A Summer With Bitter Rivals - Chapter 107

Chapter 107: Kidnapping

Lately, Emeline had been spending her entire day in the study of the Trancium villa.

The sound of a pen scratching against paper, the smell of thick ink, and the coarse feel of paper on her fingertips every time she turned a page—all of it felt endearing.

“The entrance exam for Robelque University is coming up.”

Zenon, who was sitting beside her, watching her study, spoke.

Not long ago, Emeline had begun preparing once again for admission to Robelque University.

Counting the time left, Emeline replied rather enthusiastically, “I don’t think I’ll have enough time to prepare.”

“So what. It’s not like you only get one chance.”

“Yeah…”

“And you said you’ve been studying whenever you could. Emeline Delzeier is the smartest person I know.”

Zenon, sitting next to her, consoled her gently. His calm and consistent tone gave her great comfort, as always.

“You’re right.”

“Don’t worry. The test won’t be easy, but you have plenty of chances. And now you even have me by your side—someone who can be a great tutor.”

As he shrugged his shoulders and teased, Emeline looked at him with disbelief.

“You’re saying you’ll teach me?”

“If there’s a question you can’t solve?”

“That won’t happen often.”

Emeline snorted proudly.

He had already completed higher education, so she acknowledged he knew more than she did, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit defensive.

Top student, Zenon Trancium.

Second place, Emeline Delzeier.

It reminded her of the days when they used to be rivals, always conscious of each other.

But it wasn’t long before Zenon made a calm remark that made Emeline freeze.

“That one’s wrong.”

Just as she was about to move on from solving a problem, Emeline’s gaze returned to the page.

After reviewing the question again and trying to solve it once more, she glanced sideways with a conflicted expression.

Zenon, resting his chin on his hand, was smiling brightly.

“……”

“Want help?”

Though slightly frustrated, Emeline still couldn’t figure out what she had done wrong. In the end, she had no choice but to give in.

“…Please.”

“Watch closely.”

At her words, he brightened up and began to explain the problem earnestly.

He took her pen and scribbled out a solution in her notebook, then shifted closer to sit beside her.

‘What the… Why is he sitting so close…’

Emeline, who had been focused for a while, got distracted by the sudden closeness.

Meanwhile, Zenon continued explaining seriously.

As he carefully went through the steps, he occasionally looked up to check her eyes and expression, gauging whether she was following.

Each time she felt his gaze, Emeline unconsciously tensed.

Even now, his face was almost too good-looking to stare at up close.

His soft yet deep green eyes swept over her with precision, leaving a strange heat in their wake.

At such close range, their breaths mingled subtly. She could faintly smell a trace of cigar from him.

“Do you understand?”

“…Yeah.”

He finished explaining. Though her concentration had long since faded, Emeline answered as usual.

Expecting him to pull back now, she reached for her pen again.

But Zenon didn’t move away. He simply continued staring at her.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You didn’t look very focused just now. Are you sure you understood?”

“…I was focused.”

“Why would Miss Delzeier lose focus?”

“……”

Zenon replied with the ease of someone who knew everything. His tone was like scolding, but his lips curved leisurely.

Emeline’s eyes briefly dropped to his well-shaped lips in spite of herself.

Then, realizing his lips had taken on a mischievous curve, Emeline quickly averted her gaze.

Feeling a strange unease, she grumbled, “How is anyone supposed to focus when their tutor is glued to them in this hot weather…”

“Really? You sure you weren’t thinking about something else?”

Zenon, clearly entertained by her reaction, leaned in toward her with a smile that spelled trouble.

Startled, Emeline instinctively drew back.

Still, he followed, stopping just in front of her nose.

In a low voice, he murmured, “Actually, I was thinking about something else. Since you’re right next to me… I guess it can’t be helped.”

Each time his teasing breath grazed her skin, Emeline felt a rush of strange sensations. Memories far too inappropriate for broad daylight stirred relentlessly in her mind.

“…You really are the best at distracting me from studying.”

In the end, Emeline gave in to his subtle temptation.

As she silently gazed at him, Zenon smiled brightly like a wagging tail and lightly brushed her lips.

Then, once more, he bit into her deeply. He gently took her lower lip and traced it with his tongue.

The kiss, which had made her chuckle from its ticklishness, soon made her breath hitch.

He tormented her lips and inside with a thick but never rough movement, and she could feel his hand slowly drifting downward.

“Mmh…”

His hand slipped under her clothes from below, trailing along her soft skin and climbing upward.

A chill and ticklish sensation ran down her smooth leg where his hand had touched.

“Haah…”

Zenon parted their lips and looked into Emeline’s dazed eyes. After gazing at her in silence for a long moment, he suddenly smiled.

“…Why are you smiling.”

“Because I’m happy.”

He showered her cheeks with kisses, then gently held her legs and waist to turn her to face him.

Their eyes, which had been meeting at an angle, now locked straight on.

Suddenly, his hand beneath her skirt gently rubbed at her damp spot. Emeline flinched and grabbed his shoulder.

Even in her daze, a coherent thought surfaced in Emeline’s mind.

“This is… the study. And it’s the middle of the day…”

Emeline had only intended to kiss him a little, so she tried to stop him.

If they were going to go that far, the bedroom was the proper place. The study was meant for reading or studying; using it for anything else was inappropriate.

Doing such things in broad daylight wasn’t ideal either. Though they had done it in the morning once… in any case.

Zenon listened to Emeline’s stiff, proper-lady reasoning and nodded.

The problem was that Emeline had only said no.

“Okay, I won’t do anything else.”

Zenon brushed past her words like that and moved his hand again.

“You—are you ignoring what I said…”

Emeline couldn’t finish her sentence, fearing an embarrassing sound might escape. Zenon smirked slyly.

He moved boldly under the delicate fabric, his eyes glued to Emeline’s ever-changing expressions.

“Ahh…”

Unable to endure his touch, Emeline clung to him and buried her face into his broad shoulder. Her ragged breathing grew rougher, like crashing waves.

She forgot all about the prim words she had spoken just moments ago. Her body burned.

Zenon, feeling the heat and disordered breaths from her, let out a low sigh.

Still, as he had said, he didn’t let his hand wander to his own heated lower half.

“Emeline…”

Instead, he rained kisses down on her hair and ear as she leaned against his shoulder.

That thick, sticky sensation and the damp sound brushing her ear as he moved were intensifying.

Knock knock—

A knock was heard.

Zenon froze.

Emeline, overwhelmed and resting her head on him, also stopped breathing for a moment before exhaling again.

“Miss, and Marquis… I have something to deliver. May I come in for a moment?”

It was Benica’s voice.

Emeline and Zenon’s eyes met at once.

The tense mood between them was broken by Zenon’s low chuckle, as if he couldn’t believe the situation.

Emeline felt the same. It was just bad timing, but for the first time, she wanted to blame Benica.

After catching her breath, she called out toward the door.

“Just a moment.”

Then she looked at Zenon, signaling him to back off.

Zenon grinned but instead of pulling away, he moved his hand in an even more mischievous way.

When the stimulation surged from deep inside, she trembled instinctively.

“Mmh, what are you… doing…”

Emeline looked at him in shock.

Thankfully, it seemed to be just a tease, as he soon withdrew his hand.

“I’ll wipe it for you. It must feel uncomfortable.”

Zenon pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. Without even wiping his own slicked hand first, he cleaned her messy area.

Since she needed to fix her appearance, Emeline stayed still.

But then Zenon, with the thin fabric between, swirled his fingers again. Even though the maid was outside.

Flinching, Emeline didn’t hold back this time—she grabbed Zenon’s ear and yanked.

Zenon cried out and quickly lowered his tail.

“Sorry…”

He obediently helped tidy her clothes.

“Benica, you can come in now.”

At her call, the maid entered the study.

Having someone else step into a space where they had just done something so risqué was beyond embarrassing for Emeline.

So she decided to quickly ask the purpose and send the maid away.

“What is it?”

“Well, just now, a newspaper company distributed a special edition…”

“And?”

“It says… His Grace gave an interview claiming you had vanished from home…”

“What?”

At the absurd statement, Emeline asked again.

The Duke had said something as if she had suddenly gone missing.

Apparently, that wasn’t all, as Benica added a few more words.

“It seems like the young lady was kidnapped… and that the culprit might be the Marquis, who resented the Duke of Delzeier’s authority…”

Glancing at Zenon, Benica closed her mouth.

A long silence followed.

At the end of it, Emeline let out a laugh.

“Ha…”

What kind of nonsense is that?