#06. First Night (1)
Meanwhile, Sasha was quietly thinking.
“I don’t think I can just leave him alone like this.”
Unlike what Pavel might have believed, Sasha wasn’t hurt at all.
That was partly because she had a calm personality that didn’t care much about others.
And more importantly—Pavel was still just a child, barely old enough to be in elementary school.
Even if a child said something rude, a mentally strong adult wouldn’t be hurt by it.
At least, Sasha wasn’t.
When a child said something mean, she believed it was better to teach them properly—not to act hurt and try to get revenge.
What she was worried about was something else—like the wedding.
At this rate, her grumpy husband would ruin the ceremony for sure.
…Actually, it was already pretty ruined.
But to stop it from getting even worse, she thought she needed to say something to calm him down.
After a short pause, Sasha spoke.
“I wasn’t laughing to mock you. I smiled because you’re cute.”
She had thought about her words carefully.
“What? Cute—y-you dare say that to me?!”
Pavel got even angrier at her compliment. His face turned bright red, thinking Sasha was making fun of him.
“~!”
His angry shouting got slurred from emotion, but Sasha just thought:
“Oh no. That backfired.”
She lowered her eyes and thought.
She wondered what to do—and in the end, she decided it might be best to say nothing at all.
After all, there’s that saying: “If you stay quiet, you’ll at least seem average.”
So Sasha stopped paying attention to Pavel and looked straight ahead.
But when she went quiet, Pavel’s face twisted even more.
He thought she was ignoring him—and that made him act up again.
“You, you ~!”
At first, he was only loud enough for Sasha to hear. But now his yelling was loud enough for the guests to hear too.
“Will this wedding be totally ruined?”
Even Sasha, who was usually calm, started to worry.
Thankfully, the worst didn’t happen.
“Ahem!”
Dmitri Volkov, sitting nearby, cleared his throat loudly.
Even Pavel, who acted wild and rude, couldn’t ignore his father’s warning.
After that, Pavel stood still with a sulky face until the end of the ceremony.
Though it was also a problem that he stayed silent even when he was supposed to speak.
“Bride, do you swear before God to love the groom forever?”
“Yes.”
“Then groom, do you also swear before God to love the bride forever?”
“……”
“…Groom?”
“……”
Sweat began to appear on the priest’s forehead.
Sasha quietly whispered,
“He just nodded.”
The nervous priest was relieved and quickly said:
“Good, then it’s the same as swearing.”
Pavel stared at both the priest and Sasha with disbelief.
But the priest wasn’t focused on Pavel’s angry eyes. What he cared about were the eyes of the guests.
Especially the cold gaze of Duke Volkov.
So he continued the ceremony without hesitation.
“May your marriage be full of happiness. This concludes the ceremony.”
And just like that, the chaotic wedding was over.
It was winter, so the sun set quickly.
After the ceremony, it was already dark outside. Guests who came from far away stayed overnight in prepared rooms.
Sasha’s parents, Count and Countess Arban, did the same.
They cried so much during the wedding that they couldn’t stay long at the reception.
“I-I’m sorry, my daughter.”
“Sasha, sob! We have to leave you here even though you’re still a child!”
If Sasha kept listening, they might even bring up the idea of running away again like they did before the wedding.
“I’m really fine.”
She barely managed to comfort them before heading to her new room.
Since they were leaving at dawn, this would probably be the last time she saw them for a while—and their sad faces left a bitter taste.
But the gloom didn’t last.
As soon as she opened the door, warm air greeted her, and her body relaxed.
“Oh.”
Tonight’s bridal room was colorfully decorated.
A wedding between a seventeen-year-old and a twelve-year-old.
They were made to share one room for the “first night,” but no one really expected anything adult to happen.
‘Still, there’s only one bed, so we’ll have to sleep in the same one.’
Sasha looked at the big bed covered with red curtains.
‘Rich people sure are different.’
It was about the size of four of her old beds put together.
With that size, they wouldn’t have to sleep close together unless they wanted to.
Not that she minded either way.
‘If we sleep too close, it might feel more awkward.’
Even though they were married now, she and Pavel hadn’t even properly introduced themselves.
‘We’ll be living together for years. It would be nice if we got along.’
To do that, she needed to help lower his guard.
From what she saw at the wedding, Pavel seemed sharp and sensitive—like a wild cat.
Not as scary as the rumors, but definitely difficult.
‘How do I get closer to him?’
While thinking, Sasha began picking at the food laid out in the room.
There were rare fruits, soft bread, and sweet desserts.
They were prepared for the newlyweds, who hadn’t eaten much all day.
Technically, she was supposed to eat with the groom, but—
“I’m hungry, so I’ll eat first.”
She broke that unspoken rule without guilt.
One grape. One bite of bread. One chocolate. She kept nibbling until her throat got dry.
She poured a drink that looked like red wine but was actually grape juice.
“Delicious.”
She had gone two days without a proper meal while preparing for the wedding, so everything tasted amazing.
It was the first time she had smiled happily all day.
She was just wiping her mouth when—
“Young master is entering.”
Pavel had finally returned after being summoned by Duke Volkov.
Bang.
He opened the door without care, his face twisted in anger.
Slam!
He shut the door so hard that it echoed. His mood came through loud and clear.
‘Looks like he got scolded badly by his father.’
The Duke had looked furious when he took Pavel away. He probably didn’t let it slide.
‘He seems like a strict parent. I bet it was harsh.’
Sasha guessed what punishment Pavel might have gotten and asked:
“Was the Duke very angry?”
“……”
Pavel ignored her completely.
He walked in, stood by the chair next to the table, and began changing clothes.
Tug, tug.
He pulled at his tie roughly and threw off his coat.
“……”
“……”
Even as he got down to his shirt, he didn’t once look at Sasha, who was sitting nearby.
No words. No replies. No eye contact.
He was pretending she didn’t exist.
‘Hmph.’
So Sasha rested her chin on her hand and stared at him.
Yep. He was still a child.
“What are you looking at?”
He couldn’t ignore her forever and eventually snapped.
“Stop looking, you pervert!”
His childish insult made Sasha chuckle as she stood up.
Pavel backed away and yelled.
“Why are you coming closer?! Stay away!”
But Sasha didn’t stop.
“Hey! I said go away!”
“Hold still for a second.”
She stepped close, and Pavel tensed up like a scared cat.
She reached for his shirt collar—
Swipe.
Her fingers gently unfastened a button.
Pavel scowled at the button he couldn’t undo, which Sasha opened easily.
She smiled kindly and said:
“Is this your first time taking off this outfit by yourself?”
“……”
“There are a lot of buttons. Must be hard to take off alone.”
“……”
She glanced at his tightly closed lips.
‘He just needs time to get used to me.’
Surely he’d stop ignoring her after a while.
Thinking positively, she moved to undo the next button—
Smack!
Pavel slapped her hand sharply with his gloved one.
“Go away.”
A small wrinkle appeared on Sasha’s calm forehead—but it soon faded.
‘He’s just twelve. I’m way older than him—like, a lot older.’
She calmed herself down.
‘Fighting with a kid isn’t something an adult should do—’
“I hate being touched by someone like you! It’s disgusting!”
‘—Wait a minute.’
Sasha stopped.
She believed adults shouldn’t argue with kids.
But was it really mature to not correct such rude behavior?
‘No. If something’s wrong, I need to tell him so.’
