Sunlight streamed through the half-parted curtains, spilling onto her bare skin like warm water on wounds.
It should've been comforting.
It wasn't.
The rays touched her shoulder—she flinched.
Even that simple warmth felt like fire against the fading purple of a bruise.
Her body protested as she stirred, every inch of her aching with a tenderness that was raw, sore, and far too intense to ignore.
Her neck throbbed—there, the skin felt swollen and sensitive.
A hickey pulsed under the sunlight, stinging as if it were a burn rather than a mark of passion.
"Ugh..." Thalia inhaled sharply. Her ribs expanded slowly, painfully.
The bedsheets shifted against her skin like silk over sandpaper—gentle, but every brush reminded her she wasn't just sore.
She was used.
Her inner thighs throbbed.
Her hips, her lower back—even her lips were dry and chapped, as if the night had stolen all moisture, all strength.
Her eyelid slowly slid open, revealing the emerald within them. She blinked against the bright gold of the morning light, lashes fluttering like broken wings.
The scent in the room was faint—lavender, linen, and something else.
There was the sound of someone typing on a keyboard.
Her legs trembled beneath the sheets.
She dared not move too fast, afraid of discovering what else might hurt.
Yet she did, as she lifted her body slowly, even in pain, before noticing someone nearby.
"Y-you..." Thalia's voice came out hoarse as her eyes fluttered open.
Her head pounded. Her throat felt dry. The soft sheets brushing against her bare skin only made her more aware of the dried feeling around her arms, the soreness between her legs, and the dull ache across her hips.
She tried to sit up—regretted it instantly.
She was naked. Completely.
'!'
The silk sheets slid off, and her arms instantly scrambled to cover herself. Her eyes scanned the unfamiliar luxurious room, glancing toward the faint glow of a laptop screen across the space.
Cruxius sat there, eyes on his laptop, typing away like nothing ever happened.
But even before she could speak, as she couldn't remember what had happened last night, he interrupted.
"Were you the one who spiked my drink?" Cruxius asked, not even looking at her, as if it were some side thought while playing Uno Reverse on her.
"What?" Thalia blinked, confused, clutching the sheets to her chest.
"I woke up with a headache," Cruxius continued calmly, "so I thought maybe someone had spiked the drink last night."
"...." Thalia didn't respond.
"Where are we?" she finally asked, her voice shaky but recovering as she looked around. Through the balcony, she saw the sea and the mountains.
"In my mansion, of course." He replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
She narrowed her gaze. "So... in a drugged state... you drove all the way to your mansion and even brought me into this room?"
Cruxius chuckled as he finally lifted his gaze, looking at her with a knowing expression, feeling as though he had just been caught. "You are smart, aren't you?"
"You disgust me!" she snapped, rage in her tone as she realized that he took advantage of her last night.
"But Miss..." a calm voice chimed in from behind the sofa. Darithi tilted her head, standing like a shadow, calm and composed just behind Cruxius. "You said you felt good… and that he filled you with pleasure, not disgust?"
'Well done, Darithi,' Cruxius gave Darithi a thumbs-up without even turning, keeping his eyes fixed on the laptop.
"Cough!" Thalia was stunned, gasping and red in the face. "Y-you both!"
She clutched the sheets tighter, closed her eyes, and felt that talking with these people had no meaning now, as she couldn't even recall what had happened last night. "No—give me my clothes. I'm leaving."
"You can't," Cruxius said, leaning back, stretching his arm and rubbing his eyes before recalling how in a past life he had sent her back without letting her know about anything that had happened, leading to her not even being aware that she had sex with him and coming to know about it after becoming pregnant. "I want to take responsibility."
So, this time, even though it was 9:00 AM, he let her sleep here without sending her away.
"Responsibility for what!?" Thalia barked.
"For making you pregnant, duh." He smirked and gave her a wink.
"I'm not pregnant!" she shouted, clearly flabbergasted as she covered her body with her arms, shocked beyond everything at who this man was and why he wanted to take responsibility for something not even true.
"You will be," Cruxius said flatly, eyes still on the laptop, determined and very confident in himself.
"Wh-what?" Thalia felt her eyes twitch as she watched the man talking nonsense, not even addressing her directly but instead focusing on his laptop.
"Darithi, tell her the scorecard, but be unfiltered; I like it raw." Cruxius, naturally unaware of last night's memories since he had just returned to the past after everything was done, called out to his personal accountant.
Darithi nodded once. "Master fucked you six times and came every time. He's in top shape, so yeah—high chance you're getting knocked up. You're no less either—you came nine times like your body wanted more. If we remove—"
"Sh-Shut up!" Thalia screamed, face burning. "Y-You're disgusting! Both of you! And six times!? Are you a damn horse!?"
"Tch… Darithi," Cruxius sighed, still observing the data about superheroes on his laptop. "Answer her."
"Yes, he is," Darithi replied instantly.
"…What?" Cruxius's hand halted, his eyes narrowing before he lifted them to look at Thalia and then finally looked up at Darithi.
"I thought you wanted me to tell her the unfiltered truth, Master," Darithi answered softly, gaze slightly lowered, amethyst eyes sparkling with that innocent killer seriousness.
"…You don't have to tell that much truth," Cruxius muttered, shaking his head as he realized it's better this way given she just followed his orders and when it comes to frequency and quantity of orgasms, then he may be a horse.
"Then be more clear next time," Darithi mumbled, averting her gaze, feeling how her master should be more clear with instructions rather than blaming her for following them afterward.
"Pfft—" Thalia, eyes shut tight, lowered her stare as she laughed softly into her palm, giggling in surprise.
Cruxius raised a brow. "Woah. After all that pain, bruises, and night-long passion, you're pretty positive, Thalia."
"Even my pregnancy report in a month would probably agree with you," she laughed, hiding her face again.
"...." Cruxius looked at Thalia, acting completely unexpectedly, calm and even making a joke out of her situation. He felt surprised, as he had expected her to retaliate.
A logical reaction for any normal woman would have been to throw a tantrum, cry, or maybe fight, but here she was.
But again, just not any normal woman could become the head of a blac family.
'I may need to understand this woman better...'