“And so?”
“…There is nothing to gain from associating with him.”
“…”
“He approached you with an ulterior motive. It would be best to keep your distance.”
She could not fully understand his reasoning, but Sveta merely nodded.
“…Very well.”
In truth, she could not even leave the estate without Aiden’s permission. There would be no reason for her to meet Viscount Meriner again.
She decided not to make much of the brief encounter.
“But what happened to you?”
His gaze, which had lingered at the front of her dress, slowly drifted downward.
“I lost my way. And this happened because it caught on a branch—I fell.”
“…”
“What should I do? I’ve ruined such an expensive dress…”
The word sorry would not come.
The Marquess’s cruel remarks echoed in her mind, along with the humiliation she had felt in that moment.
Sveta pressed her lips tightly together, sealing them like a clam.
“It would be best to return to the Grand Ducal estate.”
“May we?”
“There is no reason we cannot.”
He extended his large hand toward her.
Sveta stared at the smooth surface of his white calfskin glove, then quietly asked.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Because you always walk straight ahead.”
“…I do?”
“…”
Instead of answering, Aiden jerked his chin slightly—an obvious gesture for her to take his hand. She simply walked past him.
He caught her hand anyway and placed it firmly in his large palm.
Leaving behind the garden steeped in unfamiliar fragrance, the two of them boarded the carriage.
***
By the time Sveta finished her long bath and returned to the bedroom, the clock hands were pointing to midnight.
After dismissing the maid who had attended her, she moved toward the bed.
A negligee had been prepared atop the bed stool embroidered with emerald floral patterns.
She had just slipped her robe halfway off to change when a shadow stirred from the dim space near the bedside.
She instinctively swallowed her scream and stepped back.
A low, gentle voice followed at once, stopping her in place.
“…Did I startle you?”
“Of course you did…”
Aiden, leaning deeply into the wingback chair, lifted his hand in a small beckoning motion. He meant for her to come closer.
An inexplicable tension stiffened her tongue.
“I thought that since we attended the banquet, Your Grace would have no reason to seek me out for a while. That’s why I was surprised.”
“Why would I have no reason to seek you?”
“You are to be engaged soon.”
“…Come here.”
Pulling her robe closed again, Sveta stepped forward cautiously. The faint sound of her small footsteps broke the silence of the moonless, pitch-black night.
In the darkness, his red lips seemed to curve slightly upward.
From the shadows, his thick wrist emerged and seized her arm, pulling her down. She fell onto his lap.
“What connection is there between my engagement and my coming to you?”
“Even if it is only a formal engagement, shouldn’t you at least make an effort to be faithful?”
He let out a short laugh, as though she had said something particularly amusing.
Had he been drinking wine? His breath carried a faint scent of grass and fruit.
He drew her closer. Through the loosened fold of her robe, the skin revealed beneath was damp—she had bathed not long ago. The lingering heat clung to her.
“…Faithful. I rather like that word.”
“…”
“But I choose the one to whom I am faithful.”
His lips came down on hers at once.
She turned her head aside.
It was a familiar angle.
Whenever they kissed, Sveta—this lovely woman—would always attempt to flee once, like this.
Aiden found the opening and pressed his lips to hers again, more gently this time.
At last, the world that had twisted out of place seemed to right itself.
The fierce anger and pain he had felt upon seeing her walking through the night with another man gradually faded.
The jealousy that had driven him to her chamber disappeared in an instant.
Amazingly.
And in its place, something far more intense and burning took hold.
“Do you dislike what I like?”
“Yes. I do.”
“Do you dislike this as well?”
With one corner of his mouth tilted crookedly upward, he lowered his head to her neck. He sucked at the delicate skin, leaving behind a vivid red mark before sliding his tongue downward.
“Ah…!”
In an instant, Sveta’s entire body stiffened.
To keep her from falling, he wrapped one arm around her back and stroked her slowly upward. The thin m*an caught in her full lips sharpened the already precarious tension between them.
From the moment he had seen her, the heat coiled low within him had refused to ease.
“Wait—I think I’m going to fall.”
Perhaps seeking balance, her hand—still gripping his collar—slid down and braced itself between his thighs. The very tips of her nails brushed against him.
That alone was enough.
A violent tremor ran through him, as though boiling water had been poured down his spine. Scorching heat surged upward.
Sveta’s large eyes, lifted toward him, narrowed slightly. Her firm nails traced upward in a bold, deliberate motion.
“…I did not expect this from you.”
“Why not?”
“I assumed you would not wish for my pleasure.”
“…”
She wound her arms around his neck and shifted her body. Then, slowly, she let her robe fall away.
Without hesitation, she moved closer, pressing herself against him. Her touch, firm against bare skin, was unhurried.
What in the world filled that small head of hers?
It was unexpected. Yet he did not want to refuse it.
Aiden closed his eyes.
“Ha…”
How long had it been? Since last summer, he had not shared such intimate warmth with her.
He released his breath in broken fragments between his teeth.
Her strength was slight. Even now, she moved carefully, as though afraid of hurting him—true to her nature, incapable of wounding another.
And yet—yet it felt wild.
Perhaps because he was the one being undone by this small woman.
Even that thought pleased him.
He pressed his cheek to the crown of her head and groaned softly.
His large hand slid down her slender back. The fragile bones beneath his fingertips felt unbearably dear. When he pressed at the hollow of her lower spine, she instinctively arched.
The moment her hand tightened around the sensitive place between them, Aiden’s body moved forward and back.
Pleasure gathered too intensely at his core. It felt as though it might burst at any second.
He wanted to crush her in his arms. To hold her until she shattered. That was the kind of feeling it was—too overwhelming for him to contain.
“Sveta…”
Veins rose along his thick neck. As he murmured her name in a restrained voice—
She suddenly stopped moving.
In one swift motion, she slipped from his embrace. She picked up the robe from the floor and put it back on.
“…What are you doing?”
Aiden looked up at her, incredulous.
What he met was an empty sky.
Her clear irises were painfully hollow.
There was not a trace of emotion in her face. She looked at him as though he were something inanimate.
As he sat there, drenched in pleasure and on the verge of breaking, Sveta regarded him behind a mask.
“…This doesn’t feel right.”
“…”
“That’s all.”
Her voice was calm. Only moments ago, she had been in his arms, breathing hotly against him.
So his woman knew how to toy with a person.
He let out a disbelieving breath.
“…Is this how you punish me?”
“Punish you? That’s absurd.”
“…”
The heat tightly coiled within him had not yet cooled. Her indifferent gaze drifted toward it.
Aiden did not close his legs. He did not fasten his robe.
Leaning deeper into the chair, he watched her in silence.
Then she whispered.
“But Your Grace can do anything, can’t you?”
“Do you truly believe that?”
“Yes. I do.”
Was she testing him?
A sudden sense of helplessness washed over him. Sveta lowered herself onto the bed and answered without resistance.
“Go ahead. If you want to.”
“Ha…”
Aiden let out a bitter sigh.
It was neither acceptance nor refusal. It was a temptation—an invitation to cross the line if he could.
His woman wielded her blade-like power with quiet precision.
Not wanting her to see how completely his heart had already surrendered, Aiden clenched his fist.
She was right. If he were to lay her down at this very moment and claim that slender body, she would not refuse him.
But after that, there would be no turning back.
For a fleeting instant, he wondered whether this was exactly what she wanted.
For him to make a mistake. To cross that boundary.
Perhaps those dry, hollow eyes desired something that cruel.
He parted his parched lips.
“I have no such vile hobby.”
“…Is that so?”
“If you do not want it, then I cannot do anything.”
“…”
“So your claim that I can do anything is incorrect.”
Aiden rose slowly.
His hands were steady as he straightened the disheveled robe. He brushed the damp strands of hair from his forehead with quiet composure.
“You must be tired. Go to sleep.”
“…”
His calm voice was almost gentle.
Even the way he left the bedroom was unhurried and elegant.
Sveta stared wordlessly at his retreating back as it disappeared from view.
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bluemoon238
That’s a stupid thing to say after what was already done. Totally not believing. It would make more sense to say that and add in now that I care. He did force himself onto her when she was just a slab of meat but now he thinks about her feelings as long as she listens. In short he will still do whatever and he wants to make a point.