Chapter 6

“Useless girl.”

Each word was like a sharp blade piercing her heart. Sitting on the floor with her burning cheek covered by her hand, Catherine remained silent in the face of the Duke’s harsh words.

It wasn’t that she didn’t respond—it was that she couldn’t. Arguing in front of him when he was enraged would undoubtedly result in a punishment far worse than a slap.

The Duke, his eyes bloodshot and breathing heavily, held a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. The source of his fury was the document—a report card from the Royal Academy of Arts.

The Royal Academy of Arts was the first school the Duke had allowed Catherine to attend, despite his strict prohibition against leaving the estate.

Under the pretense of providing her with a superior education, the Duke had assigned Catherine several private tutors. Learning from instructors who commanded exorbitant fees, even by royal standards, should have been a source of pride. But what Catherine desired wasn’t advanced education—it was interaction with others. That’s why the opportunity to attend the Academy had been a source of immense joy and happiness for her.

However, the happiness she felt after starting school didn’t last long.

The Duke, his anger not yet subsided, continued to heave and breathe heavily, as though a slap on her cheek wasn’t enough to quell his rage.

“I sent you to school so you could make an impression on the princes, and this is what you do?”

The Duke waved the crumpled paper in front of her, shaking it violently. The sheet grew more tattered and torn in his grip.

Catherine, tasting blood in her mouth, wiped her lips with her hand. She stared indifferently at the red stain on her knuckles before smoothing her disheveled hair.

When she was very young, Catherine had assumed that all children were beaten by their parents, just like her. She believed it was normal to be hit for not smiling brightly enough, for holding a cup improperly while drinking water, or simply because her parents were in a bad mood. She thought being slapped, kicked, and beaten was an everyday occurrence for everyone.

It wasn’t until she realized that such treatment wasn’t normal that she was so shocked she nearly lost her mind.

No matter how much she thought about it, Catherine couldn’t understand what she had done wrong. The Duke had struck her because she had achieved slightly better grades than the royal family members at the Academy.

Why should I be punished for working hard and achieving excellent results?

She wanted to confront him and ask.

Instead, Catherine soothed her frustration by imagining herself standing up to her grandfather. But she knew that if she ever voiced her thoughts out loud, she would be beaten so severely that she’d be bedridden for days. As always, she swallowed her resentment and forced herself to ignore her sorrow.

“If you have time to waste staring at books, go shake your hips in front of the princes! Stupid girl.”

Apparently, even the power of being second only to royalty wasn’t enough for him. The Duke was so obsessed with power that he had once considered sending Catherine to be the King’s tenth concubine. Catherine vividly remembered him saying that becoming a member of the royal family was his lifelong dream.

“From now on, you won’t take a single step outside this estate until I give you permission. Stupid girl….”

The Duke threw the crumpled paper at Catherine’s head. Hardened into a ball, the paper didn’t hurt as much as a slap, but it delivered a significant blow to her pride.

The ball of paper hit her crown and bounced to the floor.

Catherine opened her eyes, breaking free from her thoughts. In her hand was the wedding invitation from the Duke, sent from her family estate.

It was a memory from long ago.

Retrieving memories she had buried deep in her mind turned out to be more harrowing than she expected.

Catherine clenched the invitation in her hand, crumpling it with all her strength, just as the Duke had done.

“Ha…”

She wanted to throw the crumpled paper back at the Duke, just as he had done to her. But the person lying next to her wasn’t the Duke—it was Henry. His face, peaceful as he slept deeply, seemed worlds apart from her turbulent emotions. Though they were in the same space, their feelings couldn’t have been more different.

Leonard Castle was located in the region farthest from the capital, where the Duke of Orleans resided. For Catherine, who had sought both emotional and physical distance from her grandfather, Henry’s estate had been the perfect refuge.

The unexpected news that she would have to return to the Duke’s estate, which she had vowed never to revisit, left Catherine restless. She prayed to the moon in an attempt to clear her mind, but every time she closed her eyes, horrifying memories from the past resurfaced.

Even from afar, the Duke of Orleans continued to cast a shadow over her life. She hated that fact with a passion. More than anything, she wanted to escape the Duke and enjoy true freedom.

As her thoughts spiraled and landed on the concept of freedom, Catherine realized what she needed to do.

She tossed the crumpled paper aside and climbed silently onto the bed. Henry’s chest rose and fell rhythmically as he lay in a deep sleep. He wore only a thin robe over his bare body. Though he usually slept without any clothing, Catherine had scolded him, insisting on at least some modesty, so he had reluctantly begun wearing sleepwear.

The sash of his robe had loosened, likely from tossing and turning during sleep. The open neckline revealed a glimpse of his broad chest.

Freedom.

To achieve it, Catherine needed to bear Henry’s heir as soon as possible.

Her hand, which had hesitated above his chest, finally came to rest gently on his skin. Tugging at the half-loosened sash, she exposed more of his body.

It was the first time Catherine had undressed Henry herself. And to undress him while he was defenseless and asleep—it made her nervous. Her fingertips trembled, and her mouth went dry.

The robe slid off his body, revealing his firm chest and abdomen. No matter how many times she saw it, she couldn’t get used to the sight. A man’s n*ked body, especially one as massive and muscular as Henry’s, was still unfamiliar to her.

As Henry breathed, his muscles became more pronounced. Even spreading her hand wide, she couldn’t cover one side of his chest. The stark difference between their physiques made Catherine’s heart flutter. When she faced Henry, she felt like a delicate, fragile being. Of course, compared to his body, she truly was petite. But any woman in the Kingdom would appear small next to him. Henry was the largest man she had ever seen.

After hesitating for a long time, Catherine decided to touch him with her fingers rather than her whole hand.

She wanted to see if Henry reacted to her touch the way she did to his.

Catherine’s pale fingers brushed against the lower part of Henry’s chest. Where she expected to feel ribs, she encountered soft yet firm muscle. Slowly, she moved her fingers downward, and his muscles twitched slightly in response to her touch. Wondering if he was consciously flexing, Catherine glanced at his face. But his eyes remained tightly shut, indicating he was still deep in sleep. His twitching muscles felt less like part of his body and more like a separate, living entity.

Her fingers trailed lower, brushing past his navel. As she reached his rock-hard lower abdomen, she faced another moment of hesitation.

Should I move my hand further down to grasp the large object in his groin, or should I stop here and wake him? 

Sitting awkwardly, Catherine deliberated.

Because of the wine Catherine drank during dinner, she fell asleep early in the evening. Perhaps out of consideration for her drunken state, Henry refrained from touching her and simply lay down beside her to sleep.

Although skipping a single night wouldn’t drastically reduce her chances of conceiving, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

“…What are you doing?”

“Ah!”

Henry, who she thought was sound asleep, suddenly opened his eyes and called out to her. Startled, Catherine quickly moved her hand to cover her mouth.

Henry slowly lifted his head and propped himself up. As he did, he noticed that his body was exposed through the parted robe. Furrowing his brow, he seemed to assess the situation.

Catherine’s hand, which had been reaching toward his groin, her disheveled clothes, and her exposed body.

It didn’t take long for Henry to piece everything together. A faint smile played on his lips as he gave her a peculiar look.

“Were you trying to pounce on me while I was asleep?”

“N-no!”

“Then how do you explain why my clothes are like this?”

She had no excuse. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

“Well… that’s…”

It had been harder than expected for Henry to resist touching Catherine, who had passed out after drinking more than she could handle. He had struggled for a while, trying to ignore the heat rising through his body, before finally managing to fall asleep. But then, he woke to an unusual sensation on his stomach and side, only to find Catherine undressing him.

He couldn’t let such a thrilling and suggestive opportunity slip away. Henry grabbed Catherine’s wrist and guided her hand toward his lower body.

“Go ahead. I’ll lie down and let you continue.”