Chapter 7

That memory with Liliana was all he had, so he had lived like a madman for two years, replaying their first meeting and wedding night. But the wife who greeted his return was somehow broken, though he didn’t know what she’d been through.  

Was this why the absence of the mansion’s master always left a mark?  

Anyway, with no way to release two years of pent-up desire, he couldn’t even sleep properly. Especially with the sweet scent of his wife, whom he’d dreamed of for two years, wafting close by!  

Raven exhaled deeply. His solid chest muscles rose and fell ominously in the darkness with every movement.  

“Lily.”  

Raven curled up and called Liliana’s name as she slept.  

“Mm…”  

Even in her sleep, Liliana seemed to recognize her name, shifting in bed.  

“Gasp!”  

With that, her white chest mound peeked out from her thin silk nightgown. Raven bit his lip. Liliana’s skin was still transparent and snow-white, just as he’d remembered amid the blood-soaked battlefield.  

If he touched her skin, it would seem to melt under his hand. If he rubbed her soft chest with his palm, she would moan sweetly. Her sunken lower belly and the moistness below, the damp, lip-like red cave—inside, the paradise of pleasure Raven had longed for surely existed.  

Thinking about it, his neglected lower body began to protest. Raven placed his hand over his swollen pants.  

“Haa…”  

He knew how beastly it was to get aroused next to his sleeping wife, but he couldn’t control himself. Raven’s dark eyes filled with deep desire.  

He bowed his head to drink in Liliana’s scent. Wrinkling his nose, he sniffed the floral fragrance from her hair, the perfume on her chest, and her body scent, all mingling and piercing his lungs.  

Raven let out a hot breath. He knew how messy he must look right now. Raven slowly rubbed himself.  

“Lily… Liliana.”  

A contradictory feeling arose. Raven wished Liliana would open her eyes and look at him, yet he also didn’t want his own savage moment to be discovered. The heavy scent of night flowers slithered out like a snake.

Seeing that Liliana couldn’t wake up even with such a beast nearby, it seemed she was deeply asleep. Raven slowly rubbed his nose against Liliana’s nape.

Still, Liliana only shifted her body and did not wake from her deep slumber.

Emboldened, Raven twisted his lips and licked the corner of Liliana’s mouth.

He rubbed his lips against Liliana’s cheek, who couldn’t wake, then raised his head. He wanted to bite and suck this small, white body. He felt that burying his face between her legs and drinking in her flowing essence would finally quench his thirst.

He felt like a beggar before a feast. Or perhaps like a dreamer longing for a nostalgia he could never reach.

Raven regretfully sat up. Thick, cloudy liquid burst out, staining his pants. The intense desire built up over time was evident in its heavy concentration. Raven straightened himself.

“Phew.”

With clean hands, Raven brushed up his hair and stepped down from the bed. His tense muscles writhed as if alive.

Raven wiped his hands on his nightgown and tossed his pants aside. Even after releasing a handful, his dark red member still stood menacingly, as if unsatisfied.

Raven stretched his neck from side to side. The only reason he restrained himself from shaking Liliana awake was because of Silvia’s diagnosis today.

‘Madame needs rest. I don’t know what she’s been through, but she is deeply exhausted emotionally. Fortunately, she has a bright and optimistic nature, so she may recover quickly, but you must not trigger her trauma again.’

‘What happened while I was gone, Liliana?’  

Raven sat at the edge of the bed, crossing his legs.  

With clean hands, he brushed Liliana’s hair away from her cheek.  

‘Did something bad happen to my wife?’  

‘Probably.’  

Silvia definitely seemed to know something. To survive the battlefield, brute force was important, but so were agility, quick judgment, and intuition. Raven realized this mansion was hiding secrets from him.  

‘…Don’t leave Madame alone, Your Grace.’  

Silvia was cautious. No matter how much he pressed her, she wouldn’t speak until she was sure. That meant Raven would have to find out himself.  

‘Madam has been well. Nothing happened in the mansion.’  

The butler, who answered that way, was ruled out. He didn’t seem to have any useful information.  

‘Madam has eaten and slept well. I’ve cared for her properly.’  

The head maid was also ruled out.  

‘Madam’s health is good. She’s not sick, so pregnancy is possible. Isn’t this a blessing for Kreuten?’

Cherville, who said this, could be excluded as well.

And the other maids and servants as well! Since they only followed the orders of the butler and head maid, what information could be gained from them?  

After ruling them out, only his mother and Rachel remained. Raven’s eyes narrowed.  

But could they be trusted? Raven thought about his family.  

His father remarried when Raven was eight. His birth mother died when he was six, so his father must have felt the need to fill that void. His stepmother… was a good person. She might have shown a bit of pretense, but she never abused or rejected Raven.  

That’s why, after his father died at age twenty-three, Raven willingly took responsibility for his family. But what if everything they showed was pretense?  

Raven sneered.  

What if everything  was all a lie?  

“Hm.”  

Raven tilted his head. Even if so, it wouldn’t be strange. It was common for a stepmother to hide her true feelings and harm a child from another mother. Raven touched his lips.  

Moreover, Liliana’s strange reaction happened when Rachel grabbed her arm. She suddenly screamed and collapsed. Liliana looked at Rachel as if she’d seen a ghost, pale as a sheet.  

Rachel and their mother.  

Even so, Raven was too selfish to wallow in sentiment.

Raven had joined the military, trained, and gone to war since he was only thirteen, so any affection he built up was as trivial as grains of sand. And before that… well, he hardly remembered what it was like.

Even if everything was postponed, Raven was not the kind of person to dwell on such things. He was known even on the battlefield for having ‘blue blood’. Of course, he would be disappointed, but he wouldn’t experience despair that shattered his foundation just because of it.

In other words, to Raven, his stepmother, Rachel, and Damon were only burdens he had to bear. That was a rather troublesome matter. If it weren’t for the sense of debt or guilt his father instilled in him, he would have quit long ago.

Now, the only thing Raven was obsessed with was just one. Liliana.

Like the sweet chocolate cookies he wanted so badly as a child but had to wait for his mother’s permission to eat, Liliana was someone he wanted to have more because he’d never truly possessed her. And perhaps… he was feeling something called love.

If this was love, that is.

But maybe obsession suited it better.

***

It was only when Liliana was with Raven that she felt safe.

That was what Liliana had realized over the past week.

Liliana shifted her eyes to look left and right. Whenever it was mealtime, they liked to poke her side and whisper.

‘Can you even swallow that? My son is out there risking his limbs! And you’re just a fat little pig!’

‘It’s because she has no conscience, Mother. Just look at that fat face! Won’t Brother run away just seeing her face when he returns?’

But contrary to their words, Liliana hadn’t ever received a proper meal. They served her pig slop and forced her to eat it. After every meal, Liliana suffered from chronic stomachaches. Cherville barely managed to keep her alive when she was dying from food poisoning.

If people found out she died from such an illness, the Duchy’s reputation would suffer. They hated the idea of her dying from anything but s*icide, even though they tried so hard to push her toward it. Clearly, they had another purpose.

For example, they might want to spread rumors like, ‘The Duchess’s position is cursed—so many commit s*icide!’ Or perhaps, ‘Raven, I took good care of your wife, but these things happened.’

Whatever the case, the Duchess had to end up dead by her own hand.

Liliana chewed and swallowed delicious food. Such a peaceful meal! And such a peaceful night’s sleep!

Liliana felt her life was heaven these days. With Raven, her life was perfectly safe. If she could endure for another year and then divorce…! Liliana realized she had hope for survival. Being by Raven’s side was her hope.

Tender beef that melted in her mouth lifted her spirits.

‘So happy…’

If she could live like this, life here wouldn’t be so bad. Her optimism and tendency to forget bad things were Liliana’s greatest strengths.