Misfortune 83

Chapter 83

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But there was nothing else he could do. By the time he came to his senses, it was already too late.

Throughout the funeral, this woman never left the back of his mind, and while listening to the archbishop's sermon, he was secretly indulging in dirty fantasies of defiling her soft, white body.

He wasn't entirely unaffected by the sense of guilt that came with his uncontrollable desires, but he didn't exactly see it as a problem either.

After all, this woman was his slave. He could take her as much as he wanted.

But Roan no longer rushed toward the woman. Despite the heat in his lower body that refused to subside even after he had already climaxed once.

It wasn't that he was suddenly disappointed in himself for acting like an animal, mindlessly clinging to the woman.

Rather, it was the woman’s face, which looked dazed as if lost in deep thought, that kept irritating him.

“What’s wrong?”

"Huh?"

The woman asked in surprise. Her eyes, which had been half-closed in a daze just moments ago, widened again, which was quite a sight to behold.

“You seem to be lost in thought.”

"Um, well..."

Judging by her reaction, there seemed to be something going on.

But the woman hesitated, unable to speak immediately, which was frustrating.

“Hurry up.”

He urged her, thinking he would just swallow her trembling lips if she didn’t speak.

To be honest, he was confident he could devour her regardless of whether she was thinking about something else or not. So this patience was entirely for her sake.

As if she had somehow read his true intentions, the woman stopped hesitating and slowly opened her mouth.

“Actually, my mother is ill, so…”

The woman’s voice trailed off, completely fading away. It seemed less like she had nothing more to say and more like she had swallowed the rest of her words.

And Roan could easily guess what those swallowed words might be.

“She’s unwell………....”

As the image of the stern, cold-eyed noblewoman who had looked down on him flashed through his mind, a deep wrinkle formed between Roan’s eyebrows.

Marian was one of the people who disapproved of the siblings entrusted to Belfort Castle.

There was no memory of a proper conversation between them. She had merely made it clear with her icy gaze that they were unwelcome at every moment.

Still, Roan felt no great hatred toward Marian.

After all, it was the Count of Eperne who had killed his parents, and it was Delnia who had caused his sister's death.

Their lives had been too harsh to take a mere cold attitude as a real threat. There were many adults at the prestigious Belfort Castle who had rejected the young siblings.

But regardless of his feelings, Marian was also an Eperne. In fact, she could be considered the true owner.

Therefore, Roan never felt the slightest pity for her. Even when he brought down Eperne, he never harbored the slightest sense of guilt toward her.

So even if Marian were now gravely ill, it would hardly stir any emotion in him. Her condition was entirely irrelevant to him.

But this woman was different.

Whether she was present or not, she constantly tugged at his nerves.

With her mother ill, could this woman possibly sleep properly? Could she even eat?

Thinking of her gaunt figure, like a ghost blurring his vision, he already felt something welling up inside him.

Without even realizing it, his face had hardened into a terrifying expression. She couldn't hide her anxiety and fidgeted, her soft thigh brushing against his lower body.

Even though that was all it was, he could no longer continue his thoughts. He was truly mad, but that was how it was.

“Go ahead.”

Driven by the desire surging through his body, Roan opened his lips, which had briefly touched a self-deprecating smile.

Her face suddenly lit up.

Roan couldn’t take his eyes off her, frozen in place. Even though it was late at night, he felt a momentary illusion that the world before him had suddenly brightened.

And he realized something. He had never seen her smile so brightly before.

Could she be the kind of woman who could smile like that?

But upon reflection, she had never been stingy with her emotions in her youth. Her true feelings were so transparent that it was hard to look away.

After seeing that face countless times in the past, he hadn’t seen it since. It was only natural.

He was the one who had stolen her smile.

Now, the smile she managed to muster was nothing more than a faint curve at the corners of her mouth. And even that was mostly directed at Leticia or others.

Of course, it didn't matter. After all, he had wanted to make this woman cry, hadn't he?

Since they had become intimate, the woman had become even better at crying. There were many memories of him being satisfied with those tears.

But why did he suddenly feel so empty?

As if the time he believed he had completely possessed this woman was nothing more than a fleeting mirage...

“Really?”

Just as a strange sense of unease was about to ignite, she gripped his arm tightly and asked earnestly. Like others who couldn’t easily believe the miracle that had happened to her.

Watching the woman insistently demand an answer, the turmoil in his mind suddenly subsided. The trembling that had made his feet feel unsteady had also ceased entirely.

He stared intently at the slender wrist clinging to him, then released her hand and pressed his lips to it.

"Yes."

His affirmative answer spread across her palm along with his hot breath.

A smile reappeared on the woman's flushed cheeks, as if to confirm that he had made the right decision.

At the same time, he thought it might not be a bad idea to pay a little more attention to this woman in the future.

Of course, his attention was already focused on her without regard to time or place, but he wanted to pay attention to her in a different way.

He didn't quite know what that direction was, though.

For now, he simply wanted to be less harsh toward her. That was all.

However, he didn't have the leisure to think about the specific methods just yet, so after letting go of her hand, he gently grabbed her soft thigh and spoke softly.

“Instead, from now on, you’ll have to satisfy me fully.”

***

Was this really the attitude of someone who was sending her away?

Delnia, lying sprawled on the sunlit bed, pondered the discrepancy between Roan’s words and actions from the previous night.

Last night, he had attacked her as if he were going to devour her whole. She began to seriously doubt whether his words, “Go ahead and leave,” meant that she should actually go if she could.

Thanks to that, Delnia, who had been tormented all night, was still unable to get out of bed.

What was even more frustrating was that the man who had so passionately devoured her was out for his morning exercise as if nothing had happened.

Feeling unfairly treated, Delnia forced herself to get out of bed, her body feeling as heavy as lead.

As the blanket slipped off, her naked body was exposed. The white sunlight streaming through the window fell directly on her skin, highlighting the traces of the previous night.

Both the exposed and hidden parts were covered in red marks, making it easy for anyone who saw her to assume she had been mistreated.

But was that really the case?

Suddenly struck by doubt, Delnia stared blankly at her own body.

Though she knew little about such matters, she could still tell. She was not being treated carelessly.

She had vaguely assumed it would be painful and distressing. For Delnia, this was ultimately part of her atonement.

To some extent, it was true. The sensation of being invaded in places she didn't even know existed within her was something she still couldn't put into words.

The excruciating pain that felt like it was piercing her entire body, and the moments when she felt like crying for no apparent reason, were the same.

But it wasn’t always like that.

The gentle touch of hands wiping her body beyond her fainting consciousness. Or the expression on his face when he placed a small piece of bread into her mouth, unable to move even a finger.

There were certainly moments when a fleeting warmth lingered, causing a momentary illusion.

But she did not assign any meaning to those fleeting moments of warmth. She did not even try to think deeply about them.

After all, it wouldn’t have meant anything anyway.

Delnia already knew from countless experiences that it wasn’t his cruelty or harshness that had broken her.

It was the tender moments he let slip without even realizing it, the moments that helplessly dragged her back into the past, that had always tripped her up and caused her to fall.

Therefore, she let everything that touched her simply flow away without meaning. That way, she could endure the man who could become harsh at any moment.

‘It was definitely like that………’

***