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Chapter 1
“Married to a walking corpse, huh.”
A pleasantly deep voice echoed through the wedding hall. I thought his voice was as impressive as his appearance. And his skill at stabbing with words—it was remarkable.
A walking corpse… funny, but he wasn’t wrong. The bride, Anais, lay surrounded by flowers, unable to move a single hand.
It was the worst. She had been attacked by dark mages. Their freezing magic left her alive but immobile from the neck down.
This body… this entire wedding… was a disaster.
“Well, I’m not Anais.”
On the day before the wedding, I had possessed Anais’s body—or rather, our souls had swapped.
She was Ellen, a low-ranking saint, and Anais, the original owner of this body, had been one of the devotees she had counseled.
I wanted to run to Anais and undo everything, but there was nothing I could do. Even now, as the wedding proceeded.
What was more bewildering was that, despite this chaotic situation, my eyes kept drifting to Anais’s husband.
“He’s really handsome.”
Silver hair like moonlight, thick eyebrows, long and captivating eyes with steel-blue pupils shining within. A high, well-shaped nose and a sharp jawline.
Duke Licio Debesser looked like a meticulously sculpted statue—even his expressionless face was perfect.
“Is he aloof because of his high status?”
Ellen, a commoner from the slums, found his noble status and perfection somehow oppressive and annoying.
Even the wedding he had prepared was like that. It seemed he had arranged a beautiful ceremony, but…
The veil covering her face, the flowers surrounding her, her hands politely folded on her lap—all it made me think was:
“Doesn’t this look more like a funeral than a wedding?”
Maybe because of the awkward laugh I added to break the silence, Licio’s gaze lingered on me for a while.
But his tightly closed lips never opened, and soon his eyes wandered away.
Cold… but I couldn’t expect his personality to match. Not only did he have striking looks, but immense wealth, the status of the empire’s only sword master, and the fame of a battlefield hero.
“That’s perfection! Anais won’t give up on him easily either.”
Yes. Right now, I—Ellen—was just waiting for Anais to come. There was no way noblewoman Anais would live in the body of a lowly saint, a commoner like me.
The only hitch was that, while I was healthy, Anais’s body was frozen.
Trying to dispel my anxiety, I kept repeating to myself:
“Anais will definitely come.”
With no one paying attention to me, the wedding dragged on helplessly. Fortunately, the ceremony was short due to its simplicity.
As soon as the two were pronounced husband and wife, Licio immediately lifted me up.
“W-what are you doing?”
“You have to go spend your first night together.”
“But the sun hasn’t even set yet. And…”
I glanced around the wedding hall several times.
“Did anyone from the temple come?”
“No.”
“What’s the point of keeping watch then? Look carefully, they must have come…”
Perhaps Anais, being a commoner in her own body, couldn’t enter the Duke’s estate.
Yeah, that must be it. Even if not today, Anais would come.
“Huh? What’s this?”
My fingers, folded on my lap, touched a round object. Tracing its shape, it was one of Licio’s buttons—but the touch disappeared like a mirage.
“I can’t feel it anymore. Did I imagine it? Maybe it was warm…”
Wait, come to think of it…
“Huh!”
I froze in surprise, realizing I was naturally cradled in his arms.
“Are you uncomfortable?”
Once I realized, I indeed felt uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable.
“…It must be heavy. Please call the maids.”
Licio, being larger than most men, seemed to carry me effortlessly. Yet, being in his arms felt foreign and embarrassing.
He furrowed his brows slightly at my words. That was all. He neither called the maids nor stopped walking.
There was nothing I could do but go wherever he was taking me.
We arrived at the Duchess’s room. Being the first night, a bottle of wine was elegantly placed on the table.
Licio gently set me on the bed and propped me up with a pillow.
He removed my veil, which had been skipped during the ceremony. I thought I had already seen his face clearly, but I hadn’t.
“Wow…”
His steel-blue eyes, facing me, held a mysterious beauty like a galaxy.
As our gazes intertwined in silence, he tilted his head lazily.
Silver strands of hair fell over his narrow eyes, glinting in the moonlight.
Swallow.
His languid posture was somehow seductive, making me unconsciously swallow hard.
Was it because of his handsome appearance? Licio didn’t avoid my gaze, as if enjoying it.
No, he seemed to return my gaze with intensity. Unused to handsome men, my face involuntarily flushed.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
He had ignored me earlier. I swallowed my retort silently, though I wanted to say it.
Suddenly, his eyes cooled, as if losing interest, and he turned away without hesitation.
He walked to the table and refilled his glass of wine, drinking it consecutively.
The suffocating dryness made me thirsty.
“Could I have some too? I’m really thirsty…”
“Drink.”
The cold rim of the wine glass touched my lower lip.
“Only a little.”
The wine slowly poured into my mouth.
“Hmm?”
It was my first time drinking wine. Its fresh aroma and soft sweetness captivated me. Unfortunately, the glass was soon taken away.
“I could only have a little. I want more…”
“No.”
“It’s been a hard day. Isn’t that why you left it?”
Licio didn’t respond to my complaint and turned away, leaving the glass on the table—clearly no intention to give more.
“If it’s been a hard day, rest matters more than wine.”
He cradled me, tidied the bed, and laid me down—more comfortably than the maids who served me.
Licio was a strange man. Though his words were cold, his actions were careful and gentle.
“Ah, whatever. Who cares if someone else’s husband is gentle? Let’s just sleep.”
I closed my eyes to sleep. After all, I wouldn’t spend my first night in this body.
The bed shook slightly, indicating he had arrived. Though he seemed to lie a little apart.
A memory suddenly flashed in my mind.
“Ah, traces of the first night!”
As a child, I had once listened to a minstrel visiting the slums.
He said that nobles had an old tradition of checking for marks from the first night.
The thought was shocking—my face twisted—but my ears perked up. It was a secret story no one else would tell.
“Will you leave a mark from the first night?”
“What?”
There it was again, that slight frown I recognized.
He probably hated it. Who’d enjoy this? Besides, with the body in its current state, if the marriage failed, Anais wouldn’t return.
Therefore, this marriage must succeed.
“Leave a kiss mark. Make it very visible on my neck.”
I stretched my neck out, urging him. Unlike my impatient urgency, Licio remained motionless.
“You’re not hesitating out of embarrassment, are you? Or is it because of that rumor? Dark magic isn’t contagious.”
“No need… lie down.”
Licio flopped down—a clear act of dismissal.
“Will you be this uncooperative? Are you scared?”
He straightened and looked down at me.
“Who would be afraid of someone like you?”
He chuckled lightly.
“If you’re not scared, then hurry up.”
I closed my eyes, as if urging him. Despite my calm appearance, my heart raced like never before.
“If you want.”
His fingers traced my collarbone.
I didn’t even notice where he started. The sensation was confined to my neck, appearing suddenly.
A tingling warmth spread through my body; my mouth felt dry as if in a desert.
I swallowed hard, trying to suppress my anxiety. The strange heat tormented me, making me peek at him.
“Ah, not done yet?”
His thick eyelashes lifted, and his unusually blue steel-gray eyes shone.
And his full, red lips curved like a conqueror claiming victory.
“Embarrassed? Or afraid?”
“Not at all. It’s nothing.”
I shouldn’t have pretended to be calm. His deepening smile startled me.
