"They all do," Mark replied with a smile.

Emilia looked at him for an instant with flushed cheeks and an embarrassed expression on her face.

And then she kissed him again.

This time, however, it was different. The shyness from before had completely vanished, and in its place the queen clung to him with an urgency she no longer tried to contain.

Her lips parted against Mark’s and her tongue found his as the kiss grew deeper.

Mark responded without hesitation.

His hands traveled down Emilia’s back until they rested on her waist as the kiss continued. She held onto him tightly, weaving her fingers through his hair to keep him close, and her breathing grew more and more unsteady.

Then Emilia pulled back from the kiss by just a few centimeters and gave a small jump.

Her legs closed around Mark’s waist and her arms wrapped around his neck.

Mark caught her by pure instinct, moving his hands to her thighs so she wouldn’t fall.

His fingers sank slightly into the softness of her skin as she finished settling against him.

"I need you inside me..." Emilia murmured in a breathless voice, her warm breath brushing his ear. "Now."

Mark pressed her a little tighter against his body, letting her feel his hard erection.

The queen pressed her naked body even closer against Mark’s and was about to kiss him again when the bedroom door burst open.

"Oh, Master, I forgot!" Aria’s voice said, entering the room with urgency. "Rose asked us to stop by the library to pick up some books she had Cali set aside for her, so we’d better hur—"

Aria stopped mid-sentence and mid-step when she finally processed the scene in front of her.

Mark was standing in the middle of the room, holding Emilia up by the thighs so she wouldn’t fall, while the queen remained clinging to him, completely naked and with her face still just centimeters from his.

And for a few long seconds, nobody said a word.

All three stayed motionless, until a slight expression appeared on Aria’s face.

"Master..." she said in a tone that was superficially calm but had a tension underneath that anyone could detect. "If you were planning to take the queen as a concubine, you should have told us..."

"It’s not what it looks like..." Mark admitted. "We just got a little carried away."

"...A little?" Aria repeated, watching how Emilia was still hanging off Mark without showing any sign of wanting to come down.

Mark let out a small, guilty laugh at being caught.

Aria looked at him for another second before shifting her gaze to Emilia.

The queen was still clinging to Mark and, far from pulling away, had pressed herself even closer to him, as if staking her claim.

Aria stayed quiet.

Her expression remained just as calm, but the way her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second made it evident she wasn’t exactly pleased with what she was seeing.

"I see..." she said, letting out a sigh. "In that case, if the Master wishes, I can go fetch the things Rose asked for on my own while he... pleases his new concubine."

The word "concubine" left Aria’s mouth with a tone that made it very clear what she thought about it.

"No," Mark said quickly. "I’ll come with you."

Emilia turned her head toward him.

And the expression she gave him made Mark feel a small pang of guilt.

Her green eyes looked at him with a disappointment so obvious it was almost as if she were asking him whether he was really planning to leave at that moment.

"I’ll make it up to you later," Mark said, offering her a smile. "With interest."

Emilia looked at him for a few seconds, deciding whether that promise was enough. In the end she seemed satisfied.

Then she let out a faint sigh and slowly began to lower herself until her bare feet touched the floor.

However, before stepping away, she brought both hands to Mark’s cheeks and leaned toward him.

The queen apparently wasn’t going to let him go quite so easily.

She quickly closed the distance between them and kissed him. It was a long, unhurried kiss, one that stretched on for several seconds before she finally pulled away again.

Emilia’s tongue slid into Mark’s mouth with intensity, and her hands held his face with a firmness that left him unable to pull away even if he wanted to.

And while she kissed him, Emilia opened her eyes slightly and directed her gaze toward Aria.

It wasn’t a casual glance or a coincidence. She looked at her directly for several seconds, and little by little a faint smile began forming at the corner of her lips while she was still kissing Mark.

Aria understood Emilia’s intentions instantly, and the smile that appeared on her own face shortly after was so forced it seemed to cost her enormous effort to hold.

"...Master," Aria said in a voice dripping with poisoned sweetness. "Can we hurry? Rose is waiting for us..."

Mark pulled away from Emilia’s kiss with a wet sound that echoed in the silent room.

"Coming right now," he said, lightly wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before turning toward Emilia. "We’ll continue this later."

Emilia looked up at him with a smile that had nothing to do with the depressed, weakened queen of a few minutes ago.

"I’ll be eagerly waiting," she replied in a soft tone that bordered on seductive.

Mark headed toward the door where Aria was already waiting. When he reached her side, she stepped aside to let him pass first, but before stepping out she cast one last look into the room.

And the smile she had been maintaining vanished instantly at the sight of the queen.

Emilia was standing beside the bed with her arms crossed, but the soft smile she had shown Mark had completely disappeared, replaced by a very different one.

A satisfied, provocative smile directed exclusively at Aria, one that stopped just short of saying "I won," but came dangerously close.

The queen’s green eyes gleamed with something that was neither sadness nor exhaustion nor vulnerability.

It was pure and simple provocation.

"Crazy bitch..." Aria whispered through her teeth before slamming the door shut with a bang that echoed down the entire corridor.

Mark, who was already walking a few steps ahead, turned his head at the sound of the slam.

"Everything alright?"

"Yep, verything’s perfect, Master," Aria replied with a forced smile.

After that both of them continued down the corridor toward the library in a silence Mark chose not to break.