Lust Devil's Rise

Iris carefully peeked at Luka from the corner of her eyes.

’Oh gosh, those pants hide nothing!’

She observed him fastening, latching, and slipping into his tight-fitting pants, black leather boots, and the reinforced dark blue gambeson before squatting ten times, with his butt almost touching the ground.

’What is he doing?’

Luka slowly adjusted himself as her chest tightened when he snapped towards her with a strangely flat smile.

"Iris."

His voice was sexy, elegant and deep.

It reverberated in the back of her mind as she melted the anger she desperately tried to maintain.

’Damn, this overly confident prettyboy!’

After spending years with sweaty, unshaven men who wouldn’t know how to spell the word cleanliness if not for her forcing them to take baths or wash daily made Luka resemble a fairy.

His glossy black hair bounced slightly with each movement, and the slightly bronzed, blemish-free skin which peeked from his neckline.

All of it grabbed her attention like a dog to a bone.

"W-What?!"

So whether it was out of embarrassment, or just wanting to hit him for being manwhore she found herself stuttering or raising her voice.

"We do not have to be at each other’s throats like this, and besides, Iris..."

’Eh?’

After he scolded her, she felt overcome by a sudden gloom, yet his soft, seductive words dissipated it with a single sentence.

Suddenly, he reached out.

Luka’s fingers had no callouses or marks... like a delicate maiden’s hands, causing Iris’s chest to thump as they came closer, before tapping her lips.

’Ah...’

The thump of her heart felt like it shook her entire body, the dull thuds making it hard to breathe while her brain focused on the sensation of him squishing her lips.

’I want to lick.’

Intrusive thoughts seeped into her mind as she froze.

"...when you get angry, it ruins your pretty little face."

"Hah?!"

All she could do was gasp.

Her heart felt like it exploded; the sudden compliment was a complete foul. Though she was a princess, in her life as a woman, there had never been such an encounter. She’d never met a man brave enough to face Brea and approach her.

The action and his words resembled the romantic novels she bought from travelling merchants over the years.

"Luka, I—"

However, he was gone.

Luka slipped through the leather flap as fast as he’d touched her lips.

Iris slowly traced along the places his finger brushed, while pressing her lips together.

"I don’t have feelings for him, and yet..."

She closed her eyes and tried to steady her racing heart. "Why can’t I defy his words or quell these intense reactions of my body?"

Her pulse calmed after a few moments, allowing her to regain her clarity. Even now, she didn’t feel a strange flutter or desire to chase Luka. There wasn’t some magical flicker that lit the moment he touched her and spurred an ember of affection.

’It’s mere lust...’

Iris shook her head and smiled with a slight grimace.

To marry someone she didn’t have feelings for, a thing she once detested.

’I never wanted to marry out of duty... but before I could even face such a fate, my family were betrayed and slaughtered. In a single night, everything I knew became a foolish dream, or could I say nightmare?’

Her finger slipped from the corner of her lips as she glanced at the bed where he had lingered a few moments earlier.

The thought that another woman slept in the same bed shouldn’t have any impact on her, yet Iris didn’t like it. She wanted to find the woman who did and tie her to a horse, then ride it while dragging her through the dirt until she begged for forgiveness.

Iris leaned against a wooden box, shaking her head, trying to clear her mind of these messy thoughts.

When thinking about the strange boy, Luka. She found herself wanting to get closer to him, even though her mind hated how lustful he acted. Though different from love, she couldn’t help but feel he carried a similar scent, the scent of someone who’d lost everything at the hands of betrayal... even though such a coincidence is impossible.

"Hah!"

’He’s the Lord of Babylon, what suffering has he faced?’

Though handsome and dependable, he was a little too weak for her tastes.

"No... I thought he was weak, but those muscles..."

She couldn’t help but rub the swelling on her wrists, thinking back to when he was dressing himself and revealed tight, well-sculpted muscles from his thighs to his shoulders.

’Why can’t I keep myself calm whenever he stares into my eyes?’

’What is it that makes my body tingle the moment we touch...’

’Have I been cursed?’

’Will he also abandon me, like all the rest who offered to help?’

Once again, while tracing the smudge of her waxed lip, she suddenly frowned, covering her face with both hands, running her fingers through her hair. Iris’s shoulders trembled as a sudden chill travelled up her spine. The cold afternoon winds woke her from the strange daydream she found herself in.

"Foolish girl, don’t be fooled!"

A princess couldn’t hold the same dreams of love or freedom.

Even if her family were alive and well, her fate would be to marry another prince or high noble to improve relations.

Now, she was a mere village bandit, using herself as a bargaining chip to save it.

’What foolish dream was I having?’

Love.

What is that?

Although Brea once told her of the wonders of love, how could Iris believe in them now?

’Yes, after all, he just left me here, there’s no reason to linger... Let’s forget this fleeting dream and move on.... even if this was my final hope...’

She remained silent, her chest swirling with dark emotions, but the moment she finally managed to calm herself, the curtain behind her fluttered.

That’s when Luka returned.

His pretty face poked through the leather, wearing a big smile.

"Hey, what’s taking you so long? Ah! Also, while it’s on my mind. Since we’re engaged, do you want to sit beside me during dinner?"

"Eh?"

The sudden question, along with his return, melted the ice wall she tried to form; she just seethed with anger at how he could be so free.

Yet just hearing his stupid voice brought a nostalgic warmth that she thought lost forever, and the more they interacted, the more it grew inside her.

"No, I just thought that kind of thing would be important to you."

"Idiot..."

He suddenly cupped his ears while tilting his head.

"What? I didn’t hear you."

Iris bit her lip and rushed towards the exit and hit him head-on.

The force almost pushed him over as she grabbed his arm in the confusion, shouting in his ear a moment later with a smile. "I said you’re an idiot!"

’Stupid, horny, cheating, fool!’

All the dark thoughts and lingering cold vanished from her mind, leaving only thoughts about Luka and how she would teach him to become a better man.

The two then ran through the camp, both laughing for no reason.

Her heart pounded, her hair danced in the wind, and for a moment, Iris felt all her burdens vanish at the hands of this careless man beside her.

The memory of smelling another woman on his bed suddenly flashed in her mind as she felt a sharp stabbing sensation in her chest.

It came and went in less than a second, but Iris bit her lip while tensing her muscles.

’Why do I hate the thought of other women lying beside him so much....’

One thought came to her mind.

’Impossible!’

There was zero chance she felt that way towards him, not this easily. He might be attractive, but with the hellish life she endured for almost two decades, how could she even think about those things?

But the more she observed him.

His face, his expressions, his voice, all of it caught her attention.

While hearing him explain everything about his plans for the goblin assault to her, a strange feeling grew larger and larger just beneath her stomach.

However, she clenched her fists, trying to ignore it.

’For now, I need to save my people and retake our village. If this body without curves is enough to gain his assistance, then I will gladly give it to him.’

...

The two eventually came to a different tent from the night before; it was large, and the sound of several conversations echoed from the open flap.

"What’s this?"

"Hmmm, where do the knights come to eat?"

"Eh? Why are we here?!"

She couldn’t understand his actions.

To her knowledge, a Lord would normally have a private meal to uphold his dignity.

"What? We’re here to eat, of course, I decided that it’d be better to share a meal, even though Brea is here, look!" He pointed inside the massive tent, and just like he said, almost a hundred men all sat eating, drinking and laughing together.

Amol Warriors.

Hunter.

Babylon Knights.

None of that mattered as they shared fresh meat off the bone, a simple soup and some mashed potatoes and gravy.

Even the wolves ate outside together.

Iris just glanced around, seeing familiar faces, while Brea suddenly froze upon meeting her gaze, a massive chunk of meat in her huge mouth.

"Come on, let’s go enjoy the meal, Wife!"

She felt his fingers softly intertwine with hers, as her heart thumped with another flutter.

Iris glanced at the back of his head, allowing him to pull her towards the large, rounded table, with seven or eight people on it, and quietly smiled.

’Ah, what do I do?....

....I don’t think I can wake myself from this wonderful dream.’