I never dreamed of it.

That I would see Kaius inside the barrier. Just as the book said, enraged magical beasts are difficult to deal with. It was even more terrifying than I imagined, but strangely, the sight of Kaius handling the beast was so beautiful it made me forget the previous hardship. I was mesmerized by the scenery created by his gentle movements and white aura.

Ariel, who had been watching him for a long time, was suddenly surprised by the unfamiliar space once again. The space before her eyes looked like a deep forest.

As she shifted her gaze back to Kaius, a large wolf-headed magical beast began charging towards her. With its bulging eyes and bizarre, swift appearance, her body seemed to freeze, unable to move. Swallowing the scream that was about to burst out, Ariel covered her mouth, curled up, and held her breath. That was the best she could do. She didn’t want to shout during the battle as it might endanger him, and she suddenly thought it wouldn’t make much difference whether she died by his hand or by the magical beast.

“…?”

Even as time passed, she didn’t feel the expected pain. When she slowly raised her head from between her knees, she saw the bisected magical beast and blood mixed in front of her. Fighting back the rising nausea, her gaze fell upon a blood-stained shoe. As she raised her head a bit more, she saw Kaius looking down at her with a perplexed expression.

“Kyaah! Behind you. There’s a magical beast behind you.”

Behind Kaius, a mantis-like magical beast several times his size swung its sharp forelegs. Kaius lightly turned around and dispatched the beast with a few swings of his sword. After that, Kaius continued the battle, standing in front of her as if protecting her. When all the magical beasts were dead, the surrounding scenery disappeared, and they returned to his bedroom. Only then did Ariel’s tension release, and she collapsed onto the floor. She still felt unwell, but it wasn’t the situation to show it.

Kaius knelt on one knee in front of Ariel.

“How did you do it?”

Kaius asked, roughly grasping her chin with his outstretched hand.

“I, I don’t know. I just came to my senses and saw the Duke fighting the magical beasts. Ah… The treatment. I need to treat you.”

She began to unbutton his shirt with trembling hands, but Kaius pushed her hands away. Ariel’s eyes, filled with confusion, looked at him.

“Why…”

“Have you been enjoying it? Did you feel some kind of thrill watching a man suffer because of you? I never thought you’d have such a sadistic hobby, noble you.”

“No, no! That’s not true. It’s absolutely not like that. I know. I know how betrayed you must feel right now. I’m really sorry. I’m sorry…”

Tears flowed endlessly at his mocking words. Nevertheless, Ariel had to treat him.

“Please let me treat you. Kaius. Please…? I’m begging you.”

Ariel’s hand slowly reached out to him again, her eyes looking at him desperately. This time, he allowed her trembling touch. Her touch was more careful and gentle than usual.

After the treatment was finished and Ariel stepped back from him, Kaius sat on the sofa with wine, not even bothering to put his clothes back on properly. Seeing his wife standing there, not approaching, he shifted his gaze to the wine glass. At his behavior, Ariel sensed that she would not die.

After emptying several glasses of wine, Ariel approached Kaius a little.

“…Kaius, it’s the Japaros. I mean, we need to regrow the tree you cut down. Can you allow it? It’s a tree essential for saving you.”

Kaius, who had been quietly drinking, chuckled softly.

“A flower that resembles my wife.”

At those words, Ariel’s face flushed red, and her eyelashes trembled. Kaius put down his wine glass and slowly got up, approaching Ariel. Before she could step back, his large hands lifted her up and carried her to the bed.

***

“Let me grow the Japaros…”

“Shh. Be quiet.”

With those words, barely audible like a sigh, Kaius roughly satisfied his desire on top of his wife. I’ll definitely save the Duke, I promise…, the child…, he had to swallow her lips for a longer time than usual to silence her constant chatter. Even as she moaned and shook beneath him, again Ludvian…, she dared to speak another man’s name in bed.

Well, let’s see how long you can keep that up.

It was the beginning of her ordeal.

As he made his wife feel with her whole body that he alone was going wild, Kaius became even rougher. In the end, Ariel couldn’t properly say anything she needed to say, and her mind went blank because of it.

For some reason, today Ariel kept her eyes open and looked at him. The eyes in her feverish face were filled with guilt. It was absurd that his body was still hot even while facing such a gaze. Kaius, who had stopped moving, smirked.

“Ariel, if you’re going to be kind, you should do it properly.”

“…What?”

“Embrace me.”

Small hands carefully embraced his body. The thought that he had finally achieved the moment he had been waiting for, but only by exploiting her guilt, made him feel despicable. He couldn’t bear the deep self-loathing of not being able to leave his wife’s body, as if stuck in a swamp. In the end, all that anger was directed back at her.

It was only when the sky began to turn blue that Kaius finally released Ariel. Her body, turned away from him and curled up small, was covered in marks from him. Seeing that sight illuminated by the flickering firelight made him feel a little better about his base feelings.

Kaius’s hand, habitually reaching out to pull his still heavily breathing wife close, hesitated. Clearly, taking her hadn’t bothered him at all, but he couldn’t bring himself to hold her in his arms. Feeling at a loss, Kaius laughed lowly in self-mockery. What was all that about. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel that bad right now. He had been terribly deceived and hadn’t slept a wink, but his mind was clearer and sharper than ever.

Kaius, who had gotten out of bed, looked towards the still-dark window.

Everything became ridiculous.

The time he had spent yearning for something hadn’t been long, but it felt distant. The times when he had often felt at a loss, not knowing what to do about such an easy thing, now felt futile. As Kaius was about to head to the bathroom, he climbed back onto the bed, and Ariel curled up even more. Smirking, he stroked his wife’s hair.

“From now on, come here and wait every night.”

Kaius whispered softly in Ariel’s ear and lowered his lips again. The lips that had touched her wet eyes gently bit her still-flushed cheek. When his lips touched her thin, mottled neck and shoulders, his wife’s face seemed ready to burrow into the bed.

“Look at me, Ariel.”

At the low command, Ariel slowly turned her head towards him. Her docile attitude made his displeasure disappear, and he stroked her head again as if praising a good child. Kaius kissed her swollen lips once more before getting up and heading to the bathroom.

His expression looked as if he had forgotten all the pain of the previous night, even seeming to wear a faint smile.

***

Finally, it was over.

Ariel was too exhausted to move a finger, but the sound of the bathroom door closing snapped her to attention. Although her whole body ached as if it would break, she gathered all her strength to collect her discarded clothes and return to her bedroom.

Absolutely no child.

Ariel took her contraceptive pill as usual. She wanted to wash, but crossing that one door was the best she could do. As she lay down on the bed, she remembered Kaius lying beside her during the past time.

Sometimes when she woke up at dawn, Kaius was asleep, embracing her with both arms and legs. Whenever she tried to avoid it because it felt too uncomfortable and unfamiliar, he pulled her closer as if he were awake. Ariel’s eyes deepened at the memory that came unbidden.

Today, he seemed like a madman. He seemed blinded by lust, or like a wounded beast thrashing about. No, perhaps it was the appearance of fulfilling the duty of the head of the family.

Whatever it was.

Everything had changed. Unlike his hot body, his excessively dry eyes reflected his heart. Perhaps this was the relationship they should have had from the beginning.

It felt like they had taken a long detour to reach a destination they had to arrive at eventually.

This kind of treatment is nothing. So I can endure it as much as needed. Ariel repeatedly told herself as she clutched her trembling shoulders.

I must endure. Until the moment I save him and take revenge on Ludvian. After that, she could leave Kaius’s side. This time would only last until then. Remembering the contract, Ariel closed her eyes with a somewhat lighter heart.

Where should we go?

The place where she would live with her parents, who would soon abdicate the throne and retire. She was thinking of buying a mansion in the snowy north if possible. It would be quite far from Letiana if it wasn’t in the Klardeus Empire, would that be okay?

As her thoughts reached that point, Ariel’s eyes opened, and her gaze turned to the cabinet. More precisely, to the box where she kept letters from her parents and Edward. Ariel briefly recalled the note Big had brought, but soon shook her head. To see her parents again, she had to somehow persuade Kaius to grow the Japaros.

How to persuade him when he seemed to have no intention of listening. She couldn’t even guess how much time would need to pass for his anger to subside. And she only had a month left. Ariel sighed softly and finally got up from the bed to retrieve her mother’s note, then collapsed back onto the bed.

[My dear Ariel, despite your letter saying you’re happy, your father is worried beyond measure. Just looking at the gift of the messenger bird named Big, it seems to your mother that the Duke cares for you quite a bit. Are you really happy? I miss you. I received the bracelet you sent through Edward well. That bracelet has become your father’s treasure number one. Of course, your mother too. I hear the winter there is quite cold, so if it’s too hard to bear, come to Letiana anytime.]

Yes, I will…

Ariel clutched her mother’s note, written in tiny letters to fit as much as possible on the small paper, like a treasure.

I thought I had already shed all my tears… A faint sob seeped into the silence of the bedroom.