Chapter 4

The duchy in the north took a full three days by carriage to reach. A sharp wind bit at her skin the moment they arrived.

As Rabiana stepped down, her foot sank deep into the softly piled snow. Startled, she stumbled—but Alberto caught her hand. She offered a quiet word of thanks and tried to pull away, but he held on and continued walking.

From then on, the head maid began guiding Rabiana and led her up the steps.

Once inside her room, maids swarmed in to help her bathe and change. Only after they were done did Rabiana finally find herself alone.

With a weary groan, she collapsed onto the bed. Days of tension had drained her completely. Pulling the soft blanket over her, she closed her eyes.

Was it night already?

She vaguely recalled one of the maids saying, “Please rest well, My Lady,” before leaving. Perhaps it had only been a polite gesture to welcome her, not an indication of time. Her sightless vision wasn’t entirely black—maybe the lights in the mansion were on. She didn’t know. It didn’t matter much whether it was day or night.

She only hoped it wasn’t night. Night meant she’d have to brace herself again.

“I’ll just sleep for now…”

Rabiana buried her face in the pillow.

***

When she woke from a light doze, the room was silent. Her body ached slightly as she reached out—only for her hand to strike something solid.

Her body tensed instantly.

She’d touched a person. There was definitely someone else in the bed that had been empty before.

“It’s me.”

The moment Alberto’s voice reached her, some of the tension drained from her body. He was still unfamiliar, a stranger—but some part of her trusted that he wouldn’t harm her.

“Ah… okay.”

“You must have been very tired.”

“Probably… It was my first time traveling so far.”

“I’m sorry.”

The sudden apology caught Rabiana off guard, and she blankly turned her head toward the sound. Alberto’s silhouette shimmered faintly in the darkness.

“I could’ve let you spend a day at your family’s residence, but the schedule was urgent, and we had no choice but to come straight here. I’m apologizing because you had to endure that because of me.”

Ah. So this was what Alberto had meant earlier—showing proper courtesy. Rabiana gave a small nod.

“I’m fine. Were you able to take care of everything?”

“Thanks to my wife.”

Though the title wife still felt awkward, Rabiana let go of any unnecessary resentment. It was just a word. A matter of etiquette. When she tried to sit up, a large hand gently pressed the blanket over her.

“Please stay lying down. Even if you get up now, you’ll just end up lying back down again.”

“What? Why?”

“Because tonight is our first night after marriage.”

They’d slept in the carriage the past few days. They could have stayed at an inn, but the carriage never stopped. Rabiana hadn’t complained. The fact that Alberto hadn’t abandoned her on the roadside was something she already felt grateful for.

First night.

That phrase could only mean one thing.

“Do you drink?”

She heard Alberto move, followed by the sound of a chair being pulled out.

The tension that came with the phrase first night made Rabiana freeze. A clear, gentle sound of wine being poured followed. She swallowed hard and replied,

“A little… I can drink a little.”

“Surprising.”

Alberto approached again, gently helping Rabiana sit up and guiding a glass into her hand.

“You’ll want to drink this.”

“…”

“It’ll make the pain a little easier.”

Alberto tilted his head back and drained his glass. Clink. He set it down on the table and waited for Rabiana.

After a brief hesitation, she shut her eyes tightly and drank. The sharp scent of alcohol spread across her tongue.

Alberto clasped Rabiana’s hands together and filled her glass once more.

She tried her best to keep her fingers from trembling. It had been so long since anyone but Lawrence had touched her.

Those large, firm fingers—callused no doubt from hours of sword or pen—felt entirely foreign.

So did their steady warmth, holding her in place when she would much rather have pulled away.

Rabiana drained the second glass in a single breath.

After several rounds the liquor dulled her limbs, each swallow making her feel as though her thoughts lagged behind her body.

Enough, she told herself, sensing she could take no more.

Handing the empty glass back to Alberto, she lay on the bed, straight as a board, hands folded over her abdomen, eyes fixed on the dark ceiling she could not see.

Her heart hammered.

She felt the mattress dip a few moments later.

A solid-heavy presence settled beside her; only their legs touched, yet the weight of him stole her breath.

She fidgeted, fingers curling in the sheets.

A gaze swept over her—she could feel it, tracing every line—but nothing else happened.

Bewildered by the wait, Rabiana thought suddenly: Perhaps he finds the sight of me unpleasant.

A chill ran through her blood. Still, rather than reveal her unease, she rolled onto her side, presenting her back.

“…If my face bothers you,” she whispered, “I can stay like this—”

“That’s not it,” came Alberto’s voice, pitched lower than before.

He laid her onto her back again and gently cupped her chin.

A hint of pressure pried her lips apart; the rough pad of his thumb grazed her mouth.

Rabiana tensed—ticklish, strange, meltingly soft.

Alberto’s breath mingled with hers as his nose brushed her cheek.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

Alberto tilted his head…but suddenly froze.

“Have we met before?” he asked, almost urgent.

“P-pardon?”

Met before?

Rabiana’s mind raced. Since losing her sight she’d hardly left the estate.

Surely she’d never encountered him—she was certain of it.

Yet Alberto sounded…desperate.

Even blind, she could hear the tremor in his voice.

Rabiana raised her hand. Her fingertips touched a firm bone. Fearing she might be pushed away, she traced along his jawline and touched his cheekbone.

Alberto merely twitched the muscles around his mouth at the sudden contact. He let Rabiana do as she pleased.

Unbeknownst to her, Alberto’s expression subtly shifted at that moment. For some reason, she didn’t feel entirely unfamiliar to him.

When Rabiana touched his nose, then used her other hand to feel around his eyelids and gently brushed his lips, Alberto’s lower body had already stiffened. Though her fingers were simply tracing his face, they aroused a certain desire.

As her careful hand swept down his face, he grew tense with anticipation about where she might touch next. Along with that tension came an inexplicable sense of expectation.

Alberto let out a short breath. Unaware of his condition, the woman slightly parted her lips.

“You resemble someone I know.”

“…”

“Someone very kind and gentle… But he left me long ago. He wasn’t even a noble. So I suppose we’ve never met.”

Alberto grabbed her hand and pulled it down. He pressed both her hands to the bed in one spot, causing Rabiana’s body to flinch.

Alberto felt sick.

While he was wondering if this blind woman could be part of his empty past, she had been thinking of another man as she touched him.

Honestly, he hadn’t cared whom she thought of during this act. After all, this night was nothing but an obligation.

Rationally, that’s what he told himself—yet his emotions said otherwise.

“May I touch your face once more?”

“Why? I must really look like that man you knew, huh?”

The sarcasm toward this inconsiderate woman likely stemmed from a sense of being disregarded. Regardless, he was her husband, and she was his wife. If there were past attachments, she should cut them off herself. What was she doing?

“Yes. You resemble him… just like someone I know.”

Alberto twisted his lips into a smirk.

“There’s no way that’s possible. This is the first time I’ve embraced a blind woman.”

Rabiana’s body stiffened as she tried to pull her hand away.

“For a moment, I forgot. I forgot that you’re blind.”

“…”

“It seems you have quite a common face, My Lady. I must have confused you with someone else—just as you confused me.”