The area below his navel felt tightly drawn. The heat concentrated in his veins showed no signs of subsiding.

He absolutely could not stand up in this condition.

Aaron frowned while digging at his ear, which had become numb from the booming voice.

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“How can someone who never even catches a cold be unable to move? Our order exists because you’re here, Commander, and Tudra exists because our order exists. I need to check.”

“Rombon Penia.”

“…Yes.”

“If you’re going to keep making such a fuss, go pull weeds from the training ground.”

Rombon was not one to handle menial tasks that lower-ranking members should do.

As expected, his lips, which had been chattering excitedly, closed tight.

As Aaron picked up the documents again, the air in the room quickly settled.

“We need to send someone to Demre. Since we don’t know who the rat is, we need to investigate discreetly.”

“I’ll go.”

“Reddish hair, a build like a bear, a husky voice. Anyone would recognize you as the deputy commander of the Tudra Order. Do I need to announce that I sent you? Tsk!”

Rombon, who had eagerly volunteered, awkwardly scratched his head.

Aaron then rubbed his nose bridge as if pinching it and gave instructions.

“Send Kite while attention is focused on me about to get married. Have him disguise himself as a farmer and infiltrate Demre.”

“Kite is small, so he’s perfect for the job.”

“You may go now.”

Rombon, who was stretching his neck to observe whether Aaron was truly unwell, was met with unequivocal dismissal.

“Why are you being so irritating today?”

“I’m leaving.”

The pressure emanating from Aaron was as overwhelming as his handsome appearance.

Completely intimidated, Rombon quickly bowed and left the study.

Aaron leaned deeply against the chair’s backrest.

“This inner turmoil is unbearable.”

He had long been hardened to combat. Because of that, there weren’t many factors that could disturb him.

Cruelly dismembered corpses?

He could eat a meal in front of them.

Screams for mercy and the sound of blades scraping?

They were merely everyday noises to him.

But the unexpected events that had recently swept in had more than enough impact to cause disruption.

Perhaps it was predestined from the moment Lucilia entered his life…

Had it been dormant for a long time, only to explode now?

In any case, it seemed difficult to expect smooth days ahead.

* * *

On the morning of the young lord’s wedding ceremony.

The servants were busy decorating the mansion, and the Baron barely managed to rise from his sickbed to attend his son’s wedding as a witness.

Lucilia, the other protagonist of the day, heard shocking news from her husband-to-be.

“I didn’t find anything suspicious in your clothes and accessories.”

“Of course not.”

“But I haven’t examined the rosary yet, so we can’t let our guard down. You may move freely around the estate, but you must not leave my sight.”

“I’ll be more careful not to bother you, so the young lord should focus on his duties.”

“Keeping my wife in check is also my duty.”

Aaron, elegantly dressed in formal attire, took Lucilia’s hand, who was wearing a pure white dress, and placed it on his own.

His gently enclosing grip contained no trace of fierceness. He seemed to lovingly embrace his beloved on this happy day.

From a distance, it was the greatest act of pretense.

Once off stage, one must wipe away the smiling face makeup and endure the harsh reality.

Lucilia tried not to be swayed by the warmth enveloping her fingers.

There were times when she felt drawn to Aaron.

It had been that way since childhood.

She had never harbored hostility toward Aaron. Not on the day of the loyalty oath, nor on the numerous days they had accidentally met.

She had admired the young boy’s determination as he struggled to maintain his pride in front of his father, and she had simply been excited to meet him again after he had left such a favorable impression.

Despite his consistently cold attitude toward her.

Even recently, she didn’t know how confused she felt because of Aaron.

Gratitude for saving her life and his rational charm had simultaneously entered her heart.

Guilt accumulated, but contradictorily, her feelings toward Aaron grew stronger.

When he was frosty toward her, she felt upset, but when he pointed out the reality she rightfully had to endure, her negative feelings faded.

When he had seen her n*ked, she was mortified to death, but knowing Aaron must have been just as embarrassed, she decided to quickly put it behind her.

However, Aaron’s feelings seemed unchanged.

“After the ceremony, you’ll be staying in my bedroom.”

“What about my room?”

“I’ve ordered it to be closed due to management difficulties. If you’re done with questions, let’s go.”

“It’s difficult to manage?”

“I’m talking about managing you.”

“My belongings, though not many, are there.”

“If you need anything, you can bring it.”

He remained as solid and heartless as ever.

Aaron pulled Lucilia’s shoulder, embracing her as she hesitated to move.

To welcome the former saint, now an object of surveillance, as his wife.

* * *

The wedding ceremony proceeded in a solemn atmosphere. They vowed eternal love and declared that they belonged to each other.

The priest’s voice descended heavily over the altar.

“With this, the Holy Spirit, ruler of all things, has become witness to this marriage. Finally, show each other love and respect.”

Before departing for the temple, she had heard in detail from Karen about how the wedding ceremony would proceed.

The moment had come to conclude with a kiss, the highlight of the wedding.

Lucilia’s palms had become damp without her realizing.

Standing next to Aaron made her so uncomfortable that the priest’s voice bounced off rather than entering her ears.

Her heart raced with tension, and her entire body stiffened. And now they had to kiss.

Having shown her n*ked body to Aaron, a kiss shouldn’t rank high on the scale of embarrassment, but the thought of meeting his intuitive eyes made her heart pound too much.

She simply couldn’t move.

As she failed to even attempt to come closer, Aaron slightly raised his eyebrows.

She saw him turning his head. With a sharp gaze that could strip flesh, he looked directly at her and brought his face closer.

Lucilia held her breath as if submerged in deep water.

She could no longer look at Aaron.

She was terribly afraid to read his true feelings about how much he disliked contact with her.

If he not only disliked but despised her, she felt she wouldn’t be able to hide her miserable expression.

Preferring not to know, she closed her eyes and firmly sealed her lips.

Their lips overlapped as everyone watched.

Though his temperament was as cold as ice, suggesting a lack of warmth, Aaron’s skin was surprisingly hot.

And the sensation?

Though imbued with a strong energy that could be likened to being covered in crocodile skin, it was as soft as rabbit fur.

The sensation that followed was even more surprising.

As the moist, viscous skin brushed against her intimate place, heat flowers burst along her spine.

Time seemed to stop.

The sound of her heart echoed dully in her ears, and every cell in her body stood on end.

Her five senses opened more sensitively than when she was in deep communion with God.

A pleasure she had never discovered in her life tingled in strange places.

Though it was her own body, she couldn’t tell where these sensations were surging from.

Lucilia tensely tightened her thighs to prevent the strange feeling from spreading further.

But it didn’t last long, as she melted under the rich breath Aaron imprinted on her.

He sucked her tongue briefly but intensely before releasing it.

When the wedding ceremony was complete, the priest congratulated them with a benevolent smile.

“I sincerely congratulate you both on your marriage. May blessings flow from you two to Tudra.”

In contrast to the blessing-filled words, everyone who participated in the ceremony looked at Lucilia as if she were a seed of evil.

Since the wedding ceremony couldn’t be held at the mansion, she was inevitably permitted to enter the temple today. Even so, Lucilia’s identity wouldn’t change.

Whether she became the young lord’s wife or not, her ominous existence remained unchanged.

Aaron greeted the priest, temple officials, and the few guests.

No one spoke to Lucilia.

The Baron, who had attended despite his illness, didn’t even offer congratulatory applause, let alone anything else.

Lucilia nodded her head beside Aaron to convey her gratitude, then quietly stepped back.

Aaron was too busy receiving congratulations to look after her.

Her gaze, having nowhere to go, scanned the temple’s structures and decorations.

The dome-shaped ceiling and gold-hammered candlesticks.

The large statue and protruding pipes.

Then, when she casually turned her head, she saw something.

A nun adjusting her white head covering caught her eye, but in the nun’s hand was an unbelievable object.