Chapter 5 The First Night
“….”
Delphine bit her lower lip, unable to answer.
It was only this morning that she had been locked in a cold palace cell.
And it was only yesterday that her father, an Earl, had been hanged on the palace’s outer wall.
If she refused him here, she would be hanged next to him, side by side, not even a day removed from his execution.
“The way is simple. All you have to do is say a word to the messenger outside that door.”
The man smiled leisurely, as if he could see right into her head.
“I will not sleep with that filthy Emperor’s right hand son of a bitch, ‘even in death’.”
He put an odd emphasis on the word ‘even in death’.
He and Delphine both knew it was not a figure of speech.
“….”
Delphine pursed her lips, but no words came out.
It is the rule of this Empire that traitors are destroyed in three generations.
Hence, becoming a hero’s wife.
She knew of no other alternative that would grant a traitor’s daughter immunity.
There was no way he could have known that her silence was both an unspoken denial of death and permission for the first night.
Tsk-.
She unbuttoned the shirt he wore under his jacket, then, as if in frustration, ripped it off in one swift motion.
His thick, sculpted body peeked through the thin shirt.
His body was the opposite of his white, clean-cut face.
It was large, hideous, and full of scars.
The white of his skin made them all the more visible.
From small sword wounds to a large burn scar just below his left breast.
Delphine searched his body for any sign of Ioan.
And in doing so, she missed the man’s pause as he was about to remove his shirt completely.
“…I’ve somehow managed to prevent the Emperor’s messenger from being a torpedo boat watching over the court.”
A new scream burst from Delphine’s mouth.
He lifted her up with one hand and cradled her in his arms.
Embarrassed at the inelegant sound, Delphine quickly clamped one hand over her mouth.
He set her down on the bed with a nonchalant expression.
She could have sworn she was holding a feather pillow.
She was suddenly aware of the enormous difference in strength between them, and she felt so helpless in her layered wedding dress.
As he knelt down on either side of her body, the bed settled heavily beneath her.
To have a man this huge, this big, this powerful holding me.
At the thought of him doing to her what she had heard her do to Anna, Delphine felt a strange tightening in her lower stomach.
‘Why am I doing this?’
Is this what all girls do on their first night?
Raising her reddened head, she glared down at the man who had placed his arms at the sides of her head as if to trap her.
His eyes are burning with black desire again.
Slowly, he buries his head in the nape of her neck.
When she flinches, he simply buries the bridge of his towering nose into her collarbone and inhales deeply.
Delphine felt goosebumps rise all over her body and her fingertips tingle.
“I’m sure the Emperor would be gracious enough to hand over some evidence of… the first night.”
His voice was low, and he bit down hard on my forearm.
Delphine yelped in surprise, and he brushed his arm across her hip.
A thick, red stream of blood dripped down her wedding dress and white quilt like a stigma.
For a moment, she was stunned by the sudden, savage action.
Soon the strength drained from Delphine’s body.
The tension had been released.
She realized then that she had been curling her toes as tightly as she could.
When he finished, he yanked her arm and pulled her tightly into his arms.
It was so natural and swift that she didn’t even have time to resist.
As Delphine squirmed in embarrassment, a languid whisper reached her ear.
“We should share a room, so the messenger won’t be suspicious.”
“Not…”
“It’s hard enough to hold back, so don’t provoke him further today.”
His presence was palpable beyond the bodies pressed together, impossible to ignore.
Delphine stiffened, stiffened, and shut her mouth.
Then he laughed, a guttural laugh that traveled through their touching bodies.
She hadn’t even gotten out of her wedding dress yet, and the heat of his body was stifling.
Delphine’s eyes rolled back in her head, trying to remain as still as possible.
Where did this man come from?
Was he really not Ioannes?
If so, what happened to this face and name?
And if he really wasn’t Ioan, why did he marry her, a man of no honor and no family name?
Was her father’s treason really true?
There was so much to find out.
But amidst all the confusion, one thing was certain.
She would survive the night. This man seemed to have no intention of harming him, no intention of brutalising his fallen self.
He had survived his father’s treason, and he had survived the hell of that day.
The thought brought an uncontrollable rush of relief, even in the arms of her enemy.
Delphine closed her eyes for a moment to calm the fluttering of her eyelids.
Thinking to herself that she will never sleep well tonight.
***
“Good morning, My Lady.”
Delphine opened her eyes, squinting, and heard the low voice as if he had been waiting for it.
Delphine blinked up at the white face in front of her.
Brown eyes and dirty-blonde hair cascaded down towards her with the morning sunlight.
“…Ioan?”
Is he back?
Why had he disappeared so suddenly?
The corner of the man’s mouth twitched upward as Delphine, drunk with sleep and exhaustion, mumbled the name.
“Del.”
…Del?
How dare the cautious Ioannes call her by her nickname.
Was Ioannes the kind of man who smiled like that?
Delphine jerked to her feet.
But her body was too light.
She lowered her head in dismay, and saw that her heavy wedding dress was gone and she was wearing only a thin slip.
“Oh, you were getting stuffy in your sleep, so I took it off for you.”
The man said casually, smiling gracefully.
Delphine looked incredulous at his brazenness.
But even so, he only smiled languidly, still in his aristocratic manner.
“The Emperor’s messenger left early in the morning, having received what he was due.”
And with that, the wedding dress was gone, along with the bloodstained quilt.
Delphine clutched at her red hair in disbelief.
‘This is impossible. Did I fall asleep that deeply?’
And next to this man she didn’t even know yet?
Suddenly, she realized that the man’s gaze had turned sinister and was looking down at her.
Only then did Delphine realize that her bare legs were exposed beneath the short slip, and she scrambled out of bed, covering herself with the duvet.
“I told… to get water for you so you can bathe.”
The man said, turning his wistful gaze wistfully away.
“A bath?”
Delphine muttered, her expression wary.
A bath in the morning? His words, without context, made no sense.
“You may not know this, Lady, but when a man and a woman spend the night, they are in a state that requires a bath.”
He replied smoothly, as if anticipating her reaction.
As it turned out, there was a small but quite luxurious bathroom attached to the quarters.
‘I never noticed it before.’
So did he really mean what he said, that couples bathed together after making love?
She didn’t really hear that from Anna.
“You know how hard it is to keep people out, Lady.”
It didn’t look like they’d spent their first night together, and she’d better keep quiet if she didn’t want rumors to spread.
Chewing on his lip, Delphine finally nodded defeatedly.
***
She had finished her bath and was slowly applying cosmetics to her face in her robe when he emerged from the bathroom.
He was dressed down to his shirt.
Delphine stared at the man’s reflection in the mirror, confused.
Who are you?
Is it Ioan or not?
And if not, then who are you?
She soaked in the warm water and pondered furiously, but still no answers came to mind.
But in the midst of all the confusion, one thing was certain.
For now, she must be that man’s wife.
Whatever his identity is.
…Unless she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps and die an unjust death for a crime he didn’t commit.
He smirked as his eyes locked with Delphine’s in the mirror as she glared back at him.
Delphine forced the tip of her lips to lift and smile back, then wiped it away as soon as his back was turned.
In the mirror, she could see his massive back in uniform.
“You don’t have… a servant to help you?”
She asks casually, pretending to rub on her make-up, and get a smooth reply.
“I prefer to wear my regalia alone.”
A nobleman?
As if he hadn’t heard her, he adds, nonchalantly.
“A soldier, perhaps.”
“I see. I forgot to ask yesterday because I was in a hurry…”
Delphine asked in a nonchalant tone as she ran a comb through her red hair.
“Why did you marry me?”
