He didn’t avoid her gaze but studied her intently. His nose drew closer and closer. Just before his tilted nose’s lips could touch hers, he stopped.

“May I kiss you?”

Lenore swallowed hard at the polite question. Then instead of answering, she slowly closed and opened her eyes. His lips gently pressed against hers.

His tongue was careful as it licked her upper lip. He pulled away briefly before softly sucking her lower lip. The movement seemed to gently coax her.

Daniel cupped her nape and slipped his tongue inside. He tickled her by licking every soft corner. The sound of mixing saliva rang in her ears. Her whole body quickly heated up. Her neck, cheeks, and mouth where his hands touched felt burning hot.

“Haa.”

When their lips parted, they both exhaled their built-up breaths. Their shared breaths were hot as their foreheads touched.

“I don’t think I can sleep beside you tonight.”

Daniel confessed before she could notice. Just from some kissing, he had gotten hard. It would be impossible to lie beside her and sleep without doing anything in this state.

It would be safer to go back and withdraw, or embrace her in his dreams.

“Good night.”

Daniel pressed his lips lightly to Lenore’s forehead and turned away. He should leave without looking back here to be cool. But he kept feeling the urge to look at her face just one more time.

Finally giving in to the impulse, Daniel turned back. His eyes met directly with Lenore’s as she was reaching out to grab him.

“……”

“……”

Surprised, both of them stared with round eyes, unable to speak. Lenore, who came to her senses first, pulled back her hand with a red face.

Daniel rushed to her in one breath.

“Would you like me not to leave?”

“……”

“Do you want me by your side tonight?”

There are many kinds of silence, and this seemed like a good kind. Lenore covered her flushed cheeks with the back of her hand without answering.

Daniel pulled her hand down and pressed his lips to her reddened cheek. Kissing her with small pecks while moving positions bit by bit, Daniel eventually caught her lips. Lenore accepted him immediately.

As they kissed, seeking and caressing each other, Daniel felt like his brain was melting. And he sensed it. Finally, today she would accept him and he could accomplish his goal.

His pants felt ready to burst at the thought of being able to embrace her after a full 4 months.

“I don’t think I can behave myself with pillows between us, is that alright?”

Daniel asked as their foreheads touched. Lenore bit her lower lip and pushed against him with her body.

But the direction was wrong. She pushed Daniel towards the door rather than the bed.

By the time Daniel realized something was wrong and tried to resist, the door behind him was already open.

“I think it’s better if the Count returns to his room after all.”

As the door closed, his heart dropped with a thud as he was expelled into the hallway.

“Lenore, Lenore! How could you do this!”

Wasn’t the mood good?

Though he desperately knocked on the door saying he would behave if she opened it, there was no voice from the other side.

* * *

Even after sleeping and waking up, Lenore’s face flushed remembering the previous night’s events. She couldn’t believe her own actions trying to stop him from leaving.

“What was I trying to do by stopping him from going…”

Actually, she already knew the answer. Though she wanted to deny it, she realized what her intention was in trying to hold him back. She had expectations of him. She wanted him to touch her more and make her feel good. As evidence, her lower parts had become wet during their kissing.

The most shocking point was that she regretted sending him away in the end. Lying in bed, she couldn’t sleep for a while due to unsubsiding excitement.

She kept tossing and turning, anxious that she might end up knocking on his bedroom door begging him to do something to her.

She tried to soothe her body herself to calm the unrelenting heat. With awkward touches, she moved her hand past her tingling stomach between her legs.

‘Nngh.’

She moved her fingers imagining his large hands touching her, his blue eyes watching what she was doing. As she increased the speed of rubbing and rolling, her toes curled.

With a shiver, she came lightly and stared at the door she had pushed him out of while catching her breath. Though she had done it to cool down, it hadn’t subsided at all. Rather, she just felt irritated by the insufficient sensation.

After struggling like that all night, she finally fell asleep and didn’t wake up until late afternoon.

“I’m scared to face him.”

Her unsatisfied body felt like it might explode upon meeting him. The urge to run to him wrapped around her, wanting to tell him how hard the night was and sit on his lap to rub her wet parts.

Lenore had thought she had no s*xual desire. But that wasn’t true. She just hadn’t found a suitable target for her desires until now.

“I never thought I’d become like this.”

Aren’t humans creatures of forgetting? She couldn’t remember how much it had hurt on their wedding night, only remembering how hot his lips and tongue were.

Her face started turning red again as she recalled the memories. Lenore tried to focus on other things to calm down.

However, when she tried playing the violin, strangely, the notes kept coming out wrong. Thinking today wasn’t good for it, she tried embroidery but kept pricking the needle in the wrong places.

As a last resort, she tried reading, but this too failed spectacularly. Not a single word entered her eyes. Her gaze just kept spinning around the same paragraph.

“It might be better to just do it once.”

After being excited all day, Lenore finally made her decision. It probably wouldn’t end with just once, but if she stayed like this, she felt her body might go strange.

Though it had hurt on their wedding night, time had passed since then. She had the illusion that it couldn’t have hurt that much.

Moreover, Daniel promised he would never hurt her again. Though she wasn’t sure how much to trust that, it should be better than their first time.

She needed to go to him right away.

Having decided, Lenore closed her book and went to find Daniel. But there was an unexpected obstacle.

“What do you mean the Count is out? I didn’t hear anything about this?”

Apparently Daniel had gone to the port for urgent business. The man who always made sure to let her know through maids when going out and consistently received her send-off had left without a word. It was the first time this had happened, so she was bewildered.

Did he think he’d be back quickly so didn’t notify her?

Lenore had an uneasy feeling but waited for him first. However, he didn’t return even as night fell, or by the next afternoon.

While biting her nails anxiously, Daniel’s messenger arrived with news. There was a problem with the cargo ship, and he wouldn’t be able to return for a while.

It was better than not returning without any contact. But when they didn’t tell her exactly how long she’d have to wait, she became anxious again.

When will her husband return? The servants looked at her with pity as she waited endlessly with a gloomy face. They would be surprised if they knew what she was actually thinking.

“I want to do it.”

Her mind was filled with thoughts of wanting to do that with Daniel. It was strange how humans work — she didn’t have such thoughts when he was around, but now that he was gone…

“I don’t care if he’s a tyrant, I want to see him. Right now.”

What would Lenore, who had fallen ill the day after their ruined wedding night from shock, say if she saw herself now? She would probably be dumbfounded.

She didn’t care if her past self would be shocked. She just wanted him to return quickly and embrace her, even if he handled her roughly.

The longest eight days of Lenore’s life passed.

“My lady, the Count has arrived.”

As soon as the maid announced this, Lenore, who had been lying on the sofa with her hands clasped to her chest staring at the ceiling, jumped up. Running while holding her swaying skirts, she saw the familiar figure of the black-haired man.

Lenore slowed her pace, pretending she hadn’t been running, caught her breath, and stood before him.

“You’re back.”

Daniel, who had been talking with his retainer, noticed her and smiled gently.

“I was worried about how you were doing while I was away, but it seems it was needless concern.”

Daniel left after saying just that one line as he passed by her.