Chapter 182: The Couple’s Bedroom
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 182: The Couple’s Bedroom
My waist twitched as his hands pressed firmly into my knotted muscles.
“……It hurts.”
“Bear with it just a little longer.”
When I grumbled, his low voice coaxed me as if soothing a child.
As the massage continued, my muscles gradually grew heavy and relaxed.
Loik’s body is so warm, I can’t seem to wake up.
I struggled to lift my heavy eyelids, but Loik pulled his body close to mine and spoke tenderly.
“You can sleep more.”
He must have already finished his training and showered, as his damp, bare chest pressed against my face, smelling faintly of a fresh, clean scent.
I never thought he’d merge our rooms so slyly.
My husband, whom I had previously thought of as either a wolf or a puppy, turned out to have a surprisingly fox-like side to him.
It had happened the night we returned from the opera.
Upon arriving at the main castle and heading up to the second floor, Loik had stopped in front of the large doors facing the central staircase—a departure from his usual routine.
It was a room I hadn't been able to enter when I first arrived at the Grand Duke’s Castle because it was locked.
– “Annette, there’s something I want to show you. I hope you like it….”
A visibly nervous Loik held my hand as he pushed the doors open.
…Wow! It’s huge.
A magnificent, luxurious room unfolded before my eyes.
I stepped inside cautiously.
An elegant canopy bed sat at the center of the room. On one wall stood a vanity and table decorated with gold trim, while a large, intricately carved fireplace occupied the opposite side. Even the pillars and moldings on the walls were exquisitely detailed and beautiful.
Anyone could see this was a master bedroom intended for the lord and his lady.
When I turned to Loik for an explanation, he playfully caught the tips of my fingers.
– “I wanted to sleep in the same bed as Annette… so I wondered if we might merge our bedrooms.”
Merge our bedrooms?
Well, the only reason Loik had been staying alone on the third floor until now was to keep himself isolated.
When I only blinked without answering, Loik’s lips trembled slightly.
– “Of course, if you don’t like the idea, we can keep things as they are. I just… I thought it would be wonderful if your face was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes in the morning.”
I wondered if he was taking lessons from somewhere.
His sweet words made me bite my lip instinctively.
– “My face is a mess in the morning, though….”
Loik paused at that, then tilted his head with a puzzled expression.
– “But don’t I see you every morning anyway?”
– “It’s still different.”
The corners of Loik’s mouth curled up slightly.
Sensing that I wasn't actually opposed to the idea, he gently pulled me into his arms.
– “I think Annette’s face in the morning is the most beautiful thing in the world.”
He whispered softly that he wanted to see the disheveled side of me that no one else could see every single day.
And soon, as his breath covered my lips in a familiar way, I ended up giving him a silent "yes."
Once we actually started sharing a room, I had to honestly admit it: waking up and seeing Loik’s face first thing in the morning was a perk like no other in the world.
“Annette, won’t you show me that again?”
Loik, who had been kneading various parts of my body under the pretext of loosening my waist, asked pleadingly.
“That?”
Excited, I pulled my hands out from under the covers.
I held my palms facing each other at a slight distance, then concentrated my strength….
Hiyah!
Soon, a sphere of white radiance appeared vividly between my hands.
“How is it? I’m good, right?”
Recently, I had started taking time to learn how to handle holy power from Miel. While I couldn't do much else yet, I had become capable of drawing out holy power at will like this.
– “Her Highness the Consort’s holy power must be truly immense. To think it’s possible to pull it out so recklessly when she can’t even control the power properly yet!”
“Miel said I was doing well, too.”
I spoke proudly, packaging Miel’s exasperated sigh as a proper compliment.
When I gave him a look urging him to hurry up and praise me, Loik spoke, struggling to keep a straight face.
“Do you have any idea how cute you look when you concentrate like that every time you show me this?”
“Cute? Not cool?”
“……You’re cool.”
As Loik answered, his brow furrowing as he suppressed a laugh, a loud growl erupted from my stomach.
Loik finally burst into a low chuckle.
“Don’t laugh. It’s because I used up energy because of you, Loik.”
His face flushed from laughing, Loik tenderly stroked my lower back.
“Bear with it just a little longer. I’ve already told them to send breakfast up.”
Since I was feeling too lazy to get up anyway, I nodded.
“Then, since we have a little time left….”
Loik’s hand slowly moved elsewhere.
Pressing his waist against mine, he began to rub against me suggestively as if trying to heat up my body. My body temperature rose pleasantly in an instant.
Just as my relaxed breathing was beginning to quicken, Loik suddenly stopped and bit his lip.
“……Why won't those two just leave?”
“Wait here a moment.”
Wearing an irritated expression, Loik forced a smile as he pulled the duvet up to my neck. Then, he vaulted out of bed, threw a robe loosely around himself, and marched over to yank the door open.
“Eek!”
“……G-Grand Duke!”
Cecilia and Perel were standing there, completely frozen.
*
Having arrived in front of the couple’s bedroom, Cecilia swallowed hard.
She had rushed all the way to the door after the butler mentioned that the two had merged their bedrooms, but….
Even Cecilia didn't have the courage to knock unannounced on a married couple’s bedroom door.
As she paced aimlessly in front of the door, Perel appeared from the stairs, looking just as hurried as she was.
“……Lady Cecilia? Why are you standing in front of the bedroom?”
“What about you, Sir Perel? Why are you here?”
“I have urgent business.”
“I have urgent business too. Perfect. Sir Perel, you be the one to knock.”
“I’m sorry, but I only have one life, so that’s a bit……!”
“Then do I have two?”
“Based on how you’ve been acting, I thought you had at least three……!”
As they bickered in hushed tones for a while, the door swung open.
The Grand Duke’s icy tone made Cecilia’s shoulders hunch instinctively.
“I apologize. I have something urgent to report.”
Perel spoke up, gauging the Grand Duke’s mood.
“That…… an invitation has arrived from the Imperial Family.”
The Grand Duke’s brow furrowed as he opened the envelope Perel handed him.
“This is going to be a nuisance.”
“The, uh, lady-in-waiting also said she had urgent business, did she not?”
Having achieved his goal, Perel spoke up as if to help Cecilia.
The Grand Duke’s gaze shifted to Cecilia.
“Uh…….”
Facing the Grand Duke head-on for the first time, Cecilia’s mouth felt as if it had been glued shut.
Cecilia’s "urgent business" was to show the Consort an interview with Antonel, who had become the "greatest adulterer in history, hated by every noblewoman in Blenheim."
「How do I feel? Honestly, I feel like I’m flying. It means that many people love <Goddess of Revenge>. I’m just happy, even if I get cursed at. The most memorable insult? I think it was ‘You piece of trash, take me!’ (Laughs).」
She had rushed over thinking how much the Consort would enjoy Antonel’s cheeky interview….
Cecilia’s eyes twitched as her business was relegated to a triviality the moment the imperial invitation was mentioned.
“It—it’s nothing urgent.”
Just then, Berni appeared, leading the kitchen staff and pushing a trolley himself.
“Your Highness, I’ve brought breakfast!”
At those words, the Grand Duke’s scowl softened.
“Something truly urgent has arrived.”
Berni had prepared a lavish breakfast.
Since there was so much food, it felt cold-hearted to send away the aide and lady-in-waiting who had just arrived, so I suggested we all eat together.
Berni carefully set the table in the small dining room attached to the bedroom, and the four of us sat down together, with me wearing the robe Loik had wrapped tightly around me.
“I want to read the invitation….”
“I will give it to you once you’ve finished your meal.”
Loik spoke firmly as he tucked a spoon into my hand.
“Eat before it gets cold.”
In the end, I took the hint and dipped soft bread into the corn soup, scraping the bowl clean before Loik finally handed me the letter.
The invitation was from the Empress.
Ridiculously, the letter was addressed to Loik, but the person being invited was me.
「……I have heard that the Grand Duchess is working hard in various ways in Blenheim.
My heart grew heavy thinking of a young noblewoman struggling alone in a remote region without the guidance of her elders.
Am I not your family before I am the Empress of the Empire?
As the mistress of the Imperial Household, I wish to give the Grand Duchess various pieces of advice, so I hope you will prepare for her journey to the capital as soon as possible.」
The final villain of the original story has invited me.
It was something I hadn't expected at all.