Please note: The smut will continue for the next five chapters. If you’re uncomfortable with coercive or non-consensual sexual content, you may want to skip these chapters, as the novel includes such scenes.

 

I Don’t Want To Be The Hero’s Wife – Chapter 001

00. Prologue

“Mm…”

Rona let out a moan in her sleep, shifting restlessly. She’d been in pain, her ribs aching… at least, that’s how it had felt… but now, all she sensed was a ticklish sensation.

It was strange.

She was definitely asleep, yet her mind was awake, and her body felt like it was floating.

Her toes curled involuntarily from the tingling. Heat rising from below made her hips tense, and her lips parted.

“Ahh…”

A wet sound, like splashing water. Dampness between her legs, almost as if she’d wet herself. And then, warm breath brushing over sensitive flesh.

It felt like someone was licking her down there…

“You’re dripping even in your sleep.”

“…!”

Before the thought could fully form, a low voice rose from beneath her, and Rona’s eyes flew open. She slowly lifted her head, blinking in confusion.

The hem of her chemise, which had once hung down to her ankles, was now bunched up high above her thighs, baring her pale legs.

That alone would have been enough to shock her, but through the translucent fabric, she saw a round head.

Someone had buried their face between her legs.

The sheer vulgarity of the scene playing out first thing in the morning left her speechless.

“What is this…?”

Her thighs were being held tightly, her panties tangled around her ankles, her lower half soaked.

A man was licking her while she slept.

Am I still dreaming…? The surreal sight held her frozen, not even breathing, as she stared blankly.

The man didn’t seem to hear her, or had no intention of stopping. He remained nestled between her legs.

Slap. A thick tongue ran slowly up her center again.

“…!”

Rona shrieked and sat up in a panic.

“What, what are you… What do you think you’re doing?!”

Startled by her trembling voice, the man raised his head, lifting the white chemise to reveal his face.

It was her husband… Anark.

She called his name in shock. He tilted his head, unfazed.

His expression was calm, his clothes neat and undisturbed. Just looking at him, no one would ever guess he’d just been licking his wife like some kind of animal.

But the glistening shine on his lips told her exactly what he had been doing.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m trying to save your life.”

“…What?”

Rona blinked, clearly not understanding. What did sticking his tongue inside her first thing in the morning have to do with saving her? Then Anark slowly licked his lips and offered an explanation.

“I have to wet you before I put it in. Your hole’s too tight… if I go in dry, it’ll tear.”

Rona froze, stiff as a board, her mind racing. What was he saying right now? Wet her before putting it in…? Did that mean he’d planned to sleep with her while she was unconscious?

“Y-You’re insane!”

Rona, flustered, pushed hard against Anark’s head. But he didn’t budge. Of course he didn’t… he just looked up at her, eyes wide open, staring at her like she was the strange one.

Her eyes flicked down to his plump lips, glistening with clear fluid, and her face flushed red as she shouted.

“You’re supposed to ask before doing something like this! It’s called basic decency!”

At that, Anark smirked crookedly.

“Someone’s on the verge of dying, and I’m supposed to ask for permission to save them? That’d be the stranger thing, don’t you think?”

His nonchalant reply left Rona speechless. She now understood why he had crawled between her legs at the break of dawn.

She must have been groaning in pain again while half-asleep.

“S-Still, there’s no need to go this far…!”

“And how would you know that? You collapsed just because I was gone for one day.”

“That was…”

Rona lowered her head. That incident had caught her completely off guard. It had happened before she even knew that her husband’s… was the key to healing her illness.

Even so…

Even after learning that she needed Anark to be cured, Rona hadn’t wanted his help. Maybe it was pride. Maybe just stubbornness.

But still…

“We… we agreed to get divorced. And now this, this kind of thing…”

Wasn’t it ridiculous to ask her husband for help after demanding a divorce?

In every way, it was a difficult situation.

‘I finally made up my mind…’

A shadow clouded Rona’s face as brief memories of her life with Anark passed through her mind.

The ridicule of those who said she didn’t suit her husband. The servants who ignored the woman of the house.

And then…

…A husband who refused to share a bed with her.

But now, after she had finally sorted out her feelings and resolved to divorce him, she was suddenly able to sleep with him?

The excitement that had flickered across Rona’s face vanished, replaced by somberness.

‘If it weren’t for my illness, I never would’ve ended up in the same bed as him…’

Rona turned her gaze toward her husband, who was showing her a side she had never seen before.

His face, steeped in arrogance, was the very image of nobility. Not a single trace of his past remained, only the quiet confidence of someone born into privilege.

If he had been born a noble, there’s no way he would have ever spared someone like her a glance.

And that hadn’t changed, even now.

‘That’s probably why he never once initiated intimacy with me.’

Because she didn’t satisfy him.

Rona’s eyes dimmed. Ever since her illness had been discovered, she’d ended up sleeping with him night after night, unintentionally. But that, too, must have been against his wishes.

And for good reason.

“After all, we only got married because my parents asked you to.”

He had married her out of obligation, a debt of gratitude.

Back when the war was still ongoing, Anark had been a child, wandering the streets alone.

Her parents had taken him in and given him a place to stay by hiring him as a servant. Thanks to them, Anark hadn’t had to worry about surviving.

Because of that, he’d married her as a way of repaying their kindness.

But in truth, it hadn’t been a marriage in any real sense.

Her parents had died suddenly in an accident, her relatives refused to take her in, and she had been far too young to live on her own.

Seeing that coming, her parents had made arrangements before their deaths. Worried about leaving her behind, they’d entrusted her to him… to the boy they’d once taken in.

‘Back then, the only way for him to keep me from being sent to an orphanage… was for us to get married.’

And so, one thing led to another, and they had lived as a married couple ever since.

When she was a child, she had known nothing. She’d been happy at the thought of marrying him. Excited that she’d be able to stay by his side.

But as time went on, she realized the truth.

To him, their marriage was no more than a burdensome obligation.

“I know I owe you a lot.”

Taking in a young girl just because of her parents’ dying wish, he must have resented it. And now, being forced to sleep with a woman he didn’t even want…

Rona fought the tightness in her throat and forced herself to speak.

“…But I’m grown now. There’s no need to honor my parents’ wishes anymore. So, let’s get a divorce…”

Rona believed she was being calm. But her hands wouldn’t stay still, and her lips trembled slightly.

Anark, who had the habit of studying people closely, didn’t miss those subtle tells.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

“I said I’d consider divorce if I was given a reason I could accept. But you still haven’t given me one.”

“I just did! We were never meant to get married in the first place…”

Their relationship was one-sided, born of his sacrifice.

But she couldn’t finish her thought. Anark cut her off sharply.

“That’s not a valid reason. I already took responsibility for you, and I’ve done my part all this time without any issues. And now, out of nowhere, you want a divorce? No.”

Rona might have thought her reasoning made sense, but Anark didn’t see it that way.

He ran a hand through his hair, his brow furrowed in frustration.

It was unbelievable. Even while teetering on the edge of death, she was talking about divorce.

She had no idea what life or death truly meant; that’s the only reason she could be so bold.

‘Maybe I should tie her down so she can’t even take a step outside.’

Anark’s eyes darkened as the thought passed through his mind. It didn’t sound so bad.

‘I really have spoiled her too much.’

That’s probably why she’d run off without any preparation, not realizing how dangerous the world outside was.

Even now, Rona was living under restrictions no different from being bound, but that didn’t put his mind at ease.

The fact that she had once slipped from his grasp had left a strange ripple in his heart. Anxiety? Maybe it was the kind of emotion people called fear of loss.