Chapter 14.
I Hope You Won’t Hate Me…
Just as I obtained the most crucial part—the blood—to make it look like we consummated the marriage, I was suddenly pushed down onto the bed by a strong force.
Hovering above me, he was seething with rage, gripping my bleeding hand tightly.
“I asked you what the hell you were doing!”
I tried to push his body away, but he didn’t budge.
“Ow! The blood’s precious! M-Mic, wait a second.”
Before the precious blood trailing down my wrist stained something irrelevant, I had to get it onto the sheet!
Growing anxious, I twisted my wrist to press it into the sheet, but he yanked my arm upward.
“So you were planning to leave me after all? Just like at the valley last time, weren’t you?”
What now? I looked up at him, baffled.
“Leave? Where would I go? I don’t even have anywhere to go!”
At my words, he looked down at me in confusion. I huffed in frustration and explained,
“When you left, I figured the maids would clean the room in the morning, right? So I needed to create signs that we’d spent the night together.”
“Signs?”
His neat eyebrows furrowed deeply.
“I read in a book once that after the wedding night, there are supposed to be traces… you know, to prove the bride’s virginity…”
“I’ve heard of barbarian customs where they hang blood-stained sheets out the window after the wedding night. But we don’t have such degrading traditions in Fritan.”
His deep blue eyes gleamed with disgust.
“Don’t tell me the mighty Haren Empire still clings to those barbaric practices? Flaunting the bride’s virginity after the wedding night?”
“W-Well, we don’t hang anything out the window or anything. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“The maids who clean up after… they gossip. About whether the bed sheets have bloodstains…”
Rumors about the bridal chamber spread like wildfire. Everyone—groom, nobles, society at large—paid attention to those supposed ‘signs.’
If the bride left a bloodstain, the groom was quietly admired among the aristocracy.
So brides who weren’t virgins would go to great lengths to fake those traces.
Mic sighed and looked down at me sternly.
“If anyone in the Fritan palace dares to utter disrespectful gossip about the King and Queen’s chamber—!”
He growled low.
“I’ll rip their tongues out and gouge out their eyes right then and there.”
His brutal words made me flinch. But I thought to myself—
More cruel than his threats was the Haren Empire’s obsession with these ‘signs.’
The hypocrisy of nobles who indulged in debauchery but clung to virginity on the wedding night… it was truly violent and cruel.
“Haa…”
I lowered my gaze and remained silent. He exhaled a long breath.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you…”
“I really can’t win with you.”
As I tried to pull my hand free from his grip, a thin stream of blood trickled from my palm, down my wrist, all the way to my elbow.
Then he began licking the blood, starting from my wrist. I gasped at the strange sensation.
“Mic!”
I tried to pull away, but he wrapped one arm tightly around my body and held my wrist firmly with the other.
“Shh. Stay still, Lea.”
His lips, moving slowly like a snail up my wrist to my palm, began to gently lick the wound, murmuring softly.
My toes curled from the unfamiliar sensation.
“Stop… Mic…”
I barely managed to speak, as if choked, and then his hot, sticky lips slowly pulled away from my palm.
He looked up at me.
“Do you really want me to stop?”
I was momentarily confused. Did I really… want him to stop?
My heartbeat had finally steadied, but I already missed that tingling heat spreading through my body.
I reached out and stroked his cheek. This time, I didn’t look away from his gaze.
“No. I want you to keep going.”
The moment I said it, his lips descended onto mine.
This kiss was nothing like the one at our wedding. It was deep, intense, and all-consuming.
His tongue ravaged my mouth as though trying to pull mine out by the roots. I could barely breathe. Every nerve in my body sparked to life as my mind clouded over.
Not knowing where to put my hands, I pulled his neck closer.
“Lea…”
He buried his face into the crook of my neck. His hot breath tickled my skin as we both panted.
“I don’t want you to hate me… but I can’t stop now.”
His lips traced down to my collarbone, then up to my ear.
“Why would I hate you?” I whispered.
The teasing breath at my ear made me shiver.
“I heard it hurts… the first time…”
He murmured, more desperately now, pressing himself tighter into me.
“I didn’t want to go to war with you angry at me. That’s why I was trying to leave early…”
Hearing such hesitation from him, of all people, made my heart melt. I pulled his face toward me.
I hadn’t noticed it earlier, but his deep blue eyes trembled slightly. To see such anxiety in the eyes of the feared “Blood Demon”…
Smiling, I said,
“Do you know how hard it is to hate a man with a face like yours? It’s impossible.”
I pulled him in by the shoulders and kissed him deeply. As I teased his lips, he looked startled for a moment—but then his hot breath pushed back into me.
Nothing could stop him now. It was like being consumed by fire.
His lips touched every inch of my body. I was overwhelmed by embarrassment, but it felt like he was leaving his mark—his way of claiming me.
My thoughts went blank as pure sensation took over. And just when I was completely immersed in that burning heat—
A sharp, splitting pain tore through me like lightning. I couldn’t even breathe.
His lips gently left mine, and his hand stroked my spine soothingly.
As I focused on the touch of his lips and fingers, a pleasure even stronger than the pain surged through me.
As the tension slowly melted away, I hugged him tightly.
And just like that—we became one.
***
Ten days after Lea left for Fritan with King Micloc, the Marquis of Uzkal requested an audience with the Emperor of Haren.
He had unfinished business to settle.
“I greet the radiant sun of the Empire,” the Marquis said with a sly smile and a deep bow.
“What urgent matter brings you here?”
“My daughter Lea followed King Micloc to Fritan. She’ll become his queen soon, I presume?”
“So?”
The Emperor’s offhand tone nearly made the marquis explode—but he quickly composed himself.
“She was originally promised to Your Majesty as Empress. I hope Your Majesty understands the pain of a father forced to send his precious daughter to that frozen land.”
But the Emperor looked down at him without blinking.
“You say she was precious to you? That’s news to me.”
The Marquis flinched. Was this not the same man he had begged to allow the match with the Fritan king?
Now the old fox dared show this attitude?
“Thanks to Lea, we avoided a clash with Fritan’s army. Surely this deserves recognition.”
“From your words, it sounds as if the Empire’s brave army is inferior to those barbaric troops. That’s quite insulting. A skirmish would’ve been inconvenient, yes—but not something to fear.”
The same Emperor who had said nothing when his own brother returned with a severed arm was now playing tough?
“Besides… didn’t my brother, Grand Duke Jake, already pay the price with his arm?”
The Marquis nearly choked with rage and snapped his head up.
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, you sent the proposal after the Grand Duke lost his arm. That wasn’t a price for Lea!”
“Is that so? Then what compensation do you seek, Marquis?”
Now the conversation was headed in the direction he wanted. The Marquis relaxed.
“If I may humbly ask—what was once promised: the 80,000 gold coins and Count Paoran’s lands, recently vacated after his disgrace. That would help soothe a father’s aching heart.”
The Emperor let out a low laugh.
“But what about my aching heart, for not getting the Empress I wanted?”
His tone was unsettling. The Marquis gulped nervously.
“You have another daughter, don’t you? Haley, was it?”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”
“If Haley becomes my Empress next month, perhaps your grief and my loss might cancel each other out. We’ll revisit your request afterward.”
And with that, the Emperor rose and left.
The Marquis remained frozen in place, unable to move a step.
***
Outside King Micloc’s bedchamber, Millie paced nervously.
A tray of food from the royal kitchen had arrived long ago, but she hadn’t dared bring it in.
“I’ll take it in myself shortly,” she told the kitchen servants.
“But it’ll taste best if served now…”
“His Majesty gave special orders.”
Though annoyed, the staff couldn’t argue—it was the king’s command.
They threw curious glances toward the chamber before reluctantly leaving.
It was well past the time Their Majesties must be hungry. But something about the atmosphere inside… it was definitely unusual.
There had been occasional murmurs earlier and even a burst of laughter from Micloc at one point.
But now—it was dead silent. No matter how hard she listened, there wasn’t a sound.
But it wasn’t just silence. Something about it felt… charged. Tense.
Half of the scheduled time King Micloc was meant to spend in the bridal chamber had Chapter 14. I Hope You Won’t Hate Me…
Just as I obtained the most crucial part—the blood—to make it look like we consummated the marriage, I was suddenly pushed down onto the bed by a strong force.
Hovering above me, he was seething with rage, gripping my bleeding hand tightly.
“I asked you what the hell you were doing!”
I tried to push his body away, but he didn’t budge.
“Ow! The blood’s precious! M-Mic, wait a second.”
Before the precious blood trailing down my wrist stained something irrelevant, I had to get it onto the sheet!
Growing anxious, I twisted my wrist to press it into the sheet, but he yanked my arm upward.
“So you were planning to leave me after all? Just like at the valley last time, weren’t you?”
What now? I looked up at him, baffled.
“Leave? Where would I go? I don’t even have anywhere to go!”
At my words, he looked down at me in confusion. I huffed in frustration and explained,
“When you left, I figured the maids would clean the room in the morning, right? So I needed to create signs that we’d spent the night together.”
“Signs?”
His neat eyebrows furrowed deeply.
“I read in a book once that after the wedding night, there are supposed to be traces… you know, to prove the bride’s virginity…”
“I’ve heard of barbarian customs where they hang blood-stained sheets out the window after the wedding night. But we don’t have such degrading traditions in Fritan.”
His deep blue eyes gleamed with disgust.
“Don’t tell me the mighty Haren Empire still clings to those barbaric practices? Flaunting the bride’s virginity after the wedding night?”
“W-Well, we don’t hang anything out the window or anything. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“The maids who clean up after… they gossip. About whether the bed sheets have bloodstains…”
Rumors about the bridal chamber spread like wildfire. Everyone—groom, nobles, society at large—paid attention to those supposed ‘signs.’
If the bride left a bloodstain, the groom was quietly admired among the aristocracy.
So brides who weren’t virgins would go to great lengths to fake those traces.
Mic sighed and looked down at me sternly.
“If anyone in the Fritan palace dares to utter disrespectful gossip about the King and Queen’s chamber—!”
He growled low.
“I’ll rip their tongues out and gouge out their eyes right then and there.”
His brutal words made me flinch. But I thought to myself—
More cruel than his threats was the Haren Empire’s obsession with these ‘signs.’
The hypocrisy of nobles who indulged in debauchery but clung to virginity on the wedding night… it was truly violent and cruel.
“Haa…”
I lowered my gaze and remained silent. He exhaled a long breath.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you…”
“I really can’t win with you.”
As I tried to pull my hand free from his grip, a thin stream of blood trickled from my palm, down my wrist, all the way to my elbow.
Then he began licking the blood, starting from my wrist. I gasped at the strange sensation.
“Mic!”
I tried to pull away, but he wrapped one arm tightly around my body and held my wrist firmly with the other.
“Shh. Stay still, Lea.”
His lips, moving slowly like a snail up my wrist to my palm, began to gently lick the wound, murmuring softly.
My toes curled from the unfamiliar sensation.
“Stop… Mic…”
I barely managed to speak, as if choked, and then his hot, sticky lips slowly pulled away from my palm.
He looked up at me.
“Do you really want me to stop?”
I was momentarily confused. Did I really… want him to stop?
My heartbeat had finally steadied, but I already missed that tingling heat spreading through my body.
I reached out and stroked his cheek. This time, I didn’t look away from his gaze.
“No. I want you to keep going.”
The moment I said it, his lips descended onto mine.
This kiss was nothing like the one at our wedding. It was deep, intense, and all-consuming.
His tongue ravaged my mouth as though trying to pull mine out by the roots. I could barely breathe. Every nerve in my body sparked to life as my mind clouded over.
Not knowing where to put my hands, I pulled his neck closer.
“Lea…”
He buried his face into the crook of my neck. His hot breath tickled my skin as we both panted.
“I don’t want you to hate me… but I can’t stop now.”
His lips traced down to my collarbone, then up to my ear.
“Why would I hate you?” I whispered.
The teasing breath at my ear made me shiver.
“I heard it hurts… the first time…”
He murmured, more desperately now, pressing himself tighter into me.
“I didn’t want to go to war with you angry at me. That’s why I was trying to leave early…”
Hearing such hesitation from him, of all people, made my heart melt. I pulled his face toward me.
I hadn’t noticed it earlier, but his deep blue eyes trembled slightly. To see such anxiety in the eyes of the feared “Blood Demon”…
Smiling, I said,
“Do you know how hard it is to hate a man with a face like yours? It’s impossible.”
I pulled him in by the shoulders and kissed him deeply. As I teased his lips, he looked startled for a moment—but then his hot breath pushed back into me.
Nothing could stop him now. It was like being consumed by fire.
His lips touched every inch of my body. I was overwhelmed by embarrassment, but it felt like he was leaving his mark—his way of claiming me.
My thoughts went blank as pure sensation took over. And just when I was completely immersed in that burning heat—
A sharp, splitting pain tore through me like lightning. I couldn’t even breathe.
His lips gently left mine, and his hand stroked my spine soothingly.
As I focused on the touch of his lips and fingers, a pleasure even stronger than the pain surged through me.
As the tension slowly melted away, I hugged him tightly.
And just like that—we became one.
***
Ten days after Lea left for Fritan with King Micloc, the Marquis of Uzkal requested an audience with the Emperor of Haren.
He had unfinished business to settle.
“I greet the radiant sun of the Empire,” the Marquis said with a sly smile and a deep bow.
“What urgent matter brings you here?”
“My daughter Lea followed King Micloc to Fritan. She’ll become his queen soon, I presume?”
“So?”
The Emperor’s offhand tone nearly made the marquis explode—but he quickly composed himself.
“She was originally promised to Your Majesty as Empress. I hope Your Majesty understands the pain of a father forced to send his precious daughter to that frozen land.”
But the Emperor looked down at him without blinking.
“You say she was precious to you? That’s news to me.”
The Marquis flinched. Was this not the same man he had begged to allow the match with the Fritan king?
Now the old fox dared show this attitude?
“Thanks to Lea, we avoided a clash with Fritan’s army. Surely this deserves recognition.”
“From your words, it sounds as if the Empire’s brave army is inferior to those barbaric troops. That’s quite insulting. A skirmish would’ve been inconvenient, yes—but not something to fear.”
The same Emperor who had said nothing when his own brother returned with a severed arm was now playing tough?
“Besides… didn’t my brother, Grand Duke Jake, already pay the price with his arm?”
The Marquis nearly choked with rage and snapped his head up.
“Your Majesty, with all due respect, you sent the proposal after the Grand Duke lost his arm. That wasn’t a price for Lea!”
“Is that so? Then what compensation do you seek, Marquis?”
Now the conversation was headed in the direction he wanted. The Marquis relaxed.
“If I may humbly ask—what was once promised: the 80,000 gold coins and Count Paoran’s lands, recently vacated after his disgrace. That would help soothe a father’s aching heart.”
The Emperor let out a low laugh.
“But what about my aching heart, for not getting the Empress I wanted?”
His tone was unsettling. The Marquis gulped nervously.
“You have another daughter, don’t you? Haley, was it?”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct.”
“If Haley becomes my Empress next month, perhaps your grief and my loss might cancel each other out. We’ll revisit your request afterward.”
And with that, the Emperor rose and left.
The Marquis remained frozen in place, unable to move a step.
***
Outside King Micloc’s bedchamber, Millie paced nervously.
A tray of food from the royal kitchen had arrived long ago, but she hadn’t dared bring it in.
“I’ll take it in myself shortly,” she told the kitchen servants.
“But it’ll taste best if served now…”
“His Majesty gave special orders.”
Though annoyed, the staff couldn’t argue—it was the king’s command.
They threw curious glances toward the chamber before reluctantly leaving.
It was well past the time Their Majesties must be hungry. But something about the atmosphere inside… it was definitely unusual.
There had been occasional murmurs earlier and even a burst of laughter from Micloc at one point.
But now—it was dead silent. No matter how hard she listened, there wasn’t a sound.
But it wasn’t just silence. Something about it felt… charged. Tense.
Half of the scheduled time King Micloc was meant to spend in the bridal chamber had already passed. If she didn’t bring in the food soon, he might leave without eating.
Lea wouldn’t like that.
Summoning her courage, Millie knocked softly. As expected—no response.
She considered slipping in to leave the tray quickly, but in the end, she just squatted down beside it.
She simply didn’t have the nerve to disturb a couple on their wedding night.already passed. If she didn’t bring in the food soon, he might leave without eating.
Lea wouldn’t like that.
Summoning her courage, Millie knocked softly. As expected—no response.
She considered slipping in to leave the tray quickly, but in the end, she just squatted down beside it.
She simply didn’t have the nerve to disturb a couple on their wedding night.
Thank you for posting! Some of the text is repeated twice in this chapter.