Episode 47
Even though Kaien was colder and more indifferent than most men, with no care at all for palace rules or etiquette, he was still a man.
“I like that choice too.”
He tried to smile casually, but in his head, wild imaginations were already running loose.
Meanwhile, Alicia, still calm and graceful, let her maid help her up the stairs and into the reception room next to her chambers.
She sat down on the sofa.
“Would you like a specific dessert?”
Every time Alicia’s full lips moved delicately, Kaien’s imagination grew even bigger.
“Anything. As long as you choose it.”
Agnes quickly brought in a suitable dessert, then firmly shut the door and left.
“Do you like my gift?”
Kaien asked proudly, looking at the large basket of pinecones he had placed in the middle of the table.
“Yes. At first, I was surprised since I’ve never received such a gift… but once I understood the meaning, I realized why you sent pinecones for our first wedding anniversary.”
Kaien was caught off guard.
He smiled faintly, pretending to be calm.
Honestly, he hadn’t given the pinecones any special meaning—just that Alicia liked plants and nature.
He had no idea what that had to do with marriage.
“Fruit from an evergreen tree, something that stays green through every season—it feels special.”
“Yes,” Kaien quickly jumped in.
“That’s exactly what I meant.”
He felt like hugging Glenn later for saving him without even knowing.
“Just like marriage, something unchanging.”
When Kaien looked at Alicia up close—so much closer than at the banquet table—she looked even more elegant and radiant.
“That’s not how I see it.”
Her calm blue eyes were steady, and Kaien suddenly felt as if cold water had been poured on his heated imagination.
“Marriage… can change.”
Apparently, the dessert Alicia had chosen wasn’t as sweet as he had hoped.
“After midnight tonight… there’s a chance it could change.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Kaien shook his head slightly, clearly displeased by even the thought of such a possibility.
“It’s only custom law. Do you want our marriage to change?”
His narrowed gaze carried tension.
Alicia noticed how much he had changed—and realized how wrong she had been about him before.
“I don’t know that answer myself.”
Being honest was better than pretending, especially with someone like Kaien.
“Alicia… you always say surprisingly bold things.”
She had basically just admitted she wasn’t certain about their marriage.
Any emperor would normally be furious. But Kaien wasn’t angry at all.
“Then, Your Majesty, will you be honest with me too?”
She wanted to ask him so many things, but being this close to him, with their knees almost touching, made her words stick.
“What do you expect from me tonight?”
Both of them knew that, to make their marriage official, the consummation had to happen before midnight.
There was no need to sugarcoat it.
“How honest do you want me to be?” Kaien asked.
“What do you mean…?”
“If I’m completely honest, I might sound like a shameless man.”
Alicia blinked several times, realizing what he meant.
She quickly looked away, her cheeks turning red.
She had clearly imagined it, even if just for a moment.
“Hmm?” Kaien asked again in a low voice, watching her blushing face. His instincts kept urging him to get closer.
“Not too honest… just as if there are still servants around, like earlier.”
She gave him a middle ground.
“Then the answer’s simple. You’re smart, so I think you already know.”
He took off his gloves and gently touched her silk ones.
Alicia didn’t push him away, though his movements were slow enough that she could have.
“I want us to complete our marriage.”
Of course, that was his answer.
Alicia knew it was natural, yet her heart sank a little.
“I see.”
So that was it. A gift to show sincerity, and now he had come to take what was his right.
That was marriage in this world. But after everything they had shared, it still stung a little.
“No matter if I have the final say, Your Majesty can order anyone in this world to obey you.”
Her blue eyes watered faintly.
She might be special to him now, but she was still under his power.
“No. Not always.”
Kaien released her hand and leaned back slightly.
“That day, even the wind and the trees didn’t obey me.”
He didn’t look like he was joking, so Alicia stayed silent.
“And I couldn’t even see your face.”
“If you had ordered it…”
“I wasn’t longing for a face I could see by imperial command.”
Alicia’s eyes flickered in surprise.
“I don’t want your obedience.”
His voice was softer and warmer than usual.
Every breath, every expression of hers mattered to him right now.
“Not even tonight?”
That was a tough question.
His instincts screamed no, but he wasn’t just an animal.
“If you ask if I want it… Yes.”
His black eyes, filled with restrained desire, stared at her.
“But I don’t want to command it. That’s what I meant by giving you the choice.”
He hated cheap word games.
Especially with the first woman who truly mattered to him.
What kind of man would give her “the right to choose” and then take it away with an order?
“Even if midnight passes?”
Kaien didn’t want that, but he nodded anyway—for her.
“Even if that shakes our marriage?”
“No.”
His answer was gentle, but firm.
“Our wedding was a disaster—I’ll never call it good—but I’m grateful I married you.”
His sincerity seeped into Alicia’s heart.
“As long as you don’t abandon me, I’ll protect this marriage, no matter what anyone says.”
She hadn’t expected this.
Could this even be considered the right answer?
“And I’ll beg, sincerely.”
His words, his warm breath, his nervous black eyes—it all made Alicia’s chest tremble.
“What… will you beg for?”
“To hold your hand.”
He reached out carefully, and Alicia hesitated before removing one glove and offering her hand.
His touch was tender, almost reverent.
“To kiss your cheek.”
His request grew bolder. Alicia blushed but didn’t say no.
“Not my lips.”
Her answer was strange, but clear.
Kaien smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek before pulling back.
“Shame about the lips, then.”
His voice grew deeper, more daring.
“But I’ll keep asking. Again and again, for as long as it takes.”
Waiting just three days had been torture.
“Now I think I understand a little… how much you must have longed for the joy you should have had at your wedding.”
Their wedding had been ruined the moment Kaien left the palace.
The happiest day of her life had been frozen cold.
“And it was my fault.”
Just three days of longing had been unbearable for him.
Thinking of Alicia, left alone all that time, burned his heart with guilt.
“No apology could ever make up for it.”
“Yes. That’s true. The past can’t be undone.”
It was late, but Alicia finally heard the apology she should have had in her past life.
And even late, it melted part of her bitterness.
“Right.”
Unknowingly, Kaien bit his lip, his gaze still locked on her.
Alicia, this close, couldn’t tell if her racing heart was fear or excitement.
“But the present and the future—we can change those.”
He squeezed her hand tighter.
“And I’ll keep asking, again and again.”
He leaned closer.
Alicia tried to pull back, but he only tugged her forward until his lips hovered right in front of hers.
“Three seconds.”
His sweet, husky voice brushed against her, lips so close she could feel the heat.
“Accept me.”
Alicia unconsciously held her breath and bit her lip.
That tiny act broke the last of Kaien’s restraint.
He pressed his lips to hers, pouring all his burning desire into the kiss.
