“Lonely? You?”

The word slipped from Ilenia’s lips, her fine mouth parted in surprise. Of all people, loneliness and Delphius did not belong in the same breath. The two words could not have been further apart.

“My wife seems to fill her thoughts with everyone but me. That is why. “

“When have I ever…”

“A few weeks ago, it was numbers that occupied you.”

She had spent days poring over the ledgers that Meg had given her. She thought she was hiding it from him, but Delphius could see right through her.

She exhaled a small sigh, and his lips curved into a smile.

“Now do you understand a little of your lonely husband’s heart?”

“I was only busy with other matters at the time.”

“So you admit it.”

“But Delphius, this is—”

Delphius silenced her with a kiss, stealing the air from her lungs. He pressed his mouth so tightly against hers that she couldn’t breathe. Even when she tried to turn away, his lips still found hers. In that tight, inescapable embrace, the only sound she could hear was the wet slurp of their mingling saliva.

By the time her heart was pounding in her ears, he finally released her. He met her gaze with a petulant, mischievous stare, as if he were a sulking child who hadn’t got his own way.

“You can’t keep doing this.”

“What can’t I?”

His composure was maddening, as though he truly believed himself guilty of nothing. And perhaps, in his eyes, he was not. A husband’s show of affection for his wife—what sin could there be in that?

“You should at least give me the chance to finish speaking.”

“I am giving it to you. Now.”

“You never give me the time when I want to say something else. That’s the problem.”

“I only mean to spare you needless worries.”

“Delphius. They’re not needless—”

Ah, again! He silenced her with a kiss before she could finish speaking. Although she initially pushed him away, she soon became resigned to it.

‘Why is he so good at this?’

If only he were clumsy, she might shove him away, even kick him. But each time Delphius’s lips captured hers, her body grew warmer, slowly ignited.

And that was the problem. Even when she ought to be angry, she could not stay that way. Or rather—her anger simply dissolved.

When alone with her, Delphius often revealed a rawer side of himself. His posture remained flawless, but his expressions at times belonged to Ilenia alone.

Like now.

The molten gold of his eyes glimmered as he smiled at her — not the courteous smile he gave to the other ladies, but a more relaxed and open one. The perfect symmetry of his lips faltered, their neat lines bending. It was slightly careless, but Ilenia found she preferred it.

“Do you still want to speak?”

Of course, irritation flared up again at moments like this. He had reignited the spark that she had only just managed to extinguish, and she found him exasperating beyond belief. Instead of answering, Ilenia simply drew her knees up to her chest.

No matter how spacious a carriage is, it’s still a carriage. It went without saying how close the bodies of a man and woman who had just shared a kiss would be.

Delphius had already shut the only window. If her husband desired her so greatly, was it not her duty as a wife to yield, if only a little?

Suppressing the shame that threatened to rise, she let reckless heat take its place. Ilenia shifted, her lace-wrapped knee brushing against his *rect center.

Delphius faltered, clearly unprepared for her to take the first step. As his composure slipped away, Ilenia pressed her knee a little higher.

“…What are you doing?”

“I haven’t done anything.”

Like her husband often did, she pretended to be innocent. Her wide, guileless eyes met his, while her knee slowly pressed against his.

“Just as you’ve done nothing to me.”

At that, the fabric beneath her knee grew heavier, thicker. The more she moved, the more distinctly his arousal revealed itself.

“Ha… d*mn it, Ilenia.”

“…Should I stop?”

“No.”

A low laugh escaped him.

“Do it more. As far as you can.”

His voice rasped like claws, sending a shiver racing down her spine. Perhaps I’ve gone mad as well, she thought. How else could she explain this—offering her bared chest, pressing her knee against her husband’s manhood, here of all places, inside a carriage?

And yet, as always, Delphius’s touch only set her aflame. The more the air between them burned, the bolder her movements became. Each time she pressed against him, his scorching gaze seared into her.

She knew what he wanted. Each time he entered her, he looked at her with unrelenting hunger.

The steady rhythm of hooves striking the road faded into silence. Ilenia reached out and wound her arms around his neck. At that moment, her loosened gown slid from her shoulders, exposing her br*asts.

‘Hold me.’

Her trembling breath brushed against his ear like a whisper, and in that instant, Delphius’s restraint snapped.

He pushed aside the heavy folds of her skirt and tore at the stockings beneath until they gave way — perhaps they were torn; perhaps they weren’t.

But what did it matter? If Ilenia felt ashamed, he would lift her in his arms and shield her. If she became angry, he would calm her down with kind words and gentle touches.

All of that would come later, after he had quenched the carnal hunger boiling inside him.

In the rocking carriage, Delphius pressed a knee into her thigh as he slowly entered her.

“Ah—ahh…!”

Her ragged cry broke free, pale-gold hair shivering upward with the motion. Between their tangled, wrinkled clothes, she felt every inch of his flesh forcing its way inside.

All he had done was unbuckle his belt and lift her skirts. The frantic, almost feral way in which he sought only to satisfy his desires made him seem no different to a beast.

And yet, in this moment, there was no one else—only Ilenia and Delphius. The cramped carriage, too narrow even to straighten fully, pressed their bodies closer still.

“To take me in so easily, without preparation… If I had known my wife longed for me this much, I would have claimed you sooner.”

His entrance was rougher than usual; her tightness resisted him, but not enough to stop him. Soon, her wetness flowed steadily, lubricating the way and enveloping him completely.

The problem lay in Ilenia’s response. Usually, she only yielded to the slow build-up of heat. But here, perhaps because of the setting, she was far more sensitive, her body convulsing with every movement.

Even more unusual was the boldness she displayed, which was enough to drive Delphius to the brink of madness.

There was no room for tender questions, no does it hurt? Each time her flesh clamped down, refusing to release him, curses spilled from his lips.

“Ah—ahh, ngh…!”

He cradled her head as it struck again and again against the carriage wall, golden strands spilling through his fingers like a waterfall.

The wet slap of flesh against flesh soon drowned out the rustle of fabric. Each time the wheels jolted over rough stones, he drove into her at an odd angle, and each time, Ilenia clawed down the front of his shirt.

With every thr*st, what had once been tight and unyielding grew softer, molding around him and clinging as he withdrew. Not a single part of her failed to satisfy him.

If there was any flaw, it was only that he could not touch her skin as much as he craved.

His hips moved without pause, driving into her relentlessly as his hand raked through her tousled hair. Through the disordered strands, he saw her—his wife, undone in every sense.

The prim, composed woman he had seen that morning had disappeared. With her bodice thrown open, she resembled the Ilenia he had first seen at the banquet: overwhelmed and unable to hide the raw emotion etched into every one of her gestures.

And even now, that same unguarded emotion burned fiercely. He saw it in the waves of her pale-gold hair—his favorite shade, molten and radiant—shifting wildly with every rise and fall of her passion.

Each time his hips thr*st upward, her hands clung tighter to his arms, binding him to her. Breathless and trembling in her precarious posture, her gaze never wavered from him alone.

Moments like these filled Delphius with exultation. To see her wanting nothing but him sent his desire surging to the breaking point.

“Mm? Ilenia. Deep down, this is what you wanted too, isn’t it?”

He could not resist touching her br*asts — their full, rounded shape demanded his attention. Finally, he took them in his hands and kneaded them roughly. Even under such intense pressure, Ilenia could only gasp for breath. She did not stop him.

Her own hand pressed harder over her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sounds escaping her.

Delphius made no effort to tell her that her muffled cries were escaping freely between her fingers. This small, futile struggle; this delicate attempt to hold back; struck him as unbearably endearing.

As if to render her resistance meaningless, he forced her thighs further apart. Her hips nearly slipped from the edge of the seat as she was pulled down, swaying precariously. However, his arm easily caught and steadied her as he thr*st into her again, deeply and relentlessly.

“Ahhh…!”

Her lashes trembled, wet with tears, and her eyes were red and flushed at the corners, unable to withstand the heat.

The sight of her, undone beneath his grasp, sent his vision reeling.

He had no desire for a wife who would be held up as a paragon of virtue among noblewomen. Ilenia was his — now and always. All she needed to do was live as he wished.

He would never allow her to bow before the gaze of others. He had the wealth, the power and the means to ensure that.

He found the tiny crease between her brows whenever she concentrated achingly beautiful, and it was his alone to know.

‘My beautiful, innocent wife, Ilenia Lukehardt.’

That truth echoed in his ears, unending and absolute.