MDIHC 10

Chapter 010

He had apparently washed up and returned to the room, now wearing a robe and holding a glass of wine in one hand. When he set the wine glass down by the window, the remaining wine inside sparkled under the moonlight through the clear glass.

Seeing the damp hair of Lord Winchester, not yet dry, made me suddenly think—I’d look like that too.

“You’re not asleep yet,” I said.

“The moonlight was nice,” he replied.

I pulled my robe tighter around myself and spoke. Lord Winchester responded calmly.

“……”

“……”

It was awkward. I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything at all. Lord Winchester was silent too.

The room was filled only with awkward tension.

The whirlwind of a wedding had made me forget temporarily. Marriage meant that Lord Winchester and I were now husband and wife. And being husband and wife meant sharing a room—and a bed.

And sharing a bed meant…

“If you’re tired…”

“Ah!”

When Lord Winchester put down his wine glass and stepped toward me, I instinctively took a step back. He froze in place immediately.

“……”

“……”

The atmosphere grew even more uncomfortable.

“Let’s lie down on the bed,” he suggested.

“…What?”

My eyes turned to the bed at his suggestion. It was soft and looked incredibly comfortable.

Of course, to sleep, one would lie on a bed. But that wasn’t the only purpose a bed served—especially on the first night of marriage.

“Y-yes. Of course. That makes sense.”

I hesitantly approached the bed. As I lifted one leg to climb up, the slit in my robe opened slightly, revealing my thigh.

“Ahh!!”

Startled, I quickly grabbed the blanket and dove underneath.

Did he see? Did he see? What if he saw?

My heart pounded with embarrassment. I felt like I’d know whether he saw or not just by looking at his expression, so I turned my head slightly—only to shut my eyes tight instead.

That’s because Lord Winchester suddenly shrugged off his robe and tossed it aside.

Oh no! What do I do?!

Whether he saw or didn’t wasn’t the issue anymore.

The issue was—I saw him.

Even in the darkness behind my tightly shut eyes, the image of Lord Winchester’s bare body lingered vividly. It wasn’t something one could forget after a brief glance.

Even clothed, I had a sense of it, but now his broad shoulders, firm chest, and well-defined abs stood out even more in the moonlight. And his forearms—thicker than my thighs!

I must be going crazy! Even his scars look cool?!

The wounds on his moonlit shoulder and side seemed to highlight his masculinity, like some kind of accessory.

I could feel his presence right next to me. My heart pounded even harder, and my body trembled with tension.

What am I supposed to do?!

Even though my eyes were already closed, I shut them even tighter.

What do I do? Should I just stay still? Am I supposed to do something? I don’t know anything!

My mind was spinning. The room was spinning.

It’s fine. Lord Winchester is probably experienced. He’ll take the lead. I just have to trust him.

Remembering that he had already produced someone like Daniel—a fine result—was oddly comforting. At least neither of us were complete beginners.

…But why is it so quiet?

It wasn’t just quiet. The presence I had felt so close suddenly seemed gone.

I cautiously lifted my head and looked around. He was nowhere in sight.

What’s going on?

When I raised my head a little more, I finally spotted him. That wild, masculine figure was now completely wrapped in a sheet, lying on the other side of the bed.

“Lord Winchester?”

His closed eyes slowly opened. His piercing blue gaze calmly met mine, as if to say, If you have something to say, go ahead.

“A-Are you asleep?”

“……”

He just stared back at me. Again, he spoke with his eyes rather than his mouth. What do you think? Even his gaze was curt.

“N-no, never mind…”

I quickly shook my head. There was no benefit in pushing my luck.

“I’ll remain chaste,” he said.

“…What?”

His voice broke through the chaos in my head. Startled, I turned from staring at the sheets and looked at him.

“I understand this marriage happened so suddenly, you didn’t have time to prepare yourself mentally. I’ll give you as much time as you need.”

With his eyes gently closed again, Lord Winchester spoke in a clear, composed tone. His words seemed to read my mind, and my face flushed red.

“T-thank you…”

I closed my eyes again tightly.

Even though he said that, it was still hard to relax and fall asleep lying in the same bed with a man in an unfamiliar place…

* * *

“Ah!”

I opened my eyes to bright light all around me.

“Where am I?!”

Startled by the unfamiliar ceiling, I sat up in bed. As I looked around, the strange surroundings surprised me again.

“Ah… Right. The Winchester estate. I got married yesterday.”

For a moment, I panicked, thinking I’d been possessed by another novel again—but luckily, or perhaps unluckily, that wasn’t the case.

“When did I fall asleep?”

I could remember Lord Winchester saying he would remain chaste and let me rest comfortably. But after that, things were hazy.

“I must’ve just passed out from exhaustion.”

That seemed like the only explanation.

“Speaking of which… where is Lord Winchester?”

The spot next to me was empty. I reached over and felt the sheets—they were cold. He had left a long time ago.

“Did he go to morning training? Or straight to work?”

As both the Count of Winchester and the commander of the Imperial Knights—and the crown prince’s swordsmanship instructor—he was an incredibly busy man. It only made sense, especially since he was one of just three Sword Masters in the empire.

“Well, I guess I should get up too.”

I reached out and tugged on the bell pull.

I had no title other than Countess Winchester, but I had plenty to do in my own way.

* * *

It was 1 hour and 42 minutes after I rang the bell that Mrs. Sionne Perede, the housekeeper of Camellia Manor, finally entered the room.

“You called, madam?”

Yet she showed not the slightest hint of apology or remorse. If anything, her attitude seemed to say, Well, I’m here now. Get to the point.

Her oddly confident demeanor grated on me.

So the fox rules the forest when there’s no tiger, huh?

From what I’d heard from my mother and sister, Lord Winchester’s birth mother had been frail. She died giving birth to his younger sister. In the absence of a mother, the young lord buried himself in swordsmanship.

The former Count of Winchester remarried and lived reasonably well for a time, until he died about ten years ago. Gifted and obsessed with swordsmanship, Lord Winchester focused more on training than on inheriting responsibilities and took on the title at a young age.

The late Countess—the second wife—managed most of the family affairs on his behalf, allowing him to fully immerse himself in swordsmanship.

Then, about six or seven years ago, Lady Winchester—his sister—passed away. The Lord threw himself even deeper into his training to cope with the grief of losing his last remaining family.

Two years ago, the former Countess passed away as well. Alone now, Lord Winchester became the youngest Sword Master in history.

It’s like he levels up every time someone around him dies.

That’s what I thought after hearing his story. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one—people whispered and referred to Lorinus de Winchester as:

“The Reaper.”

Publicly, the nickname referred to his deadly swordsmanship on the battlefield. But in private, people whispered it because everyone close to him seemed to meet an untimely death.

The woman standing in front of me now—Mrs. Perede—had been a maid brought over from the previous Countess’s family and her closest confidante. For decades, she had ruled the Camellia estate as the top maid. And for the past two years, with the lady of the house gone, this manor had been entirely hers.

“Is there something you need?”

When I didn’t state my business right away, she asked again.

Maybe in her eyes, I was just some invader disturbing the peace of her domain.

But from my perspective—she was the first villain I had to conquer.