When a young man and woman are together, it’s strange if nothing happens.
Atia, wearing a thin negligee, had a radiant glow under the moonlight.
Since the first kiss, Atia felt uneasy just looking at Cascus’s lips. Even if she was fine outside, the feeling became stronger in an enclosed space.
Atia’s eyes caught a glimpse of Cascus’s abdomen revealed through the gown he was wearing.
Today, for some reason, he felt particularly sexy.
“Hormonal imbalance, perhaps?”
Or was it because they were alone in a dark room? Why am I getting so nervous again?
Well-sculpted abs were tantalizingly displayed, tempting Atia’s eyes.
“It’s so unfair to wear it like that.”
Atia had never genuinely liked someone before.
Although she played a little prank with Cascus resembling flirtation, Atia quickly regained her composure afterward.
“No, what am I doing…?”
Strictly speaking, physical contact between spouses was not unusual at all, but Cascus and Atia had never held hands or hugged each other.
It was the first time for both.
Just being together like this made their hearts beat faster.
“Is it arrhythmia or something?”
Atia placed her hand on her chest. It was palpable that her heart was beating fast.
It was strange for her heart to race like this when it wasn’t right after exercising.
Atia swallowed her saliva.
In the midst of the midnight cold air and silence, Cascus seemed like he would swallow her up with just his gaze.
“Oh, why do you keep looking at me with those eyes?”
Atia struggled between instinct and reason.
His blue eyes contained sharpness and warmth simultaneously.
To be precise, the warmth was stronger.
“Is honey dripping from his eyes?”
Turning her gaze away, Atia shook her head slightly.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I like you.”
“What?”
When Atia, who had been shaking her head, looked at Cascus with widened eyes.
“I like you. Should I say it again?”
“…”
After a brief silence, Atia blinked once and raised her eyebrows.
“Before, you wouldn’t even touch me.”
As Atia muttered, Cascus’s expression subtly changed.
“When did I do that?”
“In the study. It felt like you were pointing a knife at my neck… If you had touched a bit, I would have been stabbed.”
“What? When did I do something like that?”
“It wasn’t long ago.”
“Seems like a long time to me. Quite a while.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
“That’s right.”
“No, it wasn’t. It seems you have a somewhat different perspective on me.”
A small argument arose on the bed.
Cascus clenched Atia’s chin and gently swept her skin with his thumb.
“That time, I wasn’t sure.”
“…”
“I thought you had another purpose for entering our family. That’s why.”
Atia wanted confirmation through Cascus’s response. How significant her feelings were, and how sincerely he treated her.
There was a small worry in her heart that this might be a short-lived emotion like a dream on a midsummer night.
Cascus stopped the action of stroking Atia’s chin and spoke.
“If that were the case, I wouldn’t have come here. If I hadn’t thought of you, by now, I would have been either working on documents or sleeping in the study.”
“…”
“Sometime, life without you seemed unimaginable. When walking, sleeping, eating—my thoughts were always filled with you. What have I done to myself, exactly?”
Oh my. Cascus openly making such awkward remarks.
This time, Cascus’s thumb, which had been stroking Atia’s chin, gently tickled her lips.
Slowly approaching Atia, Cascus lightly kissed her lips.
Smack.
Their moist and soft lips touched and then separated.
It was a brief kiss, but Atia could feel the warmth.
“Oh, okay, let’s stay calm, Duke.”
Suppressing the laughter trying to burst out in this situation, Atia cleared her throat.
Although Atia seemed to be the one who needed to remain calm first, Cascus smiled at her, tucking her hair behind her ear.
Cascus’s expression was calm, but his insides were not.
Continuing like this, he might turn into a beast again; he barely regained his composure.
“You must be tired. Let’s go to sleep.”
“Yes… Duke, sleep well too.”
“Yeah.”
On this moonlit night, Cascus and Atia couldn’t sleep with wide-open eyes for a long time.
However, soon, the sound of Atia falling asleep like a baby was heard, and Cascus looked at her sleeping before kissing her forehead.
“I love you, sincerely.”
Cascus spoke in a very soft voice, just enough not to wake Atia.
Cascus recalled what Atia had said a moment ago.
[Dash]Before, you wouldn’t even touch me.Yeah, back then, he didn’t know.
Thinking she had come to the study with impure intentions, he even pointed a knife at his wife’s neck.
The day when the blade touched her white neck was vividly coming back. The day when she said if it hurts, speak up, her voice, too.
She, who sneaked into someone else’s room, observed the body however she pleased and said the things he couldn’t say.
If it wasn’t for her strange actions that day, maybe his back pain would have worsened by now.
Although he never told anyone, she understood his pain like no one else.
The Male lead Always Seduces Her with His Beauty (Matriarchy)
Xin Jiao Zhou is the leader of the world’s premier sect. She has just experienced betrayal from all sides, was poisoned in an assassination attempt, and faced death squad attacks while the poison was taking effect. After finally clearing out the scum from her sect, she was drugged again while trying to detoxify.
After waking up from a night of unconsciousness, she gained a “beautiful and kind-hearted” husband.
Xin Jiao Zhou: “???”
He fell ill.
She came to see him, bringing breakfast.
As she put down the breakfast and was about to leave, his hand slipped while holding the spoon. “Clank!”
She turned around upon hearing the noise.
He looked up at her, his eyebrows drooping: “My hand… has no strength.”
“Shall I… feed you?” she asked tentatively.
He opened his mouth cheerfully: “Ah—”
Thinking she was drowning, he jumped in without hesitation to save her, but nearly drowned himself. In the end, it was she who swam over to rescue him, giving him air underwater.
After emerging from the water, his ear tips turned red. He lightly brushed his cheek, tucking his sideburns behind his ear, revealing delicate, pink-tinged ear tips. He lowered his gaze, too embarrassed to look at her.
Xin Jiao Zhou: He’s truly beautiful, kind-hearted, and adorable.
A certain someone when disciplining subordinates behind the scenes: “If they don’t obey, just kill them.”
What’s that? She might already have someone she cares about in her heart? A certain someone: Find out who it is, kill them, and then there won’t be anyone.
What? She met a man by the riverside? What? That man even hurt her? A certain someone: Whichever hand hurt her, chop off his entire arm.
Love at first sight without realizing it, gradually falling in love, slowly getting closer…
Family and national grudges, schemes and desires, good and evil, crime and punishment, she and he face the future together, seeking justice with passion!
A naturally dark female lead who could accidentally destroy the world but is actually an honest person VS a weak, pitiful, and helpless but skilled fighter, beautiful white-cut black male lead
My heart is not of stone, how steadfast is your love? — Tao Yuanming “Imitating the Ancients (No. 3)”
— Reading Guide —
Cold female lead & dramatic black lotus with hidden yandere traits male lead
