Chapter 50

“Lexion…….” 

Adelina’s large eyes shook uncontrollably.

“We must not let others doubt our relationship.”

Lexion gently brushed Adelina’s hair back and pressed his lips firmly against her exposed forehead.

‘Well, he’s persistent. In that case…’

Adelina, looking embarrassed, touched Lexion’s cheek with her hand.

“Lexion…….” 

With a voice strained with heat, she lowered her hand and placed a fist on his chest.

“Adelina.”

Lexion took Adelina’s hand and kissed it deeply on the palm. 

He pressed her palm firmly against his left chest.

Feel it. My heart is beating this strongly right now.

‘Your heart is beating as fast as mine, isn’t it?’

Lexion slowly lowered his head towards Adelina’s lips.

“Alright. I’ll handle it. Get off me.”

‘What? Did I hear that right?’

Lexion looked down at Adelina with a puzzled expression. 

Adelina pushed his face away with her palm and got out of bed. 

She leaned against the wall by the door and closed her eyes. 

With one hand, she tousled her hair, and with the other, she pressed her chest firmly. 

‘What is she doing?’

Lexion sat on the edge of the bed. 

What on earth is a new bride supposed to do in front of the bedroom door?

“Ah…… Lexion…… ugh…….” 

Adelina moaned with her eyes closed. 

‘Oh my…… goodness…… ’

Lexion tilted his head and crossed his arms.

“Is that enough?”

After about 5 minutes, Adelina pulled away from the wall with a very satisfied expression and ran her hand through her hair.

‘I act so well! My acting has improved a lot!’

Perhaps she should have dreamed of being an actress instead of a painter. 

The only thing that seemed to improve after coming out of the mirror was her acting skills.

Adelina, immersed in her acting, looked at Lexion.

‘Uh…… but, Lexion. Why is your face so red?’

Lexion, who looked as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have, scrunched up his face and got up from the bed, approaching Adelina.

‘Well…… I might not act perfectly. But there’s no need to make such a scary face, is there?’

Adelina unconsciously took a step back.

“No.”

Lexion pulled Adelina’s waist firmly.

“Gasp!”

He laid Adelina on the bed and covered her mouth with one hand.

‘How can he move so quickly!’

Adelina had no time to react to Lexion’s swift actions. 

As Adelina’s eyes widened in surprise, Lexion leisurely touched the corner of her eyes.

“Didn’t you hear what I told the guards earlier? I said I wouldn’t let other men hear my wife’s moans.”

Lexion, still covering Adelina’s mouth with one hand, began kissing her neck.

‘This guy!’

Adelina wrapped her arms around Lexion’s neck. 

As she stroked his back with her hand, he removed his hand from her mouth and looked at her face with eyes full of heat.

“Adelina.”

The raspy, thick voice of Lexion gave Adelina goosebumps all the way to her ears.

“Lexion.”

Adelina quickly changed her position and sat on Lexion’s abdomen.

“Lexion…… do you want to do it with me?”

As she teased his chest with her fingertips, he closed his eyes.

“Ahem…… because we’re married.”

His deep red eyes lingered where they always did.

‘Crazy guy. To actually demand the first night as a contract husband!’

Adelina stood up and let one shoulder of her lingerie slip as if she were about to take it off.

“Adelina Ernst.”

Lexion’s voice rumbled with a growl, making Adelina’s entire body bristle. 

The lingerie was precariously slipping, about to reveal one br*ast completely.

Looking down at Lexion’s flushed face, Adelina slyly lowered the other shoulder strap.

“Adelina. I’ll do my best today. I won’t disappoint you.”

Lexion grabbed Adelina’s ankles with his hot hands. 

He chuckled as he felt her body flinch. 

Lexion’s hands slowly climbed up Adelina’s calves.

“Lexion.”

Adelina smiled bashfully at Lexion, whose eyes were fixed on her chest. 

Following her smile, Lexion’s lips curled up endlessly.

“Find the mirror first. You scammer! You promised to find it once we were married!”

Adelina kicked Lexion’s most vulnerable spot.

+++

The next day, it began to rain from the morning. 

Raindrops on the lake of the Ernst Ducal Palace drew circles, continuously playing a soft lullaby.

Adelina’s eyelashes fluttered as she lay in Lexion’s arms, and her eyelids slowly lifted.

‘This beast!’

Adelina freed herself from Lexion’s arms, which held her tightly.

• Adelina, we must leave traces of the first night. The maids will report to the Emperor.

Lexion, whose pain in important areas had subsided, began leaving kiss marks on Adelina’s neck. 

Each time Lexion’s hot hands brushed over her thin lingerie, Adelina’s body trembled. 

Feeling his hot body temperature through the clothes, her body temperature rose as well. 

Lexion’s lips, which had lingered on her neck, gradually moved downward. 

Adelina gritted her teeth to suppress the moan that threatened to escape her lips from the sharp pain and dizzying sensation reaching her toes.

• It’s hard to hold back like that…… just bite my hand instead.

Despite leaving kiss marks as if marking territory, why did he speak so tenderly…

• Lend me your hand…….

As the kiss marks on Adelina’s neck and shoulders increased, so did the bite marks on Lexion’s hand.

‘Still…… I slept well for the first time in a while.’

Escaping the memories of the previous night, Adelina quietly looked at Lexion’s sleeping face.

‘I must be such a fool.’

Though it was annoying that Lexion thoroughly used her, even leaving traces of the first night, seeing him sleep so peacefully softened a corner of her heart.

Even when she was in the mirror, she always saw Lexion sleeping tensely as if he were in a battlefield.

‘Sometimes, he even slept sitting up.’

Adelina gazed absentmindedly at Lexion’s face, which made regular breathing sounds. 

Seeing her hand approach his cheek, she quickly pulled it away in surprise.

‘May whatever Lexion is trying to do succeed safely, without too much sacrifice.’

Adelina clasped her hands together and offered a short prayer. 

As if she had intended to do so from the beginning.

+++

After a very short prayer, Adelina quietly got off the bed. 

‘A prayer is a prayer. Feeling sorry for Lexion is feeling sorry.’

She wasn’t some saint, and feeling sorry for him didn’t mean she had to get swept up in another country’s war.

Adelina tiptoed to the mirror hanging on the wall. 

‘Yes! This is the perfect opportunity! I need to try entering this mirror!’

This was the mirror she had pre-ordered on Emerald Street. 

Adelina took the mirror off the wall and carried it to the bathroom.

‘Lexion often uses this bedroom, so I was lucky to have placed it here!’

She removed the mirror in the bathroom and placed it on the floor, then hung the other mirror on the bathroom wall. 

Bringing various colorful handkerchiefs she had hidden under the bed, she draped them over the mirror.

She also poured a cup of holy water, specially given by the Imperial Temple as a wedding gift, and placed it in front of the mirror. 

“Mirror. This is the perfect spot. You’ll love it here.”

Adelina rubbed her palms together and slightly bowed her waist.

“I pray earnestly. Please let me enter the mirror.”

She prayed sincerely. 

She called upon all the gods she knew. 

Her slightly bowed waist soon bent at a right angle. 

‘Please! I don’t want to get involved in a war! I’m a pacifist!’

Perhaps her earnest prayer was heard, as her reflection in the mirror momentarily disappeared.

+++

‘Seems like she’s going to take a bath.’

Lexion opened his eyes at the sound of the bathroom door closing. 

Women usually have a lot to prepare even when entering the bathroom, and Adelina seemed to be moving quite busily.

‘Is it the first time in 10 years?’

It had been a long time since he had slept so soundly. 

He wondered if he wouldn’t have noticed even if assassins had entered. 

Looking at the clock on the wall, he hadn’t slept for long. 

He had actually only slept for about 4 hours, having left kiss marks on Adelina’s neck until dawn. 

But this short sleep was sweeter than any other.

Lexion raised his hand and looked at the bite marks Adelina had left.

‘If it’s your mark…… anything would be fine.’

Recalling Adelina’s face as she tried to suppress her moans under him, Lexion jumped up from his seat.

‘Crazy guy. At such an important time.’

Even a few seconds of thought made him feel tense below. 

He quickly thought of something else to calm it down.

‘Get a grip! It’s time to stop playing house. I’m the only royal of Ernst.’

From today, he had to move busily. 

He couldn’t stay lost in the excitement of a teenage boy any longer.

Lexion got up from the bed, ran a hand through his hair, and headed to the bathroom. 

As he opened the bathroom door, he saw Adelina seemingly about to enter the mirror, pressing both hands against it and staring intently.

Lexion’s eyebrows furrowed deeply, creating deep wrinkles on his forehead.

‘Adelina. I need you. My wife, you…… need to be by my side.’ 

Lexion smoothed out his furrowed brow and made a playful smile on his lips.

“Surely, you’re not trying to enter the bathroom mirror? How cheeky.”

At Lexion’s voice, Adelina turned her head in surprise and immediately narrowed her eyes.

With each step Adelina took towards him, Lexion’s lips curled higher.

+++

“Who said you could enter the bathroom at will! Get out now!”

Adelina pushed Lexion, who was smiling slyly, and slammed the bathroom door shut.

‘I can’t let him catch me looking into the mirror! Then he’ll never let me go…… ’

Adelina checked once more to ensure the bathroom door was locked properly and returned to the mirror.

‘Evans and Duke Austin. The Dragon Knights.’

In the mirror, the Dragon Knights were shown holding a meeting while looking at a map.

Evans placed small red flags at regular intervals on the map. 

Next to him, Duke Austin added more flags. 

When Austin looked, the knights placed their fists on their left chests.

‘Got you! You little rascals!’

Adelina opened the bathroom door with a bright smile.

+++

Meanwhile, Lexion had changed into comfortable shirts and pants, waiting for Adelina to come out on the sofa. 

Unfortunately, Adelina was already in a comfortable dress when she came out of the bathroom.

“Can you draw it?”

Lexion carefully examined Adelina’s face after she whispered in his ear. 

‘The map? The movement routes of the Petrus Empire and the Kingdom of Iberis?’

“The living repository of knowledge. I guess that’s in my head too.”

Adelina laughed softly, avoiding Lexion’s suspicious gaze, and pointed to the bed.

‘Quickly! I need to draw it before I forget!’

She tugged at Lexion’s shirt, who was tilting his head sideways and staring intently at her face.

“Take off your clothes and lie down.”