Chapter 4

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A bright and fresh sound could be heard. Among the sounds in the morning, Rose slowly opened her eyes.

“Ugh…”

As soon as she tried to get up, pain shot through her waist, making her wince.

Ugh, what kind of pain is this? Her foggy mind couldn’t process it properly. It wasn’t just her waist. A throbbing headache pulsed in her head.

‘Hangover?’

This was only the second hangover she’d experienced in her life. Pressing her aching temples, she managed to sit up. Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains.

The blue curtains weren’t to Rose’s taste. She preferred rose-red colors, and had furnished her entire room in red tones. Besides, this sparsely furnished room must be Maverick’s…

‘So tight, seeing how you’re stretched… ha, huh, seems other men… couldn’t fill you this deep.’

‘Ahng, aaahn! Maverick, harder, harder! Hnngh, ah!’

At that moment, all memories flooded back to Rose.

Unfortunately, despite getting completely drunk for the first time in her life, she didn’t have the kind of drunk habit where she forgot everything.

Rose touched both her cheeks. When she pinched them, it hurt. This wasn’t a dream.

“Oh my…!”

We did it, finally did it! Though parts were slightly hazy due to the alcohol, she remembered most of it. They really did it. And it was extremely satisfying!

‘It was big–f*cking big.’

Rose thought crude expressions were perfect for describing yesterday’s Maverick.

After all, Maverick’s c*ck was incomparably larger than any other man she’d ever seen. Not only that, it was truly an undying rod. Rose caressed her cheeks.

Her nape felt warm.

‘So this is what it feels like to sleep with someone you love.’

She had enjoyed pleasure before. Being honest about everything, she’d had her share of fun in various entertainments early on. Masquerade balls, opera, auctions, casinos, romance… But none of those activities had given her this level of satisfaction.

To think that was Maverick yesterday who was devouring her so ravenously. Honestly, she liked it so much she wondered if she’d discovered a new preference.

While feeling content with the warm, comforting emotion filling her chest, the dull pain in her lower body and waist kept growing.

Rose felt disappointed by the empty space beside her. It would have been nice if they could have stayed together until morning.

‘No, this is just the beginning.’

How could one be satisfied with just the first drink? Rose was simply delighted with such a start.

‘I want to make the second time even more fantastic. I want to try different positions, and I’m curious about Maverick’s preferences…’

Yesterday felt like they’d just explored each other like beasts, so next time she wanted to get to know each other more slowly.

Alcohol really was the answer.

Rose decided she needed to give Lady Carpenter, who had insisted she try it drunk, a grand gift.

The first time is the hardest, what could be difficult about the next?

* * *

It was difficult. Very difficult indeed…

‘Why on earth!’

Rose silently screamed. The well-pressed fabric was being crumpled in her hands.

She wanted to tear at not just the clothes but her hair too.

After their momentous first night together, Rose couldn’t see Maverick’s face all day the next day.

That was fine. Rose herself had spent the entire day groaning in bed.

Someone seemed to have entered the room at dawn, but that was just a speculation — she couldn’t be certain.

And the next day, Rose still couldn’t see Maverick.

That’s when it started. The day after that, and the day after that too! She couldn’t see Maverick at all.

It was unfair. Why? You agreed too. We enjoyed it together! It felt good!

I clearly remember you panting! They say you must see your lover to pick the fruit, but she couldn’t even catch a glimpse of a single hair of him. Even Rose, with her usually unstoppable drive like a burning carriage, was at a loss.

This remained true today, the fourth day.

“He’s away?”

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

The butler bowed deeply. As the mansion’s head butler, he was acutely aware that the relationship between the future head of the family and her husband Maverick had changed strangely lately.

Thus, forgetting his past indifference to whatever Maverick did, he answered sincerely.

“Where did he go?”

“That…”

As the butler’s words faltered, Rose raised her fine eyebrows. The elderly butler broke into a cold sweat internally.

“Lord Maverick didn’t specify his destination, so I’m not sure.”

The young lady he’d watched grow up was extremely stubborn. Moreover, she had the ability to turn that stubbornness into results.

“You’re telling me that as butler, you didn’t even ask the destination of the future Duke’s husband who’s been going out for days?”

“It’s not that I didn’t ask…”

“You didn’t consider it important.”

That was correct. Though the butler had started paying more attention to Maverick due to Rose’s increased interest in him, he thought, like the Duke had told Rose, that this was just another of her whims that wouldn’t be deep or last long.

“I’m disappointed, Brad.”

Rose clicked her tongue softly. The problem was that even Rose couldn’t know where Maverick had gone. However, that didn’t mean there was no way to find out.

“Call Malcolm.”

“……! Yes, understood.”

Soon after, a man in his thirties entered Rose’s office. He was wearing commoner’s clothes that seemed out of place in this mansion.

“It’s been a while, Miss.”

“Have you been busy?”

“Haha, what could be more important than your summons, Miss?”

The man’s name was Malcolm Goodman. He was the butler’s son.

He was also the head of the organization that handled covert matters for the Clematis ducal family. In other words, he could be considered the head of the family’s information and intelligence agency.

“Where did Maverick go?”

Since Maverick had entered as a son-in-law, his movements were also Clematis business.

Rose thought that given her father the Duke’s personality, he wouldn’t have failed to put surveillance on Maverick. He was an iron-fisted Duke who trusted no one except his daughter.

As expected, Malcolm, after a moment’s hesitation, readily reported to Rose.

“23rd Street in the western capital? …The back alleys?”

But it was quite an unexpected location.

The back alleys where the Empire’s poor and all sorts of shadows gathered. Apparently, Maverick had been going there for the past few days. Rose pondered deeply.

‘Before my regression, when Maverick got me out of prison, he seemed to have helpers.’

Currently, his family had been eliminated by Duke Clematis, and his relatives were said to be dead.

Moreover, since he’d entered as a son-in-law, there were limits to how he could use the ducal family’s assets. He couldn’t spend more than a set amount. Of course, that set amount wasn’t insignificant…

From what Rose had found out, Maverick had used the minimum of his dignity maintenance allowance. In other words, despite his allowance accumulating to a huge sum over two years, he hadn’t touched it.

Rose stood up from her seat.

“Where are you going, my lady?”

“I’m going there myself.”

“What?!”

Malcolm was shocked and flustered about where the lady was going, but no one in this mansion could overcome her stubbornness. It was a battle with a predetermined outcome.

Less than an hour later, Rose stood in front of the alley.

It was remarkably dark despite being midday. Perhaps it was due to those old buildings, the not-quite-collapsed roofs covering the alley.

They said these buildings, which should have been demolished long ago, were scattered here because even the imperial family didn’t care about the slums.

Malcolm tried to stop Rose until the very end, but it was useless. So he quietly shared Maverick’s last known location.

‘He goes to a tavern. He always leaves the tavern between seven and eight o’clock, stays in this alley for a while, then returns to the mansion.’

What could Maverick have been doing in this alley? I’m so curious about your secret.

Could he be plotting revenge against our family?

‘That wouldn’t be so bad either.’

Oddly enough, she thought it wouldn’t be bad even if Maverick took her life.

If it meant Maverick would think about her for his entire life, that would be satisfying enough. Rose wondered if perhaps her emotions had become a bit twisted.

But when she thought about him taking the life he had saved, even that felt pleasantly appealing.

As she walked leisurely through the alley, Rose felt numerous gazes upon her. From the vagrants sitting on the street to the giggling poor children, to young men staring intently at her from under their pulled-down hats.

Rose stopped at the end of the alley.

‘Is this the building?’

Looking at the sign, it seemed right. On the sign that looked like it could collapse any moment was written the name of the tavern Malcolm had told her Maverick visited every day.

‘Is this place actually operating?’

The door was slightly open, but beyond it was pitch black. Just as Rose was about to enter after a brief hesitation, her shoulder was suddenly yanked around.