Rubica was complaining. The woman who was much shorter than Edgar and couldn’t even lift a heavy object was indirectly saying she would do anything to protect him.

Edgar was delighted to hear it, but he solemnly shook his head.

“I have well-trained guards. You can give orders to them, so do not try to do it yourself.”

“But the man who abducted you was the captain of those guards.”

Now he had nothing to say. He wanted to exclude her from dangerous and difficult matters, but she wasn’t cooperating.

“But you can’t do it.”

Ever since he turned three years old, he had never insisted without logic by his side. However, in the end, he had no choice but to just insist. Rubica held her breath for a moment, and then she replied, stroking his hair.

“Okay.”

She seemed to be trying to not laugh. As Edgar had just forced her to say it, there was no guarantee she would keep the promise. Nevertheless, it relieved him at least a little.

“I will make you happy as much as you have suffered.”

The story of her previous life was painful even when hearing about it. Edgar could now understand why Arman had picked the flowers for her instead of saying he loved her. He hadn’t been able to say it because he had a conscience.

“You never made me suffer.”

Rubica tried to ignore his sad look and lightly pinched his cheek.

Her words were so kind that they made tears swell up in his eyes. He could feel only sweetness at his pinched cheek. He knew anything would feel like the fruit of heaven as long as she was with him.

***

The presbytery had a little orphanage, so there were a few children waiting for them when they arrived. The expensive carriage and the trackers were enough to impress them.

A priest told them to go back to their rooms, but they wanted to stay. One of them even came to Rubica and grabbed her cape.

“Your Grace, please forgive her.”

The priest turned pale and quickly made the child go away. Rubica wanted to say it was fine, but she knew it would only make the children even harder to control, so she didn’t.

Edgar frowned to see it wasn’t what he had thought. Unlike her, he had never come to such a place. He wanted to confront Baron Moreau and ask if this was really the nicest place nearby.

“This place is really neat. It must be really hard to keep it this clean…”

“Thank you, Your Grace.”

However, he couldn’t say his thoughts out loud as Rubica was complimenting the presbytery. Judging from her expression, she really meant it. He wouldn’t dare to criticize the place she was complimenting.

“Please, this way.”

A priest led them to a room where a wooden bed for two and a bath full of warm water were waiting.

Carl helped Edgar lie down on the bed, but his face was completely frozen. He seemed like he was so shocked that he had forgotten to frown.

He had never laid on such a small and hard bed before.

“Where should I go now?”

“Excuse me, Your Grace?”

The priest’s eyes widened. Rubica calmly explained why she needed another room.

“I must get changed, and I also need to take a bath…”

“Oh, you can take a bath here.”

Rubica was puzzled, not able to understand what the priest was saying, but then a child who looked to be about ten years old brought a simple dress and soap for her. She took it instinctively.

“None of us know how to serve you while you bathe… so please, rest comfortably.”

The priest completely misunderstood Rubica’s discontent face, apologized, and went away.

Carl glanced at them, and then he also went away, making all kinds of excuses.

Edgar didn’t try to hold back a snicker.

Rubica’s shocked face turned white, then red, and then blue. Edgar started to laugh out loud as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

“Oh, I really like this place.”

He managed to stop laughing and spoke slowly. It was hard to believe he had been shocked by the hard bed only a minute ago.

He scanned her from the head to the toes. She had to take her dress off to take a bath, and she was so sweaty.

Of course, the presbytery had nothing she could use to block his view.

On the other hand, Rubica was experiencing the biggest crisis of their marriage. Of course, he was her husband, but…

She had never shown him her naked body.

She wanted to call the priest again and ask for another room. However, they were a married couple who were famous for their love.

No one would believe her if she said she was too embarrassed to take a bath with him watching. She had no other choice and raised her head high while ordering Edgar, “Look away.”

“I don’t want to.”

There came his devilish smile again.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’re married.”

He sounded like he was soothing a child, and she didn’t like it. She was so embarrassed, but he was perfectly fine.

‘Huh.’

However, he was the one who had been aroused just by looking at her. She got competitive and lifted her chin.

“Then be my guest and keep looking.”

She had nothing to be afraid of as he couldn’t move his legs. Yes, they were going to live together as a true married couple from now on. She couldn’t be afraid of this much.

Maybe someday, they would be okay with seeing each other’s naked bodies.

‘Plus, he has already seen me in that sexy nightdress.’

The bathtub’s hot water tempted her. She didn’t want to stay in her sweaty nightdress any longer.

She started to take her clothes off, telling herself there was no Edgar in front of her now.

“Stop!”

He yelled after she took off the cape. He was the one who was weak to this stuff, after all.

And then, he was the one who smiled leisurely and said he really liked it here? Rubica didn’t hesitate to take all her clothes off.

In the end, Edgar couldn’t endure it and buried his face in his pillow.

Rubica went into the bathtub with a large sound on purpose. His shoulders flinched every time she poured water on her body.

She had forgotten because he always had this seducing scent that enchanted women, but he was new to this as much as she was.

Plus, he had no choice but to lie on the bed right now. He was supposed to be asking for her mercy, but he dared to smile like a devil…

“Edgar, the water is so warm. I wish you could take a bath with me… maybe we should bathe together when we get home.”

“Please don’t say that.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’re married, after all.”

He moaned with his back turned to her. She laughed at succeeding in her small revenge.

Her laughter tickled his ears. He wanted to jump to his feet and tell her to do something she would be embarrassed about forever, but his legs wouldn’t even budge.

He blamed her for endlessly tempting him.

Rubica didn’t know what was going on in his mind. She took her time to bathe and wore a dress prepared by the priests. It wasn’t as splendid as her own dresses, but it was a light dress made of linen that smelled pleasantly. She hadn’t seen such a simple dress for a long time, and it brought back memories.

“Edgar.”

She went to the bed and called him. She was going to kiss his cheek and apologize for making fun of him. However, he didn’t say anything.

“I’m dressed now.”

She added, thinking he thought she was still naked, but his back didn’t move.

‘Is he very mad?’

Maybe she had taken it too far. Maybe she had crossed the line as he was too weak to her. He had to be suffering a lot because of his cursed legs, and she added more trouble to it.

“Um, Edgar, I’m sorry…”

Rubica put a hand on his shoulder, apologizing. But then, a great force snatched her wrist and pulled.

When she realized what happened, she could see his smile looking down on her. She now had her back on the bed and could feel his weight pressing on her.

She had never felt so much pressure. Her body became hot as if she had had the flu.

“Do you know what you have done?”

He whispered as he traced her chin with his finger. His red lips were very tempting. She couldn’t take her eyes off them even though she kept thinking she shouldn’t.

“Why did you make me hot like that? You know how much I’m mad for you.”

He lightly nibbled her ear, and a thill went up to her back. She closed her eyes.

“Rubica.”

He put his lips right on her ear and whispered. She was getting goosebumps, but was it because of his hot breath, or the desire his voice was soaked with? She didn’t know.