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Chapter 45
‘Congratulations, my foot.’
Sereret looked at Yuan with a crooked expression.
This wasn’t a blessing but a curse. She forced the crookedness off her face and replaced it with a smile.
The two of them exchanged wedding rings and stood before the guests. Only then did the faces of those in attendance properly come into view.
Sereret’s gaze passed over the Crown Prince and his wife, then over Regan, before finally landing on Lydia, who was seated beside them.
“Her dress is extremely flashy.”
The moment Sereret saw Lydia, Eve’s words came to mind.
Indeed, Lydia’s dress was ostentatious. A pink gown embroidered with dazzling beads glittered under the lights.
Should she be thankful that Lydia hadn’t worn a tiara too? Sereret clicked her tongue inwardly.
How pitiful, the way Lydia so desperately wanted to show off her presence at Yuan’s wedding.
“Sereret.”
Yuan’s voice broke her thoughts.
“Yes?”
Snapped out of her distraction with Lydia, Sereret looked up at Yuan.
“They’re asking for the vow kiss, yet the bride is busy looking elsewhere.”
Annoyance clouded his eyes. He had noticed how her gaze had kept drifting toward Regan. A bride who couldn’t keep her eyes off another man on her wedding day—he could hardly stomach it.
“Yes.”
Sereret closed her eyes as if to say, Let’s just get this over with.
Her attitude drew a furrow in Yuan’s brow. With her blatant reluctance and air of annoyance, he could only sigh in disbelief.
He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her tightly against him. Startled, Sereret’s eyes fluttered open.
“Do you have the confidence to live your whole life loving only me?”
His low voice asked.
“……”
Her pupils trembled. In her previous life, she had. She had truly believed she could love only this man for all her life. But now, she was certain—she could hate him for a lifetime instead.
“Why no answer?”
“I don’t think it’s worth answering.”
“Not worth answering because you’re that confident in loving me for life?”
“……”
Sereret clamped her lips shut at his pressing.
“Or is it the opposite.”
His bitter voice scattered by her ear.
“Just kiss me.”
Stop scratching at my nerves with meaningless words. She lifted her chin defiantly. For the man who had betrayed her love to dare speak of love—it was laughable.
A man unworthy of being loved.
“I suppose I must. Since you want it so badly.”
With a crooked smile, Yuan claimed her lips.
Their mouths clashed a little roughly, carrying the full weight of his emotions.
The possessiveness toward the woman who tried to escape him, the strange emotions that possessiveness sparked, the confusion born from those emotions.
Lately, Yuan felt like he was facing a problem with no clear answer. The solution surely lay in the woman before him—but how could he find it?
He tightened his hold on her waist.
Even as applause and whistles erupted from the guests, Yuan was lost in the search for an answer.
Only when Sereret pushed him away did their lips part.
Her eyes glared up at him with hatred and resentment. Why did his wife always look at him like that?
A woman with no answers. Without realizing it, Sereret had become the hardest riddle of Yuan’s life.
“To my lovely wife, with praise and affection.”
He took her hand and kissed the wedding band upon her finger.
One day, perhaps, the answer would come. His ashen eyes held Sereret.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
Sereret of her past life blushed as she looked up at Yuan. After her bath, she had returned to the bedchamber to find him already waiting.
“Your Grace.”
Her voice trembled as she called him.
From Lady Hale, the head maid of House Innoheater, she had already learned what would happen this night.
It might hurt, but it was supposed to be a beautiful thing—a chance to share deep intimacy with her husband. Lady Hale had said so.
So it would be a wonderful night.
Without a word, Yuan approached and captured her lips. Startled, Sereret tried to retreat, but his arm circled her waist and pulled her close.
When he broke the kiss, he looked at her as though silently asking permission. She blushed and smiled shyly.
A night with the man she loved. Sereret was ready to share in that beautiful act.
Understanding her consent, Yuan lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed.
He set her down and immediately shed his nightgown and underclothes without hesitation. His bare body was revealed, and Sereret squeezed her eyes shut.
As his lips pressed to hers again, his hands stripped away her nightgown in rough strokes. There was neither caution nor romance in his touch.
On that bed, Yuan Frektuester was no gentleman.
Lady Hale had promised it would be a beautiful moment of intimacy with her husband—but Sereret felt no intimacy at all.
“Your Grace, is this… is this right?”
Her voice quivered, and so did her body. Something felt terribly wrong.
Yuan held her wrist, looming over her. His eyes were soaked in passion, but no affection could be found in them.
“I don’t think this is right. This really isn’t right.”
Her tear-brimmed eyes searched his face. He simply silenced her with another kiss, his lips smothering her words.
After that, she could say nothing. His lips kept sealing hers, and when the deep kisses ended, a strange pain came. She was left speechless.
Foreign pain and unfamiliar sensations spread through her body all at once. She couldn’t keep her mind steady and drifted into unconsciousness.
When she awoke—she didn’t know how much later—her whole body ached.
The dull throb was a pain she had never experienced before. It frightened her.
Her body hurt, and in her chest she felt only a cold wind. A hollow emptiness spread through her, but there was no one to hold her close.
On the morning after their wedding night, Sereret turned to the empty space beside her. The man who had invaded her body all night was gone, as if he had never been there.
She touched the wrinkled sheet beside her. It was already cold. He had left long ago.
Though she didn’t want to think it—she felt abandoned.
“Lady Hale is a liar.”
She had said it was a beautiful thing, a chance to connect with her husband. Instead, Sereret’s empty heart cursed the maid.
It was Yuan who had hurt her body and soul, yet she didn’t want to resent her husband.
Tears fell. If only he had been a little gentler. If only she could feel loved.
Sereret cried alone for a long time.
“Hhk…”
She dreamed. Memories of her past life came in her sleep. Her chin trembled, tears gathered at her eyes.
Then—a hand wiped her tears. Startled, she opened her eyes. It was a gentleness she had never known in her past life.
In that moment, grief surged inside her. How cruel he had been, leaving her after taking only what he wanted.
It had been her first time. It had hurt so much, it had been terrifying. Those emotions surged back, suffocating her.
“Did you sleep well?”
A voice greeted her from her side. She hadn’t even realized there was someone there.
She turned quickly. Yuan was reclining comfortably against the bed’s headboard.
Last night, she had been so exhausted after her bath that she fell asleep immediately. She hadn’t even realized he was beside her.
“Yuan.”
She sat up.
“Seems you had a bad dream.”
His indifferent expression softened slightly as he wiped the dampness from her eyes.
“Why are you here?”
She stared at him, puzzled.
“Because I slept here?”
He spoke as if it were obvious.
At his words, she instinctively checked her clothes. Thankfully, she still had her nightgown on.
“I’m not the kind of man to do indecent things to a sleeping wife.”
“Yes… of course.”
She coughed awkwardly and hurried out of bed, smoothing her messy hair before turning back to him.
“But why did you sleep here? This is my room.”
“It’s our wedding night. Where else would I sleep?”
He rose from the bed. As the blanket slipped, his broad chest was revealed, muscles sharp and sculpted.
He always did have a beautiful body. Sereret found herself begrudgingly impressed once again.
“Normally—”
Her casual tone made him chuckle as he strode closer.
She blinked up at him. Why was he coming so close?
“Normally what?”
“When a wife first sees her husband’s naked body, she usually blushes and looks away. Not… stare like this.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Not for her. She had seen it countless times before. It didn’t even make her flustered anymore. Beautiful, yes—but tiresome.
“It must be your first time seeing a man naked, though.”
His eyes studied her curiously.
“You’re still wearing trousers. You’re not completely naked.”
She shrugged.
Even if he were bare, she wouldn’t give him the shy, blushing bride’s reaction he expected. She was far too used to it.
“Shall I take them off, then?”
He looked at her with lazy amusement.
“This morning? The sun’s blazing through the windows.”
She gestured toward the bright sunlight flooding in.
“Between a husband and wife, does it matter morning or night? If you want to tumble, you tumble.”
In an instant, he scooped her into his arms. Startled, she widened her eyes.
“Your Grace, please calm down!”
What does he think he’s doing at this hour?! She clutched his shoulders and shook her head.
He set her down on the bed again, bracing his hands on either side of her head.
“Let’s try what we didn’t finish last night.”
A seductive smile curved across his face.
