Royal Reboot: Level up, Your Majesty!

Chapter 73: Queen vs. The Subtle Art of Seduction (2)

Queen vs. The Subtle Art of Seduction

2

“You should know… I don’t teach half-measures.”

Astra’s breath fanned against Eydis’s skin, warm, certain. Then, softer, more dangerous.

“And you, Eydis? You need to stop pretending you don’t want to learn.”

The space between them was vanishing, slowly, torturously, until it was nothing but breath. But despite the surety in her tone, despite the effortless way she wielded control, Astra hesitated.

Her crimson eyes flickered downward, dipping to Eydis’s lips and staying there. Too long.

As if drawn. 

As if fixated. 

As if afraid of what Eydis’s gaze might reveal.

And yet, she didn’t move away. She didn’t finish closing the space either. She waited.

For Eydis.

To decide.

To bridge the gap.

Heat radiated between them, but it was nothing like the fire of battle, nothing like the dangerous, all-consuming burn of Wrath. This heat didn’t consume—it lured, enveloped, invited.

Eydis hesitated. Too long. And Astra pulled away, just barely. Just enough.

“Screw it.”

Eydis’s words, rough and impulsive, ghosted against Astra’s lips just before the last sliver of space between them narrowed, then shattered. Collapsed into a single point of contact.

It was a touch both gentle and devastating at once. She felt it in the featherlight brush of Astra's mouth against hers. Neither of them moved at first, yet even that barest touch felt like drowning.

Eydis had never been drunk before.

But she knew—this was intoxication.

When Eydis moved, Astra's breath hitched as she pressed firmer, breaking through that last delicate restraint. A sigh. A shift. A parted mouth, like a quiet, whispered finally.

Like it was meant to be.

And Eydis heard everything. 

Despite the deafening drumbeat of her own heart, despite the roaring in her ears, she caught every delicate sound Astra made.

And Astra, who was always holding herself back, was kissing her like she had been waiting.

A slow press, tentative at first, then lingering. Testing. Mapping the shape of Eydis’s mouth. Tracing, memorising.

Astra sighed against her lips, and Eydis nearly groaned.

She pressed deeper, fingers finding the curve of Astra’s waist, feeling the warmth of her, the way her breath stuttered in response.

Then Astra’s hands moved.

Fingertips gliding up the length of Eydis’s throat, tracing the curve of her jaw, tilting her face up; just enough to set the pace, to guide her, to command her.

But Eydis wasn’t one to be led.

Her fingers traced down Astra’s back, teasing, light, barely there… until they weren’t.

She grabbed Astra by the waist and yanked her closer, hard enough that their bodies collided. The impact pressing heat against heat, pulse against pulse, a sudden, exhilarating intimacy.

Astra gasped against her lips, a sound stolen by the kiss, breathless and startled, before she lost her footing completely, weight shifting until she was straddling Eydis, knees pressing into the mattress on either side of her hips, thighs locking around her.

And she didn’t pull away. Because her body was betraying her.

The fever of her skin. The way her chest rose and fell too quickly. The pulse Eydis felt against her own. She could almost hear it.

Wild. Frenzied. Starving.

Just like Eydis.

The line between excuse and choice, between pretense and desire, blurred. Then, with a painful reluctance, Eydis broke the kiss.

But only because she needed to see. And what she saw…

Ruined her.

Astra. Wrecked, in the most beautiful way.

Her pupils, swallowed by darkness. Lips, parted, swollen, glistened and trembling. A flush creeping down her throat, heat radiating everywhere.

Eydis smiled, but her voice came out rougher, huskier than she intended.

“Well… Am I a good student?”

Astra didn’t react. Didn’t even glare.

Because she was too busy breathing too hard.

Eydis felt her smile deepened. Her nails scraped lightly along Astra’s waist, tracing the barest line down Astra’s spine before sliding up again, up her back, gripping the base of her neck—

And pulling.

Astra groaned.

The sound was soft, breathless, shattering.

Eydis smirked against her lips. “Nothing to say?”

She let her fingers tangle deeper in Astra’s hair, let her lips barely graze against hers, just to feel the way Astra shuddered in response.

“Professor?”

Astra shivered.

Eydis felt Astra’s thighs tighten around her hips, felt the weight of her pressing down, felt the way her hands slipped from her jaw to her hair, fingers tangling, nails grazing against her scalp—

And that—

That did something dangerous to Eydis.

And then, Astra’s tongue darted out, a quick flick over her lower lip, catching the last trace of the kiss. Tasting.

Savouring.

Eydis’s mind went blank.

Her breath stilled, her pulse a traitorous thing in her throat. She barely noticed the way Astra’s fingers twitched against her skin, the way her gaze dipped—almost like disappointment.

Eydis should have noticed. She didn’t.

Because her own gaze had already dipped back down.

To Astra’s lips.

The thought formed before Eydis could stop it. Did they taste as good as they smelled?

Sweet, like cherry?

She had never done this before. Any of this. But she wanted to know, wanted to taste.

She licked her own lips first, testing. The lingering heat of Astra’s kiss branded her skin. Her body thrummed with something she didn’t understand, something she didn’t have the words for.

Before she could second-guess herself, she leaned in, uncertain but unable to resist, and trailed the very tip of her tongue against the seam of Astra’s lips, exploring.

Astra froze. But her fingers, still tangled in Eydis’s hair, clenched.

Hard.

The sharp pull sent something wild through Eydis, something she wasn’t prepared for. A low growl escaped her, entirely beyond her control.

She didn’t know what she was doing. Only that she needed more.

More of Astra’s unguarded breaths. More of the tiny, betraying sounds she made when she wasn’t in control. More of the quiet vulnerability that only Eydis could draw out.

Her lips brushed against Astra’s, teasing, tasting, feeling the wetness, the heat, the way they parted. Almost instinctively, almost wantingly.

She had never felt this before—this need to keep going, to learn, to take.

And so she did. She took, claimed, savour.

Her tongue slipped past Astra’s lips, swallowing the sharp, startled intake of breath, feeling the shudder that ran down her spine, the way her body stilled, then melted.

And what met her, what pushed back, was fire.

Astra didn’t just yield.

She matched her. Studied her. Smiled against her lips as if she had already won.

And it was utterly disorienting.

The kiss deepened, hotter, slower, messier, devouring. Astra responded with the kind of deliberate, languid, teasing movements that set Eydis’s blood thrumming, as if she was both learning the rhythm of Eydis’s kiss and rewriting it at the same time.

Astra shifted, the pace deepening, as if she had found something she liked and wanted to set fire to it.

Eydis barely swallowed a groan, barely held herself together as Astra’s nails dragged through her hair in a way that sent a violent shiver down her spine. It was the kind of touch that threatened to ruin her. To make her forget everything but this unbearable moment between them.

Then, just when Eydis leaned in to chase her again; Astra pulled back, barely.

“You fight dirty, Your Majesty.”

A smirk. A promise.

Eydis exhaled, breathless, her lips still brushing against Astra’s—teasing, provoking.

“What can I say, Professor?” she murmured, voice dipped into something low and indulgent. “I don’t believe in half-measures either.”

Astra’s pupils darkened.

The kiss turned hungry. Astra’s fingers curled tighter in her hair, not letting her go, not letting her think. Astra’s weight pressing more firmly. The heat sinking deeper.

Then, suddenly, Astra pushed.

Not away.

Down.

Everything tilted.

Eydis barely had time to process the shift before her back hit something firm. Astra followed, pressing her down with a warm hand, hovering over her, breath searing against Eydis’s lips, soft, silky hair spilling around them. In that instant, there was nothing else—only Astra.

But…

Something was wrong.

Somewhere in the haze, a sound broke through. A sharp inhale: ragged, shallow. Not Astra’s.

Eydis stiffened. Astra’s weight was warm against her, her fingers still tangled in Eydis’s hair, but the heat pressing into her back wasn’t from desire. It was scorching.

Natalia.

The world snapped into focus all at once. The fever’s pulse against her skin, the reminder of why they were here. Eydis jerked back, breathless, blinking away the spell Astra had cast over her senses.

Astra pulled away at the same time. For a moment, neither of them moved.

Their gazes locked, lips still parted, caught between what they wanted and what was reality. No words. Only the faint shimmer in Astra’s eyes.

The vulnerability. The almost-hurt.

Astra sighed, a long, drawn-out, shaky exhale. Her hands drew back, almost reluctantly, fingers slipping away from Eydis’s shoulders with a lingering tenderness. She cleared her throat, but it was too raw, too low.

“You can…” She hesitated, as if forcing herself to say it. “You can help Natalia now.”

The words didn’t match the way she looked at Eydis.

Then, before Eydis could say anything, Astra turned, fingers shoving into her denim pocket as she made for the door.

Something inside Eydis pulled tight. She reached out, fingers closing around Astra’s elbow before she could leave.

Astra jerked, startled by the sudden touch. Something slipped from her pocket. A cigarette. It landed between them, small, insignificant.

But Eydis knew better.

Her eyes searched Astra’s face. “You smoke, Astra?”

The words weren’t an accusation, weren’t even curiosity. It was just a stalling tactic. Something to keep Astra here.

She didn’t want to see her walk out into the night, alone.

She didn’t want to see the hurt in her eyes.

Astra’s lips parted, as if to say something; then closed again. She took a slow step back, her gaze shifting to the floor, to Eydis’s lips, then to the door.

“I need to go.” The words were almost too soft.

She turned, but Eydis wouldn’t let her.

Eydis rose fully from the bed, closing the space between them. Her hands found Astra’s waist, her touch gentle but insistent. Step by step, she nudged Astra backward, their bodies nearly brushing, until Astra’s back met the worn timber of the door.

The back of Eydis’s fingers brushed along Astra’s cheek, trailing down the delicate line of her jaw. She felt Astra tense.

She didn’t give her time to think. Leaning in, she tilted her head, just enough for their lips to meet again. Not claiming. Not desperate. Just soft. Careful. A promise.

“We will talk about this.”

A promise that Eydis would tell her everything.

That Astra was the Saintess. That they were meant to stand on opposite sides. That their fates were tangled in a way neither of them had fully grasped yet.

And when the time came—

She would let Astra decide.

For a moment, there was nothing but the slow, steady press of lips. The kiss was barely there, but Eydis felt the way Astra melted into the touch just slightly, how the tension in her shoulders softened.

Then—something shifted. A thought.

Astra was the Saintess.

Eydis had seen her healed, had watched her own wound close too quickly, too cleanly.

The Saintess could heal what had been broken.

Not just the body.

Her mind caught up before her breath did.

Then why hadn’t Astra healed Natalia?

Unless… whatever plagued Natalia wasn’t just Lust. It was something Astra couldn’t touch. Something her power refused to acknowledge.

The realisation made her pause.

She broke the kiss, pulling back with a reluctant sigh, her breath lingering between them like an unfinished sentence.

Astra’s gaze stayed on her, steady despite the shift in atmosphere.

Eydis smiled, a knowing curve of her lips, as the hurt in Astra’s eyes vanished.

“I think there’s another way to help Natalia.”

Astra blinked. The words caught her off guard, but she recovered quickly, her walls snapping back into place like a reflex.

“…What are you thinking?” she asked, but her voice had changed, as if bracing for something she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear.

Eydis tilted her head. “Can you drive a car, Astra?”

Astra arched a brow, something gleaming in her eyes. Surprised? Amusement?

Then, her lips quirked. Definitely amusement.

“I can do better than that.”