adjusted herself. "So cute, why don’t you act this honest all the time... he’d probably sleep with you if you asked."

Though Galatea seemed jealous of her.

Luvia envied Galatea, someone whom Luka would touch only when he wanted more than momentary pleasure.

Anyone could tell that the way he looked at her, Iris and even that new woman, Mildred, was different... it irritated Luvia, who stroked the blonde knight’s silky hair, which lay messily over her shoulders.

"I don’t want to make enemies here, so for you... Let me keep an eye on that woman, and if she’s a threat to our beloved Master... Huuu~" She paused, the candle fully snuffed out with her faint breath.

She lifted the knight and tossed her onto the makeshift bed before turning to leave.

A pair of bright golden eyes opened near the entrance of the tent, glancing back at the sleeping knight.

"I’ll kill her."

With that, Luvia left the room, and their girls’ meeting finally ended.

...

Outside, the night air cooled the heat lingering in Luvia’s cheeks.

"What the hell happened to me in there..."

The outpost remained quiet at night, with the occasional knight or guard passing her body as she manoeuvred around in complete stealth. Once she mastered the ability to use it without a chant, using the Miasma gained in the forest...

Once again, the memories of giving her body to Luka resurfaced.

She glanced at his tent, feeling a growing heat in her abdomen. It’d only been a few nights since they last shared each other’s touch, and her body was hungry for more.

’Damn it, did I become addicted to that huge thing...?’

Her eyes lingered for a moment before she noticed a figure fleeing from the tent.

"Who is that?!"

However, before she could chase after them, the flap opened, and Luka stepped out with Old Levi behind him. The old steward’s face looked pale, yet his posture remained firm, as if whatever had happened inside only strengthened his resolve.

"My Lord, if you’ll excuse me, the scouts need to give their reports," Levi said quietly.

"No problem, Old man. Go and do what you need to do."

Levi left with swift steps as if escaping the scene.

Luka’s gaze shifted toward Luvia.

’Eh!?’

Her heart pounded rapidly.

Shocked, he saw through her stealth, which quickly dissipated at the sound of his voice.

"Where’s Galatea?"

It was a little irritating to hear her name first.

"Sleeping."

His expression became dull for a moment before he shrugged and scrutinised Luvia’s body, his eyes lingering on her chest and hips.

"You should wear more clothes when outside..."

"Oh, is that you being possessive—kyaa!?" She pranced closer, acting arrogantly, but to her surprise, he suddenly grabbed her waist and pulled her into his arms, and they fell back into his tent, staggering.

"Need you ask such an obvious question, Luvia?"

His hot breath blew against her long elven ears, sending violent jolts of electricity down her spine, as she pressed both palms against his chest. ’Damn it... my body is on fire from a single breath!’

"You are lucky we need to leave at the crack of dawn, naughty little elf." His deep voice vibrated through her ears, causing a sense of vertigo as she felt the damp heat between her thighs seeping into her undergarments...

"L-Let me go..."

"Let you go, who am I to let you go, Luvia?"

"Nnngh.... wait..."

His fingers sank into her soft flesh, slowly lifting her off the floor.

The sudden loss of stability made her panic, flailing as her legs wrapped around his waist, pressing her shameful heat against his stomach.

"Oh my, are you turned on,. Luvia?"

"Hnnnn.... Master, please, not now... I won’t wake up!"

"Really? That’s a shame... but you see, I really don’t want to!" He carried her to the makeshift bed, her body bouncing with each step, until the sound of leather dragging echoed through the silent tent.

Luka reached beneath her, and his pants dropped.

Plap!

Then something hot and hard slapped against her buttocks.

Luvia’s breath vanished.

Her golden eyes widened, then narrowed with a trembling glare that carried no real strength.

"You... really are the worst kind of man..."

"And yet your legs are still locked around me."

"Shut up..."

Her voice broke into a faint moan as he lowered her onto the makeshift bed, the old frame creaking beneath their weight. The thin blanket twisted beneath her back, while her silver hair spread across the pillow like a spider’s web in moonlight.

Luka leaned over her, one hand beside her head, the other gripping her thigh.

For a moment, neither moved.

Only their breaths mixed in the darkness.

Then Luvia reached up, caught his collar, and pulled him down until their lips almost touched.

"Then hurry... before I remember to hate you."

Luka smiled.

The tent flap stirred softly in the night wind.

Outside, the outpost remained quiet.

Inside, the last copper flame died as Luvia learned once more why her body had begun craving him, her breathless whimpers staining the darkness.