Chapter 4 – Merry Stern (Part 10)

After finally completing her sentence, she observed the man’s reaction. It was inevitable. Fortunately, he didn’t show any signs of doubt or displeasure. Instead, he seemed to find the discussion immensely enjoyable.

“That’s a very interesting theory, but there seems to be some misunderstanding regarding that issue, so please withhold your conclusion. Even if I were blessed to find such a person, I wouldn’t marry.”

“Why not?”

Evelyn asked without missing a beat. The thing she was most curious about regarding this man. Something she had always wanted to ask when the opportunity arose.

“Why do you refuse to marry?”

Now was the right time to ask such a personal and sensitive question.

Bryant remained silent for a moment. He quietly looked into her eyes.

“You’ve held back for quite a while. You must have wanted to ask for some time.”

“…”

“Voluntary bachelorhood always arouses curiosity. I’m used to it.”

He nodded and smiled. Then he picked up his wine glass and murmured.

“This isn’t quite a fitting story for such a pleasant occasion.”

Evelyn just stared at the glass in front of her. She didn’t offer the polite reply that he didn’t have to speak if he didn’t want to. He had said he would answer anything, and this was the story she most wanted to hear.

“There’s a significant age gap between my brother back home and me.”

He took a sip of wine and parted his lips. Evelyn looked up at the unexpected beginning. With his thick eyelashes lowered, he continued speaking.

“We’re half-brothers.”

She tried not to show her surprise. But Bryant’s gaze remained on the wine glass anyway.

“It was a long time ago. My brother had an accident in his youth. He went hunting, fell off his horse, and ended up in a coma. The doctors all said there was no hope, and even if he woke up, he wouldn’t recover normally.”

As he continued, he slowly swirled the glass. The wine swayed in his large hand.

“The first thing my father did at that time was to take a new wife. My father had only that son, and he only had a one-year-old daughter. If things stayed as they were, the Marquis lineage would end, so while his only son lay bedridden, he hurriedly held a wedding and took a second wife. A woman younger than his son.”

An heir who had an accident. A one-year-old daughter. She couldn’t stop the faces that flashed in her mind like a bolt of lightning. Evelyn clenched her fingers at the chilly sense of déjà vu.

“The woman who became the Marchioness that way is my mother.”

He paused there. Evelyn watched him take another sip of wine. Her gaze was drawn to his prominently protruding Adam’s apple.

“My brother woke up shortly after I was born. It was two years after the accident. He miraculously recovered and even had a son. My nephew’s birthday is next month, but I probably won’t be able to go this year. Since he’s the next Marquis, my mother is quite concerned. She insists I come every year.”

He smiled with his eyes lowered. It was a fine smile, but to Evelyn, it seemed like bitter self-mockery. She felt a twinge of guilt, as if she had inadvertently dug into a very deep part of him.

Then it suddenly struck her that his name was the same as his father’s. She imagined the Marquis, who must have hurriedly taken a second wife after a sudden accident, anxiously hoping for his young wife to conceive as soon as possible. She imagined the relief he must have felt when the son he so desperately wished for was born. Passing on his entire name to the new heir must have been an expression of that joy.

“Do you know what marine insurance is?”

“…”

“The cost paid in advance in case a ship sinks or is attacked by pirates.”

Evelyn knew about marine insurance but remained silent. It wasn’t a question he asked to get an answer.

“In reality, the chance of such damage is less than 5%, yet 99% of merchant ships purchase insurance. Nobles are the same. Sons other than the eldest are all insurance. Most firstborn sons grow up without issues, inherit titles, and have heirs, but there’s always the possibility of unfortunate accidents.”

A child born amidst utmost joy and blessing. A man conceived as an heir but lived as a second son. Evelyn couldn’t know what kind of life that was. No one can truly know the life of another they haven’t experienced.

“My father paid that insurance premium too. It must have cost a considerable amount to bring in a young and healthy lady from a noble family. My mother must have given up the joys of youth for the status of Marchioness and to solve her family’s financial issues. I am the sole result of that pitiful marriage.”

Bryant, having said that much, looked up and met her gaze. The dining room had no gas lamps lit to maximize the elegance of the chandeliers and candlelight. Flickering lights in the thin darkness. Evelyn met the gaze of the man reflected in those lights.

His gaze as he looked at her was the same as always. There was no sadness or melancholy over a heartbreaking story. It was just as it was when she first saw him: eyes with a subtle implication. Eyes that seemed both intellectual and somewhat indifferent. Perhaps the two are ultimately the same expression. Intelligence must exclude emotion.

“I mentioned that my standard for sincerity is purity. In that sense, a married couple is the least pure relationship. The institution of marriage itself is a contract. Even if love is used as a pretense to hide its essence, in the end, it’s merely an agreement for mutual benefit.”

“…”

“I’ve never seen a couple who don’t deceive each other. Every man I know has a mistress without his wife’s knowledge, and those wives pretend not to know despite knowing everything. Because the purpose for which they married has already been achieved. The man needs a woman to bear heirs of good lineage, and the woman needs a man to ensure a respectable life.”

“…”

“That’s why I chose to remain single. I am someone who pursues romance, and marriage is the farthest relationship from romance.”

Bryant’s demeanor was not at all cold. His expression and tone were not cold, which made them sound even more resolute. His view on marriage was simply a pure ‘opinion.’ It was devoid of even the emotion of ‘antipathy.’

“So, Evelyn.”

Evelyn continued to look at him. She looked at his lips, stripped of polite titles. She recalled those lips touching every part of her body. The intense sensation, the hot breath, the voice whispering in excitement.

Unconsciously, she tensed her lower abdomen.

“We could be perfect lovers. I have no intention of having a wife and children, and you don’t need my money or background. Above all,”

The man gazed at the woman. His highly intellectual eyes flickered with emotion at this moment. Uncontrolled passion. Irresistible fervor.

“I am truly sincere with you right now.”

Evelyn looked at the man who was staring directly into her eyes. The words she had just heard flowed into her ears like honey. Although she sat with a calm face, the pulse throughout her body was racing wildly.

She now fully understood the meaning of sincerity he spoke of. Therefore, she was even more certain that the gap between them could not be bridged. Despite this, Evelyn wished for him to keep looking at her, to gaze at her with those flickering eyes, to continually whisper those fleeting yet sweet words.

Truly a pathetic and foolish thing. But perhaps being completely captivated by someone is inherently such a foolish act.

*

The door swung open with a bang and closed with a dull thud. If anyone had been passing by, they might have been startled, but fortunately, the corridor was empty. The man who entered the cabin began kissing the woman as if he were about to pounce before the door was even fully closed.

His large hand stroked the smooth surface of the satin dress. It caressed the bare skin of her deeply cut back and invaded inward to her waist. His fingertips traced the hollow groove of her spine. His other hand gripped the woman’s face. Evelyn was breathless from the deeply intertwined kiss.

Her vision swayed wildly. Her mind was hazy as if she were drunk. She couldn’t tell if her hurried breathing was due to a lack of air or excitement. It was impossible not to react to the relentless, persistent stimulation.

The dress, without a corset, slipped off very easily. The woman’s body, half-n*ked in an instant, gleamed in the darkness. Every curtain on the windows facing the sea was open, and a faint light streamed through the spotless glass. The night sky was filled with stars, just like the previous night. The moon, tilted, was more swollen than it had been.

The second day of the voyage. The last night spent on the sea.

Evelyn’s cabin was dim, with all the lights turned off. A red satin dress and a black evening coat lay sprawled on the floor of the sitting room, and a silk tie had fallen not far from the bedroom threshold. And on the bed surrounded by massive pillars lay a pair of man and woman.

Pale moonlight poured over their intertwined bodies.

The large glass window was completely open, without curtains to cover it. But Evelyn felt no hesitation. The outside world was nothing but the dark sea and sky. An endless darkness without a sense of depth. A profound darkness like the bottomless pit of hell. There were no eyes out there to look in here.

So Evelyn drenched herself in moonlight. She opened her body without reservation and accepted the man. She responded wholeheartedly to his stimulation. As if she were another woman. As if she were not herself while floating on the sea.

“Haah.”

A deep breath of pleasure lifted her upper body. Evelyn opened her eyes as she reflexively waved her arms. Her two hands, finding nowhere to go, grasped the man’s shoulders. She felt the strength of his arms pulling her waist.

And sitting very close, she met his eyes.

Moonlight fell on the man’s dark blond hair. His neat hair was now tousled. Evelyn couldn’t resist the urge to smooth the strands that had fallen over his forehead. After slowly sweeping those few strands aside, she followed a stronger impulse and moved her hand.

Her fingertips touched his cheek. She hesitantly placed her palm on it and gently caressed him. As he steadied his roughened breath, the man looked at the woman. United as one body, they gazed at each other.

Bryant.

When she murmured his name in her mouth, he slightly turned his head. He kissed the palm of the hand that cupped his face, closing his eyes. Thickly cast eyelashes. Warm breath spreading over her palm. In that blissful sensation, Evelyn parted her lips.

Bryant.

The whisper never became sound. The woman and the man said nothing. They remained still for a long time, gazing quietly into each other’s eyes, bathed in the moonlight pooled on the large bed.

The second day of the voyage. The last night spent on the sea.

The Merry Stern is sailing smoothly toward its destination.

― To be continued in Volume 2.