(14) Shall We Kiss

Feeling somewhat betrayed, Asla looked resentfully toward the corridor where May had vanished, but when Enoch closed the door, she could no longer see outside and sighed deeply.

“How long does it take from here to the capital by train?”

“Half a day.”

“……That’s amazing.”

As the steam locomotive began to move slowly, as if sliding, Asla felt the vibration on her hands placed on the table.

Thump, thump, thump, the train moved and ran forward. Looking at the changing scenery outside the window, she murmured.

“The world changes so quickly, and I alone didn’t know.”

“……You weren’t the only one who didn’t know. Besides, there are many nobles who consider such new inventions frivolous, as well as commoners. The prejudice from the temple is especially severe.”

“They’re cowards afraid of becoming obsolete.”

Asla cynically agreed.

Even as the Holy Kingdom’s lands were rotting away for unknown reasons, her father and the priests refused to acknowledge that God’s land was beginning to deteriorate.

If they had prepared when the signs appeared, the dissolution of the Holy Kingdom might have been less miserable.

The last king and queen, and the twelve high priests of the Holy Kingdom were such cowards.

Enoch’s thick eyebrows twitched as he watched Asla’s expression become worn out, lost in old memories.

He clenched his fist tightly, then unbuttoned his jacket.

Asla unconsciously spoke up as she watched Enoch hang his jacket on the wall and undo the top button of his white shirt.

“I didn’t know you were…… the kind of man who unbuttons like that.”

“What does that mean.”

As Enoch unfastened his cufflinks and rolled up his sleeves, Asla hesitated.

“I thought you were devoted to etiquette. You always were.”

“……Because you said you liked that.”

“I did?”

When Asla opened her eyes wide, Enoch bit his lip and covered his mouth with his hand.

Somehow his ears and nape seemed to redden, and as Asla tilted her head in confusion, Enoch sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair.

“Didn’t you?”

“Ah, well.”

Asla pondered for a moment.

Had she said she liked men who were devoted to etiquette? No, of course not. She liked that Enoch was that way, but she didn’t particularly like etiquette itself.

She probably would have said she liked it even if Enoch had dressed somewhat roguishly.

After being flustered, Asla realized what she had been missing and carefully asked.

“Have you been…… considering what I like important? All this time?”

“Of course. I am your husband.”

Enoch nodded seriously, and Asla felt drained with bewilderment.

A husband who said he considered what she liked important.

If he paid attention to clothing and etiquette, why had he lived unaware of her suffering while isolated in the Ventus mansion?

It was quite hypocritical, so Asla felt slightly irritated.

But as usual, she managed her expression and turned her head.

“There’s no need for that anymore. You should live as you want.”

“……As I want?”

While Asla turned her gaze to the window, Enoch’s black eyes flashed dangerously.

Asla was looking at the distant fields outside the window, but when she saw Enoch’s reflection in the glass, she turned her head in surprise.

She gasped as she made eye contact with Enoch, who had somehow moved to sit beside her, at an extremely close distance.

Unlike his thick brows, why did his silver lashes framing those black eyes look so delicate and dense?

Asla stammered, unable to believe she was at a distance where his heated breath touched her.

“Wh-what is it?”

“I tried to live like the man you wanted, but now I won’t.”

Asla blankly watched as he reached out and pressed his hand against the glass window.

Swallowing hard at the sight of the veins protruding on his forearm exposed by his rolled-up sleeve, Asla suddenly realized she was surrounded by Enoch.

She instinctively leaned back to avoid Enoch, whose eyes were as ferocious as a hungry lion despite his languid smile, but there was nowhere else to escape.

“Would you care to explain this behavior, Duke Enoch Ventus.”

“I’ve always wanted to do as I please too. After hearing what you said last night, I felt stupid for following the ridiculous Holy Kingdom etiquette book all this time.”

Asla felt so stupid herself. Enoch had been following the Holy Kingdom etiquette book? In that book…… Asla spoke with a trembling voice as she looked at Enoch’s lips, which had come close enough to almost touch her own.

“What I said last night…… that was……”

“You said you wanted to kiss me too.”

Asla felt as if his black eyes were burning with fire. Hearing his voice, which somehow seemed like a demon’s whisper, made her feel dizzy.

They were about to divorce, so now, well, this…

“Only if you allow it.”

Enoch narrowed the distance further and asked in a voice tinged with thirst.

“Shall we kiss?”

His lips, coming close and whispering, were incredibly bewitching.

For years, she had dreamed of Enoch Ventus’s lips. Kissing him.

She wanted to gulp down his hot breath all at once and taste it.

Asla held onto her fading consciousness and firmly pushed his lips away with her finger.

When she clearly saw the disappointment in his eyes, Asla nervously cleared her dry throat and barely managed to speak.

“Listen to me for a moment.”

“Speak.”

Enoch, speaking awkwardly due to his lips being pressed by Asla’s hand, looked slightly angry.

Asla flinched and removed her hand as his hot, soft lips moved beneath it.

She looked directly at Enoch, who was still trapping her with the narrowed distance.

“I’m going to divorce you.”

“……I know. That’s why we’re going to the capital.”

“Let’s be clear. Do you agree?”

Enoch didn’t answer her question. She could vividly see the passion in his eyes fading and turning cold.

Enoch withdrew his arm that had trapped her and sat slightly apart from her.

“Asla.”

He rubbed his eyes as if tired.

“Do I seem like I agree to the divorce? Do you think I’m the kind of man who would kiss a wife I’m about to divorce? Don’t treat me like someone who’s so aroused he can’t tell what’s in front of him.”

Asla’s face turned bright red at Enoch’s blunt words.

‘Aroused,’ he said.

She felt slightly stung, wondering if her actions last night had appeared that way.

“Then why are you going to the temple with me? I’m on my way to the capital to get divorced.”

“Because I respect your opinion!”

Enoch raised his voice slightly and looked at her resentfully. She froze in surprise.

He continued, clutching his forehead with one hand as if in pain.

“Asla, as you said, I…… regardless of my circumstances, I didn’t know you were being bullied by my sister-in-law and other employees. Starting with that damned coal tar dress, the more I dig, the more will probably come out.”

“……”

Asla’s expression slowly hardened as she realized that Enoch had taken the coal tar-stained dress not to throw it away, but to interrogate the maid assigned to her who had bullied her.

Was that so shocking?

There were much worse things.

As Asla laughed bitterly inside, Enoch bit his lip painfully, as if reading her thoughts.

“It’s too late for me to even ask for forgiveness, which is probably why you, patient as you are, are demanding a divorce like this. So I can’t even ask for forgiveness.”

Forgiveness.

Asla was overcome with a strange feeling.

The thought of this strong, solid man looking at her with such soft eyes and asking for forgiveness made her throat tingle.

But she soon realized he was right. She had endured and endured, but too much time had passed to forgive.

In a way, Enoch knew himself much better than she did. Despite being apart for so long.

Asla’s lips parted in a detached smile.

“You’re right, Enoch Ventus.”

A dark shadow fell over Enoch’s face upon hearing her calm response.

Asla felt sad.

Actually, what had been difficult for her was his indifference, not showing any interest in his wife.

If he had shown even a little interest, even if not love, things wouldn’t have come to this.

She watched Enoch staggering back to the seat opposite her and asked.

“The kiss.”

“……?”

Asla shrugged at Enoch’s bewildered expression.

“Why didn’t you kiss me, and why didn’t we sleep together as couples naturally do? According to what you said, if we had at least that much of a marital relationship, we wouldn’t have ended up like this.”

“……Ha.”

Enoch let out a deflated sound, utterly dumbfounded by Asla blinking with an innocent face and speaking so bluntly.

Looking at Enoch rubbing his brow, Asla asked.

“The Holy Kingdom etiquette book. You were following it? Why? Since when?”

“Because you were a noble princess of the Holy Kingdom……”

“What did you say?”

Asla asked again in disbelief, then her mouth fell open.

The Holy Kingdom etiquette book.

It contained the conduct and etiquette that the royal family of the Holy Kingdom should follow, and it was extremely ascetic.

Among the rules that young Asla had naturally internalized like breathing, what she hated to the point of irritation were the parts related to physical contact with the opposite s*x and s*xual acts.

Enoch had been following the part of the etiquette book that Asla had deliberately crossed out with red lines.

Who on earth had given this man that crazy etiquette book?

Asla buried her head in her arms on the table.

How to deal with this frustrating situation.

She hated the fact that their relationship, twisted from the beginning, had to be resolved through divorce.

“……Are you sick, Asla?”

“I’m tired.”

Asla felt tears welling up for some reason.

She felt wronged. To escape this topic, she asked without looking at Enoch, her face still buried on the table.

“How do you know Priest Ian Herta?”

“Let’s not talk about that guy.”

“……Calling a priest ‘that guy.'”

His voice was mixed with considerable hostility, so Asla slightly raised her head to look at Enoch.

Enoch, whose expression was as rigid as his voice, looked back at her and said.

“Are you planning to go to Ian Herta after the divorce?”

“That’s not what I was asking.”

When Asla frowned, showing her displeasure, Enoch let out a small laugh.

“Asla.”

“……Yes, Enoch.”

“I don’t want to divorce you. Won’t you stay by my side? Only now am I ready to live with you.”

“Only now?”

When Asla questioned Enoch, who was saying incomprehensible things, he gently gathered a handful of her pink hair scattered on the table and pressed his lips to it.

Asla froze, unable to say anything, surprised by his action.

She felt her ears redden, thinking she envied her hair that touched his lips.