It was a night when the moon shone especially bright.

“Your Majesty, I apologize, but Lord Aaron has already retired for the night.”

Aaron’s attendant stood at the door, visibly flustered.

“Step aside immediately.”

Freya’s voice was cold as ice.

The royal attendant, intimidated by the sheer force of her presence, stepped back quickly with a frightened expression on his face.

Her icy gaze swept over him in an instant.

Seeing his hands shaking uncontrollably, it was clear that something was wrong.

“Freya, your problem is that you trust your husband too much. I’m telling you, there is definitely another woman.”

Christie’s sharp, ringing voice echoed relentlessly in her ears.

‘No… I have to believe him – at least until I see it with my own eyes.’

Freya’s voice trembled slightly as she ordered the door opened.

Creak.

The heavy door swung open in an instant.

‘What is this?’

Everyone held their breath at the incredible sight behind the door.

Though not a single candle was lit in the darkened room, the moonlight slipping through the parted curtains made one thing unmistakably clear – there was more than one person on the bed.

“Light the lamps. Immediately!”

At Freya’s command, countless lights flickered into life, instantly illuminating the room.

“Gasp!”

“Oh, dear heavens…”

As the tangled bodies of a man and a woman came into view, everyone quickly turned their heads away, as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have.

‘Aaron…‘

Time seemed to stand still.

The reality of the moment was so surreal that all Freya could do was take a deep breath.

His name spun endlessly in her mouth, but not even the faintest breath escaped her parted lips.

Her violet eyes, wide and trembling with moisture, froze.

“Your Highness!”

It was the head maid, Belia, who rushed forward to catch the staggering Freya.

It wasn’t until choked gasps and sighs erupted all around her that Freya truly realised – the scene before her eyes was no hallucination.

If so… was this a dream?

‘This can’t be real…’

For some reason, her mind drifted back to that day four years ago – the day she heard the sudden news of the late King and Queen’s death.

The day she desperately wished had been a nightmare, but in the end had no choice but to accept it as reality.

Freya clenched her fists and bit her lip hard enough to draw blood.

‘Could this, too, be reality?’

It was excruciatingly painful, but it was a cruel truth she could never run from – one she would have to face at some point.

The metallic, salty taste of blood seeping from her lips slowly began to clear her mind.

“Your Highness… how could this happen…”

Freya gently removed the arms supporting her and shook her head firmly at the tearful Belia.

Understanding the meaning behind it, Belia held back her sobs and reluctantly stepped back.

Freya began to walk towards the man and woman on the bed.

Her face, pale as the moonlight, looked more determined than ever.

When she finally stood before them, Freya looked down at the man with eyes as cold and still as ice.

Aaron – the royal husband.

A familiar face, with well-defined features set beneath a smooth, upright brow.

His broad chest and shoulders were partially covered by a thin sheet that barely concealed his nakedness.

He looked the same as he always had – her husband.

But the unfamiliarity of seeing him like this, as if he were a stranger, made Freya blink several times.

The strong arms that had once held her so tenderly were now wrapped around the fragile body of another woman, almost mockingly.

The woman’s porcelain skin was stained red, undeniable evidence of what had just happened.

Her slender neck, delicate shoulders, and then…

Freya’s trembling gaze stopped – frozen on the woman’s full br*asts, unable to look any further.

‘When was the last time he and I… shared a bed?’

To think that in the midst of a heartache so severe that it felt like her chest was being ripped open, this was what came to mind – how ridiculous.

Bitterly, Freya scoffed at her own pettiness.

Three years had passed since their wedding.

Before that, the most intimate thing they had shared was a few shy kisses – so few they could count them on one hand.

It was only after their marriage that they finally became one in every sense of the word.

Soon after, they began to crave each other endlessly, day after day.

And within a month of their marriage, an unspoken rule had quietly established itself between them – born of something that happened one night.

❖ ❖ ❖

“Hngh… Aaron…”

She had lost count of how many times she had reached her climax.

A sob escaped Freya’s lips, now trembling with exhaustion.

“Please… no more… I beg you…”

But Aaron made no reply – instead he buried his lips against her neck.

Her once pale skin was now blotchy and mottled, marked from head to toe.

“Haa…”

His ragged breath carried a raw, desperate desire – he wasn’t done with her yet.

Where was the man who used to obey her every word, as if he would give his life for her?

Tonight he was like a beast who had lost all reason.

“H-hah… please… ugh…”

Freya gasped breathlessly, her body trembling where Aaron’s breath touched. His lips moved slowly down her neck, finally reaching her well-formed br*asts. A small, ripe n*pple awaited him at the centre of the milky softness.

Though already swollen from his relentless attention, it seemed oblivious, undeterred.

Without hesitation, Aaron cupped both br*asts, his mouth moving between them, sucking each sensitive tip in turn.

“Haa…”

A soft moan slipped from Freya’s lips – a sound so intoxicating it could drive any man mad.

As she twisted beneath him, Aaron held her hands tightly. Like a man tasting honeyed fruit, he continued his intense exploration until his teeth sank sharply into her tender skin.

“Ugh…”

The soft moans of pain that escaped her lips only seemed to excite him further.

Aaron was completely consumed with devouring the woman beneath him.

Freya’s eyes welled with tears from the intensity of his rough movements.

“No… stop… ugh…”

His lips, having trailed down past her flat stomach to the place she had once longed for so deeply, now claimed her with urgency.

Freya squeezed her legs together, using all her strength to resist, to push him away – but she couldn’t overpower him.

Aaron moved with unwavering determination, as if intent on erasing any trace of what he had just done.

“Aaron…”

Please… stop.

Freya, already overwhelmed by the dizzying waves of sensation, was stunned when Aaron suddenly turned her over. The shock was so strong that she felt like she was going to faint.

‘He’s really going to… do it like that?’

They had never been together like this before.

Without hesitation, Aaron positioned her where he wanted her, moving her body as he pleased. As he roughly lifted her waist, Freya’s elbows and knees sank into the mattress.

He grasped her smooth thighs and entered her again, relentlessly.

“Haa…”

The pressure inside her was overwhelming – more intense than before. Her lips parted, unable to contain the sound.

With no concern for restraint, Aaron began to move again, violently.

“Ugh… ah…”

Freya moaned uncontrollably, caught between waves of pleasure and pain—until, all at once, a sharp, intense pain made her cry out.

“Ahh!”

Unable to contain the overwhelming pleasure, Aaron had bitten down hard on her shoulder.

The sharp scream brought him back to his senses and he quickly pulled away from her in a panic.

“Between the fierce bite marks etched into her delicate skin, red blood began to seep.

Aaron’s expression crumbled visibly as he took in the state she was in – clearly dishevelled and injured.

“I’m fine.”

Freya reached up to gently stroke his shoulder, trying to reassure him, but he remained tense, his body rigid and frozen.

His eyes, usually calm, now shimmered with an unusual golden hue.

‘Is it the moonlight?’

The thought struck her as she noticed the pale moonlight filling the room through the clear windows – it was a full moon tonight.

“I said I’m really fine.”

And she meant it.

Ever since she was a child, when she used to visit the palace with her playmate Christy, Aaron had always treated her with the utmost respect – even though she was only a princess then.

Christy would often make out with Freya when she was out of sight, but Aaron disapproved. He often scolded his younger sister for what he considered disrespectful behaviour.

Even after serving in the Royal Guard and eventually becoming Captain of the Royal Knights, Aaron never changed – his attitude towards Freya remained the same, unwavering in its formality.

Perhaps that was why… this new kind of intimacy didn’t seem entirely uncomfortable to her.

Aaron, who had always been careful even with a kiss, had never left so much as a scratch on her body.

There had been times when Freya had wondered what it would feel like to be held so tightly against his broad, firm chest that she could hardly breathe. But Aaron had always held her gently, as if the slightest pressure would cause her to break.

So… once in a while that kind of rough passion didn’t feel so bad.

If only he could control it a little better – if that was possible.

“Aaron.”

When Freya called his name softly and reached out to embrace him again, he pushed her away with difficulty, gasping as if in pain.

“Aaron?”

“Forgive me…”

Struggling with something for a long moment, Aaron finally left the bedroom as if pursued by something unseen.

It was from that night on.