Chapter 7 (2/2)

‘What in the world… is that painting…?’

A giant avant garde painting was hung in the center of an empty white wall. She had no idea what this painting was trying to convey; it didn’t fit with the bedroom at all.

It was one of the paintings Crown Prince Kwiz had sent. Hugo had cringed upon seeing the picture. When Jerome asked what he should do with the painting in a meek matter, he had answered like so:

‘Hang it up.’

Lucia, who had no idea of the situation, wondered if it could be a famous painting. Her guess wasn’t far off. The crown prince had always had a mischievous personality; he had made the effort to personally choose a painting that he especially liked for the Duke.

‘A wine closet.’

There were dozens of wine bottles displayed according to class against the wall. Lucia examined all the wine bottles displayed behind the glass door. It was rare that a woman’s bedroom would have a wine closet. Maybe there would be one in an aged woman’s room.

Lucia didn’t know about wines very well, but she remembered a particularly sweet luxury wine that perfectly suited her taste. It was the memory from her dream. Lucia jumped with joy when she discovered the same brand. She hesitated for a moment whether to take it out or not.

“This is a drink in celebration. I can at least reward myself this much.”

It was a wedding with no blessings given, but she had the right to congratulate and bless herself.

Beside the wine closet, a small table for two was nicely set. There were also a few wine glasses and an opener in the wine closet, already there for her. The setting was just right. Lucia opened the cork and drank little by little while toasting her glass to the air.

“Delicious… Huh? Already empty?”

She had only drunk a few glasses, but the bottle was already empty. She felt she hadn’t had enough, so she smacked her lips and stood up for more, but she was so dizzy that she sat herself back down.

“Ah… Why is it like this?”

She took a few deep breaths and tried to get up again. Her stomach felt hot and the walls kept spinning.

“Ah… I… must be drunk…”

Lucia barely made it to her bed while stumbling across the room. After a few breaths, she fell asleep. But even with the help of alcohol, she could not fully fall asleep. She woke up feeling very thirsty a little while later.

‘So hot… And I’m so thirsty…’

It was the first time Lucia drank alcohol. The wine she had drunk had a low alcohol percentage, but for a first timer, it was pretty potent. Although the bedroom was chilly, her body felt like it was burning from the heat.

Lucia twisted and turned in bed until she decided to take off her pajamas. Anyway, she was the only one in the bedroom. This was her bedroom.

‘I’ve succeeded. I don’t have to marry him anymore. I’ve changed my future.’

The alcohol helped exaggerate the sense of freedom inside her heart. She became braver and took off her undergarments as well. Her whole body was burning hot and had a pink hue all over.

Lucia rolled around enjoying to cool feeling of the bed sheets against her skin. A short while later, she got up and struggled toward the table at the center of the room. There was a jug of water and a glass set on a silver tray there. She poured herself a glass and chugged it down to quench her thirst.

Click.

In the silent bedroom, the sound was like thunder. She turned her head half a beat late toward the sound. When she looked across the room, the door that was connected to the receiving room was already open. The moment she saw the person standing by the door, she dropped the glass of water that was in her hand and froze into a statue.

Hugo had just bathed and entered the bedroom in a robe. He paused as he saw the stark naked uninvited guest. A heavy, stifling silence fell upon the bedroom. He squinted and casually inspected her body up and down.

He was fatigued after working for several hours straight without rest, but he felt his head lighten instantly. At first he wondered, ‘Who is this woman?’ The next second, he remembered, ‘Ah yes, I got married.’ Then he figured that the woman had to be his wife.

She had a long slender neck and round shoulders, her smooth breasts displaying pink nipples looked sweet, and she had a slim waist, while her hips curved into a nice hour glass figure. The bedroom light was on, so he could see every detail of her body easily.

But to his regret, the place right below her belly button was hidden behind the table and he couldn’t see it. He wondered whether he should order her to step to the side a bit. Those were his thoughts.

Ksh, shatter.

The sharp rupturing sound broke the peace of the room. She had frozen in place and the glass slipped out of her hands, instantly shattering against the marble floor. Lucia jumped and lowered her eyes. She tried to move, but he firmly demanded:

“Don’t move!”

Lucia’s body froze in place again. She didn’t move a muscle and simply watched him walking closer to her. She unconsciously shrank away, but he continued to glare at her and she once again froze. When he reached her, he placed his hands against her back and her legs and swooped her up.

Kssh kassh, the sound of glass scraping against one another.

With every step, the glass shards would dig into his slippers and make a sharp sound. The few steps toward the bed felt like eternity.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

At his low voice, she realized she was sitting on the bed.

“N…o.”

Lucia shook her head and quickly escaped from his hold. She promptly twisted the blanket around her body and hid her face under her pillow. The places he had held her felt hot and her mind was a complete blank.

He observed her with amused eyes, while she twisted herself into the blanket like a caterpillar and escaped to the furthest corner of the bed.

“You welcome me with your nude body and now you’re pretending to be an innocent girl?”

She wanted to dig herself into a hole from embarrassment, but upon his mocking voice, she got a hold of her senses. He was too evil. He should have been apologizing, while asking whether he had scared her, but nope. Lucia popped her head out and shouted.

“You came in without any notice!”

“That was rude of me. In the future, I’ll be sure to notify you from just outside the door.”

Lucia wasn’t sure whether he was making a joke or mocking her. However, her reaction just now was too over-exaggerated, and she felt awkward again. He was only worried that she would be hurt by the glass shards. If it weren’t for him, she would have many pieces of glass stuck to her feet.

“…I never thought you would come here.”

She didn’t wait there naked to seduce him. Lucia went the roundabout way to express those thoughts.

“This is my bedroom. Of course the owner would come here.”

“…The butler told me to sleep here. He never told me it was your bedroom. Is it in your family’s tradition for couples to share a bedroom?”

Hugo recalled a vague memory. Jerome had said something about the Mistress’ room not being prepared yet, and he had just nodded along. The marriage had been too sudden, and they would stay here for only one night, so the butler had said he would let the Mistress stay in his bedroom.

Jerome was a perfectionist. If the preparations were not up to standard, it would be the same as not having any at all. He thought that since they were married, there would be no harm in sharing a bedroom for a night.

“There are no such traditions. It seems there was an error somewhere.”

“Then… You’re not misunderstanding me, right?”

Lucia worried whether he would view her as a vulgar woman, but in the first place, this man didn’t even bother with such thoughts. He didn’t view women that way. To him, there were only two types of women in this world. Women he wanted to sleep with and women he didn’t want to sleep with. There was no meaning in judging whether the girl was vulgar or modest.

“Is it your hobby to sleep naked?”

She didn’t look to be the type, and he found this new discovery amusing. Lucia’s face flushed and she glared with arrogant eyes.

“No. I was feeling hot…”

Her answer didn’t make any sense in this cold chilly room, but when his eyes fell to the empty bottle of wine by the wine closet, the corner of his mouth perked up.

“Did you drink wine?”

“…Yes.”

She answered with a meek voice. If this was his bedroom, Lucia had taken out a bottle of wine without the owner’s permission.

‘Aah. Why did I do that?’ For the first time after awakening from her dream, she imagined how good would it be if this moment was a dream.

“A drunk, naked woman waiting for me in my bedroom… This coincidence is too clever.”

His entertained voice made Lucia feel upset. Her mood was ruined from his constant jeering. ‘Do you think all the women in the world will be head over heels for you?’ Lucia wanted to say this to his face, but suppressed her feelings and spoke reasonably.

“I’ve already told you. I didn’t know this was your bedroom and I never thought you would come here. I don’t know how many beauties have waited for Your Grace in the nude, but even if I did have such thoughts, I’m probably the only woman in this world who has the right to be in your bed. After I signed my name on the contract this morning, that is.”

Once Lucia finished her words, she bit her tongue. She spoke such bold words. What if he was a male supremacist who didn’t sit by quietly and watch a woman talk back to him? She was worried about his reaction.

When she had lived together with Count Matin, the only way she could answer was with a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. They held no other conversations that would stray outside of that boundary. She felt strange to her newfound personality that talked back and rebuked.

He watched her rebelling and chuckled quietly.

“I apologize if my thoughtless words made you feel upset. I’m sorry.”

“…”

“Do I have to get on my knees?”

“Ah, no. I was just shocked… I never thought… you would have ever said ‘sorry’ in your life.”

Again with that. He wanted to pry open all her thoughts of him one by one. He would go over each one and say, this is wrong so get rid of it.

“What kind of man am I in that head of yours? Are you saying this after listening to all the rumors?”

“There are no rumors that judge you. I base my thoughts and feelings on what I see and observe for myself. Rather than an apology, I thought you would command others.”

“This is the first time to hear such a biting remark in person.”

“What do you mean by biting remark? This is only my opinion. Don’t denounce me like that.”

Her expression was very serious and open. She had been that way since their first meeting. Her eyes were upright and honest, and it was the reason why he took the time to listen to her unreasonable offer; it was those eyes that had led to their current situation.

Hugo turned his body without much thought. At his action, her blanket jumped noisily. ‘Hmmn’, his eyebrows raised. He moved his body once more, and again her blanket ruffled.

‘Is she scared I’ll jump her?’ The tiny animal in front of the savage predator was shivering in fear. A satiated predator would probably not look twice at this small animal. If he always had his fill, he wouldn’t see the benefits to hunting down this small animal, but today this small animal increased his appetite. His mood was good, so he took hold of the blanket she used like a shield and pulled the round sushi-like figure.

“Kya!”

Lucia let out a short scream and rolled across the wide mattress. When she regained her senses, Lucia was defenseless and nude. He looked down at her as he trapped between his arms. Lucia held her breath. She was scared her body would brush against his hands, so she didn’t move a single muscle.

“If you believe you’re the only woman who has the right to sleep in my bed, why do you believe I won’t visit you? This is our first night together after all.”

Most probably, if they had separate bedrooms, he would not have gone to hers. If Lucia was sleeping on his bed, he would not touch a hair on her body, and sleep by her side.

The reason was simple. He simply didn’t have any heart to do such things. She was very different than the girls he liked. He liked voluptuous beauties. In one word, he was immune to her. But even when he thought that way, he was curious about her thoughts. Ever since a long time ago, he kept wondering what in the world that woman was thinking. He wanted to know.

Lucia often took something simple and made it very complicated through her endless musings. This was not a marriage accompanied with affection. She was not an amazing and glamorous woman that men would covet. But most of all, there was his son.

He didn’t wish for his wife’s pregnancy. He would never believe that she couldn’t bear children without proof. But she didn’t want to bring up the topic of pregnancy. If she were to bring it up, it felt like he would leave the room without any hesitation. She didn’t wish for him to leave. Although it was a contracted marriage, a wedding without even a first night seemed so miserable.

“Tomorrow… You said we would go to your territory…”

Although she didn’t lie, it was the same, since she had hidden many facts from him. His gaze seemed to be interrogating her.

The fact that she was nude and defenseless kept growing bigger and bigger in her mind. She felt her body gradually growing hot. Lucia moved a little bit at a time while covering her breasts with her arms. This action had no use or meaning, but it was a reflexive action for any woman suffering from humiliation.

‘What a refreshing reaction.’

He had always spent time with women that would throw themselves at him; it was interesting seeing someone so modest for once. There was no doubt this woman was a virgin. A very innocent virgin. The suspicion that she was purposely hiding and waiting here disappeared completely. But in another sense, he lost his interest.

Virgins were bothersome. They didn’t know what to do with their body and it was no fun. They were his last resort when it came to fulfilling his sexual desires. A night with an experienced and skillful woman was more enjoyable. He enjoyed fruits that had ripened to the degree of falling off the trees.

What to do… She looked terrified. He had no intention of sleeping with a woman who didn’t feel the same.

“If you don’t want to, I won’t.”

“…But the first night… We’re not allowed to refuse.”

The first night was a right and an obligation. In fact, that had been stipulated by law. Since long ago, two noble families in war would come together in matrimony for peace, and there had been a time when that law was required.

At present, the borders of the different territories of the Kingdom were set, and it was rare to see such an event. The reason the law remained was because there could be a time when it would be needed in the future. If it could be proven that they had never spent their first night together, the marriage could be annulled. That was sometimes applied when one side of the party passed away due to some reason. Within several years,it had only been applied once or twice.

‘To bring up the law. This princess is really clueless.’

“If this was not our first night, would you refuse?”

“…I will think about it after tonight.”

He had flatly let out a response, but upon her reply, he burst into laughter. She looked pale with fear while shivering, but even so, she didn’t disappoint him as she gave some daring responses. Was she truly clueless? Maybe she was doing it on purpose?

“Look here, Princess. If we start, it’s impossible to stop midway. Are you determined that you won’t regret?”

Lucia’s first night in her dream glimmered. Count Matin had climbed on top of her with his heavy body and tried to enter her forcefully many times, but he could not get it up, and failed. He could not get over his own anger and had drunk himself silly until he passed out.

He snored all night, while she trembled in fear sleeping next to that husband no different than a stranger. There was no way her situation could get worse that that. Looking at things in such a perspective, she had nothing to fear.

“This isn’t something you can settle with determination. I’m not trying to start a war with Your Grace.”

He fell into silence for a moment and chuckled. Then suddenly, the mood turned a full 180 and she felt nervous once again. A chill ran down her spine and she was frozen into a statue. That person was a man; she had only realized such an obvious fact now.

A man who would never lose in strength, and under him was a naked woman. It wasn’t a situation where she could resist. He lifted his body up and took off his outer gown. Lucia saw him and closed her eyes. When his hand brushed against her hips, she quickly held her breath.

(end)

Footnotes:

(1) wedding procession: Random fact, in Korea they call this walking down the ‘Virgin Road.’ Omg I took so long trying to figure this out. I was like… Virgin Rod? Wtf… what does that have to do with a wedding? It’s literally the English word ‘Virgin Road’ written in Korean.

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