FYH Chapter 80

Roderick pressed a kiss to her hair and began undressing her.  

Even though Lee-Jae had been the one to suggest it, she didn’t know what to do with herself.  

Piece by piece, the complicated layers of her clothing came undone under his hands.  

He kissed her bare shoulder and collarbone, then pulled the dress all the way down.

In an instant, she was left in just her undergarments, her pupils darting around, lost.  

Roderick picked her up and set her down on his lap.

It would have been easier if he just said something or did something more—  

but instead, he just sat there, fully dressed, making her feel even more exposed.

Roderick gazed at her for a long moment.  

Then, fondling her bare skin with sinful slowness, he murmured,

“Why are you wearing something this small?”

“…”

“It doesn’t even cover everything.”

Trying her best to keep up a calm front, Lee-Jae finally couldn’t bear it anymore.  

She was so embarrassed she buried her face against his chest.

“Were you planning to seduce me or something?”

Of course, he knew the proper Queen would never have such intentions, but Roderick threw the accusation out anyway—a little playful teasing could lighten the mood during moments like this.

Lee-Jae shook her head vigorously.

“I just wore what Deborah gave me.”

“Is that so? Your head maid has excellent taste.”

She peeked up at him, only to quickly hide her face again.  

She had seen it—his blue eyes, burning with eager fire.

Roderick, trying to regain some sanity, looked up at the ceiling—but soon, his gaze fell right back on her.

Little fox, he thought.  

If you keep hiding like that in my arms, aren’t you basically begging me to devour you?

“Little fox.”

“…?”

“Why are you hiding your face again?”

“…Please stop staring. It’s embarrassing.”

“If you’re still embarrassed about something like this, what are we going to do? We’re married, you know. If you act uncomfortable about it even this much, your husband’s going to feel pretty hurt and pathetic.”

At a loss, Lee-Jae asked carefully,

“Could you maybe… pretend you don’t notice?”

“Pretend what?”

“I mean, I’m just really nervous right now.”

Roderick chuckled and kept pressing soft kisses to her cheeks.

In truth, Lee-Jae was trembling a little.  

Her inexperience showed clearly in every movement.  

Wanting to help her relax, he spoke in a soothing, honey-sweet voice.

“We’ll make it good for both of us. Don’t be scared of me, okay?”

“…”

“We’ll both enjoy it.”

But he, too, was struggling to stay calm.  

His eyes were glazed with excitement as they roamed over her.

Lee-Jae hesitated, unsure whether to cover her chest or lower body first—but in the end, she gave up entirely.  

At this point, backing out would only make her look foolish.

She was the one who suggested it first anyway.  

And there was no way her husband would do anything she didn’t want.

Squeezing every last drop of courage out of herself, she suddenly lashed out, almost aggressively.

“Stop staring and start undressing too!”

“Huh? Oh.”

Roderick paused in surprise, then burst into laughter.

“Are you really sure about that?”

“Yes! What are you even waiting for? I want to get this over with quickly, so take your clothes off!”

“‘Get this over with’? What am I, a natural disaster you have to survive?”

“…”

“Fine, fine. Don’t get mad. When you get like this, I actually get scared.”

Chuckling helplessly, Roderick started undoing his buttons—then, overcome with laughter, covered his face and let out a dry, shaky laugh.  

It was just too funny how the little fox, when cornered, turned so aggressive.

“My lady.”

“What now?”

“Remember how I said earlier, ‘I’m old enough to understand what you meant’? I take it all back. Maybe I really am too old and clueless.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

When Lee-Jae peeked up at him, he was rubbing his face with both hands.

“I feel like I’m going to lose my mind from how excited I am.”

“…”

“What am I supposed to do if my heart actually jumps out?”

“…”

“Honestly, part of this is your fault too. You shouldn’t have provoked me like this.”

Laughing quietly, Roderick gave up trying to unbutton his shirt properly—instead, he simply tore it open with a rip.

The look in his eyes changed instantly.  

He lifted Lee-Jae and threw her onto the bed.

Then, with a fierce intensity, he pounced on her.

 

When Lee-Jae woke up, Roderick was still caressing her and watching her intently.  

Now that he had completely stripped and devoured his little fox, his expression was full of contentment.

“You’re awake? You can sleep more if you want.”

Glancing around, she reached out to pull the discarded blanket over herself.

Roderick’s face turned a bit sullen—because she was cutting off his visual enjoyment.

Why is she trying to cover herself now?

Still, he ended up handing her the blanket himself, remembering they had been by the lakeside earlier.  

If she caught a cold, he knew he would be the one who suffered the most.

Lee-Jae, in turn, clumsily pulled the blanket over him as well, even though he was lying half-heartedly.

“You didn’t sleep?”

“Yeah.”

“Why not?”

Feeling well-rested, Lee-Jae scratched her cheek.  

To be honest, she wasn’t sure if she had actually slept or simply passed out.  

Roderick pressed a soft kiss to her cheek.

“Time passed so quickly while I was just watching you sleep.”

“You should’ve at least closed your eyes for a bit.”

Murmuring, Lee-Jae turned her back to him like she usually did, and he snuggled up behind her, offering his arm as a pillow.

“Lee-Jae.”

“Yes.”

“My wife.”

“Yeees.”

“I know it’s kind of pathetic to ask something like this.”

She turned back, puzzled.

“I just… I want us to match each other step by step. So don’t misunderstand.”

“What is it you want to ask?”

“How was it?”

Lee-Jae burst out laughing.  

Roderick, getting impatient, grabbed her shoulder and gently shook her, telling her not to laugh.  

She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, trying to suppress her expression.

“Was it good for you, Your Majesty?”

“Of course. Didn’t you notice? I was so out of it I almost lost my mind. I almost lost all control.”

Lee-Jae had definitely noticed that.  

She used to think that the King’s moniker had a rather unpleasant connotation—it was made up of only strong, overwhelming words.

But now, thinking back on it, whoever had named him must have had excellent foresight.  

In bed, the King was nothing short of a beast.

Roderick stared at her, eager for her opinion.

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“Um, can I be honest?”

“Yeah. You have to be honest about these things if we want to get better together.”

“I realized it again just now…”

“Yeah?”

“That I really made the right choice marrying Your Majesty.”

At that, Roderick laughed out loud.

“I really, really love you, you know. Just hearing you talk makes me happy, and I always look forward to what you’ll say next.”

Lee-Jae felt incredibly happy.  

And seeing his face look so genuinely happy made her even happier.  

So she chose her next words carefully—she wanted to express this feeling properly.

As she sat there thinking, picking at the skin around her nails,  

Roderick gently caught her hand to stop her.

“Don’t do that. You’ll bleed.”

He pressed a kiss to her small fingernail, making her laugh softly before she finally spoke.

“I…”

“Mm?”

“I know that at first, this marriage wasn’t something Your Majesty was particularly happy about. Because of how complicated things are with the House of Duncan. I understand you had no choice but to be suspicious of me. I’m also partly to blame.”

Roderick shook his head as if to deny it, but Lee-Jae continued, her voice calm.

“But somewhere along the way, you took it upon yourself to be the ‘bad guy’ in this relationship. You kept saying it was all your fault, that you understood why I might hate the marriage.”

“…”

“I knew you were doing it for my sake. Trying to make things better between us. I’ve always known you were making the effort.”

“I’ve never actually hated this marriage. In fact, I’ve grown to love it more and more.”

“I’m telling you this because I feel like… you still seem weighed down by it sometimes.”

Lee-Jae glanced at him and found that he wore a slightly overwhelmed expression—because he was touched that she understood his heart.

And seeing his face like that, her own heart grew warm.

“You know they say, you can’t really know someone’s warmth until you touch them, even just with your fingertips.”

Lee-Jae had always wanted to understand people’s warmth.

Does this person like me? Or dislike me? Do they think I’m dirty too?

She had spent her life anxiously trying to distance herself at the first sign of coldness, because she didn’t want to get hurt again.

“After touching Your Majesty more deeply… I realize you’re incredibly warm.”

Lee-Jae pulled the blanket up to her nose.  

But he tugged it back down again.  

When she glanced at him, his blue eyes were smiling.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because it feels amazing.”

Flustered, she hurried to pull the blanket up again, but Roderick simply hugged her, blanket and all, rocking her side to side like a cradle.

“My wife.”

“Yes.”

“Then… should we do it once more?”

Lee-Jae laughed, covering her face, not having expected him to suggest that.

“Again? How many times is this? Can we rest just a little?”

Honestly, I’m not even sure if I fell asleep earlier or just blacked out…

She genuinely wanted to apologize for all the things she’d said before about brewing medicine to ‘help’ him.  

Now that she had experienced it firsthand, she realized—the King’s confidence in his prowess was absolutely justified.  

He was not someone to be provoked when it came to stamina.

“Tired? You don’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of it.”

“I am tired… but if the temperature goes any higher in here, I think I might actually catch fire.”

Roderick kissed her all over her face.

“God, your comments are getting dirtier in such a classy way.”

“I’m a married woman now. I’m not embarrassed about things like this anymore.”

Hearing his little bean muster up her courage to say that, he chuckled again, his voice full of affection.

“Then I’ll have to keep up too, since I’m a married man.”

“No! You really don’t have to push yourself any more!”

If His Majesty raises his perverted energy any further, it’s seriously going to be a problem. If the King leads this way, the entire nation’s morals might spiral into decadence!

“I don’t want to hold back. I don’t want to lose to you in anything.”

“Why are you always pretending to be so prim when you talk?”

“It’s strategy.”

If it was a strategy, it was certainly working.  

Lee-Jae found him endlessly funny and adorable.  

But knowing he always reacted incredulously whenever she called him ‘cute,’ she simply stroked the big beast silently.

The King rubbed his cheek against her hand, looking perfectly content.

In the bedroom of a couple who had truly spent their first night together, a deep, lingering warmth filled the air.