I Became the Wife of the Cursed Grand Duke - Chapter 0 - Prologue

˚₊⋅─── /ᐠ – ˕ -マ ───⋅ ˚₊

T/n: Hello, my lovely readers! Some of you may have already noticed that another site uploaded the same novel two days ago. I had already bought chapters and wasn’t aware someone else had started translating faster, as I only discovered this today. (ᗒᗩᗕ)

I was debating whether I should still upload the chapters I translated or not. However, I think their upload is apparently the R15 version, while mine is the R19 version, as they don’t use the image with the R19 tag. So, I thought it would be okay to continue, as there’s a difference in the content of the chapters.

˚₊⋅─── /ᐠ – ˕ -マ ───⋅ ˚₊

“I’m so glad you can’t bear my child.”

Evelyn doubted her ears.

The words coming from her husband’s mouth were too rude and absurd to believe.

Moreover, it wasn’t an appropriate situation for such a conversation.

The couple’s bedroom, draped in thick darkness like a curtain.

Their bodies, still hot from intimacy. Her husband was exploring her body with intense passion.

“I hear that carrying a child in the womb and bringing it out is far more arduous than one might imagine.”

He raised his head as if gauging her reaction, while trailing his lips along the lines of her delicate body, then overlapped his body with hers.

“So I can’t tell you how relieved I am. You won’t have to suffer unnecessary pain because of a noisy, high-maintenance thing.”

Her heart sank. Evelyn felt the blood drain from her entire body at her husband’s words.

‘High-maintenance thing…’

Evelyn consciously suppressed the urge to instinctively wrap her arms around her belly.

Her heart crumbled endlessly, feeling tender and pitiful for the life that would have struggled within her body.

‘But I can’t show weakness here.’

Her husband was a perceptive person.

‘If he finds out I’m pregnant, any chance of protecting the child will completely disappear.’

Steeling herself, instead of cradling her lower abdomen, she reached out and gently ruffled her husband’s hair.

“Such a thing will never happen, so don’t worry, Callian. Only a woman who has received divine revelation can conceive your child.”

The House of Orpheus, which greatly contributed to the unification of the continent by the Cardian Empire.

It was said that among the descendants of the family, the heir of one born with the guardian’s mark would be determined by God.

So unless dark magic was used, she, who hadn’t received a divine oracle, couldn’t conceive Callian’s child. No, she shouldn’t.

“You don’t look pleased.”

Evelyn snapped out of her thoughts at the low voice.

Her husband’s large, rough hand cupped her flushed cheek.

The touch caressing her soft cheek was so warm and affectionate that it melted her heart, frozen with tension.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He kissed various parts of Evelyn’s sweat-dampened face with a handsome smile, then met her gaze directly.

“But I’ve heard that if things go wrong, you could fall seriously ill or even lose your life after childbirth.”

His sweet voice melts her knotted heart.

Even as her breath tightened, Evelyn felt like crying a little, wanting to lean into that arrogant tenderness.

“I’m not angry. It’s just…”

Evelyn, who had closed her eyes to hide her reddened eyes, opened them as she felt his breath scatter across her neck.

“I’m just a little upset.”

Then she traced her fingertips over her husband’s naked body, perfect like a statue displayed in a temple.

“No matter how arduous it might be, any woman would want to have a child with the husband she loves.”

The husband she loves.

The moment she uttered those noble and devout words, her insides twisted and her mouth tasted bitter as if she had swallowed seawater.

It couldn’t be helped.

From the beginning, at least in this life, they weren’t a couple bound by love.

Evelyn needed the immense power to uncover the truth of her miserable past, and Callian, suffering from a curse on his family, needed Evelyn’s healing ability.

Falling in love with him like this was never part of her plan.

‘No, perhaps it was impossible not to love him from the start…’

Exhaling a long, low sigh, she wrapped her arms around Callian’s neck and gently pulled him closer.

As if responding, his lips approached and softly licked the surface of Evelyn’s lips.

Her lips, chapped from their long lovemaking, moistened like flower petals drenched in rain.

“Ah…”

With a faint gasp, his thick tongue delved between her parted lips.

His tongue, plunging so deep it nearly induced nausea, persistently explored her mouth’s tender lining and saliva, as if intent on leaving his mark.

“Mmm.”

Her breathing deepened. The wet, rhythmic sounds of his tongue caressing the inside of her mouth – slick, slick – tenderly resonated in her ears.

Unable to withstand the surging passion, Evelyn tightened her arms around his neck, and he firmly embraced her waist in response.

Their bodies pressed together without a gap, and the lips that had been exploring hers gradually moved downward.

From earlobe to nape, from neckline to collarbone.

Past the full mounds and the long navel to the soaked crevice.

“Hnngh.”

Her lower abdomen tightened. Just as Evelyn, gripping the sheets to endure the sticky caress, let out a breath filled to the brim.

“Evelyn.”

He whispered lowly. His face, seeming to have something to say yet ultimately pressing his lips shut, ignited her suspicion.

‘Strange…’

Was it because his face, which she hadn’t seen in a while, looked particularly dark today?

Evelyn, supporting herself on one elbow, reached out with her other hand to stroke Callian’s sunken cheek.

The feeling of smooth skin and his strong, masculine jawline wrapped hotly around her palm.

She opened her lips calmly, suppressing the rising tension.

“Cal, you have something to tell me, don’t you?”

He nodded, his expression hardening as if it was no longer possible to hide.

His face, finally revealing his true feelings while maintaining eye contact, even seemed somewhat relieved.

“A divine revelation has come, they say.”

And she.

“Deborah. The Empire’s Saint.”

Ah, Evelyn sighed briefly.

Closing her eyes tightly, a sense of distance washed over her. Evelyn recalled a moment from her past when she had returned from the brink of death.

…Once again, falling in love with him like this was never part of her plan.

At least not in this life.