That night in Snowfort, Roland lost himself in Lunifis's tender embrace, unable to pull away.
When morning finally came, he found himself staring blankly again at the dazzlingly pale enchantress who had thrown back the covers.
Lunifis lay on her side, her long, wavy hair cascading to her waist and gleaming like gold in the firelight. Her eyes were hazy, as though she were hungover.
With indescribable satisfaction and joy, she said to Roland, "Darling, time to get up and have breakfast."
Roland turned his head and discovered that people were already standing all around them.
"Standing all around" was not quite accurate, but there were at least a dozen maids and serving women, pushing dining carts and holding towels and hot water, waiting to attend to their employers.
Well, this was everyday life in a noble household. Everyone looked perfectly composed and kept their eyes straight ahead. There was nothing worth making a fuss over.
Roland finally managed to suppress the urge to flee. His toes curled before he sat upright.
The maids helped Lunifis and Roland up, draping them in light silk garments that might have been bathrobes or nightclothes, then began helping them wash.
The serving women gathered up the dirty bedsheet that had been pulled off and thrown onto the floor the previous night, replacing it with a fresh set.
Afterward, two serving women stretched out the sheet and displayed it before everyone like a battle flag.
Several blood-red plum blossoms stood out clearly.
Roland's head buzzed. Even now, he could hardly believe it.
He had noticed last night that Lunifis...
Had actually been a virgin!
Perhaps because a sapiosexual needed far more than most people to fall in love, combined with her noble birth and narrow pool of prospective partners, Lunifis had gone decades without