A/N: Hello everyone! Thank you for the wonderful comment and support thus far this year and last year! It makes me so happy. Right now I'm listening to Calico by DPR IAN. Loved him into C-Clown during his kpop era so rediscovering him again in my early twenties made me so happy.

My health has been pretty weird? I just got my blood pressure down from stress;;; currently I'm between paying for rising bills since I live in America (land of the questionably free) as well as trying to paying off debt I have, paying fees still regarding my mom who past a couple of months ago, paying for my college classes, and I have been thinking of a vacation LOL.

I am currently dictating chapters so I can rest my hands. If you didn't know, other than this story, I have written a novel set to release in May, and wrote a novella that's already released, working on another novel, on top of writing this and Under The Duke's Gaze. Oh, also I have this idea or a sapphic transmigration story, but I am super swamped, so it's put on the back burner.

 I wanted to address that yes, Calista is the original heroine of the novel and was the Male Lead's first wife's friend. Yes, we are coming into some mess, but that more starts in season two.

The promo comic is slated to to be completed by June! I will post updates as I receive them.

Also, for those asking again about the prints, I experimented with a more matte look and more print sizes! I am thinking of getting a canvas print to put beside my Sinners's poster. I also definitely want to sell p[rints of the art on the cover. Oh! And the artist who did the art for the cover will also do some more! It takes a couple of months to finish pieces since they're swamped with commissions.

Anyway, a hope after the next couple of chapters, when the season finishes up, you all don't mind me taking a long break. Also happy reading! This chapter will begin's Enid's 'reward'. I love writing an eater. Happy reading!

Enid got her reward when she had just gotten done for the night.

She stood in the doorway of Nico’s room, watching the rise and fall of a small chest beneath his quilted blanket, covered with patterns of serpents. Anastasia had settled into her crib an hour prior, her tiny fist still clutching the quilted rabbit Nico gifted her. With a smile, she pulled the door closed with a soft click and turned—and nearly collided with a wall of warm, tight muscle. Helios doorway of the nursery, his shirt unlaced at the throat, his silver eye catching the oil-lamp light like a blade. He moved so silently for such a large man; like a snake through tall grass. 

It terrified her.
“The children are asleep,” she whispered hastily, pressing a hand to her racing heart. “You terrified me, my lord,”

“Good,” he said, low. “Come with me.”
Knowing the Duke, this wasn’t a request. 

She followed him down the hall to her room, the one with the brass handle that matched the others. He opened the door and just stood her inside, then followed, closing it behind him with a decisive click. In its room that had been much larger than the one that she shared with Myra, suddenly felt smaller with him in it. The single candle on the nightstand danced shadows across his scarred features and reflected slightly on the grey chest hair he had.

 The light softened him in ways that Enid couldn’t comprehend.

“I owe you an apology,” he said. 

Enid paused. 

“For the first time we met that night,” he moved closer, and she found herself backing towards the bed without meaning to. 

“I was sore. You spanked me until I cried and made me swear an oath while naked. I would not necessarily qualify that as only harsh,” she said, her voice shaking slightly. 

“Yes,” his smile curved.

“That’s not much of an apology, Your Grace,” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

“I’m aware,” he reached out, brushing a stray curl from her face. His touch was deceptively gentle. “I find myself struggling with proper words. Apologies don’t come naturally to men like me. Men like you? Monsters,” he said plainly, without self-pity. “I’ve spent forty years learning how to break things, learning how to break things on a mouse. Not how to mend them,” he said, his voice low and rough.

Enid swallowed; “You’re trying,” she said, “with Nico. With Anastasia.”

“Because you shamed me into it. His hands lay down, cupping her jaw. You, a kitchen maid with more courage than half of my generals. You showed me that my love for my daughter doesn’t matter if I shower her with gifts if I dont hold her. You told me I was neglecting my son who I created with lucia to my face. You looked at me like I was something worth saving, then slapped me when I proved you wrong.”

Enid licked her lips, “I don’t regret it.” 

“I know.”

His thumb traced her lower lip. “That’s what makes you dangerous.” Enid scoffed at his words. 

“I’m not dangerous. I’m—” 

“You are.” Helios interrupted. 

He leaned closer, his breath against her temple. “You’ve disrupted everything: my household, my children, my thoughts.”

Helios’s voice dropped to a growl. “I can’t stop thinking about you, about the sounds you make when you cry, about how you’d look beneath me, breaking apart.”

A heat pulled in Enid’s belly despite herself. 

“Is this the apology?” She managed somehow.

His hands found her waist, lifting her up with embarrassing ease and settling her on the edge of the bed. 

“This is.” He noted before her. 

It was honestly a sight to see. 

Helios Rhadros, Duke of the South, the Serpent of the Empire, on his knees at her feet. 

The sight of it made something in her chest tight. 

“What are you—” 

“Quiet.” He pushed her nightgown up her thighs, exposing her legs to the cool air. “I am apologizing.”

His careful mouth found the soles of her feet at first. Then her upper leg to the back of her, with a soft press of lips that made her squirm. He continued higher, trailing kisses up her inner thigh, with a kind of patience that seemed at odds with everything she’s seen from him. All of this while he looked up at her with that silver eye.

“You’re trembling,” he observed.

“Of course I’m trembling,” she said through gritted teeth. You’re the duke and you’re…”

“On my knees for a kitchen maid.” He looked up at her, silver eye gleaming with something like hunger. “Trust me, little mouse. I’m aware of the situation.”

His breath hovered over her mouth, and she bit her lip hard enough to taste copper.

“If you want me to stop, tell me to stop,” he murmured. 

She should; she knew she should. This was madness—a servant and a duke, a mouse and a serpent. There was no future in it, no happy ending waiting at the conclusion of their particular story. But his hands were warm on her thighs, and his eyes held something that seemed like tenderness. And gods help her, she didn’t want him to stop. 

So she told him, “Don’t stop,” in a small, strained voice. 

His smile, fully showing his white canines, was sharp and satisfied. 

“Good girl,” he said. His mouth was on her, and Enid stopped thinking entirely. His tongue slowly dragged against her lips, and in just a few minutes she was fucking against his face. Her eyes darted everywhere but his. And he seemed to steady her, to catalog every gasp, every whimper, every involuntary movement of her hips. Then his tongue entered, and Enid began a poor attempt at muffling her cries with her hand—to which he reached up and pulled away. 

He laughed. 

He laughed at her concerns and told her, “Every sound. Every sob. I want to hear them; I want to hear you.”

Still she tried biting her blanket as he continued. The sound of him sucking her pussy filled 

By the time he started touching her clit with the pad of his thumb, she was begging for release.

“Why don’t you come?”