Chapter 10
“You—you can’t do this to me. You’re not even a knight.”
Unable to stand the overwhelming emotions, she cried like a child and insulted him. Asheel neither looked at her as she cried, nor did he wipe away her tears.
She thought she had no regrets in her life, but it felt like even her spirit, which had already been battered down to dust, crumbled and scattered through the wind.
Nadia barely stopped crying when she started fixing her appearance. She fumbled and checked if there were any torn parts in her dress, and at the same time, she looked at the clock.
There was about thirty minutes before the banquet began. Just how much time had passed while she was in this room?
As she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, Nadia looked at Asheel, which took her a lot of courage to do.
He picked up Nadia’s ragged undergarments that lay on the floor, wiped the fluids on his manhood with it, and roughly stuffed it in his back pocket. It was ingratiating that all he had to do was adjust his pants so that he’d look clean once more.
She grabbed the furniture nearby to help steady her as she limped towards the mirror. She had to go out before Asheel tried anything else.
Fortunately, her hair wasn’t fully ruined. A few strands of her baby hair came loose at her nape, but what happened just now was so crazy that this could be seen as a miracle.
Her dress was also fine, apart from the wrinkled part at the back of the skirt. Originally, the fabric was in layers, so it was thankfully not too obvious that the back had any wrinkles. It’s a relief because she had no time to go back to her room and change her clothes.
However, she needed to do something about her makeup. It was all gone because of her tears.
It would look like the bride, who had to leave her hometown where she was born and raised, cried so much because she couldn’t overcome the distress of having to go far away.
Either that, or perhaps they would think that she cried because she couldn’t bear to be married to a husband surrounded by so many terrible rumors.
Nadia’s bloodshot eyes trembled, but she set her mind to deliver an ultimatum to Asheel.
He was such a reckless man who did not think of the consequences of his actions. They would not meet again in the future, but just in case, she wanted to say that she never wanted to see him again.
It would be fortunate if nobody found out about what happened here, but if this were to transpire every time she met Asheel, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
He didn’t seem to care about his status, chivalry, or anything at all. It’s like he was a man who had nothing to lose…
But Nadia—she was a person who had everything to lose, even though she did not want all these things.
She wanted to scream all of this at Asheel, but she couldn’t. Perhaps it’s because it’s something she had never done before, but she couldn’t say what she had in her mind, like it was all stuck in her throat.
Nadia desperately calmed herself down while thinking rationally, keeping her breath even.
Rather, this was a good thing. She thought she would finally be able to kill any lingering feelings after this encounter.
He wasn’t the kind and thoughtful man she knew. He was a selfish, terrible, dangerous man.
“…Asheel, you’ve done something you shouldn’t have. And it’s not something that should be told to other people, so…”
Nadia couldn’t finish her sentence—she felt something flow down her legs.
Unknowingly, she closed her thighs together and turned red, feeling an uncontrollable shame and indignation.
“Don’t show up in front of me again.”
Asheel’s expression was unreadable, as though it was somewhere in between a smirk and a grimace.
“You don’t know?”
“What are you talking about?”
After a derisive chuckle, he stepped towards the window to open it, and when he did, a cool breeze flowed in. The scent of daffodils made the room smell lighter.
“You’ll find out soon, Nadia.”
He nimbly jumped through the window and disappeared.
She barely arrived at the drawing room without being late. It was only possible because a maid had passed by as Nadia was walking here, almost falling down several times because of her weakened legs.
Nadia asked the maid to fix her appearance, and she felt relieved only after her makeup was alright again. All the red traces around her eyes couldn’t be concealed, but it was fortunate that her eyelids weren’t swollen.
Marquis Elantz came to pick her up on time. He smiled without saying a word, but Nadia could feel cold sweat trickling down her back.
Whenever she took a step, a little of Asheel’s s*men would trickle down because she had no undergarments.
She wondered if he could hear the sound every time the thick fluids rubbed against her thighs, but it was hard to guess if it could really be heard or if it was just her panicked imagination.
“You don’t look so good.”
Nadia was surprised because she didn’t think he would talk to her.
As he slightly leaned forward, his breath swept over her ears, and he smelled lightly of champagne.
They were at the banquet hall now, and she was trying very hard not to let her smile slip from her lips when there were so many nobles around her.
She wasn’t happy having attention pointed at her. She didn’t want him to talk to her if possible, but this was a useless wish. He spoke once more.
“Where did you go when your condition’s like that?”
“Oh, that… I… went on a stroll…”
“I guess you could endure that much. Surprisingly, you have good stamina. Oh, and… call me Edwin.”
Edwin handed her a glass of champagne and spoke in a lighthearted voice. She took a sip from the glass with her hands trembling.
She thought she was good at hiding things, but she was second-guessing herself right now. She couldn’t relax at all. Not only was she afraid that her husband might notice that something was wrong, but she was also in front of the nobles right now without any underwear at all. It felt like a dream—a nightmare.
Nevertheless, she wished that this really was just an illusion. She couldn’t believe that something like this was happening just one day after her wedding.
She tried not to move as much, her thighs firmly squeezed together, but she was so conscious every time she felt that some fluids were trickling down.
Nadia was paranoid, thinking that the people around her had her name on their lips, laughing and gossiping about her, pointing at her and calling her a sl*t for being with another man during the ongoing banquet celebration of her wedding.
Of course, what transpired earlier was something that she absolutely could not reveal to anyone. If her father came to know, he would hurl all sorts of abusive words to her, and if Edwin would find out, she would definitely be divorced. And while ignoring that she was the victim in this situation, rumors about her being a lewd woman would spread far and wide.
It would be useless to cover up a story like that. And if she would try to prove her innocence, she would just be offering herself as easy prey towards the vultures.
After that, she would have to be stuck with her family, or she would be shipped off to a monastery. This was her obvious fate, even if she didn’t think about it.
Her only choice was to stay silent. And if nothing came out, then all she could hope was that he would leave her alone…
When the orchestra started playing, the center of the banquet hall was emptied for the main characters of the night. Edwin looked down at her with an amicable smile.
After emptying the glass that he gave her earlier, Nadia handed it back again to a passing servant. Then, his hand reached out to her.
Nadia closed her eyes, then opened them again as she took his hand nervously.
A gasp came out automatically. Her limbs were sore—it was as if someone had pulled out her joints and inserted them back in. She just wanted to collapse and sleep right then and there, but she still needed to dance even if she was in this condition.
Edwin skillfully led her to the center of the hall. She could feel everyone’s attention on her. As she took in a deep breath, she told herself that she must stay alert.
The Marquis danced so well that it was hard to believe that he was someone who rarely went out to balls. As Nadia let herself be led by him, she felt the tension in her body gradually loosen as she took one step at a time.
But she couldn’t think of this as entirely positive. She was getting sleepy because of the pleasant harmony flowing into her ears.
By the time the song had reached the middle, Nadia gasped slightly because Edwin pulled her waist forward suddenly, then he whispered quietly.
“What kind of walk takes two hours?”
Stunned, Nadia made a mistake with her steps, but Edwin lightly steadied her as though he expected this reaction. There was an unreadable smile on his lips.
She felt her vision flashing. She couldn’t figure out whether to thank him or not.
“Don’t tell me you just got back from rolling around the sheets with some other bastard? You smell like c*m.”
“…Th-that isn’t the case at all!”
Inside her dress, Asheel’s fluids trickled down to her knees, but Nadia still firmly denied it. She almost broke out in cold sweat as she pretended that nothing was amiss.
It was a relief that she was good at controlling her expressions, but she continued to avoid the persistent gaze directed at her, hoping that he would just drop the subject and let it go.
“Then, is it mine?”
He drew close to whisper into her ear, dirty words leaving his languid tongue as he teased her with a hint of sadistic glee.
“You must have had fun, hm? It’d be nice if you could make sure to handle it properly so we won’t need to worry about any illegitimate children. How are you doing now, is it leaking out?”
Nadia felt the blood drain from her face.
No matter how far away they were from the others, this wasn’t something that should have been brought up when several nobles were watching them right now.
No, even if they were in a place with only the two of them, she couldn’t focus on his words at all as he said this without even regard as to how shameful it was.
“I can’t believe you were a virgin. Even if this household would go bankrupt later, it can survive as long as you shake your hips well. That’s a compliment.”
“How can you say that…!”
At his insult, Nadia could feel tears forming. What kind of compliment was this? She glared at Edwin as hard as she could. If it weren’t for the attention of other people on them right now, she would have slapped him.
Without thinking about what would happen later, she stomped on his foot with all her might with the pointed heel of her shoes.
He grunted a little, but her anger wasn’t relieved because he didn’t seem hurt at all.
Throughout the banquet, she no longer made any eye contact with Edwin, nor did she keep up her forced smile. He didn’t try talking to her anymore as well. And rather than gauging Nadia’s mood, it seemed as though he had lost all interest in her.
While Nadia tried not to think about anything and wished for time to pass by more quickly, countless nobles approached Edwin to somehow win his favor.
As she stood next to him, she kept thinking that she was just some kind of pet in this situation, but she couldn’t think of a good excuse to retire to her room.
He consistently ignored the nobles who curried his favor, but nobody was openly angry at him. However, she caught him disguising his distorted expression that soon disappeared with a smile.