Chapter 20

“You are my wife. You are not serving me, but standing next to me as equals.”

“…”

“Isn’t it only right for me to speak formally to you too, my dear wife?”

Valia looked up at him, mesmerized by his words, and lowered down her gaze. For a moment she forgot that they were on the bed, wearing only thin gowns. Besides, it was their first night together. The embarrassment and shyness that she had momentarily forgotten came up, she could not make eye contact with him for a while. However, Schuden interpreted Valia’s reaction differently.

“Oh, if you feel uncomfortable with me speaking formally, we can just speak informally.”

“No! Just speak formally!”

It was ten million times more uncomfortable for her to speak informally to Marquess Garth of the Gel Empire. Valia raised her voice in spite of herself and cleared her throat.

“Well, I’m not used to speaking informally…”

“As you wish.”

Schuden replied simply. And their conversations ended again. The spacious bedroom quickly became quiet. Valia rolled her silvery-gray eyes, it was better when they were at least saying something. When silence came like this, she felt awkward and had to carefully organize her breathing.

“Valia.”

With that being said, she felt better when Schuden talked first. She looked at Schuden without even hiding her delight.

“Since we’re married, we have to carry out the nuptial night.”

And she became stiff as a rock.

“We can’t say that we have a normal marriage.”

On the other hand, Schuden had a relaxed smile on his face.

“I can no longer look at any women other than you.”

“…”

Valia did not know why his words sounded so erotic.

No, isn’t it just that everything he says sounds erotic?

Valia slowly took a breath, thinking that she should call a doctor to check her ears as soon as she settled down.

“Have you gotten lessons on the nuptial night?”

Originally, noble families had a maid dedicated to educating them about marital relations. But Valia did not have a proper maid. Reports about Valia from Schuden’s subordinates only stated that she had only hired housekeeping maids since she had fired her full-time maid at a very young age. So he thought she probably would not have been educated on the matter.

“Hmm, I’ve had small lessons before coming here…”

“Really? From whom?”

He expected her to answer that she did not receive any education on the matter. Schuden’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Did the temple tutor her? But.. no way.

Valia opened her mouth under the gaze of the red eyes.

“Before I came to the Empire, I was disguised as a woman to carry the bedroom duty for the King. I received education from the ladies-in-waiting back then.”

‘Bedroom duty for the King?’

Schuden’s forehead frowned very slightly to the point where Valia did not even notice. It was a way to bring her to the Gel Empire without attracting attention but he felt offended for no reason. Schuden himself did not know the reason.

“Hmm, Your Excellency?”

Valia called him carefully. Schuden blinked, the clear silvery-gray eyes were carefully looking at him. It seemed that she was a little nervous. Perhaps because of her big eyes, she seemed like she would get scared easily.

“What kind of education did you get?”

It just went in one ear and out the other though.

“First of all, I can’t hurt him, and I can’t push him… And…”

“So you received the old-fashioned edition

Schuden evaluated it briefly. Royal etiquette or whatever was none of his business. What was the point of lovemaking that was only enjoyed by the King alone? Schuden ridiculed the King that he had not even seen his face.

“Valia.”

Valia was intensely nervous. The very red eyes she saw on the first day, which she thought were erotic and decadent, it was changing

“If it hurts, you can hurt me. You can even push me and shove me away.”

Schuden’s eyes glowed drowsily.

“I won’t be pushed back though.”

“…”

Schuden grabbed Valia by her wrist. Valia’s face heated up.

Marquess Garth

Schuden’s lips touched Valia’s forehead. Even the slightest touch made her whole body tremble. His kiss passed through her round forehead, brushed her eyelids and cheeks, and slowly turned toward her lips. Valia could not calm down at all, and in spite of that, she could not even push her husband away from kissing her. She closed her eyes as the next best thing and took a deep breath.

Her breath went in and out. Schuden lifted her chin slightly. Her silvery-gray eyes were tightly closed and her body was trembling. She was fine up until then, but her breathing was a little too much, almost at the level of hyperventilation. Schuden frowned. He understood the bride’s tension on a nuptial night. But she did not have to be that scared. People might think Schuden was trying to strangle Valia.

“Valia.”

“Yes… Yes?”

A quivering reply came back. It amazed him that she managed to not bite her tongue while trembling like that. Schuden grabbed Valia’s chin, and with his thumbs, he began a gentle stroking motion. It was one of the simple ways to calm hyperventilation. Soon after, Valia’s breathing, which had seemed as if she was about to collapse, slowly began to stabilize.

“You don’t need to be so nervous.”

Schuden said when Valia showed signs of stabilization. When he told Valia he would not be pushed back, he was half sincere and half teasing but he did not know she would be so scared.

The silvery-gray eyes looking at Schuden were still trembling ever so slightly.

“Do I look like I’m going to eat you?”

“It’s not like that…”

Valia could not speak anymore. Even at the moment when she could only utter a single word, Schuden’s fingers were stroking her cheeks. She wondered how she could become so conscious of that one act. What was certain was that she could not look directly at Schuden at all. He had not even properly started, and yet she had already embarrassed herself for reacting like that.

The urgent need to make an excuse─any excuse─filled Valia’s head.

“Well, I’m worried about what to do in a situation like this. I’m also worried because I would be clumsy…”

“How can newlyweds be good at it right off the bat? We will get used to it when we do it often.”

“Huh?”

“Well?”

After noticing something suspicious in Schuden’s words, Valia raised her eyelashes.

“…This is your first time?”

Schuden tilted his head at the silvery-gray eyes, staring blankly at him. He had a puzzled look on his face, he wondered if there was something wrong with what he had said. But as nothing really came to his mind, he asked Valia back.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Oh, no. That’s not it. It’s just unexpected…”

“What do you mean?”

“Hmm, when you implied… that this would be your first time.”

“You don’t believe what your husband is saying?”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s just unbelievable…”

It also seemed that she secretly distrusted him. Schuden raised his golden eyebrows, which had the exact same color as his hair.

“Valia.”

“Yes?”

“Would you like it if your husband was more experienced?”

If she answered yes, it looked like he would put off their nuptial night and fulfill her wishes by immediately dragging another woman into bed. Valia instantly read such a sign and hurriedly shook her head.

“No! No. That’s not what I mean.”

“Then?”

What kind of woman would want to miss her man’s first time?

First of all, Valia did not belong to that category. The expression ‘my man’ was awkward, but anyway, Schuden was legally Valia’s man so it was not incorrect either.

She rolled her eyes.

“…You seem pretty good at it.”

To be honest, forget ‘pretty good,’ you seem really good at it.

Thanks to her wisdom, Valia did not say her thoughts out loud. Schuden had an absurd expression on his face.

“If you’re angry with me, just tell me. No need to beat around the bush and insult me like that.”

“I’m not.”

“Then, why are you already suspicious of my past on our wedding night? A newlywed groom, hearing such words from his bride. Hah, how desirable.”

Schuden said sarcastically. Valia sneakily looked at him, she was nervous enough to not be able to breathe comfortably. But at the same time, her anxiety had subsided to some extent. She did not know whether it was because of the conversation she just had or whether it was because what she considered as an obvious fact was totally wrong.

“…Are you angry?”

“I won’t get angry about things like that. I’m just speechless.”

“…I’m sorry.”

It was fun to see Valia show her emotions, she rarely shows little change in her expressions after all. But apart from that, Schuden could not help but feel a little down. He wondered if there was a malicious rumor spreading in the Lisa Kingdom that ‘Marquess Garth of the Gel Empire played around promiscuously’. Schuden opened his mouth.

“Let me hear your excuse. You have never been to the Gel Empire. But where did you hear such a thing?”

Valia blinked her eyes. It was not a matter of listening about it somewhere. Schuden was an overwhelmingly good-looking man. The reason he stole the hearts of so many ladies was not only because of his status as Marquess Garth. His tall height, well-trained body, attractive appearance, and decadent gaze were unrivaled. Even if Schuden was a commoner or even someone who lived in the countryside, there would still be a lot of women coveting him.

“Since you’re good-looking, there must have been many women who came for you…”

“If the women come, do I have to accept them all?”

Isn’t that usually the case?

There were quite a lot of young noblemen who took pride in being experienced with women. There were quite a few instances where they happily talked about it themselves. When Valia was a general lady-in-waiting before she became escort lady-in-waiting, she was quite exposed to such obscene rumors. She was prejudiced without realizing it because she had such a past.

‘Come to think of it, they were all insignificant young noblemen.’

Even though they harassed the ladies-in-waiting who, like Valia, had no one to support them, they would immediately shrink back when a powerful noble appeared. They did not even dare do anything once Valia became an escort lady-in-waiting.

Valia thought of herself as pathetic. She should apologize for putting this man on the same level as them.

“I misunderstood. I’m sorry.”

Schuden’s expression loosened a little. Actually, he was looking closely at Valia’s face throughout their conversation. The liveliness that sometimes came to her calm and tranquil face was quite impressive.

It was also quite fun.

“If it’s cleared up, can I continue?”

“Pardon? Oh, yes…”

For example, her face, which had immediately turned red like this. She still gave her answer earnestly despite her cheeks turning red. Schuden smirked. Valia quickly hid her shyness and brought back her dignified face. His eyes kept going to her face.

And her lips.

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