Chapter 1 - Ariel Is Strange (1/2)

Something strange was going on with Ariel.

Arsion was deeply troubled. He was watching Ariel approaching him with a whip in her hands. His wrists were currently tied behind his back to the headboard of their bed by a pair of leather handcuffs. From where she got them, he had no idea.

Frankly, the handcuffs were really not sufficient to truly restrain Arsion. With just a little bit of force, the decorations on the headboard would quickly break. Or, one could say you didn’t even need to resort to force. By just twisting and moving your wrists slightly, you could be freed.

But Arsion did not do any of these things. Instead, his eyes were fixed on Ariel, who was slowly approaching.

‘Is that the whip from the decorated corner in the study in our home?’

In the study of the duke’s annex, where the two lived, a genuine whip hung, received from a distant land. Made by the top craftsman with the best leather, it was more like a piece of art. That was the reason why they had hung it up as decoration, but why was it in Ariel’s hands tonight?

No, why would she want to swing that thing?

“Like this… way?”

Ariel, amazed by the whip in her hand, grabbed the handle and began to swing it. Even with that little movement, the whip wiggled like a live snake, and then crawled fast! It hit the wooden floor with a loud noise.

“Pakk!”

Pieces of wood broke apart and flew into the air as the bottom of the whip hit the floor. Ariel, who saw it, freaked out and dropped the whip onto the floor. It was as if she just discovered there was something so terrifying in the world. Shaking her head, Ariel gently bent down and lightly rolled the whip off the floor, then approached the table.

“I can’t do this. Because I think it’s going to hurt so much…… I can use a lot of candles instead…….”

A lot of candles? Arsion, at first, doubted his ears at Ariel’s murmur. Then Arsion glanced at the table where Ariel stood.

“…….”

It wasn’t just candles on the table. From an unknown leather strap to a rod with feathers. A mouth gag and even an eye mask. The only thing all the items seemed to have in common was that they were all made of black leather.

Arsion knew for what and when they were used, even though he had never thought to use them himself. He just knew… the fact that these tools were used by people who wanted to get a little different or stronger stimulation.

If that’s the situation…

‘Then why does Ariel have them?’

Meanwhile, Ariel picked up one of the candles on the table. She placed a wick close to a lamp’s flame, lit it, and carefully came near the bed with the burning candle.

Unfortunately, the tip of the pointed candle melted faster than Ariel had anticipated, so the hot wax dripping from it fell onto the back of her hand.

“Ah! Hot! Hot!”

The moment the candle wax fell, Ariel jumped up with a squeal.

“Riel!”

Arsion immediately tightened his arms. The wooden decoration on the headboard flew away with a loud crack. Easily ripping the leather handcuffs off his wrists, Arsion rose from the bed.  A surprised Ariel asked when Arsion, who was free in an instant, approached.

“W-Wait! How, how did you get out of it? I’m sure I tied it tight!”

She was sure she attached the cuffs correctly. So she was confident that Arsion wouldn’t be able to move no matter what she did.

“Is that really the problem now? Let me see your hand.”

Arsion took Ariel’s hand and examined them. He could see the red skin where the candle wax had fallen on. He glared at the candle rolling on the floor, no longer burning. His gaze was so fierce that he wondered if the candle would break apart by him just by looking at it.

Fortunately, only one drop of wax fell and it was easily brushed away, so her skin was not burned. It was only a little bit red. It was obvious that the hot wax would probably not burn even if left alone. But Arsion, looking at Ariel’s hand as if it was as serious as seeing a patient with a deadly disease.

“Let’s stop. Come here.”

Arsion hugged Ariel and tried to lift her. But instead, Ariel pushed him away.

“It’s okay! Rather, you…… I thought you couldn’t get free, but you were just pretending?”

Arsion nodded and Ariel let out a strange, disappointed sigh, glancing back and forth between Arsion and the headboard. She really thought she had imprisoned him. It was extremely embarrassing to discover that he was, in fact, watching her while only pretending to be overpowered.

Looking at Ariel, who looked about ready to run away from the room, Arsion sighed and lifted Ariel over his shoulder.

“Sion! What are you doing! Let me go!”

But Arsion ignored his wife and walked back to the bed where he was tied up just moments ago. Arsion then gently placed her down on the bed. Soon, his hand caught Ariel’s ankle, as she tried to roll to the other side of the mattress to get out of the bed.

Ariel’s body was dragged back by Arsion, and the thin slip she was wearing slid up her body, exposing her.

“……!”

Under the light of the lamp, Ariel was fully visible to Arsion.

Gulp. Ariel hurriedly tried to lower her slip but Arsion had already seen everything there was to see. Flat belly. Thin legs. Soft bush covered with triangular cloth. In addition, pinkish petals that were slightly visible because her ankles and legs were open apart.

Ariel’s face flushed red as if she had released red paint when she noticed what Arsion had seen.

“Let go, let go!”

Arsion sighed and said as Ariel struggled to escape from his hands.

“Sorry, Riel. I didn’t want to do this…….”

“……Do what?”

“I have to tie you up for a second.”

“What?”

Before Ariel could even close her mouth, Arsion’s hand picked up the leather cuffs rolling on the sheets. It was something he released himself from a little while ago. Her slender wrists were cuffed before Ariel could figure out what the hell was going on.

“Wah? Huh?”

Next, Ariel’s arm was strapped in another decoration on the headboard, which was not broken. Arsion rose as Ariel twisted and struggled with her wrists tied to the bed with a leather strap.

“Sion, let me go!”

“No, hold still for a second.”

“How dare you tie a woman up like this!”

“You tied me up, too.”

“…….”

‘Oh, right. I did.’

Arsion quickly approached the table when Ariel couldn’t say anything because of what she had done earlier. There was an ice bucket that kept wine cool. But there was no wine in it.

‘That means she needed ice.’

Arsion wasn’t going to ask Ariel what she was going to use the ice for. He could guess the purpose of the tools here.

Arsion returned to bed with a piece of ice. Meanwhile Ariel was struggling to untie her tied wrists. Seeing Arsion solve it easily, she thought it would be easy for her as well, but she couldn’t even move, let alone escape from it.

“How did you get out of this?”

“You learn a lot when you’re part of the knights. I need to look at the back of your hand.”

Arsion looked at the back of Ariel’s hand that was tied up. He saw the red mark where the candle wax had fallen a while ago. He put the ice he brought there.

“Ha…….”

Even if it wasn’t enough to completely heal, it was a spot where the candle wax landed on. The skin was still slightly stinging even after the hot wax was gone, so Ariel unconsciously expressed a pleasant sound when the cold ice touched her skin.

After a while, the stinging sensation dissipated, only to leave a tingling chill where the ice had been rubbed. Meanwhile, the ice melted into water and flowed down Ariel’s hand. Since her arms were tied up above her head, the running water fell down her arms to her neck.

“Ah…….”

Ariel shuddered at the coldness. Arsion looked at her for a long time and asked gently.

“Now I want to ask you some questions…… Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”

Arsion recalled what happened a while ago.

* * *

When he first came home, Ariel did not greet him, so he wondered if she was hurt because he came back too late. But when he finished washing in the bathroom and entered their bedroom, Ariel was wearing a thin, transparent slip and holding onto a pillar of the bed, twisting at a slightly odd angle.

Arsion remembered this pose was one of the positions featured in Ariel’s recent magazine purchase titled ‘Looking More Attractive’ that she hurriedly hid in her desk.

To be honest, it was an unnecessary need to seduce Arsion. He was in heat for Ariel’s touch anyway. But Arsion approached Ariel with delight, given that she was trying to seduce him. Ariel then asked Arsion for help.

“Sion, don’t get angry no matter what I do from now on.”

“…….”

He recalled he heard something similar to this in the past. Anyway, Arsion said yes because no matter what Ariel did, he wouldn’t be angry.

“Get on the bed.”

“…….”

It was a hell of a command. There was no reason not to follow, so Arsion quickly climbed onto the bed.

“Put your hands above your head and close your eyes.”

It was truly a heart-pounding command. As Ariel told him to, his hands went above his head and he closed his eyes. He could feel her approaching him. It was the moment when Ariel’s body, which felt soft beyond silk, brushed over him, that he started to react underneath her.

Slap.

“Huh……?”

Something wrapped around his wrists. And she squeezed it tight. A slight whiff, and Arsion realized its material was leather.

“Don’t open your eyes!”

Ariel quickly said as Arsion tried to look up. So Arsion had no choice but to keep his eyes closed and guess what Ariel was up to. He grunted as it seemed his wrists were bound with leather and tied way above his head. It seemed to be connected to a decoration on the headboard.

A long time later, Ariel checked his wrists and spoke in a satisfactory manner.

“You can’t move now, can you?”

No.

“……Can I open my eyes now?”

“Yes.”

Arsion, who had been granted permission, turned his head and examined his wrists. As expected, a black leather strap with a shiny surface was wrapped around his wrists.

Ariel, who saw Arsion wondering why he had to be tied up like this, raised his chin with her fingers and said,

“Y-you’re going to ha-have a wo-wonderful experience tonight. It, it will be a night to remember for the rest of your life.”

With a quivering voice, without the slightest sense of intimidation, Ariel declared so.

* * *

‘That’s what happened…….’

Ariel was correct – it would be a night he would remember for the rest of his life. It was certainly hard to forget seeing her coming to him with a whip and fluttering around with candles.

Ariel turned her head and refused to answer Arsion’s question of why she suddenly did this.

Arsion sighed at her refusal.

Ariel was acting strange these days. More precisely, it started about a week ago, from the day of the Royal Banquet.

It was the first official banquet for the two to attend together since their marriage. Ariel wanted to put a lot of effort into getting ready.

At the annex of the duke’s residence, where the two spent their newlywed lives, owners from the most famous dressing shops in the capital brought in packages full of clothing, hats, shoes and jewelry all day. Many came in and out of the building everyday.

They spent the whole day at the annex, leaving their own shops alone, but their faces were full of excitement. It’s no wonder. Because whenever the future duchess saw something she liked, Arsion would buy everything, saying it looked really good on her. Thanks to this, they were able to ring up sales normally achieved in a month, in a day.

Among the things he bought, Ariel chose and wore. Even so, Arsion seemed to be simply blind to the pretty things Ariel put on.

Looking out of the carriage, Ariel would say, “Sion, oh, look at them! How beautiful!” Arsion just smiled and looked at Ariel in admiration. It was a little pretty out there, but was it prettier than you?

Upon arriving at the palace, servants standing at the entrance handed over flower crowns to female participants. Arsion took one and carefully placed it on Ariel’s head.

At Ariel’s smile while wearing a flower crown made of summer flowers, Arsion’s body burned full of desire to abduct Ariel and return to the annex. Of course, he wanted to hold onto Ariel without leaving their room for three days and three nights if they went back.

“Sion?”

However, Arsion had no choice but to escort Ariel with a smile as if he didn’t have such thoughts.

Yes, it was definitely fine then. Until then, he was excited and happy about the banquet..

It was only after dancing three times with Ariel that Arsion felt that there was something off.

The banquet was full of people who wanted to greet and talk to the two at least once. Not only that, Arison and Ariel were the main couple who everyone wanted to socialize with as the future duke and duchess. Besides…

When Arsion glanced around, he met the eyes of people who turned their heads in surprise and haste.

“…….”

Arsion knew exactly who they were. They were the ones who talked freely about Ariel and him while he was away. Saying he did not value Ariel. Those who spoke ill of her.

Ariel was hurt by what they said while he was fighting monsters on the front line. Arsion smiled and greeted them with cold eyes.

‘I will remember you people to your death.’

Could Arsion’s will be conveyed even if he didn’t speak? The people who met his gaze suddenly felt chills going down their spine. As far as Arsion was concerned, they would never make a connection with the ducal house.

As the night wore on, Arsion danced until Ariel became tired because he didn’t want to talk to annoying people and wanted to constantly admire how Ariel’s beautifully dressed skirt spread out.

Perhaps Ariel had become a little strange since then. Her smiling face seemed to harden little by little as each dance went on, and sometimes she looked at him with an anxious expression.

“Riel, are you feeling any discomfort?”

“What? Oh no, it’s okay.”

He asked her out of concern, and Ariel shook her hand. Looking at her movements, he didn’t think she was sick.

“Tell me if you’re not feeling well. We can go home right away.”

Ariel shook her head at that remark, saying it wasn’t really like that. After hours at the banquet, Arsion realized that he had made a mistake on their way home. Unlike when she went to the banquet hall, Ariel was sitting quietly in the carriage seat with a pale and depressed expression.

Arsion, at the time, did not question Riel because it seemed, from her current state, that she would not answer even if he asked. Instead, if he asked a question to pass time and she would thoughtlessly give an answer without thinking about it.

Now that he thought about it a little more, that was a week ago. And this was how it happened today. Arsion said to Ariel, who was still struggling with her wrists tied.

“Ariel, let’s talk for a minute.”

“…….”

“You’ve been acting strange lately. What’s the matter?”

“…….”

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No, I don’t think so…”

Arsion sighed upon seeing Ariel’s eyes that started to blur with tears. What did she mean when she said she didn’t think so? There must be something. However, it was clear that she did not intend to be compliant.