“Ah!”

The shoulder strap that remained intact even when Madame Marcel pulled it with her teeth was helplessly torn by Kaian’s hand, instantly pulling the dress down below the chest and loosely hanging on the waist tightly cinched by the corset.

“What were you thinking when you chose this dress?”

“I, I didn’t choose it…”

Kaian’s pupils shone more dangerously under the cozy shade of the curtained room.

“Is that so?”

His gaze fell on the firm undergarment that shaped and pressed her modest bosom. Following Kaian’s gaze, Claudel’s eyes also saw the round contours of flesh neatly placed inside the woman’s armor.

Her cheeks flushed hot.

She had never shown him such an attire so deliberately before.

It was her first time wearing a dress so different from what she usually wore in everyday life since coming to Rowen Castle.

Conscious of Kaian’s intense gaze, Claudel covered her body with both arms.

“Stop looking.”

“Why?”

He lasciviously licked his lips with the tip of his tongue.

Claudel felt that he was very pleased with her body at least, but she had never felt as lewd as today.

“What’s wrong with the usually proactive Duchess?”

“…”

Kaian’s hand traced the vertical lines that were tightly laced to create a dizzying body line, moving up and down.

“Huh.”

Claudel shrugged her shoulders at the ticklish sensation on her side.

“You can still feel even with your body all bound up like this.”

“Don’t tease me.”

“Tease? Me, you? That can’t be.”

The hand that had been caressing the soft skin under her delicate chin along the refined, gentle lines brushed Claudel’s parted lips, which had opened to breathe due to tension.

“I’m being seduced.”

“What?”

Kaian called her in a lowered voice.

“Tell me. That you want me now.”

The man who said he was being seduced was seducing Claudel.

She knew that the inner thoughts of this well-dressed person were not so gentle.

Yet, intoxicated by his pheromones exuding the man’s charm to a dizzying degree, Claudel felt her legs might give out.

‘No.’

The dance of the lord and lady at the festival was literally just the beginning of the celebration.

If you asked if there was nothing left to do afterwards, that wasn’t the case.

A little later, after the sun set, they had to take a bite of a huge cake made from the first harvest of grains and fruits offered, as tall as a child, and then the territory’s people would cut and share it to enjoy the festival. When it became completely dark, there was still the ceremony of lighting the fireworks.

After that, they would open a large, aged barrel of alcohol, share the first cup between Kaian and Claudel, and then bestow it upon the people of the territory to enjoy drinking all night long before they could return to the castle.

It was something that shouldn’t happen, to be having this unspeakable quarrel with Kaian in Rowen Castle like this now.

“Hurry.”

The man urging her was someone Claudel held very dear.

The innocent woman had been yearning to gain even a piece of his heart until now, so she was weak and soft to the man’s words.

He was Claudel’s husband.

Kaian, the Duke of Temnes and the lord of Rowen territory, where this splendid autumn festival was in full swing.

The fact that she had barely found a way to survive and reached reason made Claudel face reality.

He was the lord of Rowen, so he might be allowed to do whatever he wanted to some extent, but there was no way they would be lenient towards her, who had just recently married into the family.

Rather, today’s festival was actually more like a test for Claudel.

Everyone would be watching with keen eyes to see the daughter of the enemy family who had suddenly blocked the path of the precious lord by royal decree.

It was obvious that if she left a bad first impression because of something like this, it would be difficult for her to establish her position in Rowen territory from now on.

Claudel turned away from her husband’s gaze, which looked at her with burning eyes as if he would devour her, and lowered her head slightly.

“We, we still have to do the lighting ceremony and eat cake and drink in the evening.”

“Ha.”

When Kaian made a displeased sound, it felt like her lips were drying up.

“I was going to let it slide, but I guess I can’t.”

Unlike the gentle urging from earlier, the cold tone made Claudel look up in surprise.

Kaian’s kiss was so intense it felt violent.

As if not allowing even a breath to escape between their sealed lips, he firmly grabbed the back of her head with his large hand and pulled her close, wedging between Claudel’s teeth.

Claudel didn’t know what to do.

Kaian had never tried to take her like this before.

He was a gentleman.

She and he were bound together by marriage.

There were things that needed to be done between husband and wife, so Claudel had silently followed them even when she was sick with hersel.

So he had never forced her when she didn’t respond.

Today was different somehow.

The touch that had carefully taught her the secret joys that only a woman could feel over the past few months was now unrestrained in caressing her body, as if determined.

The gentleman who she believed maintained courtesy even while speaking harshly as if to an enemy had disappeared, nakedly revealing his intention to take if not given.

Claudel tried to twist her body to escape the man’s embrace, but Kaian became even more impatient like a lit matchstick at her futile attempts to push against his chest.

“Kaian.”

The body that had been pushed into a dead end loosened.

A hand that snuck into that gap grabbed and tore off the strings fastening the corset.

“No.”

If her clothes were ruined, she wouldn’t be able to return to the festival.

Claudel shook her head and clung to Kaian.

“I need to wear it again… Ah!”

She trembled, tilting her chin back while gripping Kaian’s clothes with her hands.

When what had been pressing down on her body disappeared, Kaian finally put his mouth on what he had been eyeing for a while.

Only Claudel’s shallow moans and the wet sounds of kisses on her neck, where the ruby necklace had disappeared, continued.

After indulging his desire for a while, he grabbed Claudel’s chin and met her eyes.

“Are you still holding onto the vain hope that you can return to the festival?”

“How can you, as a lord, say such irresponsible things?”

Even at Claudel’s accusatory tone, he didn’t flinch.

“Well, who told you to dress up so prettily for so long?”

“What did you say?”

“You don’t know moderation.”

“What nonsense.”

Though Kaian’s words were absurd, Claudel was flattered by being called pretty.

She had always been thirsty for even one such word from him, who was so stingy with compliments.

It was the first time Kaian had openly called her ‘pretty’.

“…Did you really think I was pretty?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“You were pretty.”

Kaian rested his forehead on her smooth, exposed shoulder.

His body temperature was hot as if he was burning with fever.

“Claudel. You corrupt me.”

At the sudden words, she opened her eyes wide.

“You always tempt me.”

What did he mean by saying this?

Claudel closed her mouth, not knowing how to react.

Slowly separating from her, Kaian said with emphasis.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re my wife.”

At that moment, she was very curious about the hidden meaning in his words.

Corrupting and tempting?

Did that mean Kaian was also thinking and worrying about her, Claudel?

She had believed she was one-sidedly in love with her husband.

Could it be that he was also attracted to her?

“I told you to say it. That you want me. If it’s now… I’ll be yours as much as you want.”

Claudel’s heart pounded.

“Hurry.”

At his urging, the woman who had fallen into pure love finally opened her mouth.

“I want to have you.”

The words that came out of her mouth burst the emotions that had been pent up uncontrollably.

“Kaian. I want you.”

Kaian kissed her again, pushing Claudel against the wall.

With both hands, he half-untied and half-tore off the skirt that was wrapped in layers around her slender waist.

When the outer skirt cinching her waist disappeared, the dress that had been pulled down and hanging at her waist naturally fell to the floor.

He was still impeccably dressed as he lifted her up and laid her on the bed.

When Claudel was about to reach out, wanting to feel his body heat, Kaian embraced her as she was.

Claudel swayed as he desired.

“This is all I’ve been thinking about since I saw you today.”

A bead of sweat that ran down the man’s Adam’s apple disappeared into the collar of his uniform, which was still neat without a single wrinkle.

“Where could I go to be alone with you.”

“Kaian.”

Claudel was desperately pounded by him.

Embarrassed to be disheveled all by herself, she reached for his clothes several times, but eventually forgot her shame as she reached an familiar yet unfamiliar ecstasy.

He was clearly the husband she knew.

There was no way the act of joining each other could be this unfamiliar.

Her whole body was tense and sensitive as if being ravished by a stranger she was seeing for the first time.

“How could I embrace you? It’s still far from nighttime.”

Claudel’s chin trembled.

She had always thought Kaian did whatever he wanted with her.

Sometimes when he spoke as if he was holding something back, she inwardly thought, ‘What does he have to hold back?’

But facing his uninhibited inner thoughts, she suddenly became scared.

Perhaps sensing it keenly, Kaian caught his breath and then kissed her gently.

Reassured by the kiss that seemed like what her usual husband would give, Claudel clung to him with both arms.

“Can’t we do it with your clothes off?”

“Why?”

“Just…”

If she said she disliked the unfamiliarity of him taking her in his lord’s attire, preferring the comfort of their nightly encounters in casual dress, Kaian would surely get angry.

Remembering how he had made a fuss when she called him ‘Your Grace’ just once in front of Irena out of courtesy.

At her words, Kaian finally unbuttoned his outer garment.

As the gold buttons clicked open, the white shirt worn underneath was revealed, soaked with sweat and clinging to the man’s body.

As soon as he took that off too, Kaian grabbed Claudel’s ankle and kissed the spot where the alligator had bitten.

Following the pink scars scattered like fallen petals, he pressed his lips closely while his gaze rested intently on Claudel.

“Since I granted your request to undress, you should grant one of my wishes too.”

“It tickles.”

“Let’s do it three more times.”

Before she could answer, she was pulled into Kaian’s arms.

She heard his voice murmuring against her cheek where he had pressed his lips.

“Once is not enough. Three times…”

Then I’ll try to hold back somehow.