Far from getting sick after eating venison, Aaron had never had any issues with specific foods.

He could digest all foods easily.

Come to think of it, he had harbored similar hostility not only toward the duke but also toward Raphad, the holy knight who had protected Lucilia.

After reflecting on the changes in his behavior, Aaron concluded that he couldn’t stand seeing men buzzing around Lucilia like flies.

Having already taken her as his wife, he felt frustrated about what more he should do.

If he showed possessiveness, wouldn’t it only make her feel oppressed?

She must have already been surprised by his sudden kiss.

He needed to sort out his feelings.

Aaron pushed the plate toward her.

“It’s time for the meeting, so I must go now. Please eat at your leisure.”

As she tried to see him off, he seated her back in the chair and avoided her questioning gaze.

His mind was troubled, and he was inexplicably annoyed with her, making it impossible to face her innocent eyes.

* * *

“Did I see wrong… He seemed angry about something.”

He was nothing like the man who had been showering her with passionate kisses.

“He’s truly impossible to figure out.”

Sometimes he seemed to see her as a woman, then turned cold as if flipping his palm.

He appeared to express affection, then distanced himself as if he disliked being close.

His ambiguous attitude confused her and ultimately led her to consider negative possibilities.

“Though he doesn’t show it, he might still feel uncomfortable.”

She wasn’t unaware of her husband’s feelings, having been forced to take her in.

No matter how much he proclaimed that his wife wasn’t an ill omen, being influenced by the surrounding environment would naturally sow seeds of distrust.

Aaron’s reputation had been tarnished by being lumped together in this unjust marriage.

With war imminent, he might inwardly be wary of her presence.

Still, she couldn’t abandon her duties and return to the territory.

To read the Mrangel leader’s thoughts, she needed perfect harmony with Aaron. Even if she were to return eventually, she needed to fulfill the mission assigned to her.

The rift between them couldn’t be allowed to deepen any further.

‘I must talk with him today.’

* * *

Aaron returned to the tent even later than yesterday.

The fact that he avoided her bedtime made it clear he was reluctant to face her.

Lucilia, sitting beyond the partition, felt equally heavy-hearted.

Still, having gathered her courage, she intended to remove the wall between her and Aaron.

Lucilia grabbed the partition and spoke.

“Um… I’d like to talk.”

“About what?”

“Well… about earlier today.”

“It’s not related to the battle, is it? If you have business, address it after we return to the territory.”

‘Are you really doing this?’

Complaints rose to her throat.

His iron wall transformed her courage into defiance.

Lucilia swiftly pulled the partition aside.

Aaron, who was drying his wet body with his upper body fully exposed, turned his head indifferently.

The scent of pania flowers emanating from him made her already racing heart pound uncontrollably.

Hoping to resolve their uncomfortable relationship today, she attempted conversation.

“I know everyone treats me like a criminal.”

“…”

“So you must find me suspicious and dreadful too. I understand it all.”

“What exactly do you understand?”

Suppressed by his suddenly sharp demeanor, Lucilia lowered her eyes and steadied her shaky breathing.

Determined not to let things slide ambiguously again, whether he struck her down or not, she poured out her thoughts.

“You’ve had to endure rumors associated with me. I thought you might feel wronged that I blocked your path when you could have been advancing smoothly.”

“Since rebuilding my family, I’ve devoted my life to accumulating achievements. The current reputation is also something I earned through my own strength. If you thought you blocked my path, you seem to have overestimated yourself.”

His determination to continue forging ahead with his own strength was prominent. It also meant that Lucilia couldn’t significantly influence him.

If so, he shouldn’t mind her being by his side as his wife, yet the fluctuations in his emotions remained puzzling.

She was unbearably curious about Aaron’s current psychological state and how he defined his feelings toward her.

Suddenly, all her accumulated grievances swelled like a snowball.

She unconsciously poured out her innermost feelings.

“Then why don’t you spend the night with me?”

While Aaron drew a sharp breath, surprised by her blunt words, Lucilia tensed like a prisoner awaiting a death sentence.

Imagining a heavy rock falling on her head, she curled up before gritting her teeth.
He had clearly expressed physical desire.

He had shown jealousy-like emotions and showered her with kisses.

If he wanted to, he could have joined their flesh at any time.

Then wouldn’t spending a night together be possible?

It suddenly occurred to her that perhaps he couldn’t easily give his heart because she had been a saint, not a seductress.

Would he take her hand if she extended it first?

She needed to step closer to remove the cobwebs entangled in Aaron’s heart.

“Please hold me… tonight.”

“Do you even know what you’re saying?”

Though she hadn’t quickly grasped his true meaning, she knew it was strange that they still hadn’t consummated their marriage, which should have happened on their wedding night.

As she remained motionless, as if refusing to back down, he sighed.

“This is a battlefield. It means I must be ready to ride at any moment in case of emergency.”

This was an even stranger excuse.

She had no intention of rolling around for days on end. Nor was he someone who would stay if she held him back.

If an emergency arose, he could just ride away on horseback—what was the problem?

She admitted that having spent most of her life in a convent, she was unfamiliar with worldly matters.

But even so, she understood basic instincts like eating when hungry and fleeing when in danger.

“I know that. I didn’t follow you here for a leisurely tour. As I mentioned before, men even bring mistresses to satisfy their desires, so I thought you could spare that much time.”

“Haa… you’re quite frustrating.”

He brushed back his damp hair. Droplets of water fell from the strands clinging to his head.

Beads of water glistened along the contours of his defined muscles.

Lucilia stared at the floor, trying not to look at his body.

To Aaron’s eyes, she appeared to have lost her will to fight.

The more they argued, the more it was he who couldn’t resist temptation.

The duke had already ruined his day. More precisely, he was angry at his wife for being close to the duke.

He had pondered countless times whether she would become his if he entered her deeply and left his mark, whether he could possess her completely.

Whenever these thoughts led to specific scenes, he felt self-deprecating at the tightening sensation.

She was his wife; he could rightfully take her.

If not for the discomfort lodged in his solar plexus, he would have done so.

But the scars of his arduous past had accumulated like sediment, preventing him from focusing solely on her.

Her existence was a cruel tool that made him face his inferiority.

Lucilia was a sacred being, while he was mere chaff.

He had struggled not to be blown away by the wind and had to prove his usefulness to fill his grain.

And that wasn’t all.

The *buse and humiliation he had received from Marquis Teneri still boiled in his chest.

If he were to embrace her…

It felt as if all his efforts and difficult processes would become nothing because of that woman.

It seemed as if the l*st he hadn’t been aware of would swell uncontrollably and look down on him arrogantly.

‘That’s just like you.’

‘Just admit it. You want to be a noble hero, but that’s your limit.’

‘Self-esteem? Pride?’

‘Try getting intoxicated with a woman’s body. See if you have the mind to care about such things.’

Aaron shook his head slightly as it spun.

“Go to sleep now.”

“If you tell me to ride, I’ll ride; if you tell me to run, I’ll run.”

“So.”

Aaron, who was about to half-turn away, bit his lower lip irritably.

He was barely enduring, and Lucilia’s constant temptation was becoming not just vexing but hateful.

He suddenly stepped forward.

Though it was just one step, his unrestrained movement was evident.

Then he grabbed Lucilia’s chin. Her gaze naturally lifted.

“Are you saying you want to consummate our marriage tonight?”

“…Yes.”

She had only meant to ask why he wouldn’t be intimate with her, but overwhelmed by his fierce demeanor, she hastily answered.

If she could consummate their marriage while she was at it, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

She had long abandoned the honor of living as a saint and the marquis’s daughter.

She had nearly been executed after being accused of being a seductress. If her husband didn’t accept her, she might be captured again someday.

Even for survival, she needed to fully enter Aaron’s circle.

“When you didn’t treat me as your wife, everyone whispered. That I would eventually be abandoned, that I would be executed.”

As she spoke with a tearful voice, he took another step closer.