Chapter 32
It felt like I was sitting inside a blazing fire, my whole body was burning up. I grew more and more embarrassed, lowering my face as I mumbled.
“T-that’s not it, Lady Dorothy.”
“Crying out of joy during intimacy isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
Oh my goodness. Did I really cry out of joy while sleeping with Stefan? Is that why he reacted that way in the morning?
“Thanks to my enthusiastic wife, I experienced a new kind of pleasure, so I can only be grateful.”
“I’m saying this because the walls between us were broken down last night, bringing us closer.”
I couldn’t even imagine what I had done to make him say such things. Rather than feeling curious, I was terrified. Had I done something I’d be teased about for a long time?
My body quickly lost all its strength, and my legs began trembling. I wobbled as if I might collapse at any moment, and Dorothy hurriedly grabbed my arm to support me.
“Thank you, Lady Dorothy.”
“It seems like you really overdid it last night.”
“I-I swear, that’s not what happened.”
I looked at her with a face on the verge of tears, and she smiled back at me, looking quite satisfied.
“Don’t be embarrassed, Rachel. Back when I was newlywed, my husband and I shared a bed every night for a week straight…”
“A whole week? Then you must have conceived a child right away?”
“No, we deliberately delayed having children to enjoy our honeymoon.”
“Can you really delay pregnancy like that?”
To someone like me, who was anxious about having a child as soon as possible, her words were like a bolt from the blue.
“How many times does Duke Edmond do it in one night?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“I mean, how many times do you get intimate?”
“Just once, isn’t that normal?”
“Oh no, no…”
Dorothy wagged her finger vigorously and leaned in closer, lowering her voice.
“How many times does he release and get hard again?”
“I’ve never… seen him do that.”
“What? Are you saying he stays hard all night?”
Since I’d never seen it go down, I cautiously nodded, thinking that must be the case.
At that, her eyes grew wider and wider, to the point where it seemed her eyeballs might pop out.
“My goodness… Duke Edmond is a real hidden powerhouse.”
“A powerhouse?”
“That thing doesn’t just grow and shrink at its owner’s will. And no man can skip the final stage of intimacy at his own discretion.”
“…”
“That’s why you’ve been worn out from being tormented all night long. I can’t tell if I should pity you or be jealous…”
Dorothy’s strange gaze made me feel incredibly uncomfortable. At the same time, I felt relieved knowing that Stefan wasn’t deliberately trying to deceive me.
“Lady Dorothy, I actually want to have a baby as soon as possible.”
“Oh my, why?”
“After my mother passed away, I’ve been longing to build a stable family.”
Understanding my feelings, she patted the back of my hand before lowering her voice again.
“To receive the duke’s seed, Rachel, you need to be more proactive in intimacy.”
“H-how?”
“There must be a moment when even Duke Edmond feels vulnerable. After all, he’s human, even if he is a powerhouse. When he tries to pull away from you, grab him tight.”
“Can I really hold him down with my strength?”
I wiggled my thin, frail arms, and Dorothy chuckled in response.
“There’s so much I need to teach you, Rachel.”
“…”
“You don’t hold back a man trying to run during intimacy with your arms, you do it with your legs.”
“Legs?”
“Of course, it will be difficult at first, but with practice, it’ll become possible. Everything requires practice.”
She reassured me, saying she’d visit often to teach me bedroom skills, but I felt disheartened, thinking I wouldn’t be able to get pregnant anytime soon. No matter how thoroughly she explained, mastering complicated positions and techniques that were hard to even imagine within a short period wasn’t going to be easy.
“Lady Dorothy, would you like a refreshing cup of tea? You’ve talked so much on my behalf that your throat must be parched.”
“That would be nice.”
As we entered the gazebo, the perfectly set tea table prepared by Mary caught my eye. At the center of the table was a three-tiered tray filled with colorful desserts, looking like a beautiful cake. In the goblets, cool lemon sorbet was served, with green napkins underneath to add a fresh touch. It seemed like Mary had put in a lot of effort to impress the first guest of the duchess.
“Thank you, Mary.”
“Let me know if you need anything else, madam.”
“Please ask Emily to bring some chocolate tea.”
“Yes, madam.”
After Mary left, Dorothy, who had been enjoying the refreshing sorbet, asked me discreetly.
“What is chocolate tea?”
“I read that chocolate helps create a body suitable for pregnancy, so I’m experimenting with making tea from it.”
“Rachel, you’re really serious about having a baby, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
Dorothy smiled kindly at me, though her eyes looked somewhat wistful.
“Suddenly, I find myself envying Rita.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not the type to envy anything Rita has, but the one thing I did envy was that she has two daughters.”
“You only have a son, Lady Dorothy?”
She nodded and began to share her thoughts, almost as if she was lamenting.
“Once you marry off a son, he no longer feels like your child; it’s a lonely feeling. But with a daughter-in-law like you, I think I wouldn’t need a daughter after all. And now, here I am, even coveting Rita’s daughter-in-law.”
“You’re far too kind, Lady Dorothy.”
Blushing at her compliment, I responded modestly, but she suddenly grasped my hand and made an unexpected proposal.
“Rachel, how about becoming my daughter?”
“Pardon?”
“You need a mother too, don’t you?”
“I would be incredibly grateful if you considered me like a daughter.”
My warm reply made her grip tighten, and her expression brightened.
“In that case, let me share my concerns with my new daughter.”
“Do you have something troubling you?”
She chuckled shyly, then removed the large, flamboyant hat she had been wearing. Underneath, her pure white hair, which she had carefully hidden, was revealed. A striking white hair, unlike anything I’d ever seen in the Merwin Empire. I’d seen men occasionally wearing hats to cover graying hair, but I’d never in my life seen a woman with such long, luxurious white hair.
“My goodness…”
I covered my mouth in shock, unable to find words, and her face darkened once more.
“Shocked, aren’t you? Sigh, this is my greatest worry.”
“You look absolutely stunning, Lady Dorothy.”
“What?”
She gave my hand a light tap, accusing me of teasing her. But I stood my ground and praised her white hair.
“I’ve never seen such magnificent white hair in my life.”
“Magnificent?”
“If you had patches of gray hair, it might look uneven and embarrassing, but your white hair is as radiant as silver.”
“Silver hair? There’s a big difference between silver and white, you know.”
“In my eyes, your white hair is even more beautiful than Duke Edmond’s silver hair.”
“That’s impossible…”
“It’s true. Lady Dorothy, you probably have the most beautiful pure white hair in the world.”
“Rachel, your flattery is getting a bit out of hand…”
I held her hand tightly and met her blue eyes. I tried my best to convince her.
“Do you have a favorite color?”
“…I like many colors.”
“Soon, Lady Dorothy, you’ll have all those colors in your hair.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
“Your white hair can bring out any color beautifully.”
“Oh…”
It seemed she had never considered dyeing her hair before, as her eyes grew wide with surprise.
“Lady Dorothy, what color would you like your hair to be?”
“Well…”
“Think it over and let me know. In the meantime, I’ll practice dyeing hair with the head maid.”
“But you’re also working on chocolate tea, aren’t you?”
“I’m just helping out a little. The tea maid will handle the chocolate tea, and the head maid will take care of the hair dyeing.”
Dorothy burst into hearty laughter at my words. She laughed so hard her body shook, and seeing her like that made me happy too, as if her worries had been completely resolved.
“I’ve never met a duchess like you in my life.”
“I’m a bit odd, aren’t I?”
“More than odd! What kind of duchess studies tea with the maids and practices hair dyeing?”
“Even a duchess should learn what she doesn’t know.”
I smiled bashfully, and Dorothy spoke to me warmly.
“Rachel, you’ll definitely be a wonderful mother to your children.”
“Thank you, Lady Dorothy.”
I don’t hope for anything extraordinary. I just want to become a mother. Even if only once, I want to nurse my own children and, for just a single day, fall asleep with them in my arms.
