Please Let Marriage Be Your Payment!
Chapter 55 —
Leonard’s fingers pressed against the back of her neck, and Irene’s slippers, hanging off her toes, dropped to the floor one by one.
Leonard obeyed Irene’s gesture and leaned his weight onto her body. Irene, pinned under him, kissed him desperately.
Their lips parted at last, and both let out the breath they had been holding. Irene pushed against his chest and climbed on top of him again.
“How is it? Do you think next time you’ll get closer to my taste?”
“I’ll try, but…”
“But?”
As Irene tilted her head with a teasing look, Leonard suddenly grabbed her hand.
“Ah!” Irene let out a small scream as she toppled down beside him. Lying on his side, Leonard stretched out his left arm toward her.
“There’s no need to rush. Take it slow.”
“Hm… but I’m in a hurry.”
Irene puffed out her cheeks, then blew out the air with a little sound. Still, she rested her head on his arm, showing she respected his pace.
Then she picked up his right hand, carefully tracing his nails and fingers one by one.
“I like your hands.”
“My hands?”
“Yes. They’re big, rough, and strong…”
Irene pressed his hand to her cheek and rubbed against his palm.
As she said, they were rough hands. Leonard flinched slightly, afraid his calluses might hurt her soft skin.
But Irene deliberately pressed her face harder into his palm, as if to show she didn’t mind. In the end, Leonard gave up.
“Fine, I’ll do it. I will.”
“You will?”
Irene looked at him with doubtful eyes, then released his hand and gently closed her eyes as if telling him to prove it.
Leonard gazed at her delicate face glowing faintly in the dark.
She was like a greenhouse flower — skin raised in warmth and safety, nothing like the woman who had once appeared in his dreams.
‘I don’t know what you expected by bringing me here, but I have no value left. It’s not too late, just ask for money instead.’
He was grateful that woman existed only in dreams.
Caressing Irene’s flushed cheeks, Leonard suddenly leaned in and kissed her lips.
Surprised, Irene opened her eyes wide, but Leonard twisted his head and pulled the back of her neck closer.
Her breath caught, Irene’s chest rose and fell quickly as she hugged him tighter. Their lips pressed deeper, no longer the shallow pecks of children but a kiss where their breaths mixed as one.
It wasn’t even a proper kiss, but raw, clumsy rubbing of lips. Leonard, unskilled in such intimacy, soon pulled back.
“Haa…”
He breathed out heavily, his cheeks burning. Not from excitement, but from realizing how awkward and inexperienced he was.
Seeing him like that, Irene laughed out loud. Embarrassed, Leonard frowned.
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because… you’re cute.”
“…Was I really that bad?”
“I said you’re cute.”
Her smiling eyes made Leonard scowl even more.
“Come on. This wasn’t a goodnight kiss to help you dream well, so isn’t ‘cute’ more like an insult?”
“Then what? Would you prefer I say you’re like a beast?”
“Of course. My wife’s taste is a rough man, isn’t it?”
At that, Irene burst out laughing.
“Oh no, now you’re even cuter.”
“…Alright. Guess I’ll have to try harder.”
With a determined face, Leonard climbed completely on top of her.
Irene felt the mattress sink beside her head where his hand pressed down and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“So, are you in a hurry now?”
“I do feel a crisis. If I don’t do well, I’ll be stuck being called cute by my wife for the rest of my life.”
“Don’t you want that kind of life?”
“…Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.”
His orange eyes unfocused for a moment as if imagining it, then slowly filled with heat.
Her figure reflected in them, not like a gentle hearth but like a blazing fire ready to consume everything.
“Tonight, my goal is to hear you say I’m beast-like.”
“That, I’m looking forward to.”
Irene tilted her head back to meet his lips as they moved down to her neck. Rough but gentle, his touch made her shiver.
“You’ll have to work very hard. I won’t call you beast-like so easily.”
“Now that I think about it, Kiri always worried about you. Said the Marquis hardly thought of nighttime matters.”
Leonard chuckled, shrugging off his robe, his face already satisfied.
“Good thing my wife doesn’t mind sleepless nights.”
Then their lips met again, long and deep.
That night would not end in just one embrace.
Usually, when noble couples married for politics, they would share the bridal chamber only on the first night, then return to their separate bedrooms. It was only a duty for producing heirs.
But couples who married for love were different. Sometimes, even by the next day at noon, their doors still hadn’t opened — a common enough story.
But staying inside two or three days straight? That was a bit much.
When it was someone else, people laughed it off as “too much love.” But when it was someone they knew, it was more than embarrassing.
“Oh my, you’ve run out of bedsheets?”
Of all places, it was the Blair Marquis’ mansion. Surely they had plenty of spares, but they were buying more because they’d run out?
“Well, a lot of guests came, and it’s been raining for two days straight. The laundry just won’t dry.”
“True, the rainy season is over, but still the rain pours. And you can’t exactly hang sheets indoors.”
The cloth shop owner kept chattering as she packed the cotton sheets. Even though Julie had braced herself, the nonstop talk left her exhausted.
‘Well, this will spread the rumor for sure.’
By tomorrow, everyone would know the Marquis couple were more than just close.
‘But why does Lady Linia want this rumor spread?’
If it were her, Julie would have died of embarrassment. But nobles must think differently. She loaded the fabric into the carriage and set off.
Next was the bath oils shop. After that, she debated whether to stop by a lingerie store.
Mary walked out of the bookstore with a bright face, humming and skipping.
The old coachman waiting on the street laughed when he saw her.
“Looks like you finally found the book you wanted.”
“Yes! At last, the final volume!”
She had started reading it nearly ten years ago, back when she first entered the Baldwin Duke’s household.
The unique characters, the detailed dungeon adventures — reading it always felt like she was traveling with them. Now it had finally ended. She was excited, but also a little sad.
“Ahh… I want to read it right now…”
“Shall we head back to the Duke’s estate then?”
“No, Miller asked me to buy something.”
If she had a closed carriage like her lady, she could sneak in a few pages. But the servants’ carriage was open, so she just hugged the wrapped book tightly and asked the coachman:
“Can we go to a ribbon shop nearby?”
“Nearby? Hmm… anywhere in particular?”
“No, just somewhere with ribbons.”
“Then let’s go to Gretchen Street. They’ve been building that new station for the iron carriage there. Around it, a new shopping street’s been opening up. Most shops are already running.”
Not many knew yet, which meant no crowds. Mary nodded happily.
But when the carriage stopped at a sewing shop, she jumped down only to freeze.
A huge line of people stretched all the way from the shop’s front, and a sign read “Temporary Closure.”
“What in the world…?”
This was supposed to be a quiet street. She grabbed a person in line to ask.
“Oh, they’re handing out promotional samples at Blair Beauty Salon.”
“All this just for samples…?”
“You’ve never had one, huh? They’re not just ordinary samples. And if you’re lucky, you can even get that.”
“That?”
“There’s something special.”
Mary’s curiosity grew.
What on earth could “that” be?
I wanna know, too! XD