~Chapter 5~
The room smelled sweet—like ripe fruit—and the bride sitting on the bed looked completely different from the ceremony earlier.
She was wearing a thin nightgown and a translucent veil, holding a white bouquet in both hands.
Her eyes were tightly shut.
“Um, I can’t open my eyes right now.”
From that, Damien immediately understood what had happened.
“The maid applied something around my eyes, and I can’t get it off. Could you call her for me?”
It must’ve been the overexcited maids, wanting to help their love-starved master have a perfect first night. They had prettied her up and smeared something sticky on her eyelids—probably to help “set the mood.”
But this was a contract marriage. That kind of mood wasn’t necessary.
“…I can take care of it.”
Damien kept his voice calm, hiding his panic.
“Here, let me take the flowers. It must be uncomfortable holding them like that.”
“She asked me to take care of them so they wouldn’t get damaged.”
Most likely, the flowers were given just to keep her hands off her face, but Damien didn’t mention that.
“It’s alright. I’ll hold them.”
At last, she handed the bouquet to him.
With the flowers no longer covering her upper body, Damien wasn’t sure where to look—so he fixed his eyes firmly on the floor.
“I’ll help you open your eyes. Could you lean forward a bit?”
“Okay.”
The maids had used a special type of sweet-smelling honey.
It couldn’t be removed with hands, cloth, or even water.
It required a certain solution with enzymes similar to saliva—or it had to be gently licked off. That’s why nobles often used it on their wedding nights for romantic moments.
Unfortunately, this was a contract marriage, and they barely knew each other.
‘If I suddenly touch her face with my mouth, she’ll probably freak out.’
He remembered how she shut her eyes so tightly during the wedding kiss.
Still, he couldn’t leave her like this all night.
‘I have the ingredients to make the solution…’
Luckily, Damien knew how to make it and had the ingredients in his drawer.
“Please wait a moment.”
He quickly prepared the solution and soaked a handkerchief in it.
“I’ll clean it off for you now.”
“O-okay.”
She nodded gently.
“…Excuse me.”
He leaned down and gently touched the cloth to her right eye.
Even though she had remained calm until now, she flinched a little at the cold touch.
“Shhh, it’s alright. It won’t take long.”
At his words, she relaxed a bit.
With great care, as though cleaning a delicate glass bottle, Damien wiped her eye.
Once he finished the right side, he moved to the left and removed the honey there too.
‘Her skin is really soft…’
He caught himself thinking that and immediately snapped out of it.
‘No! What was I just thinking…?’
His hand felt strangely warm where it had touched her skin.
“It’s done.”
She lifted her head.
And then—
“Thank you.”
Her ruby-red eyes opened, clear and sparkling.
Damien found himself staring, entranced.
“Thanks to you, I can finally open my eyes. Nothing else worked.”
She smiled softly—and all he could think again was:
Her eyes are beautiful.
“…It’s nothing.”
He shouldn’t be having such thoughts—he should be trying to make sure she wouldn’t run away.
So Damien quickly looked away.
But for some reason, his heart started to beat faster.
‘Must be the candle scent…’
Or maybe he was just tired from the wedding.
“We should get some rest. You must be exhausted.”
His body felt warm, and he didn’t know why. Hopefully a good night’s sleep would fix it.
“Yes, that sounds good.”
“Come here. I’ll take off your veil.”
He removed her veil and the flower hairpiece.
She quietly settled into bed.
As Damien lay down beside her, she spoke softly.
“Please don’t scold the maids. I think they were just trying to help, not knowing this is a contract marriage.”
“I know. I won’t say anything.”
Damien was well aware that the unusual members of his household didn’t always listen to him.
So he had no intention of punishing them for dressing her in a thin nightgown or smearing honey on her eyelids.
“Don’t worry about it.”
She smiled and nodded.
Even in the dark, her red eyes glowed faintly. They turned toward Damien’s mask.
As she stared at it, he felt a moment of worry.
Earlier, she said she couldn’t marry someone she hadn’t seen the face of. Now that they were married, would she ask him to remove the mask?
“Um, Your Grace… about your mask…”
As expected, she brought it up.
Well, they were lying in bed together. Of course she’d be curious.
Just as Damien was wondering how to politely decline—
She surprised him.
“I’ll keep my eyes closed, so if you’re uncomfortable, you can take it off.”
She wasn’t asking to see his face. She was saying she wouldn’t look—so he could be comfortable.
No one had ever said something like that to Damien before.
Not a single woman he’d met or been engaged to.
“…No. It’s fine. I’ll sleep with it on.”
“Oh, okay.”
She didn’t pout or complain.
“Well then, goodnight, Your Grace.”
She simply closed her eyes.
Soon, he could hear her soft breathing—she had fallen asleep right away.
‘She falls asleep fast…’
She must’ve been really tired.
Damien quietly adjusted the blankets and tucked her in.
Even if he didn’t allow himself to get attached, he could still do that much.
‘What a strange woman.’
She reached out to a complete stranger, came to a haunted house that scared away most women, and didn’t even complain before falling right asleep.
Unlike the others, she didn’t try to force off his mask. She wasn’t even curious about his face.
“…Sleep well.”
Damien whispered to her.
Even without attachment, he could say that much.
When I opened my eyes, I saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
‘Where am I?’
After blinking a few times, memories of the wedding yesterday came flooding back.
Ah, right—this is the Maledictus Grand Duke’s estate.
The place I married into.
“Good morning.”
A man’s voice suddenly startled me. I looked toward the sound and saw the masked Duke standing beside the bed.
“Your Grace? Why are you here?”
Normally, with a contract marriage made strictly for business—and without even spending the wedding night together—the husband would just walk away the next morning and leave the wife alone.
So I never imagined the Duke would still be here in the morning.
“You’re not used to this mansion yet, so it’s best if we go to the dining hall together.”
He spoke in that same calm, flat voice.
“And it looks better if a couple appears together.”
“Oh… that makes sense.”
Judging by the way the servants acted last night, it seemed most of them didn’t know ours was a contract marriage.
There was no need to give them reasons to gossip by acting distant.
“Anyway, let’s go together once you’re ready.”
“Alright.”
“And one more thing.”
The white mask shimmered in the morning sunlight as he looked at me. From within the mask, his deep purple eyes glinted sharply.
“There’s something you absolutely must see.”
