SS1: Damian -4-

The door opened quietly and the mild scent of tea wafted in. Hugo was buried in his work, not lifting his head, but when the sign of someone approaching didn't disappear, he lifted his gaze. He discovered his wife, standing there with a tea tray in her hands and his eyes grew wide.

"How come you're here?"

"Did I interrupt you? I would like some of your time. Is now okay?"

"Ah. Yes, now is fine."

Hugo swiftly got up and sat opposite of her on the sofa. Lucia filled the two teacups with tea and placed one in front of her husband and herself.

"I felt like it would be right to talk with you here because it's both a personal matter and formal matter."

Lucia placed the mail she had brought with her on the table. Hugo looked through the contents of the mail with an indifferent expression and as Lucia watched him put it back inside the envelope, she said:

"You know what this is about, right?"

"It's nothing big. He seems to have fought with his classmates."

"Is Damian hurt?"

Hurt? Damian's swordsmanship was at a professional level. The sword skills he learnt were the standard one, so they couldn't surpass the killing skills that Hugo learnt as a mercenary slave, but it would be difficult to find his match among his peers.

According to the reports, he could even win against his seniors that were three to four years older easily. By the time he graduated, he wouldn't lose to anyone in a pure swordsmanship match. The generations of men in the Taran family had sturdy constitutions. Equipped with the skill of innate ability, they had no opponent.

"It's fine. Kids fight as they grow."

As he watched Lucia breathe a sigh of relief, Hugo thought that she treated Damian too much like a child. He didn't know what she was so worried about when her son was already so much taller than her.

"So why is he suspended for a simple fight? What's going on? Was the child he fought greatly hurt?"

"It's not really that."

Hugo couldn't help but briefly explain what Damian's current situation was like. He explained that Damian lived hiding his status so there were guys who often came to look for his trouble and that this time, he received an unfair punishment. Hugo spoke lightly but Lucia's expression gradually hardened as she listened.

"So you're saying that Damian was ridiculously and unfairly punished."

"…Sounds about right."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Hugo didn't care much about it. He was going to just let it pass by. But when he was about to reply with, 'what am I supposed to do,' he felt like his wife's eyes would turn up sharply, so he quietly shut his mouth.

Lucia's maternal love was at its peak after giving birth and raising Evangeline. The knowledge that Damian was being oppressed at the Academy made unbearable anger surge within her. How dare they— to my son!

"Actually, I have been thinking about things regarding Damian."

Not long ago was Evangeline's first birthday. Hugo borrowed a hall in the royal palace and held an extravagant and grand birthday party. It was big enough for the attendees to insinuate that the party was bigger than Princess Selena's. Despite receiving a swarm of congratulatory messages, Lucia was disheartened by Damian's absence throughout.

When she sent Damian an invitation to attend, Damian replied that he was sorry, but it was difficult because he was in school. Damian truly couldn't spare time during the semester so he couldn't attend. However, Lucia took it differently, in that, she thought that Damian was averse to presenting himself before other people.

The capital's high society did not know of Damian's existence. The people who were always in-the-know with rumors definitely knew, but because they were caution of the Duke and Duchess of Taran, they didn't spread it.

Lucia did not intend to hide Damian. However, Damian was too young to make a social debut and because he went to the academy, he was never at the capital, which meant that even if she said anything, it would just cause useless rumors to spread so she simply kept to herself.

Lucia's mind began to change due to the New Year party this year. Every year at the New Year's party, many noble children made their debut in the social circle. She watched as the parents of the children busied around everywhere, trying to make sure their children who were debuting, made even the slightest good impression.

Lucia had smiled as she greeted the young boys and girls of fourteen years who were just making their debut. And then, there was a boy who strikingly stood out to her. It was Chris, the son of Marquis Philip. People's attentions were focused on the debut of the child of a family in power. He wasn't greeting people, rather, they were greeting him.

As Lucia watched the confident and brightly smiling young boy, Damian came to her mind. She thought to herself, that Damian was as qualified as the Marquis's son to be standing there confidently, with people's attention on him.

"Do you really want Damian to stay in the dorms until he graduates?"

"I promised to let him graduate from the day he entered."

"I'm not saying that he shouldn't graduate. I'm just asking if he needs to be on the boarding course? Other kids are on vacation while Damian had to have dates annually issued for him to go out. This cannot go on until his graduation."

"So what are you thinking?"

"Change his course. It shouldn't be boarding course, but something that allows him to come home on vacation like the other kids at the academy."

"I don't think that's possible within the Academy's regulations."

"I know you can change it."

Hugo was shocked speechless by the fact that such words came out from his wife's mouth.

"In addition, there is now a need for Damian to introduce himself into the social circles."

"Why all of a sudden?"

Damian's social debut wasn't something he had considered. Damian would be eighteen years old when he finished his 12 years of boarding. At that point, he would have learnt what he needed to do at the academy, plus he would be at the proper age, so he would then be taught what needed to be taught. That was Hugo's plan.

"It's not all of a sudden, this is something I have been thinking about. When Damian graduates, his social debut will be too late."

Social debuts usually happened at fifteen, and at the earliest, it was one or two years earlier. However, there weren't many cases where someone made a debut considerably late. Families who followed the rule of succession mostly kept to this principle.

"It's not that necessary. A social debut isn't that important."

"It is important. Damian's birth had a weakness. So I think it will be better to have him debut very early and make people recognize that he is definitely your successor."

Until now, the Taran family had gone by without participating in many activities in the social circles. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that they had locked themselves up in the north. In this generation, Hugo unusually broadened their activities. According to his precedents, social activities in the capital were meaningless.

However, there was a possibility for changes in the way the Taran family ran when Damian took over. In addition, the social debut arrangements of the children was the Lady of the House's responsibility. Therefore, Hugo couldn't find any reason to oppose his wife's idea.

"I want to hold a debut party before the end of this winter."

"I think that's early."

"By the time New Year comes around, he will be thirteen. He's taller and more mature than those his age so it's fine."

"Do what you want."

"Ask His Majesty for use of the hall like you did for Eve's birthday."

"Borrow what hall. The New Year party is soon after this winter anyways. It can be done then."

"But Damian isn't the focus at the New Year's Party."

"It isn't good if he stands out too much on his first debut stage. Especially since to the other people, his existence isn't even known and then, he suddenly appears.

"Is that so…you have a point. I'll think about it again."

Hugo borrowing a hall in the royal palace to throw an unprecedented grand ball for Evangeline's social debut was still something in the distant future.

"So, you'll resolve Damian's suspension issue, right?"

"…Sure."

"Thankfully, the semester has just finished so you should go bring him back."

"Me?"

"Are you busy?"

He was busy indeed. Plus, he didn't know why he needed to go there personally and pick up the boy. He had already bought a pass for the gate, and using the gate, it was a half-a-day distance from the Academy to the ducal residence.

However, Hugo couldn't win against the pressure of his wife, who was looking straight at him. This was his wife who took every opportunity to talk about building the relationship between father and son. Hugo thought that he and the boy had just the right amount of distance between them. Of course, he kept this thought to himself.

"…I will go."

Since she had cleanly solved the issue at hand, Lucia lightly rose to her feet.

"I took more of your time than I thought. I won't bother you anymore."

Hugo quickly hooked an arm around his wife's waist as she hurried to leave.

"Since we've already been talking so far, let's keep on talking."

"Talking about what?"

Hugo held her waist firmly, keeping her close in his arms and his other hand went down to her behind. He wove his knee between her legs and squeezed it between her thighs then he pressed down his lips on her slender, long neck. Lucia's face flushed red.

"Th—you're nuts."

"I'm absolutely nuts for you."

"This is where you work!"

"It's not like this is the first time."

Lucia's face burned even redder.

She remembered the night when he carried her to the second floor in the middle of the night, her nakedness wrapped with a bedsheet, and she was so afraid that someone would see that even her fingertips were tense. It was a thrilling night. But the fact that she committed such a messy act in her husband's workplace continued to make her feel awkward and embarrassed.

"It wasn't daytime then!"

When he hugged her, Lucia pounded on his chest. Holding her to his chest, Hugo used his arm to push away all the documents on his desk then he placed her on it. Some documents and writing materials fell to the floor but he didn't care.

"Hugh! Someone will come!"

"No one will come unless they want to die."

Hugo leaned on his desk with both arms and kissed her before she found more things to nag about. He enjoyed tasting her full lips and her small, soft tongue. He sucked on her chewy, soft lower lips then he pushed his tongue deeper into her mouth. Her mouth felt feverishly hot to him.

His tongue scoured her mouth and swept over her gums. Their salivas mixed together in both a hurried and calm manner. Kisses with him were always hot and pleasuring. Lucia tasted sweetness in his mouth just like how he swallowed her saliva like sweet honey.*

Their tongues slid against each other, tangling and untangling. His hand held the back of her neck supporting her, while her two arms were wrapped around his neck. Their lips momentarily separated before coming together again. At some point, Lucia had become so absorbed by the kiss that she clung to him. She felt electrified to her fingertips and heat rose in the area between her thighs. She couldn't stop his hand as it came into her skirt and pulled it down. Rather, she lifted up her butt to help him remove it.

"Haa…Haa…"

She was short of breath thanks to the unceasing string of kisses. Hugo's red eyes flickered with dark desire as he watched her try to catch her breath with her slightly swollen lips.

He groped along her thigh then he lifted her skirt and place his hand between her open legs. As soon as she felt cold air brush against her bare lower abdomen, something hot rubbed against her entrance. Her mouth watered at the thought of his blazing red eyes, his lips glistening with saliva, his erotic scent and the pleasure he would give her.

"Hnng!"

His hot manhood broke through her flesh and entered. He gripped her butt and vigorously thrust into her. Her privates had already begun to get wet during the kiss so she swallowed his huge size with no resistance. As he filled her so much that she almost couldn't breathe, he moved in and out of her with ferocity. Lucia's body shook all over the place as she hung from him with her arms around his neck. The intense stimulation between her legs quickly brought Lucia to her climax.

"Aah!!"

Lucia put her arms around his shoulders and leaned back. Her shoulders shuddered as her sight blacked out for an instant before becoming clear again. The orgasm that came in less than no time was as short as it was intense.

As the tremors of her inner walls around his member lessened, Hugo bit her ear.

"Is that all?"

"Ah!"

Before she could even reply, he moved. Lucia moaned and began to move up and down again. Every time he plunged in deep and touched somewhere, something deep inside her body grew hotter. She was captivated by a sense of contradicting hopes and fears in that she wished for the thing to come and at the same time, she didn't want it to come.