Chapter – 10
“To do such… such a thing. You aren’t even a knight.”
Unable to contain her surging emotions, she accused him while weeping like a child. Asil did not even look back at her as she cried, nor did he wipe away her tears. She had thought there was no lingering affection left, but she felt even the tiny scraps of emotion that remained crumble into dust and scatter away.
Nadia managed to stop crying and finished tidying her appearance. Feeling her hair and checking for any tears in her skirt, she simultaneously searched for the wall clock. There were about thirty minutes left until the banquet began. She had wasted so much time in this room.
Nadia wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand and looked at Asil. It was an act that required considerable courage for her. He picked up Nadia’s tattered undergarments from the floor, used them to wipe the fluids from his member, and casually stuffed them into his pocket. Watching him look remarkably neat just by adjusting his trousers made Nadia feel a sense of bitter injustice.
She clung to the nearby furniture, managing to move toward the mirror tucked away in the corner. She had to leave before he committed another outrage.
Fortunately, her hairstyle wasn’t significantly ruined. A few stray hairs poked out near the nape of her neck, but considering the chaos that had ensued, it was nothing short of a miracle.
The dress was also fine, except for a few wrinkles at the back of the skirt. Since it was a dress with multiple layers of lace, the wrinkles weren’t very noticeable. It was a blessing, as she had no time to return to her room to change.
However, her makeup definitely needed repair. It had been messily smeared because she had cried so hard.
She could only hope people would think the bride had cried because she was distraught about leaving her hometown for a far-off land, or perhaps because she was terrified of having a husband with such horrific rumors attached to his name.
Nadia touched the reddened skin around her eyes, bracing herself to deliver a final ultimatum to Asil.
He was a truly reckless and thoughtless man. Even though she expected never to see him again, she didn’t want to encounter him even by chance. After all, what had happened today was something she couldn’t even tell anyone. If such things happened every time she met Asil, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
He seemed to care for neither status nor chivalry. Like a man with nothing to lose… but Nadia was a person who had much, even if she hadn’t asked for it.
She wanted to scream like a madwoman, but she couldn’t even do that. Perhaps because it was something she had never done before, the words felt stuck in her throat, impossible to spit out.
Nadia steadied her breathing and urged herself to think rationally. In fact, this was for the best. She felt she could finally shake off any lingering feelings for him through this incident. He was not the kind and thoughtful man she thought she knew. Instead, he was terribly selfish, horrific, and dangerous.
“…Asil, you have committed something unforgivable. If you did this knowing that I… that I can’t tell anyone, then truly…”
Nadia trailed off. She felt something trickling down between her legs. She reflexively pressed her thighs together, her face flushing with uncontrollable anger and shame.
“Never appear before me again.”
Asil made a subtle expression. He looked as if he might be smiling, or perhaps scowling.
“Do you not know?”
“Know what?”
Letting out a scoffing laugh as if he found her ridiculous, he approached the window. As he opened it, a cool breeze flowed in. The scent of daffodils mixed with the wind, thinning the scent of intercourse that filled the room.
“You will find out soon, my Nadia.”
He lightly leaped through the window and vanished.
She managed to reach the waiting room just in time. It was only possible because a passing maid had supported her when her legs gave out and she almost fell several times.
Nadia asked the maid to fix her hair. Only after her makeup was repaired did she feel a bit relieved. The red marks around her eyes weren’t completely hidden, but at least her eyelids weren’t hideously swollen.
At the appointed time, the Marquis of Elantz came to collect her. He gave a silent, crooked smirk, and Nadia felt cold sweat running down her back.
Every time she walked beside him, Asil’s semen leaked from her lower body, where she wore no undergarments. She felt as though the sound of the viscous fluid rubbing against her thighs was audible. She couldn’t tell if it was just her imagination or if the sound was actually there.
“You don’t look well.”
Nadia jumped, not expecting him to speak to her. A faint scent of champagne drifted from Edwin’s breath as he leaned his head slightly toward her ear. Conscious of the nobles in the banquet hall, Nadia remained silent, keeping the smile fixed on her lips.
She did not welcome his attention right now. She wanted to avoid conversation if possible, but the man spoke to her once more, regardless of her wishes.
“Where have you been with that body of yours?”
“Ah, well… for a walk…”
“I suppose you were able to endure it? You have surprisingly good stamina. …Call me Edwin.”
Edwin spoke as if making casual conversation while handing her a glass of champagne. Nadia took a sip of the champagne he gave her with trembling hands.
She had thought she was good at hiding things, but at this moment, she doubted her own judgment. She couldn’t relax for even a second. Not only was she terrified that her husband might notice something, but the fact that she had to stand before other nobles without even wearing undergarments made her feel like she was in a dream.
If this was a dream, it was the most horrific nightmare in the world. Yet, she still wished it were a dream. She couldn’t believe that something she had never even imagined was happening the day after her wedding.
Nadia kept her legs tightly together and tried to move as little as possible. Every time she felt something trickling down, she was overwhelmed by a horrific feeling.
She couldn’t stop imagining if the nobles laughing and chatting among themselves were gossiping about her name—imagining that everyone was pointing fingers at her, calling her a legendary harlot who shamelessly attended her wedding banquet carrying another man’s seed inside her.
Naturally, she couldn’t tell anyone what had happened just dozens of minutes ago. Her father would only hurl verbal abuse at her for bringing home such a troublesome matter while trying to cover it up, and if she told Edwin, she would be divorced. Furthermore, the fact that she was a victim would be ignored, and rumors of a bold noblewoman who committed adultery with a knight the day after her wedding would sweep through high society.
It was useless to argue that everyone else was secretly doing worse. They would simply deny it and prove their own innocence by even more fiercely tearing into the prey that had surfaced.
Then, she would become the shame of the family and be thrown into a convent to spend the rest of her life. The outcome was obvious. Her only choice was silence. She could only hope that everything would pass quietly and she would be left alone…
As the dance music began, the center of the hall was cleared for the protagonists of the banquet. Edwin looked down at her with a feigned, gentle smile.
After draining his own glass, he took the glass he had given Nadia and handed it to a passing servant. Then, he held out his hand to her. Nadia squeezed her eyes shut before opening them and taking his hand with a tense face.
A sigh escaped her. Her limbs felt lethargic, as if someone had dismantled and reassembled her joints, and she wanted nothing more than to collapse and fall asleep, yet she had to dance with this body. Edwin skillfully led her to the center of the hall.
She felt everyone’s eyes focused on them. Nadia took a deep breath, telling herself to stay sharp.
He danced surprisingly well for someone said to rarely attend such banquets. As she followed his lead and stepped, Nadia felt her tension slowly ease. However, she couldn’t purely think well of it. Because of the gentle melody, drowsiness kept washing over her.
As the song passed its midpoint and Nadia began to pant lightly, Edwin pulled her waist firmly toward him and whispered quietly.
“What kind of walk takes two hours?”
When Nadia’s steps began to falter from panic, Edwin, as if expecting it, lightly lifted her body and placed her feet on top of his. An unreadable smile played on his lips. She felt herself snap wide awake. She didn’t know whether to be grateful or not.
“You didn’t go off and roll around with another fellow, did you? I smell semen.”
“…Th-that’s impossible!”
Although Asil’s semen was trickling down toward her knees inside her dress, Nadia denied it flatly. She was sweating cold sweat while trying to act as if nothing were wrong.
She felt fortunate that the dance didn’t require them to face each other directly. She avoided his persistent gaze and hoped this topic would pass quietly.
“Then is it mine?”
He was incessantly whispering lewd things into her ear with a joyful air.
“Right, it was pleasant early this morning, wasn’t it? It’s nice to have a partner I can spill into as much as I want without worrying about bastards. Tell me, is it trickling down right now?”
Nadia’s face turned deathly pale. This behavior confirmed her earlier suspicion that he was a pervert.
No matter how quietly he whispered, these were not words to be said while receiving the attention of so many nobles. No, it would be the same even if they were alone. She couldn’t understand how he could say things that didn’t contain even a shred of dignity.
“I found it hard to believe you were a virgin. Even if your family goes completely bankrupt later, you’ll be able to rebuild it if you just shake your hips well. That’s a compliment.”
“How can you say such a thing…!”
Tears welled up from the insult. What kind of compliment was that? She glared at Edwin with all her might. If they weren’t in a position where everyone was watching, she would have slapped him.
Without thinking of the consequences, she stomped on his foot with the sharp heel of her shoe as hard as she could. He let out a small “Ouch,” but his face didn’t show much pain, so her anger wasn’t quelled.
Throughout the banquet, Nadia neither met Edwin’s eyes nor smiled. He didn’t speak to her again, but it seemed more like his interest had simply faded rather than out of concern for her feelings.
While Nadia struggled to keep her mind blank and kill time, numerous nobles approached Edwin, trying to win his favor by any means. Standing beside him, she kept feeling like a high-bred pet, but she couldn’t think of an excuse to leave.
He consistently ignored the nobles’ words with a smiling face, yet no one dared to get angry openly. They simply left while trying to disguise their twisting expressions with forced smiles
