Ines, startled, pushed Carlos away forcefully and escaped from his embrace.

Clutching her half-removed clothes, she muttered, “…No, please.”

“What?”

“Please… don’t take off my clothes.”

Carlos’s brow furrowed at Ines’s sudden resistance, which was unexpected given her lack of refusal until now.

“Don’t take off your clothes…”

Carlos pondered the meaning of her words and let out a sarcastic laugh.

“Are you saying you can’t show your noble body to me?”

“No, that’s not it. I…”

Ines’s lips moved slightly. Carlos waited for her to offer some kind of explanation, but no words came out.

Ines was afraid. It wasn’t just because memories of Joseph came to mind. What terrified her most was…

‘What if he finds out?’

What if Carlos saw the scars on her back? If he realized she wasn’t the legitimate daughter of the Claudia family, then…

All sorts of ominous thoughts tormented her mind. The fact that she was an illegitimate daughter of the Claudia family was her deepest shame. Even though things had already hit rock bottom, she didn’t want to reveal any more to Carlos.

At least Carlos still thought of her as the noble Lady Claudia. He remembered her glorious past and loved her for who she was back then.

That was what mattered most to her now. She didn’t want to reveal the truth to him, even if it meant facing a sword at her throat.

Ines bit her lip. Although it was a future that hadn’t happened yet, just imagining it made her body tremble. Watching her, Carlos gritted his teeth.

He took her silence as confirmation. He assumed she didn’t want to show her body because of her lowly status.

Ines trembled like a prey animal facing a predator. She didn’t look like she was with her husband or someone she loved.

Seeing her like that, Carlos clenched his fists. The hot blood in his veins turned cold in an instant. He was angry at himself for being so excited, thinking he had returned to their childhood when they kissed.

A mix of complex emotions crossed the man’s face as he looked down at Ines. Sadness, hurt, resentment, despair—all these negative feelings weighed heavily on his heart.

His voice, now colder, broke the heavy silence.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Carlos gritted his teeth as he continued.

“Is it horrible for you when I touch you?”

Carlos grabbed her shoulders with both hands.

“No, it’s not that…”

Ines’s lips moved as she tried to explain. But before she could say anything, Carlos seemed to have already come to his own conclusion.

“Ah, I see. Unlike my noble brother, you don’t want to be with someone as dirty as me, is that it?”

That wasn’t it.

She needed to say it wasn’t true, but for some reason, her lips wouldn’t move.

“Carlos, I…”

Just as Ines managed to speak, Carlos pushed her away, as if he no longer found it worth listening to her.

Carlos climbed on top of Ines, who lay helplessly on the bed.

“But what can we do? We’re already married.”

Carlos placed his hands on either side of Ines and lowered his head.

“Yes, I’m a lowborn. Even if I became a king, the stain of having a lowly mother won’t disappear. Just as the fact that you are the legitimate daughter of the noble Claudia family doesn’t change, even if your family is ruined.”

There was a trace of bitterness on Carlos’s face as he spoke.

“A lowborn like me shouldn’t dare to see the body of someone so noble. I understand, you don’t need to undress. But instead…”

Carlos, positioned between her legs, spread them apart.

“You’ll have to take me.”

Something hot pressed against her tightly closed flesh.

“I’ll fulfill my duty like a stud.”

With those words, the tip of him forced its way inside her. No, to be precise, it pierced through.

“Aaah!”

A painful scream escaped from Ines’s lips. It didn’t sound human. It felt like a giant beast was invading her body.

If he hadn’t caressed her earlier, she would have surely torn. Or perhaps she was already torn.

“Ugh.”

Carlos gritted his teeth as well, finding the inside tighter than he expected. As soon as he entered, the soft flesh clung to him, making him feel as if he would melt.

How many times did he slowly pull out and push back in? Carlos cursed under his breath as his thrusts began to quicken.

“P-please, slowly… ugh!”

Ines pleaded with him, hoping he would move more gently, even if not as tenderly as during their earlier kiss.

It felt like a pillar of fire was crashing down inside her to break her.

The lessons about intimacy between men and women she had received during her bridal training had not prepared her for this.

“Ca-Carlos… please…!”

She begged the unresponsive man once more, but it was useless. Carlos was already half lost in his own world.

He continued to thrust relentlessly, as if he couldn’t hear her at all.

The sound of flesh slapping against flesh filled the air.

It felt like she might pass out. Tears streamed down Ines’s cheeks uncontrollably.

It hurt so much.

Finally, with trembling hands, Ines pushed against Carlos’s chest. It was a desperate struggle for survival.

“P-please, stop…”

Just as she was about to beg him to let her go, her fingers brushed against thick scars beneath his skin.

Only then did she notice the large and small scars all over his body, marks from swords and arrows.

Seeing them, Ines’s mind froze for a moment. She realized why those scars existed.

‘Because of me…’

They were wounds he had received because of her and her family. While sharp blades cut and pierced his body countless times, she had lived in comfort and luxury.

It must have been excruciating. For a young man who had never wielded a sword, it must have been overwhelming.

‘And yet, here I am…’

She felt pathetic for complaining about something that was a normal duty for any married couple. Resolute, Ines closed her eyes.

She gritted her teeth and began to endure the pain.

“Ugh. Hnn.”

The only sounds were her muffled groans and the creaking of the bed.

Carlos leaned down again, thrusting strongly. As he moved without pause, he whispered in her ear.

“Ah!”

“Ines, how do I compare? You’ve been with my brother too, so you should know.”

His once-polite speech had turned crude.

“Who do you think is better?”

“I… ah.”

She had never been with Joseph. The day he tried to force himself on her, he recoiled upon learning her status.

It was the first time she felt grateful that her illegitimacy had been discovered. Knowing Joseph’s obsessive hatred for illegitimate children, he wouldn’t have touched her.

Had he not known, she would have had to lock her door every night.

But Carlos didn’t seem to think so. She was aware of the rumors. They had spread so widely that even she had heard them—rumors not just about Joseph, but about her being with other men as well.

Still, they were just rumors. Yet, Carlos, unaware of the truth, might have assumed she and Joseph had been intimate. Ines spoke through ragged breaths.

“I didn’t, with Joseph…”

She began to explain that she’d never been with him. But as soon as Joseph’s name left her lips,

“Ah!”

Carlos drove into her forcefully, reaching the entrance of her womb. The impact was far more intense than anything before.

“Hmm? What about Joseph?”

His voice was more than just cold; it was chilling. Terrified by his demeanor, Ines finally fell silent.

Carlos questioned Ines relentlessly, as if interrogating her.

“You mentioned my brother’s name. Why, do you miss him? Are you upset that it’s not my noble brother rolling around with you, but someone lowly like me?”

“Haah, ugh!”

Thick beads of sweat dripped onto Ines’s body. His movements grew increasingly rough.

He kept pushing without giving her a chance to answer, all while bombarding her with questions. She couldn’t understand what Carlos wanted from her.

It just hurt so much. Yet, she felt as if something was about to happen. A tingling, dizzying sensation… something indescribable seemed ready to overwhelm her.

The sound of their panting grew louder. The wet slapping of flesh and the creaking of wood echoed intensely.

As he lay over her, he wrapped his arms tightly around Ines.

“Ugh.”

“Aah…!”

Their bodies pressed together without a gap, and a hot sensation spread inside Ines. Her body trembled as if in convulsions.

It was a completely different level from the climax she felt when Carlos touched her chest and slipped his fingers below.

“Ha…”

Carlos moved as if he had expelled everything he had built up.

She felt something slide out of her body—a sensation of emptiness where once there was fullness.

Though there was a painful sense of emptiness, the chilling pleasure lingered. A mixture of white fluid and occasional streaks of red trickled out from below.

Carlos wiped his sweat with the back of his hand, a twisted smile on his lips.

He traced his fingers through the mixture and murmured.

“This makes it seem like you’re a virgin.”

Whether it was fortunate or not, Ines, dazed and out of it, didn’t fully register his whisper. In the relief of it all being over, she simply stared blankly into space.

Then, Carlos pulled one of Ines’s legs down.

Without hesitation, he spread her legs apart again.

“Ca-Carlos…?”

A surprised Ines lifted her head. Positioned between her legs once more, he murmured lowly.

“We’re not done yet.”

With those words, he pushed forward again.

With a sharp scream, Ines’s body began to rock up and down.

Their night was far from over.