Chapter 9

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TL: ROSEMUND PR: BELLIS

Being third was okay.

It was a very ridiculous line, like a cat fight between a wife and a concubine.

But it was perfect for making Charles and Ethan lose their fighting spirit. The siblings could say nothing more in their speechlessness and became disinterested. Zahid led the conversation with a flower-like smile in front of the twins.

After barely finishing the lunch that lay undigested in my stomach, I took the children and quickly ran away. For some reason, Zahid allowed us to go off like that.

He hadn’t later visited me during my afternoon duties, so I wondered if we would have some time to ourselves.

It was all my own misunderstanding of course.

The reason Zahid let me go was simple.

It was because he had me dancing around in the palm of his hand.

As I enthusiastically took notes in notebooks while Dimon was tutoring me, the maid’s words surprised me.

“Madame, I’ll take you to the main building.”

I remembered something I had previously forgotten.

Come to think of it, I had decided to share bedrooms with Zahid starting today.

I rose from my seat in despair.

Since I was going to see my beloved husband, I tried not to reveal my thoughts in front of the maids.

I barely managed to maintain the solemn expression on my way to the main building. The well-decorated Duke’s garden was beautiful, lit by lanterns even at night. They created a fantastic dreamlike scene, but I couldn’t take notice of it.

The road from the annexe to the main building was much too short.

I was relieved to find that Zahid had not yet arrived in the main bedroom.

The maids prepared a bath full of flower petals for me. The lovely floral scent permeated my body. However, I couldn’t rid myself of the feeling that I was being seasoned with spices so that I could make for a more delicious meal

The pyjamas prepared for the newlyweds were even more eye-catching.

They were made with thin fabric, and wearing it was as good as being nude. Though my body was breathtakingly covered, I could still easily move in it.

After all the preparations, I was left alone in a spacious bedroom. I crawled onto the bed to lay down, wrapped in a blanket as if it was protective gear I could use against Zahid.

I heard laughter.

“Sir Zahid…”

Zahid laughed as he leaned against the door.

“I’ve seen a lot of naked women in bed, but I’ve never seen women covered with blankets like that. You’re the first.”

I answered in a languid voice.

“You look happy.”

Sitting at the edge of the bed, Zahid questioned me.

“Will you use the entire blanket to cover yourself with?”

“Yes, I happen to be extremely sensitive to the cold.”

“It was meant to be shared, Ertha.”

Maybe if there was only one blanket between the two, but I don’t know why someone who could acquire dozens of blankets of their own would rather share, and even beckon me over to his side, at that.

“It won’t be cold if we share it between the both of us.”

Zahid pulled at the quilt.

I looked vainly at the unfurling quilt, which had been rolled up for nothing.

“I feel like I’m opening a gift box.”

“I’m not a gift, Sir Zahid.”

“It’s like a gift to me.”

Zahid and I sat down side by side on the bed. He hugged my waist, leaning against the bedside.

“Even when it’s just the two of us together, just call me Zahid.”

He smiled with his eyes and whispered.

“You’d better call me Zahid.”

His voice tickled my ears, and it was gentle and sweet.

I looked at him for a moment, and he looked back at me.

After a moment of silence, Zahid muttered briefly.

“Nice fragrance.”

Blue veins were visible on the back of his hands as I was dragged over to him and into his lap. Our faces were so close to each other.

I leaned back as far as I could, but as long as I was on his lap, there was nowhere for me to retreat to.

Zahid buried his face slowly in the crook of my neck.

I felt a thrilling sensation in my body as his skin brushed against my own. I was quite nervous, barely breathing.

The sharp tip of his nose skimmed against the back of my neck, the sensation putting me on edge.

“What’s wrong, Ertha?”

He whispered in a low voice.

“You’re acting like I’m going to eat you.”

I actually was thinking about it.

Zahid thought it was his sexual desire, but I saw it as his appetite. I was still haunted by the fear that he might eat me like some beast.

After nuzzling my neck for a long while, a question slipped out from Zahid.

“Would you slap me if I said I wanted to take off your clothes and smell your body?”

The mischievously naughty question caught me off guard and all of the tension suddenly left me

“Would you slap me?”

I shoved him away.

“There was no provision for sleeping in the marriage contract.”

“…That’s true.”

Zahid narrowed his eyes.

The reason he hadn’t added in any clauses in the marriage contract regarding the bedroom was simple.

He had thought I’d agree anyways, without him having to do anything. The women in the novel had always let him do as he pleased, and furthermore, Zahid was a man who knew how to use his looks.

As I tried to escape from him, he pulled me back towards him, and wrapped an arm around my waist. He held my chin so that I couldn’t avoid his gaze. A realization started to dawn on me as I focused on Zahid.

He was truly the protagonist of a rated 19+ novel. As such, he had such a pleasant scent, and since he had recently bathed, damp black hair still clung to his forehead. His dark purple eyes were framed with beautiful lashes.

A thought came to mind at his appearance.

The perfect description for him would be ‘sensual’.

It was hard to look him in the eye, so I lowered my gaze.

“Hmm… How strange.”

Zahid muttered, his beautiful face slightly tilted.

“This usually works… ”

It would have probably worked even before then.

If Zahid had used his looks to attack, my self restraint would have had no chance of working. Even when knowing of my true nature, I still could hardly get my thoughts together in the face of great beauty such as this.

As I continued to avoid him, Zahid smiled and started to question me.

“Do you like women?”

A trick to catch someone off guard. I curtly replied back.

“No.”

“So why?”

His fingertips slowly trailed down my skin, goosebumps raising at the touch. Instinctively, I stepped away.

Taking a step towards me for every one I took back, Zahid asked another question.

“Do you hate me?”

Unable to respond quickly enough to him, Zahid’s hands playfully held my ankle.

“This is difficult.”

His large hand stroked my ankle, before he smiled again.

“How can I make you like me, Ertha?”

He smiled, beautifully angelic, and waited for my answer.

I swallowed.

The contract was meaningless from the start.

I was the only purifier in the world.

No matter what I do, Zahid would never let me go. Even knowing everything, I still held the devil’s hand.

There was nothing I could do.

God abandoned me, and this was the best and only choice I could make.

So, until my brothers became wizards, I had to hold on…

Zahid continued to seduce me.

He was so cunning that I felt like I was dragged around by his whims, as if I could be thrown away like a bouquet or be forced to jump directly into a room full of flames at any moment.

Perhaps Zahid had an instinctive hunch of my thoughts of escape.

“It’s just…”

I revised my hesitant words.

“I will just stick to the contract.”

Zahid raised his eyebrows.

“I’m not going to run away from you anyway.”

At least, not until Charles and Ethan became wizards.

I swallowed down the truth and asked another question.

“Why do you keep doing this? It’s useless. Even if you do that in front of others, there’s no need to do so when the two of us are alone.”

“Why don’t you think that I’m madly in love with you?”

The way he casually answered the question was frightening. It was even more terrifying because he was well aware of his inner dark self.

My hands clenched into white knuckled fists as I replied to him.

“Because you know nothing of love.”

A smile twisted onto Zahid’s face, resembling a crack.

His almond eyes narrowed, before curving into a crescent.

“You knew that, too, Ertha?”

“Yes, I mean, I don’t want to do this with someone I’m not familiar with,” I said stiffly with an edge.

Zahid’s eyes darkened.

My forearm broke into goosebumps.

There was a forewarning sense of danger where I felt I should step back.

He knocked me down on the bed. My hair was dishevelled as my wrists were firmly pressed down.

Looking down at me, Zahid asked gracefully,“I’m curious. What else do you know?”

My stomach tightened, and I forced myself to smile.

“I said I am a prophet, remember?”

“Really…” Zahid’s laughter deepened. “You’ve been driving me crazy these days.”

I faced the man with violet eyes.

“My body is yours, but do not covet my heart.”

Just my body is enough…

There was a pleading note in the last words as my voice cracked.

Zahid’s gaze slowly swept up and down my body. It was a struggle to continue breathing in and out. My chest fluttered up and down like a small bird.

“Yes…It’s mine.”

Zahid spoke tenderly to me.

“However, Ertha, I like being thorough.”

Naturally, the most thorough method he could use to own me came to mind.

My heart tightened.

If you don’t want to be eaten, you’ll just have to pretend to enjoy it.

Those were my thoughts.

Zahid lightly kissed my frozen forehead.

“I’ll have to work harder from now.”

I was shocked.

Work harder, here? What were you going to do…?

He laughed at me, his eyes wide with wonder.

“You’re tired, aren’t you? Let’s just go to bed.” Leaning in, he whispered softly, “or you can play with me.”

It was obvious that he wanted to play in the mature sense.

I flipped around.

“I’m really tired, so I’ll sleep first.”

Closing my eyes, I pretended to sleep, and I could hear Zahid’s laughter from behind me.

He pulled me gently from behind, and tucked my head under his chin, playing with my hair for a while.

A faint whisper passed by my ears.

“Thanks to you, I’m happy…”

However, I closed my eyes without answering.

***

When I later woke up, the sun hadn’t risen yet, and it was still dark. I could feel a heavy weight that wrapped around me.

“…?”

My eyelids fluttered open, and I was still in a daze as I tried to process everything. I swallowed.

Where was my nightgown I had worn before sleeping? Zahid, who wore nothing but bottoms, was attached to myself. I tried not to stare as his body came into view

He possessed such a long and slim neck, as well as beautifully straight collarbones. His tightly swelling muscles seemed delicate and smooth. It looked so solid, the urge to touch it, even for just a moment, seized me.

Of course, I wasn’t brave enough to do so.

Since I had been in his arms for quite a while now, I cautiously tried to move, so as to not stir him awake. However, as I tried to free myself, his large hands immediately pulled me back into his arms.

Reflexly, his eyes opened, half lidded as a languidly soft voice slipped from parted lips.

“Ertha…”

Even freshly awoken, he still looked beautiful.

Zahid soon rose from bed, and when I tried to follow suit, he pressed me back down. Despite my not asking, he told me about his schedule.

“Get more sleep. I must attend the morning training sessions…”

The novel had mentioned several times how he rose at dawn every single day in order to join the knights’ training.

Instead of replying, I only stared back at him, and he smiled at this as he continued.

“Also, I’d like to start using magic, so help me out later.”

He patted my head when I agreed to purify him in case he went on a rampage.

“We’ll leave for the Vatican as soon as I finish up my work for the morning.”

Ah, he’s talking about yesterday’s discussion regarding the visit to the Vatican.

As Zahid left the bedroom, he told me to meet with him later in the afternoon.

I plopped back in bed once more. Since I was in such a nervous state when I fell asleep yesterday, I didn’t feel at all refreshed after waking up today. Zahid was partly to blame, as he would be accompanying me to the Vatican today.

I tried to recall what I knew about the pope from the novel.

Despite his holy appearance, he was actually very cruel. He despised heresy and idolatry. As such, his hobby was to torture and exterminate heathens.

I remembered always feeling tense whenever the pope appeared in the novel, as the torture scense were always vividly detailed. There were also many moments where he would murder people with no warning whatsoever. In the end, if I ever suspected that he would kill someone again, I’d quickly skip over his scenes. Now that I thought about it, I should have read it over more carefully…

I really regretted my past decisions, but I honestly couldn’t help it…

My regret grew when I thought of the time when the pope was upset over having failed to kill the purifier. If he had succeeded, Zahid would’ve been unable to properly utilize his powers.

Without fail, 4 wizards will always appear in every generation, each wielding a separate element.

The same did not hold true for the purifier.

There would only ever be one.

I shouldn’t have to worry about being caught, at least, for now, as only wizards were able to detect and identify the purifier… As for the pope, he, like Zahid, possessed an unusual mindset, so predicting his thoughts and future actions would be difficult. Just the act of meeting with the pope was already quite the strenuous burden for me.

After thinking about several more things in bed, I decided to rise early and called for the ladies in waiting. Once the grooming was finished, I started my morning routine. I had so much to do recently because of the wedding preparations. I needed to attend a meeting with representatives from several different fields after returning from the Vatican.

For now, I had been rejecting the flood of invitations that had come pouring in from the noble society under the pretext of being too busy with the wedding preparations. However, after the wedding, I had to attend a tea party as well as a banquet. It all sounded too terrible to imagine for me.

After finishing up my duties, I headed to the annex to visit my siblings. The morning classes should be over by now, so I wanted to have lunch with them. I also wanted to know who was their tutor.

However, just as I had arrived to where the class was ongoing in the study room in the annex, the door slammed open before I could even touch it.

A woman with half-rimmed glasses raised her eyebrows from the open door.

Remembering the tutor’s name, I spoke first.

“…Are you, perhaps, Countess Mazelyn?”

“Yes.”

She answered sharply as she took in my appearance..

I had a bad feeling about this. I glanced over her shoulders to where Charles and Ethan were staring back at us, their eyes wide with surprise at my sudden appearance

I greeted the Countess with a smile.

“It’s Ertha Arles Carnor.”

“Ahh…”

Instead of a proper reply, she only made a noncommittal sound. I frowned. I knew people wouldn’t approve of a duchess who originated from the slums, but I never thought they’d blatantly show their discontent like this. I had thought she’d at least respond in a graceful manner befitting of a noble.

Unlike my vague imaginations, it was actually quite obvious.

It was at times like these when I thought that people were all the same, always judgeful.

“Ertha.”

I glanced back.

Zahid walked towards me, dressed in a suit and ready to go to the Vatican. The coat’s long hem flapped along his long strides.

“Sir Duke!”

Countess Mazelyn’s previously sullen face broke out into a beaming smile. Ignoring me, she ran to Zahid, gracefully greeting him.

“I haven’t seen you in a while, and I’ve been wondering when you would be present in social gatherings—”

Disregarding her prattlings, Zahid approached and lightly hugged me, before asking me a question.

“Did she ignore you?”

I told him the truth.

“Yes. That’s why I feel terrible right now.”

“You shouldn’t be, why are you staying still.”

“I was thinking about how to respond.”

“Listen, Ertha, I am yours—”

Zahid tucked my hair behind my ears, and putting his lips on the exposed skin, he whispered.

“And I can give you the authority to slap the Countess’ face.”

***

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