SGC 20

CHAPTER 20

Translator: Rae

***

While she could only stare at him blankly, Edmund set down his glass and rose from his seat.

Taking unhurried steps, he approached at a pace neither fast nor slow and stopped beside Rozella.

As the maids tactfully withdrew, Rozella came to her senses at last and belatedly opened her mouth.

“Your Grace. Y…you’ve come?”

Edmund answered with a faint curve of his lips, and in his eyes was reflected Rozella’s tense face.

Her damp hair and flushed cheeks, her youthful skin bare of any cosmetics, and the golden eyes that always shimmered with tangled emotions whenever they looked at him.

After regarding each of these as though savoring them one by one, Edmund spoke calmly.

“You may leave now.”

His gentle command was directed at the maids standing behind Rozella.

The maids bowed politely and turned away, and their head maid offered a good night on their behalf.

“Your Grace the Duke and the Duchess. May you be granted a beautiful first night under God’s providence.”

With the head maid in the lead, they departed the bedchamber all at once, and soon the room fell utterly silent without the faintest noise. They were left alone in the bedroom, which had been carefully adorned for their wedding night.

Thud, her heart began to race. Rozella shifted her gaze awkwardly. Her shoulders, already stiff, tensed even further.

"You can relax now." 

Unlike Rozella, who was painfully conscious of the situation, not the slightest trace of agitation could be seen in him.

Unlike Rosella, who was overly conscious of this situation, there was no sign of any agitation on him. 

“The ceremony and the reception both ended without trouble.”

“Ah, yes…”

“You worked hard, Rose.”

Rozella, who had been listening blankly, cleared her throat belatedly.

“No. I hardly did anything. It must have been far more tiring for you, Your Grace.”

“Then since we both worked hard, we should congratulate ourselves.”

Stepping toward the table, he drew an empty glass before him. As he poured wine into the crystal glass, his back somehow seemed broader and more manly than when he wore his uniform or formal attire.

The satin robe draped over his wide shoulders made one unconsciously imagine the solid body beneath. In that moment, one could truly feel that he was a soldier who had endured numerous wars along the frontier.

Nearly losing herself again, Rozella hurriedly concealed her improper gaze.

Shortly after, Edmund handed her a crystal glass filled halfway. The candlelight upon the candelabrum tinted his handsome features with a soft crimson glow.

"Thank you." 

When Rozella accepted the glass, Edmund lightly tapped his own against hers. Clink, with a clear chime, the red wine rippled faintly.

Perhaps a little alcohol would ease her tension. Thinking so, she tilted the glass, and the wine that slid down her throat left a hot, bitter taste upon her tongue.

Deep into the night, the pendulum clock was nearing midnight.

“Your hair is still damp.”

As Rozella idly clasped her half-finished glass, Edmund suddenly reached out. Like dust settling, his careful touch gently stroked the ends of her wet hair.

Startled by the sudden closeness, Rozella faltered in her reply.

“Ah… It’s all right. If I sit still, it will dry soon enough.”

However, Edmund placed a hand on her shoulder and gently stopped her.

"Sit down there. I'll dry it for you." 

Picking up a dry towel left by the maids, Edmund gestured toward the velvet chair. Nudged by his soft insistence, Rozella found herself seated before she knew it, her lips parting anxiously.

“Your Grace, you don’t have to do this. Really.”

“Do you dislike me touching you?”

He asked quietly while bringing the towel to the ends of her red hair.

Rozella’s eyes widened, and she shook her head vehemently in denial.

“N-not at all! That’s not what I meant. I swear!”

Turning her head in haste, Rozella looked straight up at him without averting her gaze as she usually did.

There had never been a single moment when she disliked his touch. Not in the past, and not now.

It was only that receiving such undeserved kindness from him felt presumptuous…

For some reason, Edmund’s expression grew subtly complicated as he looked down into her transparently shining eyes. Lowering his eyelids halfway and averting her gaze, he did not respond for a moment.

As if lost in thought, or recalling a long-forgotten memory, he stared blankly into the air before soon returning to his usual calm expression.

“Then stay still. I’m the one who dismissed the maids, so the duties they didn’t finish fall to me as well.”

Having given a reason she could not refute, he continued to carefully dry Rozella’s wet hair.

Rozella, who kept opening and closing her lips as if sitting on thorns, had no choice but to turn her head away.

The sound of soft fabric rubbing filled her ears clearly. Whenever his touch brushed her nape, her breath was swallowed without her realizing it.

Forcing her gaze toward the window, Rozella stared vacantly at the floor soaked in moonlight.

After some time had passed, when she suddenly felt his hand lightly grasp her hair, Rozella softly let out the breath she had been holding.

Her flowing hair slid down his large fingers like golden thread. Though no moisture remained, Edmund apparently did not withdraw his hand.

"...Your Grace?" 

Rozella asked in confusion while gripping her glass tightly. No answer came from him. Feeling a chill on her exposed nape, she steadied her breathing once more.

That was when his firm fingertips touched her tense skin. Flinching, Rozella’s eyes widened as her shoulders trembled.

As if tracing a path, his fingers slid down her pale skin. Soon, a low voice fell like a murmur to himself. 

“Come to think of it, I think we need some evidence.”

His voice, speaking words she could not understand, was calm. Feeling her fine hairs stand on end, Rozella asked.

"Evidence...?" 

Chuckling softly, Edmund lightly rubbed the place where her pulse beat. Rozella’s eyelids fluttered, and she opened her eyes wide at his next words.

“Evidence that we spent our first night together.”

As she repeated his words over and over in her mind, her heartbeat grew uncontrollably fierce. While Rozella moved her lips meaninglessly, his gentle voice continued.

“You know it too. People are watching this marriage.”

“We need to live up to their expectations. In one way or another.”

Though she tried to focus on the words falling clearly into her ears, Rozella’s attention kept slipping. It was because his fingertips touched the strap of her negligee. The hand slowly caressing it was warm.

“It’s best to prevent suspicion as much as possible.”

The man’s presence behind her drew closer, as if enclosing her. Rozella lightly moistened her dry lips. She wanted to turn around, but her head would not move, like a wooden doll.

Instead, she barely parted her lips and let out a clumsy, stammering voice.

“Then… wh-what should I do?”

She was afraid because she could not see what expression the man behind her was wearing. But as always, his calm voice in her ear slowly drove her fear away.

“There’s no need to be that afraid, Rose.”

The hand stroking across her pale nape was soft and gentle.

“We just need to leave a few marks.”

Gathering her red hair in his hand and caressing it, he quietly lowered his head. His breath drew close to her sensitively raised skin.

As if waiting for her permission, he did not close the distance any further. Feeling her throat burn dry, Rozella tightly shut her eyes, then opened them again.

His scent, which resembled grass and wood, suddenly wrapped around her nose. It was his own fragrance, like a summer forest she remembered.

As if bewitched by the scent, Rozella nodded blankly. Receiving that small signal, Edmund did not hesitate and pressed his lips to her nape.

After lightly kissing it, he firmly sucked at her warm skin. When a sharp sensation marked her with a bruise, Rozella tightly clenched their joined hands.

“Ngh…”

At the same time, his warm fingers slipped beneath the thin strap of her negligee. Pushing it aside, Edmund kissed her pale shoulder audibly and left another reddish mark.

***

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