Chapter 0 - favorite customer

“Before you go,” he says, “I have a question for you.”

Byleth cocks her head; this is a new one. The two of them don’t typically have any meaningful conversations, and barely say anything to each other outside of business transactions. Ever since the man known as the dark merchant came to the marketplace just outside the monastery, she’s done a lot of business with him, but this is the first time that he’s wanted to ask her a question.

“What’s that?” she asks.

“Why is it that you do your best to buy out my stock, every chance that you get? Not that I mind, of course, I’d never complain about business, but it seems like every month, you’re always right there. I just wanted to know if you had any reason for it?” He cocks his head in return, and though she can’t see his facial expression- she’s never even seen his face- she can imagine what the expression might look like, even if she can’t imagine the features to go with it.

“You have a lot of things that I can’t get anywhere else,” she replies. “You’ve said as much yourself before, you should know that.”

“Ah, but if that’s all there were to it then I wouldn’t bother asking, but I just don’t think that’s really all there is. Every time I restock my special items, you’re right there to get them, first week of the month, and then every other week, I’d swear you were determined to buy enough to shut me down,” he says. “You don’t really need that many gifts, do you? Is that what the war funds are going to?”

“It’s...not the war funds, I have my own budget,” she says, ignoring the rest of his question.

“You’re changing the subject,” he teases, and she wonders if she’s actually blushing. She’s never actually had anyone call her out on blushing, and before, she never felt like she should be blushing, so the idea of it is still fairly new. Can he tell that she’s blushing?

“I do like to share gifts with my friends,” she finally says. “And you have some teas that they really like, that I can’t find anywhere else. But also...I enjoy talking to you.”

“Ah, so you’re taking any excuse you can to come over here?” he asks rather bluntly, and she finds that she has nothing to say to that. Laughing, he continues, “If that’s the case, why not just spend some time with me?”

“I...isn’t that what I’ve been doing?”

“Oh, no, I don’t mean hanging around and spending more money,” he says. “You’ve nearly cleaned out my stocks and I’m doing very well lately, so I don’t think anyone could blame me for closing up shop for the day. So, if you’re free as well, then I don’t see why we can’t spend some time getting to know each other better. That’s what you’re after, isn’t it?”

“Well, I…” She isn’t sure what to make of this. He really wants to close up shop, just to talk to her? Has her frequent shopping really piqued his interest that much? Why does that possibility excite her so much. Swallowing, she says, “I have bought a lot of tea from you lately. Would you care to join me for a cup?”

“No, I don’t think so,” he says, and she pauses. Didn’t he just say he would take the rest of the day off to spend some time with her? Or did she misunderstand him that badly? But she can’t think of any other way to take what he’s said…

“Oh, I…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still come back to your room with you, and you can feel free to enjoy as much tea as you want, I’m just not particularly partial to it myself. Not to mention the fact that I’ve had just about enough of any blend that I carry, even for someone who would like tea. So! Show me the way.”

To her room, then. Byleth is surprised that he didn’t assume she met a tea party in the gardens, considering how nice the weather is, or perhaps somewhere in town, since he doesn’t typically have any need to go into the monastery. But he knew that she meant her room, and as she guides him back, she can’t help but wonder how he may have interpreted this, and what she may have implied, what he may have implied, and how much of that will really happen.

If she’s being completely honest with herself, there are a lot of things that she does want to happen. If she’s being completely honest with herself, this was probably her intent all along, whether she realized it consciously or not.

“It isn’t much,” she says, because she feels like she should, as they close the door behind them.

“What, you think you don’t get compensated well enough for your work? Well, it is wartime after all,” he says, making himself at home and turning her chair away from her desk so that he can sit down, facing out into the room. Byleth sits on the edge of her desk, wondering if she should have made a detour to prepare tea, even if it’s just for herself, if only so she might have something to distract herself from the fact that she brought a strange man back to her room, and one that she’s taken an unusually strong interest in, no less.

“Now, professor...that’s what they call you around here, isn’t it? You were a teacher before the war, or something?”

“Yes, but you can just...you can just call me Byleth,” she says.

“Alright, then, Byleth. You make it very hard to ignore your intentions, you know.”

While she doesn’t know how to progress things, far too clumsy with her words and with other people, he wastes no time in getting straight to the point. She flushes, staring down at her lap, and allows him to continue without attempting to protest or question him.

“It’s incredibly weird and more than a little flattering that you’ve taken such an interest, but...well, it wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t ask you what that interest really entailed. I think I can guess your intentions from how you look at me and how you act, and how you brought me to your bedroom with no hesitation, but you’re also not like anyone I’ve ever met before. Much better for me to let you tell me I’m right, before I accidentally take things too far.”

So, she’s really been that obvious? Does everyone in the marketplace know that she has a crush on the merchant? Is it even obvious that she’s never felt anything like this before, that all sorts of new emotions have hit her like an onslaught since coming to the monastery all those years ago, and that being unconscious for most of those years has done nothing to make it easier to deal with? Can he tell just from looking at her that she doesn’t even know what it means to be attracted to someone, or why she wants to take things all the way with a stranger, someone who’s name she doesn’t know and someone who’s face she’s never seen?

She supposes this must be empty lust, and that her crush is nothing more than a desire to bed him. That’s not abnormal, even if it feels that way to her, and even if she doesn’t really like him, and doesn’t know him well enough to, that doesn’t meant there’s anything wrong with wanting him, though she supposes being so attracted to someone she’s never actually seen face to face might make it a little weirder. The mask might very well be part of it, and she might have more going on there, but since he’s giving her this opportunity, she’s not going to dwell on the questions, and just move forward with what she thinks she knows.

“I think my intentions have been pretty obvious, though I didn’t realize that at first,” she finally says. “If your assumptions are what I think they are, then I would say that they’re correct.”

“Now, now, Byleth. How are we supposed to get anywhere if we both keep assuming what the other is thinking? Shouldn’t at least one of us say outright what it is that we want?” Upon seeing her blush, he chuckles and shakes his head. “Fine, I’ll be the one to say it first, then. I think that you want to have a little tryst with me, and, if that’s the case, then I would be more than happy to oblige. If anything, to pay you back for all the business.”

“That’s...well, that doesn’t seem like a fair trade,” she says rather dumbly, and he laughs.

“Isn’t it? It’s not as if I won’t get any enjoyment out of it myself,” he replies, and she feels her face heating up. They’re really going to do this, and, even though she’s sure she could back out at any time, she doesn’t want to, no matter how overwhelming it may seem.

Upon learning that this will be her first time, he makes her promise again and again that this is what she wants, and that she’s sure she wants to waste her virginity on him, but she does not take any of the opportunities he gives her to get out of it. So instead, he promises to be gentle with her, and make sure that everything is as pleasant for her as it can possibly be.

“A shame I can’t kiss you, but I couldn’t get rid of the air of mystery that you find so alluring,” he says, and never mind the fact that she never said anything like that. “Even so, there’s plenty I can do for you with just my hands, but that begs the question...gloves on, or gloves off?”

Byleth thinks she’s blushed more today than she ever has in her life, and she she knows her cheeks must turn red as she mumbles, “Gloves on, if that’s alright.”

“You sure are an interesting woman,” the dark merchant says. “For a virgin, you seem to know what you want to some degree. I like that about you, you know.” From the way he compliments her and builds her up, always making her feel like she’s making the right choice and like she’s the most interesting thing in the world to him just proves that he’s a natural salesman. Perhaps she just fell for that bit a little too hard.

He proves just how skilled his hands are with how quickly he is able to undress her, and in a few swift movements, he has her clothes, save her stockings, removed. “I hope you don’t mind, but that’s something I would like to leave on,” he says, and she has no complaints there. More so than that, she’s a little embarrassed to be suddenly naked in front of anything person, but that’s the whole point, even if he still hasn’t taken anything off.

He pushes her gently against the wall, caressing her cheek with one gloved hand, before slowly moving his hand down, over her body. Just these light touches are enough to leave her with a tingling, almost electric feeling, and she can easily understand what it is she’s been missing, keeping herself closed off from others for all these years. At least after this, she will have some idea of what it is she could be doing.

Those light touches do quite a bit for her, but when he finally brings his hand between her legs, it sends a jolt through her that causes her to jump, and he chuckles, reassuring her that everything is going to be just fine. He teases her with his gloved fingers, not yet penetrating her, and simply rubbing, running them along her skin, and again, he chuckles.

“Even through the cloth, I can feel it how bad you need this. You must be very pent up,” he says. Of course she’s already wet, nearly soaked and enough to soak through his gloves, at that. This is the part where she should get embarrassed again, but she discovers she’s a little far gone at this point, and her own arousal is no longer a source of embarrassment, and rather, something that needs to be dealt with. And urgently, at that.

He only teases her a moment more before he presses a finger inside of her, and she squeaks, surprising herself with how loud and high-pitched the sudden noise is. It’s a strange, almost uncomfortable feeling, to have someone else’s finger slowly work inside of her, and the fabric of the glove only adds to the strangeness of that sensation. Though simply being strange is not enough to make it unpleasant, and as she relaxes, the discomfort begins to fade as well.

“A-ah…” she moans softly, again surprised at how easily she makes noise for him. She’s always been so reserved, and yet, with this stranger…

“We’re only just getting started,” he murmurs, and she shudders happily. With that, he hooks his finger inside of her, causing her to let out a louder moan. It’s so easy for him to tease her with his fingers, and she has to wonder what kind of experience he has, though she’ll likely never have the chance to find out. All she knows is that she likes his touch quite a bit more than her own, and he seems to know exactly what he has to do to leave her completely breathless, and desperate for more.

He keeps this up for a little while longer, teasing her until she doesn’t think she can take much more, but just before she reaches her limit, he stops, withdrawing his hand and sitting back, shuffling with his robes, readjusting until he can free his cock, and Byleth finds it hard not to stare. This is the first time she’s actually seen a man up close like this, and though he’s nearly fully clothed, his face still completely concealed, just a little bit of flesh exposed is enough to make this unbearably intimate.

Getting back on top of her, he presses the tip of his cock against her, teasing her as he lingers for a moment, but then, he leans forward, pushing down into her slowly, and she cries out at how sudden it feels, to even have the very tip penetrate her. He murmurs to her, saying, “Shh, it’s alright. Just relax, dear, you can take it.”

Byleth swallows hard, closing her eyes as she does as she’s told, relaxing herself to allow him to further push inside of her, taking it slow so that she can properly adjust, fitting snugly around him. She only opens her eyes again when she feels his fingers pressed to her lips, and when she opens her eyes, she also parts her lips, so that he can slip two gloved fingers into her mouth.
“Not that I mind,” he says, his voice showing a little bit of strain now, “but you’ve dirtied them a little bit. You don’t mind cleaning them for me, do you?” To answer, Byleth begins to suck, and he makes a soft noise of approval, jerking his hips into her.

Her moans are muffled like this, but, now that she’s used to it, he can move more freely, so her moans are far more frequent. All the while, she sucks on his fingers while he thrusts harder and faster into her, until he has a rather rough pace, but one that she doesn’t mind at all. In fact, she’s never felt anything like this in her life, and he shows no signs of slowing, his rhythm only becoming more frantic as he continues.

Already, he’d pushed her to her limit, and now, he has her there once more, but this time, there’s no chance of him pulling back before she’s there. Even if he wanted to tease her further, she doubts he could, and she arches her back, raising her hips to meet his just as her orgasm over takes her, crying out around her fingers as she comes.

Byleth has no chance to recover until he’s finished, and he maintains the same speed in his thrusts, becoming more frantic, more erratic, until he’s shoving his fingers so far into her mouth that she gags, and then, he’s hastily pulling out, just in time to come on her stomach. As she lays back, gasping for breath, she is glad that he had enough sense to remember to pull out, because she hadn’t thought about precautions even once this entire time.

He sits back, balancing on his hands at either side, and his chest heaves as he tries to catch his breath. It takes some time for either of them to speak, but he is the first one to say something. “Well, if you weren’t my favorite customer before, you certainly are now,” he says, and she gives him a tired smile. “If you’d like some help getting cleaned up, I’d be more than happy to.”

Nodding, she slowly sits up, still not sure what she should say. She’s got a lot of things to think about, but it will take her a little while before she can really process her thoughts, so for now, she doesn’t bother trying, instead allowing herself to be content that she’s rid herself of her virginity.

True to his word, he helps her clean herself up, and the two of them are dressed and presentable in no time at all. Now, she knows that it’s time for him to leave, and he bids her farewell, saying, “I hope this doesn’t mean you don’t have any reason to stop by anymore. But if that’s the incentive you need to keep shopping with me, I want you to know that you can call on me for this any time.”

And with that, the dark merchant takes his leave, and Byleth is left to ponder what his words truly mean, or rather, what it means that he would be willing to make this a regular thing. 

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