48.

It was as if words had completely failed her. Cardier hadn’t suddenly gone mad and slashed his arm for no reason. Even Rosetta, who was rather unfamiliar with noble customs, could grasp why this had happened.

Virgin blood. While living as Lea, suffocating anxiety had been an everyday occurrence, but this was by far the worst. It would have been somewhat easier if only she were suffering—but this was truly…

“I failed to control my strength.”

Cardier added, almost as an excuse, seeing Rosetta frozen in shock.

“This is customary. It applies whenever no blood is drawn.”

…Right. She had overheard maids whispering about it before. Since the princess and the crown prince had been engaged for quite some time, there was concern—what if the princess failed to leave a trace on their wedding night?

For noblewomen, producing a legitimate heir to continue the family line made physical purity one of the most crucial aspects of their dowry. Regardless of how outdated such thinking was, no one wanted to hand over a family built over generations to a bastard whose father was unknown.

Even now, after more than seven hundred years, people still judged a woman’s virginity and the validity of a marriage by the bloodstains on the sheets. If no trace was left on the bed after the first night together, it could become valid grounds for annulment. Even in these slightly more liberal times, a union between two ducal houses like theirs still required this ritual as an unquestionable formality.

So, she had thought—some blood had to be shown, one way or another. But like this…? Rosetta clenched her teeth, staring at the crude wound torn open by the dull paper knife.

“…Are you really insane?”

“I couldn’t exactly walk into the bridal chamber carrying a sharpened blade.”

He actually dared to call that an excuse. ‘Rosetta’ was known to be sensitive to the sound of a blade being drawn, whether in front of or behind her—that’s why he’d deliberately prepared the paper knife. He couldn’t stand the idea of her feeling even a moment’s wariness toward him.

No wonder the bridal room had felt unnatural with such an object… As if he’d planned this from the start, Cardier calmly pressed on the wound and applied the bandage he’d brought.

“…Give it here. I’ll do it.”

When he tried to loosely tie the knot of the bandage with his teeth, she simply couldn’t stay still. Rosetta grabbed his arm and pulled it toward herself. Then, she tightly rewrapped and secured the poorly applied bandage. Because his sleeves were rolled up past the forearm, she could see his arm muscles twitch with tension every time her skin brushed against his.

“….”

Often, even when looking directly at Cardier before her, Rosetta struggled to feel any sense of reality—like a thin barrier separating her from the real world. Then, at certain moments, the veil would suddenly lift, and everything would become vividly real all at once. This was one of those moments.

The unbuttoned shirt, the smooth chest rising and falling beneath it, the tightly built upper body nearly forming an inverted triangle… The faint breath slipping through slightly parted lips sent tiny tremors into the air. His lowered eyelids and deep, blue eyes—somehow resembling a beast with its leash tautly pulled—were strikingly beautiful, to the point of being shocking.

That someone could be both beautiful and masculine. To Rosetta, who had watched Cardier grow from boyhood into early youth, feeling masculine charm from him was strange in itself.

Just four years. At times like this, she truly felt how much he had grown—grown alone—while she had remained frozen. Especially when meeting his calm, steady gaze.

Without realizing it, Rosetta tightened her grip on the ribbon of the bandage she was tying. He let out a faint groan. Damn it. While she was lost in thought, she’d tied the bandage like a sailor’s knot. Horrified by her own actions, she fell silent for a moment.

“Th-This… is ridiculous. Say something.”

“Why? I’m glad you’re the one who tied it.”

…Damn it. Was he mocking her? She barely managed to ignore his strangely unsettling words. Charging at her, threatening to show her what it really meant to be tied up—no matter how she thought about it, that would be insane. Once the thought took root, her mind kept drifting in that direction. She tried to act composed, but her hands kept trembling.

“O-Okay, now… really done.”

After fidgeting for a while, Rosetta finally tied the knot properly. She quickly pulled her body back, distancing herself from Cardier. If she stayed any closer, she might turn into a dangerous beast and sink her teeth into poor Cardier’s neck. Though, of course, Cardier wasn’t really pitiful, and it was questionable whether he’d just quietly let her do it.

In any case, she had confirmed that maintaining her resolve not to share the bed required far more inner strength than she’d expected. Cardier gently cupped the knot she’d tied with his other hand and chuckled softly.

“Thank you.”

That smile made her insides feel strange again. Rosetta bit her lip and deliberately put on a cold expression.

“Don’t do this again.”

“What exactly shouldn’t I do?”

“S-Stop using yourself… instead of me.”

“Why?”

When he asked why, she didn’t really have an answer. One thing was certain: if no blood appeared on the sheets, it would be Rosetta—not Cardier—who’d be in trouble. She tried to pick out a few plausible reasons in her mind, then gave up.

“It’s not your responsibility.”

“Why isn’t it my responsibility?”

“…?”

“You’re my wife.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Partly because of the satisfied look on Cardier’s face, but mostly because the title of “someone’s wife” still felt awkward and unfamiliar. Rosetta pressed her burning ears with cold hands and wrinkled her nose.

“If you need blood, just cut me instead.”

“…Are you insane?”

Until then, he had answered calmly and easily, but now his eyebrows shot up in alarm. She hadn’t thought his eyes were naturally gentle… but actually receiving such a look made her feel intensely uneasy. Damn it. Why are your eyes so wide? You’re making my heart skip.

“It’s not that big a deal…”

Rosetta mumbled. Somehow, he must have heard that small grumble, because Cardier frowned. She quickly waved her hand to silence him.

“Never mind, never mind. Just go to sleep.”

“….”

She yawned widely and turned her back to him, burying her face in the pillow. She did it partly to avoid further nagging, but also because she was genuinely on the verge of passing out. Her nerves, strained all day, were screaming with exhaustion. She felt like she’d collapse into sleep the moment her head hit the pillow—but, as often happened when one was too tired, sleep didn’t come immediately.

Soon, she heard Cardier shifting behind her, and then all the lanterns were extinguished. The next moment, she felt the bed tilt slightly to one side. He must have sat down—or perhaps lain down. Rosetta tightly shut her eyes and began fake-snoring loudly.

Cardier called her name in a voice that wasn’t particularly quiet, as if he knew she wasn’t asleep.

“Lea.”

‘Lea.’ Now, between them, that name was nothing more than a thin pretense. Yet if there was any deeper reason he insisted on using it, it was likely because it was one of Rosetta’s greatest shields.

Rosetta strained her ears for his next words. But Cardier, who had just called her, remained silent for a long time. Stillness settled over the room. With no movement except the tilt of the bed, her tense shoulders gradually relaxed. Then, just as she was about to drift off…

“I can’t bear to see you hurt—not even once. Even if it seems like a trivial thing.”

“….”

“So please… I hope you live a very, very long life.”

The words came out like a faint tremor. How hard could such a simple thing be to say?

Yet those words settled like a lingering warmth.

* * *

Early morning. Rosetta snapped her eyes open. She thought it was still deep dawn, but judging by the sunlight, some time had already passed since sunrise. Instinctively, she reached for the space beside her. Aside from the deep indentation where someone had lain, there wasn’t a trace of warmth. How long had he been gone? The absence of the person she’d hoped to see upon waking left her feeling somewhat deflated.

Rosetta tidied the bed and hastily tied up her disheveled hair from the night before into a loose bundle. Her gaze drifted toward the paper knife she’d carelessly wiped clean the night before. The faint stain of blood reminded her of last night’s shock.

If only the knife had been left alone, she might have suspected something—but next to it were a piece of parchment, a quill, and an envelope, all neatly prepared, making the scene seem completely ordinary. Now that she thought about it, these were the least necessary items in a bridal chamber.

Rosetta shoved the paper knife into her pocket, then sat stiffly at the table, facing the parchment and quill.