The Kidnapped Prince is Mine Now - Chapter 33

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 33
No urging was necessary. Rotar Eisenrit shed the layers of clothing that wrapped his body in one swift motion. As he cast aside his tall boots that reached his shins, he closed the distance between us with a single stride.
“Forgive my forwardness.”
With that brief warning, large hands settled upon my waist and back.
My body, frozen even in sensation, showed little reaction to those hands tracing bare skin. But the moment I was drawn into Rotar’s embrace and our flesh met, everything changed. It was as though forgotten warmth was flooding in from his skin.
“Ah…”
A sigh escaped me, almost like a prayer. I hadn’t expected to find such joy in the simple fact that his body temperature exceeded mine.
Rotar held me snugly against him as he settled onto the floor lined with thick blankets. He lowered my body between his legs, then began running his firm palms ceaselessly over my ears and neck, coaxing warmth back into me.
‘I’m coming back to life.’
It was as though I’d been wrapped entirely in an enormous heat pack. The blood in my frozen, lifeless body was finally circulating again.
I surrendered my weakened body completely to Rotar’s hands. Resting my chin against his shoulder, I whispered.
“Have you done this with the other knights?”
“That would be impossible.”
His voice carried a note of amusement at my absurd question.
“Well, survival comes first, doesn’t it?”
“Perhaps. But knights from the Northern Region rarely undertake expeditions to lands colder than their homeland.”
Ah, that’s right. Within the Empire, few regions endured winters more brutal than those of Graupels.
Had my mind frozen along with my body? I laughed softly at my own foolishness. At the sound, Rotar’s arms tightened around me with renewed force.
“I can’t breathe.”
“Ah, my apologies. It’s the first time I’ve heard Elise laugh.”
Is that so?
When was the last time I’d laughed aloud? I couldn’t quite remember, no matter how I tried.
It wasn’t strange. My life had been consumed with searching for escape routes while feeling Maximilian’s shadow slowly tightening around my throat.
Of course, that situation remained ongoing. The very reason I’d crawled into this cursed Snowy Mountains was, ultimately, because of Maximilian.
So what had changed?
“Here, try some of this warmed spirits.”
…The appearance of someone who tended to me with such devotion, warming my body back to life?
I parted my lips while resting my cheek against Rotar’s shoulder. He angled the cup to match my position and tilted it toward my mouth.
Just one sip. The potent liquor wet my tongue before sliding down my throat. Soon after, a hot, warming sensation bloomed through my belly.
I felt the bitter taste lingering in my mouth as my gaze fixed upon the man’s neck before me. A warrior’s neck—long and refined, yet with the sharp definition of muscle beneath the skin.
Extending my lips was almost instinctive. The moment I pressed them against his exposed skin, Rotar’s body tensed and went rigid.
“…Elise?”
Should I tease him further? I extended my tongue, softly licking the downy skin. His sun-darkened flesh carried a faintly salty taste.
I was considering whether to leave a mark of my own with my lips, just as he did to me.
“Mmph.”
His hands suddenly gripped both sides of my ribs, and my hips jerked upward. His grip was firm enough to leave fingerprints on my pale skin.
“Are you deliberately provoking me?”
Rotar asked in a low voice. Whether he truly expected an answer or not, his hands—which had been kneading my ribs—quickly traced downward across my skin.
I reached up and cupped his face, turning it toward mine to meet his gaze.
His eyes, burning with heat that matched his warming body, were fixed entirely upon me. That intensity of focus pleased me greatly.
“Are you going to?”
“Do you dislike it?”
“No.”
With my answer, I shifted my body and found a more comfortable position.
Rotar Eisenrit, sensing my intent, lifted me effortlessly and adjusted our angle so we could press closer together. His movements were unhurried and deliberate, without any trace of impatience. Heat began to rise where our skin met.
“Ah….”
Rotar Eisenrit exhaled deeply and drew me into his embrace. As he burrowed between our touching skin with a gentle rubbing motion, my lower back trembled involuntarily.
“Ah, mmm….”
“My hands are not clean enough to caress you properly. Please understand.”
Rotar Eisenrit’s movements were slower and more subdued than usual. Yet the perspiration gradually beading on his skin served as a lubricant, allowing his caresses to accelerate with increasing intensity.
“Mmm, ah, ah.”
I felt as though a long, slender creature held the tip between its small opening. I gripped Rotar Eisenrit’s back firmly and held my breath.
Even as he stimulated my sensitive skin, Rotar Eisenrit’s mouth moved deliberately. He lowered his head slowly, overlapping our lips, then instead of thrusting his tongue forward, he pressed and rubbed the soft flesh, his tongue briefly grazing my teeth before circling the roof of my mouth in smooth strokes.
“Mmm.”
With one hand, he wedged himself between our joined bodies and grasped my side. As heat rose, he kneaded the warm, supple skin, and when he curled his fingers to scratch, my hips twisted of their own accord.
Yet the arm holding my entire body firmly in place prevented me from escaping his touch. As our kiss deepened, his hand massaging my waist grew increasingly insistent.
“Mmm, ah….”
Rotar Eisenrit, whose tongue had been intertwined with mine, finally parted his lips and whispered.
“Is this acceptable?”
“Mmm.”
As I released a moan in response, the arm wrapped around my waist tightened with renewed strength.
***
“…Ugh, it’s hot.”
“That’s welcome news.”
When I came to my senses, the narrow tent had already grown warm with our shared body heat.
I hadn’t intended for us to press against each other like this, but seeing how our bodies glistened with perspiration, it seemed far from a poor choice.
“I can’t move a single finger.”
“Please, rest.”
Rotar Eisenrit melted snow into water, dampened a cloth with it, and wiped my body clean. I, already accustomed to his attentive care, surrendered to his touch and opened my mouth.
“The reconnaissance unit. What do you think happened to them?”
At my abrupt question, Rotar Eisenrit’s movements slowed for a moment. But that was all. He replied with a composed expression.
“It’s highly probable they perished for some reason. In a blizzard like this, finding their bodies would be impossible.”
After finishing with cleaning my body, he retrieved two sleeping bags from his pack and continued speaking.
“Once the expedition concludes, I must seek out their families and offer my apologies. The responsibility for failing to protect them falls on me.”
“…That is, if we complete the expedition safely.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
I pulled on a fresh undergarment and studied Rotar Eisenrit’s face quietly.
Once, I thought his expression was utterly unreadable. That sculpted face, habitually shrouded in composure, concealed everything beneath perfectly.
But not anymore. Whether from reading the heat and desire that flickered across his features each time our bodies met, or because Rotar Eisenrit himself had shed one layer of his mask before me.
Between the weight of responsibility and the inevitability of guilt, I could see a sorrow settling in—barely perceptible, yet unmistakable. It was not merely the emotion of an expedition commander.
I did not broach the subject of the missing knights again. Even if, as Rotar Eisenrit said, they were likely already dead, one could never be certain.
‘If even one of them returns alive, that would be a blessing.’
It was too early to mourn those whose bodies had not even been found. I wished the goddess of fortune favored us.
Yet even half a day later, the blizzard continued to pour down as if the heavens themselves had torn open, showing no sign of relenting. The knights took turns standing watch and clearing the snow that accumulated on the tent.
What if the blizzard didn’t cease for days?
A choice had to be made.
Either press forward, prepared to die in the attempt.
Or return to Graupels without gaining the strength to face Maximilian.
‘Why are these the only options?’
Death either way seemed equally grim.
I was about to speak to Rotar Eisenrit, who was maintaining his weapons while suppressing his troubled thoughts, when—
“The reconnaissance unit has returned!”
A shout from the knight standing watch outside the tent pierced the air.
Before I could even comprehend the meaning of those words, Rotar Eisenrit leaped to his feet and rushed through the tent opening. The comrades we’d thought lost were coming back.
I hurried after him, and found all the knights had emerged from their tents, their gazes fixed on a single point.
But then.
‘…Why do they all have that expression?’
Faces drained of color, as if they’d seen a ghost.
A terrible premonition seized me. I turned my head urgently toward where their eyes were directed.
And I saw it.
“…!”
A body drenched in blood, moving with a sickening creak in a blood-soaked winter coat.
Half of the head was completely crushed, exposing the raw flesh beneath in crimson.
‘It’s a corpse.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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