The day had been extremely long. No, the past five days felt like one unending day.
Is it finally over? Kaela felt like she shouldn’t go to sleep for some reason. It was a compulsion from her life as the Grand Duchess.
Shouldn’t she go to bed later than the Grand Duke who had returned from battle, to avoid being caught out? Her mind, dominated by a persecution complex that had naturally developed due to the palace people obsessively checking when the lights in the Grand Duchess’s bedroom went out, always worked this way.
She knew she didn’t have to do that anymore.
‘If I die, it’ll be all over.’
Kaela murmured this fact that she kept forgetting to herself, but remained seated without going to wash up. While it’s true that death would end everything, she still needed to stay alive today.
Remember Marie, Denise, and Cecile. And also her father, who would only be safe if she died in a politically perfect situation. It would be very upsetting if her father, whom she had just managed to save, were to pass away again meaninglessly because of her.
“Your Highness, His Highness is looking for you.”
I knew this would happen. Good thing I’m dressed. Sir Renard, who had steadfastly remained by her side for the past five days, suddenly appeared. Kaela tilted her head but still got up and followed Sir Renard.
There was nothing for the Grand Duchess to do in finishing up after the battle. Of course, that was Kaela’s opinion; Peon’s thoughts might differ. That’s probably why he called for her.
“He’s in here. Please take this with you as well. I’ll take my leave now.”
Sir Renard smiled brightly as he suddenly thrust something into Kaela’s arms, then closed the door.
Faced with a sudden cloud of steam, she couldn’t see well, so she first checked what Sir Renard had given her.
It was two large, soft towels. Big enough to wrap around her body entirely. Why towels? As she tilted her head in confusion and moved forward, Kaela stopped abruptly at the voice coming from inside.
“Ah. You really don’t understand human language, do you?”
The first thought that came to her mind upon hearing the voice filled with contempt, disgust, and irritation was ‘I’ve been tricked again.’
Her heart sank, but beyond being surprised, she wasn’t flustered. If she had angered Peon again due to someone else’s actions, there was a way. Kaela thought of the poison.
“Choose. Either walk out on your own two feet.”
She heard the sound of something moving in the water. Something, a terrifying something that shouldn’t be looked at beneath the water’s surface.
“Or be dragged out.”
A chilling killing intent assaulted her. What had she done wrong this time? Too scared to even breathe, Kaela lowered her gaze and took small steps backward. This kind of thing was familiar. But familiarity didn’t make it okay.
What did she do wrong to make him act like this? Should she apologize for something she didn’t do wrong? It seemed she should beg. Beg for her life. Beg him to kill her later, if he must.
“Am I Kaela’s husband, or your husband?”
The voice continued rapidly, so frigid it seemed to not just freeze but crush bones.
Huh? Kaela, who had been looking at the steam-dampened floor while backing away, raised her head. Surely she must have misheard. She decided to calmly deny it and try to leave quietly somehow.
“Get out right n…”
He’s telling her to get out. No, his tone suggested he might just kill her before she could leave. However, the words weren’t completed and stopped abruptly as if surprised by something. Then there was a loud, violent splashing sound.
It sounded like a startled splash. It seemed as if something large and dense had lost its balance in the bathtub, shaken greatly, and then barely regained its equilibrium.
“…Your Highness?”
A voice close to a groan very carefully whispered, as if confirming her presence. How strange. Kaela, who had just managed to get close to the door, looked down at the towels she was holding.
Steam, and after the steam there was a screen, so he shouldn’t be able to see who she was, but how did Peon know everything? He was a bit late, but he had immediately distinguished who had entered without even seeing her face or body.
Someone as sensitive and alert as him disliking her – perhaps the fault lay with herself. Kaela looked down at her dull and stupid self and spoke.
“I’m sorry.”
She apologized first even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. It was a habit and a defense mechanism.
“I heard Your Highness was looking for me. It seems there was some confusion as the palace is still in disarray.”
Again, a small splashing sound of water moving was heard.
“I brought a towel. I’ll leave it here and go.”
She had to retreat swiftly and accurately, lowering herself to the position of a mere maid. Kaela spoke in an unwavering voice, calmly and professionally, then turned around immediately.
Surprisingly, she felt no emotion at all. Even when she realized that Beatrice had likely been here before her.
“Kael…, wait, please. Just a moment.”
A very distraught voice called out to her urgently, stumbling. The sound of water spilling loudly was heard.
“Please, just a moment.”
Water gushed and dripped. Kaela thought about the model answer she should give in this situation.
“I’ll see you tomorrow morn-”
“Kaela, please, I’m sorry.”
With hurried footsteps, the slightly opened door slammed shut. Kaela looked at her hand gripping the doorknob tightly. She had pulled it open, but another hand was pushing the door over hers. The man standing behind her kept apologizing.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was you. I’m not in my right mind right now, so I’m having trouble distinguishing people, no, I was wrong. I thought you were Ravalley. What I said wasn’t meant for you.”
He apologized to the woman who had turned her back, hunching his shoulders. Whether it was the aftermath of a fight or because of the poison Beatrice had left behind, he wasn’t in his right mind.
He should have been able to distinguish his wife just by her footsteps, no, even by her breathing. He never wanted to frighten her, but he had done it again. He blamed himself over and over.
“I’ll never, ever mistake you again… Please don’t leave like this. Please.”
His whispered plea was fervent. He couldn’t let Kaela spend the night alone, possibly worrying if she had done something wrong, feeling upset and scared. He absolutely couldn’t allow that.
“…It seems someone came before me.”
Was that why Sir Renard had brought her? When Kaela spoke, Peon answered urgently.
“I drove her away. Really.”
“I know.”
The declaration made through gritted teeth wasn’t mishear. The stinging killing intent proved it.
“Will you stay out here with me?”
“If you need me to.”
What else could she do but follow orders?
“I always need you.”
Kaela raised her head at these unexpected words. The man leaning towards her from behind was so tall that it was possible to meet his eyes.
“I mean it.”
Was it because of the humidity and heat filling the room? Peon’s ear tips looked red. Kaela hesitated, then turned her body slightly. Peon, unable to bear the slow pace, gently grabbed her and turned her completely to face him.
“But I don’t know how to assist with bathing.”
His chest muscles were fully visible under the hastily donned robe. Droplets of water dripped down his skin marked with scars here and there, flowing down to his more finely defined abdomen. Kaela discreetly averted her gaze.
“I don’t need assistance either.”
The purple eyes, still rippling with darkness, persistently tried to meet her gaze. Moisture clung to her face. No, more than moisture, a gaze wetter than humidity clung to her as if licking her.
“I missed you.”
It was a statement that left no room for misunderstanding or denial. The gaze, words, and heart were entirely directed at Kaela.
“Throughout the fight… I missed you so much.”
A hand, slightly warmer than normal body temperature, cupped her cheek. The inner feelings, only spoken after experiencing death, were so immense and intense once uttered.
The thick steam, the infiltrated poison, and the lingering heat from the battle mixed haphazardly with the delicate southern floral scent. His mind was in a haze. Peon pulled Kaela’s waist and embraced her. Their lips overlapped.
The wet silk and the neat, thick velvet dress collided, crumpling and getting wet together. He guided her small, hot, panting wife’s arms around his neck, leaving no gap as he planted his lips on hers, savoring the sweet fragrance.
The poison clouded his mind, but it didn’t matter. What difference would it make if the madman already crazy for the woman in his arms went even madder? He’s still a madman. He whispered to Kaela, who was clinging tightly to his neck, trembling and unsure what to do.
“Touch everything.”
In front of his wife, who was still fully dressed in case she needed to work at this hour, he loosely dropped the silk robe he had hastily put on.
“It’s yours.”
At the whispered words, Kaela shrugged her shoulders. Cute. Peon chuckled and lifted her up, carrying her inside while continuously kissing her. His lips touched everywhere – behind her ear, her forehead, around her eyes, under her chin.
The robe fell to the floor with a thud, and Kaela’s belt landed on top of it. The proper Grand Duchess’s attire was so tight that Peon’s long, strong fingers, unfamiliar with the intricacies of women’s clothing, slipped several times over the complex knots and buttons.
“You were wearing this much until this hour?”
“Just in case…”
“You should have been sleeping, Kaela.”
If she had been asleep, she wouldn’t have been devoured by this pitch-black, pent-up desire.
Peon smiled as he watched Kaela, breathing heavily with a dazed expression, helping him undo the tightly tangled knots. Their fingers intertwined – his calloused from wielding a sword, hers slender and small.
“It’s okay, though.”
As the knots came undone one by one, they slowed down at the last one. The skilled fingers that had been leading hesitated for a moment. Peon overlapped his hand on those fingers and asked.
“Is it okay?”
It was a question that asked many things. Is it okay not to sleep? Or, is this okay as it is?
“Even if we stop now, I’m fine.”
A lie. Kaela looked up at him. Wet desire dripped from his eyes, with black pupils constricted vertically. It was so concentrated that it stuck viscously, soaking her too. She should have been scared. She should have been terrified.
But the reason she wasn’t was because somehow, she felt that if she said to stop here, Peon would quietly withdraw, despite his eyes being so crazed.
She wasn’t afraid of the man as huge as a mountain at all. Either Peon was exceptionally gentlemanly towards Kaela, or Kaela had gone mad. It was one of the two.
“It’s okay.”
Kaela answered absent-mindedly. Her blue eyes were already flushed and hazy.
“You always say it’s okay.”
As the last knot came undone, Peon pulled down the dress and set his teeth on the exposed fair skin.
“Even when it’s not.”
“Really, really, it is…”
Kaela, pulled out of the heavy pile of her dress, covered her face and groaned.
The thin, see-through muslin undergarment was all she wore, and she felt embarrassed as her body was almost entirely visible. She was unaware of how lovely her soft, flushed skin looked beneath the white muslin.
“Are you sure?”
Kaela nodded, burying her forehead against Peon’s collarbone, shivering as his hand slowly caressed down her spine.
It was fine. She meant it. She had always been desperate. She clung to Peon as if tonight was the last night, as if it would never happen again.
She wasn’t in her right mind, committing the chilling act of stealing nights as if she were Beatrice.
She wanted him that badly. At least once before she died, that’s how she felt. And now Peon was treating her so tenderly. She had to seize this opportunity no matter what.
“It might be a bit hot.”
Peon, gently coaxing her like a child, carried her back into the bathtub and sat down. Within his encircling arms, Kaela had to lean against his body.
His lips softly and repeatedly touched her nape and shoulders, removing the pins that held her hair in place one by one. With his other hand, he massaged and relaxed her tense muscles one by one, causing her to involuntarily moan.
“Is it hot?”
When he checked again, she just shook her head. So cute. Peon held her tightly from behind and gently pulled her chin, pressing his lips against hers once more. The intensifying emotions were inevitably leading towards desire.
Just like the bathwater that now soaked through her last undergarment, the longing that she thought had died, frozen deep inside her, suddenly filled her completely.
Peon, who had been quite clumsy and nervous at first, had become quite skilled after spending several nights together. More precisely, he had learned how to hold Kaela without hurting her and how to control his strength.
Now that he knew, he had to make her aroused too. Slowly, unhurriedly, and very leisurely. He gently nibbled her nape and shoulders without causing pain.
Restraining himself with Kaela was always difficult. Veins stood out on Peon’s hands, forearms, neck, and forehead.
His brain was meticulously recording every moment without intention, his eyes had already devoured Kaela, and his long arms and legs had trapped her in his embrace.
He caught his breath as he removed the remaining pins from her luscious platinum blonde hair, finally letting it fall loose as he rested his chin on top of her head. His thick chest swelled and then exhaled a suppressed breath, causing Kaela’s shoulders to shrink.
She could feel the simmering desire from him. No, perhaps it was just the feelings she had nurtured for him, not dead but in full bloom. Shamelessly and willfully on its own.
“I want you, Kaela.”
It was his rough voice that stopped Kaela’s habitual self-reproach.
“I’ve always wanted you.”
This confession, bursting out uncontrollably, had been pent up for just as long on his side.
“Always, always…”
Need you. Want you. Both pointed firmly to some point, a point that should never have occurred in Kaela’s life.
“I hope you feel the same.”
His husky voice asked for permission until the very last moment, even though she had said it was okay. It wasn’t because he didn’t believe her answer, but because he knew how enormous the instinct that would burst forth the moment she gave permission would be.
Kaela turned around and saw a man with the eyes of a beast, not human eyes. Her small hand rested on his firm chest.
Peon couldn’t breathe. His wife, who often didn’t give clear answers, this time too, instead of answering, closed her eyes and carefully, clumsily pressed her lips against his.
