Chapter 66

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The sweltering midday heat was breaking more drastically with each passing day. Like many northern nations, the Zetina Kingdom practically skipped autumn entirely. The dying breath of summer merely produced a handful of faded, fallen leaves before plummeting straight into early winter.

A thick, heavy blanket already covered Lino’s bed. Clutching the warm mana stone to his chest, Lino lay on his stomach while Grondil lounged on his side, watching him. Together, they welcomed the late afternoon cocooned beneath the covers.

“If he valued his own life more than his ambition, he should have let go of that lesser greed,” Grondil remarked out of nowhere.

“Excuse me? What are you talking about all of a sudden?” Propped on his elbows to read, Lino cast a sidelong glance at Grondil, completely baffled by the abrupt statement. In his full Beast form, Grondil lay beside him, casually offering one massive arm as a makeshift bookstand for Lino.

“I am talking about Sir Disson.”

“Ah… him.” Hearing words like ambition and life, Lino had assumed it was a matter of grave importance, but his fleeting interest evaporated instantly upon realizing it was just about Yuneria.

“Are you not curious about how Sir Disson is faring in the Empire?” Grondil pressed, sliding his arm out and snapping Lino’s book shut.

“He’s a vicious person. I’m sure he is doing just fine over there.”

Aside from his atrocious personality, his face and body were undeniably beautiful; he was probably soaking up the Emperor’s favor right now. The Emperor’s inner circle was allegedly a viper’s nest of plots and schemes. Since Yuneria derived sick pleasure from painting a target on someone’s back and relentlessly tormenting them, he might have actually thrived and become the hidden power of the imperial palace. It was incredibly easy to picture Yuneria looking down his impossibly high nose, ruthlessly bullying his subordinates. Well, that’s his life. Concluding that such a future suited Yuneria perfectly, Lino completely severed his interest.

Watching Lino so effortlessly dismiss the topic, Grondil let out a soft huff of amusement.

“Why… are you laughing like that?”

“I laugh because Sir Disson is truly pathetic.”

Lino scowled. Why is he suddenly pathetic? He absolutely despised the idea of Grondil feeling pity for Yuneria.

“Unfurrow your brow.” Thick fingers pressed firmly between Lino’s eyes, smoothing out the crease. Yet, Lino’s crumpled mood refused to straighten out. His eyebrows shot up as he demanded sharply, “May I ask exactly why he is pathetic?”

Grondil marveled internally at the fiery rebellion flashing in Lino’s green eyes. To think the boy who used to avoid his gaze entirely would react this vehemently to him pitying someone else. He had wanted Lino to treat him more comfortably, but contrary to Grondil’s wishes, Lino quickly lowered his brows and tucked his tail between his legs.

“Um… never mind. He went to the Emperor without even being a real Letia, so I suppose it is a bit pitiful. It will be a massive disaster when he gets caught.”

“Why stop asking? If we are measuring pitifulness, you are in a far worse state than Sir Disson.”

“…Me?” Hearing himself called more pathetic than Yuneria right to his face, Lino blinked several times before tossing his closed book aside. He sat up, drawing his knees to his chest. “I don’t think that’s true, Your Highness.”

“Tch. I told you not to call me ‘Your Highness’.”

“Ah… yes. Lord Grondil. Lord Grondil.”

For a while now, Lino had been subjected to Grondil’s relentless demands to drop ‘Your Highness’ and call him by his name. Initially, while being mindlessly pounded by the Beast’s cock, he had blindly sobbed out ‘Lord Grondil, Lord Grondil’ as he clung to him, completely shaken to his core.

Once the brain-melting pleasure faded, Lino realized how profoundly disrespectful he had been. However, having tasted the thrill of Lino desperately begging with his name, Grondil continuously demanded it. Lino kept refusing—‘No, how could I dare, I cannot’—and the repercussions of those refusals came back multiplied in the dark.

But aside from Lino’s reluctance to use his name, Grondil was venting his pent-up frustration on Lino for an entirely different reason.

Even this afternoon, Lino had a farewell gathering scheduled, and his post-return itinerary remained unchanged: socializing with acquaintances during the day, and tangling with Grondil at night.

How many times has it been…?

Lino stared at the ceiling with unfocused, hazy eyes. Having just ejaculated, he was utterly convinced his brain fluid was leaking out alongside his semen. The puddle soaking me from my chest to my stomach has got to be half cum, half brain matter. What time is it, anyway? He was human earlier, when did he shift into a Beast? Hmm… was he a Beast from the start?

His thoughts kept snapping. If someone cracked his skull open right now, they wouldn’t find a brain, just a pile of mashed pudding.

Ah, thinking about pudding makes me want to eat pudding. Just as he licked his lips, the sensation of his deepest reaches being forcefully pried open snapped him back to reality.

“Y-Your Highness…? If you push in any deeper, I’ll… I’ll die. Ahk! Ah…!”

“Call my name, and I will only push in this far today,” Grondil bargained, pressing a finger near Lino’s belly button. Lino was bawling that he would die if it went any deeper, yet three full knuckles’ worth of Grondil’s cock still remained outside. Grondil scolded him, demanding to know why his appetite had shrunk when he used to swallow it to the hilt so easily.

Lino desperately wanted to scream at him to try shoving a cock that massive into his own hole, but lacking the courage, he merely pleaded with tear-filled eyes.

“Please, Lord Grondil. Ahh… It feels like something is inside, hnngh…! Ah, ah!”

“It feels like what is inside?”

“Yes, something is touching… Haa?!”

Nodding frantically, Lino suddenly felt the tip of Grondil’s cock press firmly against something deep within his abdomen. A terrifyingly distinct sensation shivered down his spine.

“Before I completely puncture this spot, drop the ‘Your Highness’ and call my name. Do that, and I won’t breach it, and I’ll make sure it doesn’t hurt.”

The cock ravaging his insides was brutal, but the voice whispering in Lino’s ear was sickeningly sweet. It was exactly like an armed robber graciously offering not to stab him if he kept quiet.

Had Lino been in his right mind, he would have rejected the unfair proposal. But while taking a Beast’s knotting cock, maintaining his sanity was an absolute impossibility. The crushing weight pinning him down, the ferocious member splitting him open, forcing its way through his narrow tract to ruthlessly mash against his swollen prostate, and then invading even deeper to churn his organs—staying lucid through all that was impossible.

“G-Gron…” Lino’s lips parted. They opened and closed silently several times. Finally, slipping between his feverish pants and moans, the name Grondil so desperately craved spilled out. “Lord Grondil…”

Watching Lino utter his name with such desperate pleading, Grondil smiled in deep satisfaction. He lowered his face and extended his tongue. Soft fur brushed against Lino’s lips as the thick muscle dragged roughly across his entire lower jaw.

“Again.”

“Lord Grondil, ah…!”

Grondil thrust his hips in a slow, agonizingly deliberate grind, keeping his promise not to plunge any deeper.

“More.”

“Lord… Gron… dil, hnngh! Lord…! Ah, ahh! Haaah!”

After that, Lino was shaken until his brain liquefied into mush. Unable to withstand the violent recoil, the arms he had wrapped around Grondil’s neck slipped away. He frantically clawed at the Beast’s shoulders, but his fingers only found fistfuls of thick fur. Losing his grip even on that, Lino’s hands collapsed onto the tangled sheets. He wanted to rip the blanket to shreds, but it had long been crumpled and kicked to the floor early in the evening, and his pillow was wedged under his lower back. There was nothing left to grab.

Ultimately, Lino seized Grondil’s wrist. The Beast’s wrist was far too thick for Lino to secure with one hand. As his body was violently jerked upward with every thrust, Lino twisted his torso and clamped both hands around Grondil’s single wrist, clinging to it like a lifeline. His trembling hands turned bone-white, pale blue veins bulging fiercely beneath his skin.

“Don’t forget your promise. Haa…”

“P-Promise?”

At Lino’s breathless question, Grondil nodded and moved his free hand. Pressing firmly down on Lino’s slightly swollen stomach—which was exposed due to his twisted posture—Grondil said, “Here.”

“Haaaah!” The moment his stomach was pressed, Lino shrieked in absolute ecstasy. The cock churning his insides flared with overwhelming presence under the external pressure from Grondil’s hand. He had been pounded with his stomach pressed like this many times before, but recently, Lino had become hypersensitive to even the slightest pressure on his abdomen.

“M-My stomach…” Lino hurriedly reached down and grabbed the hand compressing his belly. He pleaded and shoved, begging Grondil to let go, but the Beast’s hand remained an immovable boulder.

He thrashed, terrified the babies inside would be crushed. It was a womb formed inside a male body, forcefully displacing his natural organs. Even if they would be born small as animals, Lino was carrying three cubs. His stomach had visibly swollen to the point where anyone would find it strange.