Chapter 〈010〉
He, too, must have washed and returned to the room, wearing a robe and holding a glass of wine. When he placed the glass on the windowsill, the small amount of remaining wine shimmered in the moonlight within the transparent glass.
Seeing Lord Winchester’s damp, partially dried hair, I suddenly realized—I must look the same.
“You’re not asleep.”
“The moonlight is nice.”
As I pulled my robe tighter around myself and spoke, Lord Winchester replied.
“…”
“…”
It was awkward. I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. Lord Winchester also remained silent.
Only the uncomfortable air filled the room.
Because of the whirlwind of the wedding, I had temporarily forgotten. Marriage meant that Lord Winchester and I were now husband and wife, and being husband and wife meant sharing a bedroom, and more importantly, a bed.
And sharing a bed meant…
“If you’re tired…”
“Ah!”
As Lord Winchester put down his wine glass and began to approach me, I reflexively stepped back. He stopped in place.
“…”
“…”
The air in the room became even more awkward.
“Shall we lie down?”
“Pardon?”
At Lord Winchester’s suggestion, my eyes turned toward the bed. It looked soft, very comfortable.
Of course, if we were going to sleep, lying on the bed made sense—but a bed wasn’t used just for sleeping. Especially not on a couple’s first night.
“Y-Yes. R-Right. That would be… good.”
I hesitantly approached the bed. As I raised one leg to climb up, my robe parted slightly, revealing my thigh.
“Ahhh!”
Panicked, I quickly grabbed the blanket and dove under it.
Did he see? Did he see it? What if he did?
My heart thumped in embarrassment. I was too afraid to look at his face to confirm, and when I slightly turned my head to glance at him, I ended up squeezing my eyes shut instead.
That’s because Lord Winchester, who had approached, suddenly shrugged off his robe.
Oh no! Oh no!
At that moment, whether or not he had seen me was no longer the issue. I had just seen him—and that was the real problem.
Even with my eyes tightly closed in darkness, the image of Lord Winchester’s bare body lingered like an afterimage. It wasn’t the kind of body one could forget after just a glance.
Even when clothed, I had an idea, but the sight of his broad shoulders, firm chest, and chiseled abs stood out even more under the moonlight. And his arms were thicker than my thighs!
What the heck! Even his scars look cool!
The pale moonlight illuminated the scars on his shoulder and side, making them seem like accessories that accentuated his masculinity.
I could feel his presence right beside me. My heart thudded harder. My body trembled with tension.
What am I supposed to do?
Even with my eyes closed, everything felt dark, and I squeezed them shut even tighter.
What should I do? Should I stay still? Or should I do something? I don’t know anything!
My vision spun, and my thoughts spun even faster.
Right. Lord Winchester is experienced. He’ll take the lead. I just have to trust him.
I found some comfort in the thought that he was a man who had already fathered a child—Daniel. We weren’t both first-timers, at least.
…Then why is it so quiet?
It wasn’t just quiet—Lord Winchester, who I thought was right beside me, had seemingly vanished.
I cautiously lifted my head and glanced around. Nothing. He was gone.
What’s going on?
When I raised my head a bit more, I finally spotted him. That wild, masculine body was now completely wrapped in the sheet on the far side of the bed.
“Lord Winchester?”
His previously closed eyelids slowly opened. His bright blue eyes quietly met mine, as if to say, “If you have something to say, go ahead.”
“Um… Are you sleeping?”
“…”
In response to my question, he simply stared at me. Once again, his eyes spoke in place of words. What do you think? He was a man who even spoke briefly with his gaze.
“N-No, never mind.”
Thinking there was no point in poking the bear, I shook my head.
“I’ll remain chaste for you.”
“What?”
Amid the chaos in my head, Lord Winchester’s voice suddenly broke through. Surprised, I turned from the sheets to look at him.
“Since it was a sudden marriage, I understand you haven’t had time to prepare yourself mentally. I’ll give you all the time you need.”
With his eyes closed, he recited those words in a serene voice. Embarrassed by how well he’d read my mind, my face flushed.
“T-Thank you.”
I closed my eyes again, tightly.
Even though Lord Winchester had said that, lying in bed with a man in a strange place made it impossible to relax or sleep…
“Hah!”
When I opened my eyes, the room was bright.
“Where am I?!”
Startled by the unfamiliar ceiling, I shot upright. Looking around, the strange setting startled me again.
“Oh… Right. This is the Winchester estate. I got married yesterday.”
For a moment, I panicked, thinking I’d been possessed by another novel character again—but fortunately, or unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
“When did I fall asleep?”
I remembered Lord Winchester saying he would remain chaste and that I could sleep comfortably. After that, my memory was fuzzy.
“I must’ve been so tired I passed out.”
There was no other explanation.
“Speaking of which, where is Lord Winchester…”
The space beside me was empty. I reached out to feel it—it was already cold. He must have left a while ago.
“Did he go to morning training? Or just to work?”
As the Count of Winchester, he was also the commander of the Imperial Knights and the crown prince’s swordsmanship teacher. Naturally, he was a very busy man. He was also one of only three swordmasters in the empire, so it was to be expected.
“Well, I guess I should get up, too.”
I reached out and pulled the servant bell.
Though my only title was “Countess of Winchester,” I had my own responsibilities to attend to.
Housekeeper Sionne Perede of the Camellia estate came into the room exactly one hour and 42 minutes after I rang the bell.
“You called, Madam?”
Yet there wasn’t even a hint of apology or guilt on her face. Instead, her expression seemed to say, Well, I’m here. Say what you want.
Her oddly confident attitude rubbed me the wrong way.
In a forest without a tiger, even a fox becomes king, huh?
According to what I heard from my mother and sister, Lord Winchester’s birth mother had been frail and died giving birth to his younger sister. After that, young Lord Winchester began to fill the void with swordsmanship.
The Earl remarried, and things went well enough until about ten years ago, when he passed away. Since the young lord had more talent and interest in swordsmanship than estate management, he inherited the title early but left much of the work to the former Countess.
Thanks to her, he was able to devote himself even more to swordsmanship.
Then, six or seven years ago, the young lady of the Winchester family died. Lord Winchester buried the grief of losing his last remaining blood relative by focusing even harder on the sword.
Two years ago, the former Countess also passed away. Left alone, Lord Winchester finally became the youngest swordmaster in history.
Honestly, it’s like he levels up every time someone close to him dies.
That was the thought I had when I first heard his story. And apparently, I wasn’t the only one who thought that way—people had a nickname for Lorinus de Winchester:
The Reaper.
Officially, it was a nickname earned through his deadly swordsmanship in war. But behind closed doors, people whispered that everyone close to him seemed to die, making him an ominous and cursed count.
The woman standing before me, Madame Perede, had been a handmaid brought from the former Countess’s family. As her closest confidante, she had probably reigned over the Camellia estate for decades. And for the last two years—with the lady of the house gone—this estate had undoubtedly been her domain.
“Do you need anything?”
Since I hadn’t immediately stated my request, she asked again. To her, I might have seemed like an intruder disrupting the peace of her household.
But from my point of view, she looked like the first villain I would have to defeat.
