Time passed in the unchanging daily routine.

Beatrice, who eventually became pregnant, now had a belly that could no longer be hidden, but was still being summoned to the study at regular hours.

Elise repeatedly watched the Duke and Beatrice’s affair secretly from the closet, then came back to lust after Argen’s body, only then falling asleep.

Now, Argen too could not sleep without Elise’s touch. The signs of embarrassment at showing his body or struggling to refuse disappeared, and he too gradually became immersed in pl*asure.

“Ugh, Elder…”

It was the day when Argen came back soaked in sweat all over his body. The intense sweat smell was quite different from the sweet scent that could usually be smelled from Argen’s skin. It was a wild smell, a male smell.

That smell was somehow unpleasant and even a little frightening. Her rising desire and impulse were difficult to control to an unusual degree. Elise lay down, turning her back on Argen for the first time.

“Elder.”

When Argen attached his body to Elise’s back as if asking for a hug, his erect organ touched between her b*ttocks. Elise shivered involuntarily. What was behind her was a male’s body, a man’s body. Her thighs became w*t like a female ready to accept a male.

However, Elise could not overcome her fear and suppressed her desire.

“Go away.”

“Hug me, Elder.”

When Elise pushed Argen away, he clung to her, groaning. She tried to push him away again, but Elise simply didn’t have the strength to get him off.

Argen’s appetite had increased suddenly at some point. Elise always ordered about three servings of food and fed Argen large pieces of meat whole.

Even though his shoulders were already broad and his body was solid, they grew bigger, and his muscles found their pleasing place. Argen became like a well-crafted statue, so beautiful that one couldn’t help but admire him every time they looked.

“Come here, Argen.”

Elise eventually embraced Argen.

Most of the time, she would fall asleep holding Argen like she is now, but sometimes Elise would fall asleep buried in Argen’s arms. Although he grew to be even larger than a wolf, he was still a loyal dog to Elise.

“I like Elder.”

Before falling asleep, Argen always kissed Elise’s cheek with a happy face. Whenever she saw such an Argen, Elise felt contented.

Seeing a life form growing from her own hands was quite an interesting thing. She could shape it as she wanted and even prune it at times.

Of course, there were still many things to cut off.

Argen had now become quite good at speaking.

It was a good change for Argen, but Elise hated it very much. No owner wants a dog that speaks like a human. That’s why Argen hardly spoke in front of Elise, except for simple expressions.

The fact that Argen was learning from Teacher Herman was also very annoying. Not only because he was her teacher, but she also disliked the idea of someone other than her having any influence on Argen.

For Elise, nothing was more unpleasant than seeing him becoming refined. The fact that he was becoming a person, not a dog, meant that he could leave her at any time.

“You are mine. Right?”

Whenever she felt anxious, Elise would hug Argen so tightly that she could hardly breathe.

“Yes, Elder.”

Argen trembled as he kissed her. As his lips slid down and began to press against Elise’s neck, her delicate skin’s pulse raced madly.

“Stop it. I’m going to sleep.”

Elise desperately turned away from his lips and waited to fall asleep.

A dream.

In a dream, she could embrace him to her heart’s content.

* * *

The next day.

On her way to the closet, Elise deliberately passed by her mother’s bedroom.

Beatrice, who always guarded the firmly closed door of her mother’s room, was no longer standing there. The two maids who used to stand with her were whispering to each other; they saw Elise and simultaneously shut their mouths.

“Oh my, Miss Elise.”

“What brings you here, Miss?”

They soon smiled awkwardly at Elise.

Despite their words, which sounded like a greeting, Elise felt they inwardly sneered at her based from their awkwardly stiff smiles and rigid posture. People’s gaze towards her was always like that.

The reaction seemed far from pleasant, very awkward; their eyes seemed to say that she, as a person, was never welcome anywhere.

Already accustomed to such indifferent looks, Elise held her head even higher and wore a haughty expression.

“What were you talking about just now?”

“Yes?”

The two maids looked at Elise with surprised faces.

As far as they knew, Elise had no interest in the trivial chatter shared among the maids.

In fact, Elise considered the maids’ gossip to be vulgar and useless noise and often passed them by with a lofty expression, as if she couldn’t understand what they were babbling about.

So it was only natural that the maids were surprised by the sudden change.

Because the conversation they were having was not so nice, they hastily extended their hands, unable to conceal their surprise.

“It’s nothing, miss.”

“Yes. It’s really nothing.”

“Really?”

Elise twisted her lips and asked.

“If it’s nothing, you can tell me. Say it with your own mouth. What were you talking about?”

“That’s, uh……”

The maid, pointed out by Elise, hesitated and trailed off. From her troubled eyes, Elise read the absence of Beatrice.

“Why, because Beatrice is pregnant?”

“Oh my, how do you know that, miss?”

The maid was shocked and reflexively asked, covering her mouth with both hands with a gasp.

“Ah, no. It’s not that……”

“Then what is it?”

The maid who had spoken out of turn was flustered, unable to unspill the spilled water, and another more experienced maid stepped forward. She replied in a fairly calm voice, though trembling.

“Beatrice has gone to the Winter Castle, miss. That’s all.”

Winter Castle.

The Winter Castle was a cold and desolate place.

Elise had never been there, but she knew what kind of place it was. It was dark all around, with storms lashing several times a day. It was also a place where maids who had done wrong were forcibly sent.

Elise recalled the maids who had been driven to the Winter Castle. She could finally understand why the maids had to go to a place where no one came and went, and why they disappeared so quietly.

News that Beatrice was going to the Winter Castle had not long reached, and Argen no longer went to the library.

She didn’t know what relationship existed between the two that Father no longer called for Argen.

What mattered to Elise, however, was the fact that she now fully possessed Argen.

Argen, tied up again, was left in a room, helplessly waiting for Elise. A resigned expression as if he knew his place.

His daily routine was divided once more into time waiting for Elise and time spent with her.

“Elder, Elder, Elder!”

As the wait grew longer, he went wild with fear as Elise returned. Elise enjoyed his strong reaction and purposely left him longer.

“I couldn’t bear it; I wanted to see Elder so much.”

When back in the room, Argen lovingly rubbed his head against Elise’s chest and kissed every exposed part of her skin.

Elise smiled contentedly and adored Argen.

“Come here, Argen.”

Perhaps sending him to Teacher Herman wasn’t entirely bad. Now he could say exactly how much he missed Elise.

Now everything was in its place, and Elise’s daily life was quite satisfying.

Still, Elise’s steps led to the study like a bad habit. What was she heading towards? She didn’t even know herself.

Elise headed toward the closet behind the study.

Today, again, she felt as if someone was following her.

Perhaps it was guilt stemming from something she was doing secretly that she shouldn’t have been. On the other hand, she may have felt uneasy about someone discovering her one and only secret place. But was it really just her imagination?

“……!”

As Elise sensed a presence and quickly turned around, she saw a shadowy figure’s hair disappearing around the corner.

“…….”

Elise scowled and went to check, but there was nothing there. Perhaps she had seen it wrong. She looked around once more, confirmed that no one was watching, and then hid in the closet.

“Haah, Duke, it’s too deep!”

Beatrice cried out, clutching her round, swollen belly. The Duke, unconcerned, continued to thrust vigorously. Every time his g*nitals moved between her legs, her stomach seemed to swell even more.

“Aaah!”

As the Duke twisted Beatrice’s n*pple, she twisted her body in pain. Milky fl*id squirted from her enlarged, pregnant br*asts, scattering in all directions. The pale l*quid splashed wildly onto Beatrice’s stomach, br*asts, and thighs.

Milk was already coming out even before she had given birth.

It was a moment when the little common sense that Elise knew was shattered.

While she was astonished, milk dripped from Beatrice’s twisted n*pple. As the Duke pointed his tongue and flicked and licked her n*pple with the tip, Beatrice arched her head back and moaned as if she couldn’t bear it.