~Chapter 24~
“Huh…?”
Wait, what on earth is this man saying right now?
“W-wait, hold on—”
Before I could even react, Damien’s face was moving closer and closer to mine.
The sweet scent that lingered at the tip of my nose became even stronger.
‘W-what…?’
Weren’t we just a contract couple?
Of course, unlike contract couples in romance novels, we didn’t hate each other or have twisted feelings of love and hate…
‘But… were we supposed to do this kind of thing too?’
No, but Damien was the first man I had ever even shared a bed with!
Before I realised it, Damien was so close that the tips of our noses were practically touching.
“We are husband and wife after all…”
Damien whispered in a low voice.
For some reason, the back of my neck grew hot and my heart began to pound violently.
Unable to cope, I lifted my gaze, and his clear purple eyes filled my entire vision.
‘What do I do!’
Without thinking, I squeezed my eyes shut.
I was so embarrassed I genuinely didn’t know what to do.
‘Even when Cecilia humiliated me at the ball, it wasn’t this bad.’
Was there something wrong with my body, or was it because of the scent coming from Damien’s body that my head was spinning?
My heart began to beat like crazy.
“How about… we sleep holding each other tonight.”
At his unbelievably calm voice, I snapped my eyes open.
And then—
“Most married couples… do that, apparently.”
Damien, whose face was always so pale, was now flushed bright red as he reached his hand out to me.
Chirp chirp.
Birdsong signalled that morning had come.
“Mm…”
Even with my eyes closed, the sunlight felt unbearably bright.
I pulled the pillow I was hugging tighter to block my vision.
‘But why is this pillow so hard?’
Wait, pillow?
“Huh.”
When I opened my eyes, I saw a wide, firm chest perfect for lying on.
Startled awake, I found Damien calmly looking down at me and asking leisurely:
“Did you sleep well?”
“Uh, uh, I-I’m sorry! I thought you were a pillow…”
“I see.”
Even though I had hugged him thinking he was a pillow and rubbed against him, Damien remained perfectly composed.
“Was I soft?”
“Eh??”
“I’m joking.”
Though he said it was a joke, Damien’s face didn’t look amused at all.
His face still seemed a little flushed from the night before.
“You look sleepy. You can rest a bit more. I’ll keep blocking the sunlight for you.”
“N-no.”
As I shook my head vigorously, Damien tilted his head slightly, and our eyes met.
Seeing his expression asking ‘Why?’, I averted my gaze and added quickly.
“Actually, I just fully woke up.”
“I see.”
Damien nodded and looked towards the door.
“They’re probably all holding their breath, but some might be hiding near the door.”
“Huh, because of our consummation night?”
“Yes. The servants here are masters of stealth. Let’s check outside before leaving.”
That was a good idea.
That way, we wouldn’t make any mistakes in front of the people expecting our consummation.
“Okay. Should I go listen by the door for a moment?”
“No, um, actually, there’s a better way…”
Damien hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“I’m really sorry, but… would it be alright if I let out a curse for a moment?”
Though he was still lying down with his hands wrapped around my waist, his face and expression were as polite as if he were standing and making a formal request.
“Oh, I don’t mind at all!”
“Good.”
As he smiled, a dark shadow formed at the crescent of his right eye.
His violet eyes turned black, and soon a jet-black curse extended out like thin branches.
“I’ll send this one out.”
The curse that emerged from Damien’s eye looked around blankly, then slithered towards the door.
It slipped right through the crack under the tightly closed door.
A moment later—
DENG— DENG—
The sound of the grandfather clock outside Damien’s room rang clearly, as if it were right beside us.
“Huh?”
I looked at Damien in wonder, and he explained.
“I made it so we can hear what it hears.”
Wow, curses really are amazing.
‘They’re truly multi-talented!’
Soon, we began to hear other sounds.
Footsteps, tiptoeing softly.
‘Hey, the door hasn’t opened yet, right?’
Then whispers followed.
‘Yeah, not yet.’
‘Head maid, what should we do?’
Hearing that even the head maid was there, I was so shocked my mouth fell open.
‘Perhaps we should let them sleep a little longer. Both of them must be tired after last night.’
‘Right?’
The maids’ voices were filled with anticipation.
‘It’s already past 11 AM and they’re still sleeping… it must have been an intense night!’
I felt embarrassed listening to their completely off-the-mark assumptions.
‘Well, I understand why they’d think that.’
I exchanged a glance with Damien and nodded.
“Seems like everyone’s fooled, right?”
“Yes. Looks that way.”
Now, we just needed to find the right timing to leave.
‘My goodness, it must have been so passionate…’
‘Sigh, I mean, they’re newlyweds who married for love. Of course, they’re in their honeymoon phase.’
As I waited to leave, listening to the maids’ assumptions getting more and more exaggerated, my head dropped in embarrassment.
‘Plus, we prepared so much yesterday. The butler even personally helped with the master’s grooming.’
‘Exactly. And he went in so early last night, but they’re still in there together.’
Hearing their guesses brought back memories of last night, making me even more flustered.
I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.
‘And last night, from their room, there were thuds and bangs—’
Crash.
“Ru-Ruby?”
Unable to endure the embarrassment any longer, I jumped up from the bed.
“I-I, uh, um…”
I should apologise to Damien for pushing him, but my mind went completely blank and no words came out.
“Ruby, are you alright?”
As soon as our eyes met while Damien reached out to me with a worried gaze, memories of last night flashed before my eyes again.
My heart pounded so hard it felt like it might explode.
‘I can’t stay like this.’
My heart was definitely going to burst.
And I was sure my face was red and I was sweating embarrassingly.
‘All we did was hold each other, but…’
I couldn’t bear to be in the same room as Damien any longer.
“S-sorry, I’m going first!”
In the end, I threw on my outer robe haphazardly and fled from Damien’s bedroom.
“Hey, did you two fight?”
Alice, sitting perched on the sofa, swung one leg back and forth as she glanced at Damien.
Despite her question, Damien stayed focused on his work as if used to her interruptions.
“Hey, I’m asking if you two fought? You’re always together, but today you’re apart.”
“……”
“Didn’t you two… merge? Or was it merge beds? Whatever, you did that last night, right?”
At her persistent questioning, Damien’s hand holding the quill froze.
He let out a deep sigh before finally turning to look at Alice and opening his mouth.
“It’s called consummation.”
“Yeah, whatever it is.”
Alice scurried over, pressed her face against his desk, and tilted her head.
“Isn’t that when married couples sleep together? Why are you two on bad terms after doing that?”
“……Yeah.”
Damien answered blankly, running a hand through his black hair.
“I think… she hates me.”
While eavesdropping on the maids’ conversation, Ruby had suddenly pulled away from him and fled.
At that moment, she had been trembling all over like someone furious.
“Why… why do you think that?”
Alice asked, resting her chin in her palms as she swung her legs.
Damien recalled the scene and described it.
“Her face was completely red. Like someone really angry.”
“And?”
“She kept stuttering like she was flustered. She never does that usually.”
“And what else?”
“She couldn’t look me in the eyes. Even at breakfast, she barely spoke and avoided my gaze.”
“Ugh! She’s definitely mad!”
Alice began smacking Damien with her small, fern-like fists.
“Hey, whatever you did, you should’ve handled it better! You finally brought your bride here with such difficulty, what if she leaves again!”
Damien silently endured Alice’s tiny fists pounding on him.
In truth, the only thing being damaged was Alice’s own fists.
“Ugh, shouldn’t you go apologise and make up with her right now?”
“I’m planning to talk to her tonight.”
Damien’s eyes darkened even more compared to last night as he spoke.
“Right now, I don’t think her anger will have subsided. I should give her time to calm down alone.”
“Ugh…”
Alice sighed heavily and ruffled her golden hair roughly.
‘Damn it, what do I do… I’m supposed to get that thing from her…’
Although there was a tiny bit of worry that Damien would be hurt if his bride left, what mattered most to Alice was something else.
She had something important to receive from Rubiana, the newly arrived bride.
‘Damn it, what if she runs away before I get it.’
She was supposed to receive it in just a few days.
It was something she coveted so much that she had repeatedly pestered Ruby about it, so naturally, Alice felt anxious.
‘Ugh, I have to get it no matter what…’
After thinking and thinking, the little curse finally made a decision.
“Hey, wait.”
She decided to take matters into her own hands.
“I’ll resolve this before 6 PM today.”
