A Cruel Beast’s Leash

Lady Evelyn, whose condition had gotten much better, left the annex.
When the day grew dimmer, Irvan finally arrived.

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“Emma?”

When his voice drifted through the front door of the annex and called out to her, Emma sprang up from the living room and ran up to him as fast as she could, threw herself on him and hugged his neck.
Having been gone for several days, the scent of the bitter, cold wind from the wilderness and soggy mud surrounded his body.

“What a big welcome…”

When his sweet voice tickled her ear, Emma’s eyes closed softly.
She was surrounded by his masculine, subtle scent — something she’d clearly missed.
“I missed you,” she said, her thoughts translating into words.

The corners of Irvan’s mouth curled up at her honest confession.
“So did I.
We felt it at the same time,” he replied.
Then, he lifted Emma and spun her around.
“Oh, how beautiful you’ve gotten since I left, Miss Herman.”

Emma’s eyes became hazy with joy, as she felt like she’d gone back in time to when she was a little girl enjoying her father’s hug.

“Please put me down.
I’m heavy!”

“Yeah, right.
You’re as light as a feather.”

Irvan, smiling with his usual handsome face, laid Emma down on the sofa and headed for the bathroom.
A little while later after coming out of the shower, he smelled clean and refreshed.
 He wiped his body down with a towel while drying his hair.

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Emma moved towards him and gestured.
“Sit on the sofa.
I’ll dry your hair for you,” she said.

“This is an honor,” he replied, chuckling.

Emma took his towel, started to dry his wet hair softly.
His stiff silver hair wrapped in the towel was a contrast to his regal appearance.
Emma was secretly shocked.

Irvan was an aristocrat, so his nutritional state was good by default.
Even during his quarantine treatment at the cabin, all of the food and drinks that’d been supplied to him were luxurious.
Despite that, he had serious split ends.
His hair under the towel was so strong and rough that it felt like a bundle of wires.

‘But…’

Hair is one of the main indicators of physical health.
His hair contrasted with his extremely good health condition.
This meant…

When Emma, with her eyes fixated on Irvan’s hair, stopped moving and stayed silent, Irvan lifted his head to look at her.
The perfectly symmetric blue-gray eyes captured her face.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Just… stay like this for a second,” she finally broke from her reverie and replied, smiling softly.

As she was done dying Irvan’s hair off with the towel, her eyes found a new wound when she got to his shoulder.
It started from his shoulder and went down his back, and was deep, but it was scabbed as if it had healed.
However, the surrounding area was badly red and bulging.

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As soon as Emma pressed down on it as if checking the swelling, Irvan frowned.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

“Did you press it to make it hurt?” Irvan replied.

“No.
How is it?”

“It stings a bit.”

Emma carefully felt around the swelled part.
“It’s because the pus hasn’t been removed,” she muttered.

“How did you know?”

“Because you went out monster hunting.
You were injured in a fight with a werewolf, right?”

“Yep.”

“That’s why you can’t leave it in this state.”

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“It’ll naturally heal after some time passes.”

“It’ll get infected if it’s not treated right.
Judging from its condition, you need to neutralize it.
Tomorrow I’ll go to the pharmacy to get some ointment.”

Irvan’s soft eyes grew sharp for a moment, revealing distrust close to hostility.
“And you know what kind of ointment to get?” he said.

As expected, he did not trust Layna.
This was inevitable since she was employed by Countess Karina.

Emma rubbed his forehead as if soothing him as she whispered.
“It will be fine.
I’ll get some herbs, then make the ointment myself,” she reassured him.

“Huh? You have that skill?”

“Of course.”

Irvan expressed doubt when she replied confidently.
“How?” he asked in wonderment.

“I’m not sure if I’ve said this before, but my father ran a pharmacy in Summerville.
It’s called Herman’s.”

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“That’s right.”

“It was a success.
And I didn’t get my inheritance from my father’s playing cards.
Thanks to that, I learned how to deal with medicine before I could even speak.”

Irvan hummed, pondering for a while.
“So, my lovely Miss Herman is by far the best?”

“You can say that,” Emma replied cheekily, “How about it? Now is that enough to believe me?”

“I’ll do whatever it is that you want, young lady.”

Irvan smiled while clasping her waist tightly.
As her body twirled in the air, all of a sudden she was seated on Irvan’s firm thighs.
Thud.
Emma’s face reddened at the feeling of a thick, rod-like presence under her bottom.
He had always been big, but she couldn’t believe it was revealing itself to her like this.

Irvan smiled mischievously as he glanced boldly at her rosy cheeks.
“I mean, it’s not the pus that’s urgent right now,” he said.

Emma fought the urge to laugh.
“…then what is?”

“This.” When he diverted his eyes down, his throbbing member grinded against Emma hotly.
 “I was having a hard time.
I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered, “I’m curious how my lady was.”

Then naturally, like flowing water, he lifted Emma’s skirt and slowly smoothed his palms over her soft, pale thighs.
Then, with a rough voice he said, “I am at the end of my patience.”