The eyes that gazed at each other wavered intensely.
Though they knew each other well, they could not easily draw close, like facing a being that was far too unfamiliar.
Aeplin in a form different from before.
A white negligee, vermilion hair let down to her waist, a white face, and features in harmony with it all.
Even the candlelight illuminating her softly was perfect.
She looked like a saint awaiting an oracle.
‘A saint is not to my taste, though.’
Though he spoke of taste inwardly, his steps did not stop.
It was because he had received a bride more satisfying than anything.
He walked without a single misstep, filled a crystal glass with red wine, and handed it to Aeplin first.
“Thank you.”
They followed the usual procedure of the first night in order.
When the glasses touched, a clear ringing sound echoed, and then they savored the wine while gazing at each other.
It was, so to speak, a way of building up the process so that tension would ease and the acts to follow could proceed smoothly.
But it is precisely at times like this that unexpected situations tend to occur.
As Lucent looked at Aeplin, he felt the taut thread of his reason gradually loosening.
They had married out of necessity, and had agreed to sufficiently satisfy each other’s conditions, and yet a soft, tender feeling wrapped around his entire body for no reason.
‘Do not stray from the path.’
Lucent corrected his faltering resolve and set down his glass.
“Let’s take off our clothes, Aeplin.”
Inside the married couple’s bedroom, he no longer used polite speech.
“Pardon?”
Before she could even be startled by the bewilderment, Lucent was about to untie the cord of his night robe.
“Just a moment!”
“Hm?”
His eyebrow arched sharply to one side.
Only then did Aeplin keenly realize the reality that had befallen her.
The words he had spoken at the time of the deal fell upon her mind like a thunderbolt.
‘Three or more children, and no divorce.’
She, too, set down the wine glass she was holding.
She felt utterly pathetic for having been briefly seized by vain ideals.
What on earth had she expected from a loveless marriage?
‘Still, I can change the order of things, can’t I?’
It would not be too late to do it after their feelings for each other had deepened, just a little.
“Lucent, we married without even a courtship period.”
“Are you saying you want to date now, belatedly?”
“Yes.”
“Ha……! How absurd.”
“Absurd……?”
From Aeplin’s perspective, she could not understand how her request could be so strange that he would click his tongue and call it absurd.
Rather, it was his perfect schedule that made her sigh.
Aeplin grew angry and lifted her head high to look at Lucent.
“Are you afraid because things will not go according to plan? Or is it because you are afraid you will fall for me?”
“The one who has fallen for me is you, Aeplin.”
“……?!”
On what grounds was he saying such nonsensical things?
“I said it because I hoped our marriage, even though it was established by contract, would be a little more……. not so harsh.”
Aeplin clenched her fists tightly and poured out her fervent words at Lucent.
To Lucent, that sight was both cute and amusing, and he felt he could watch it forever.
Aeplin was certainly a different kind of woman from his mother Monica and his sister Marie.
“Is Aeplin not also trying to execute her own plan?”
“According to plan?”
At Lucent’s rebuttal, Aeplin could not immediately refute him.
In truth, his words were not wrong.
She could not deny that each of them was dreaming of a different marriage.
“I detest vagueness. How long is the courtship period?”
“That is…….”
“Time is money. I cannot spend it unproductively.”
She acknowledged that Aeplin was a lovable woman, but he did not trust her completely.
If the Crown Prince had appeared at the wedding, he could not be certain what choice she would have made.
As she herself had said, it was a hasty marriage without love, so if Serge, her longtime lover, held out his hand, she might take it without hesitation.
If she was a woman who had been mentioned as a prospective empress, not an ordinary woman, she would not give up hope until the very end.
‘Is this a trick to buy time to wait for the Crown Prince?’
As if to halt the change in his cynical expression, Aeplin spoke.
“One month.”
* * *
An automobile bearing the imperial flag raced down the distant night road.
Serge was furious that he had failed to save Aeplin because he had to tear off the clinging Marita.
He clutched his hair with both hands and growled like a beast.
“Damn it……!”
This was all because of that vulgar woman.
“Max, I did not know Aeplin had such a reckless side. A man can briefly look elsewhere. Everyone makes mistakes, don’t they? But she could not endure even that short time and went and married a man like Blackakson?”
“Perhaps it is because she loved Your Highness that much? By nature, when women feel a deep sense of loss, their judgment often drops markedly.”
Max gave the tailored answer Serge wanted to hear.
It was because, in any case, he was a being difficult to persuade with ordinary logic.
“You are right. Aeplin must have misunderstood. That the twelve years she spent with me had been denied.”
Serge spoke in a sorrowful tone and clutched his forehead with his hand.
Was this the hardship that everyone was said to experience?
The fortunate part was that he had quickly escaped from Marita’s sinister spell.
To turn away from a woman as perfect as Aeplin and be bewitched by someone utterly lowborn.
‘It was not my will. I must have been briefly toyed with by a spell.’
He looked at his empty hands, then clenched his fists tightly.
How could it make sense that Aeplin was not his woman?
It was something absolutely unacceptable.
“Your Highness, do not worry. We will arrive in Haven shortly. Even now, we can return Lady Hapen to her rightful place.”
“Right? Max. But tell me. What if Aeplin has slept with that man?”
“Do not worry. It is not yet the hour for that.”
Max answered calmly, but inwardly he was utterly dumbfounded.
‘What is he saying? He himself did all sorts of lewd things with Marita…….’
“Please trust in the virtuous Lady Aeplin.”
Max smiled awkwardly and soothed Serge.
* * *
Aeplin and Lucent were in the middle of a long conversation, unable to narrow their differences.
Just then, at a very soft knock, Lucent shot a sharp glare toward the door.
Because there was only one person who would interrupt the first night of a newly married couple.
“Stay comfortable. I will go out and see…….”
Lucent reassured the startled Aeplin and quietly opened the door.
Of course, it was the person he had expected.
“What is it?”
Lucent’s low voice flowed through the slightly opened gap.
Leon, sensing his displeasure, gave a light bow with a stiff expression.
“I apologize, president.”
Leon softly whispered the circumstances that had forced him to interrupt his master’s first night, and the crease between Lucent’s brows grew ever deeper.
He had expected it, but he had not thought such great anger would surge.
“He is bringing misfortune upon himself. Knowing full well that there are many eyes pursuing him.”
“Hoo……. Indeed, you are right.”
“Prepare Ricky. On time.”
“Understood, president.”
The two were highly skilled in command and execution, as if they had foreseen what was to come.
After Leon left, Lucent trembled with rage.
‘He has finally chased us all the way here.’
And he had arrived just in time before Lucent could spend the first night with Aeplin.
Was he saying that even if he could not stop the wedding, he would at least prevent her first night with her?
Soon Aeplin’s worried voice was heard.
“Lucent, has something happened?”
“It seems someone has come who did not get to congratulate our wedding.”
“Pardon, you mean they came all the way here on purpose? Who is it……?”
Aeplin looked as though she could not grasp it at all, and Lucent prepared to put on his clothes.
“The more congratulations, the better, after all. I should prepare to receive a guest.”
Lucent’s face, devoid of any anger, overflowed instead with composure.
