Chapter 68
68. Courtship (4)
A wave of sorrow washed over her. Black looked perplexed as he watched Liene sob and whisper. But there was definitely a smile mixed in.
“I was a little… desperate.”
“What on earth…”
What. Where. He was just cold. Black laid the weeping Liene back on the bed. He laid Liene down on the large pillow and sat as if trapping her between his legs.
“It’s like Princess is always ready to drift away.”
“I, I wasn’t.”
His words were a little surprising. Wasn’t it actually the opposite? I’m scared of when this man will drift away.
“I needed to know if it was Princess's true feelings to invariably widen the distance I had narrowed by a day.”
“When did I ever…”
“You did. Always.”
Black murmured lowly and wiped Liene’s cheek with the back of his hand.
“I wanted to know if Princess would feel relieved if I created distance, or if she would feel anxious like me.”
Then tears streamed down again. So, he did it on purpose.
“Don’t… do that. Really. Never again… it’s really… I really hate it.”
“I was wrong.”
“I really hated it.”
The last words were mixed with sobs and hard to hear. Liene pulled Black into a tight hug with gestures full of sorrow and resentment, and he diligently wiped away her tears and pressed his lips to her wet cheeks.
“Cry more.”
“Don’t… encourage me.”
“Because I want to see it.”
The quiet words spoken against her skin became a breeze that made her downy hairs shiver.
“See what…”
“Princess crying because of me.”
What is he even saying…
“You told me not to cry earlier.”
“Because I didn’t know the reason then.”
“Does it make a difference if you know the reason?”
“Don’t you think it would be different for Princess?”
“Well…”
I don’t know. But there was something that made my heart ache when I thought of Black crying because I was cold to him. What is it? So I kind of want to see it too. …Still, what this man did was too much. I did the same thing, but it’s right that Black, who did it on purpose, went too far.
“I won’t do that anymore…”
Liene tapped Black’s shoulder and muttered softly.
“It’s because I didn’t know how you felt then. I have to protect my heart too. So…”
Suddenly, Black pulled Liene away from his body.
“What did you say just now?”
“You heard me…”
The reason she swallowed hard in the middle was because he looked a little strange. His eyes had become fierce, but in a way, he also seemed dazed. Anyway, this man is strange. He’s too contradictory.
“Say it again. I think I misheard.”
“I won’t do that anymore…”
“After that.”
“After…?”
“What did you call me?”
“...?”
The words came out so naturally that Liene couldn’t remember what she had called him.
“Did you say ‘you’?”
“Ah…? Did I?”
“Sounds good.”
Black let out a sound like a lascivious moan. He held Liene and leaned over. The movement that moved her was slow and gentle, but the strength in it was so great that she couldn’t resist it at all. The pillow touched her back. Liene realized that she was lying down, overlapping with him.
“Now it’s my turn.”
He whispered in a voice that sounded hoarse because it was so low, and brought one hand behind her neck. Click. One more button came undone. And as much as it loosened, he pulled her pajamas down. The familiar feel of the pajamas tickled below her collarbone, creating a very strange sensation.
“Now it’s Princess's turn.”
“……”
Her lips kept getting dry, so Liene unconsciously kept licking her lips.
“What do you want to do?”
“I… want to see it too.”
Liene pulled on the lapel of the robe covering Black’s upper body. He chuckled briefly and obediently moved his body to make it easy to take off the robe.
“Now it’s my turn again.”
Click. The pajamas with three buttons undone became that much looser. It felt like she was falling apart as he wanted.
“And Princess?”
“I want to… touch here.”
Liene ran her fingers over a scar she had noticed before. He had many scars on his body, but the scar on his left side looked a little different. It looked like an old scar, and the color of the skin stood out from the surroundings, and it still looked painful.
“Can I touch it? Does it hurt?”
Black’s gaze followed the fingertips of Liene touching him.
“It’s the oldest scar on my body. It doesn’t hurt.”
“When did you get it?”
“Eight years old.”
“Ah…”
The fingertips that had been moving along the mark engraved on his body, a mark that would never be erased, trembled.
Was it Kleinfelter who made this scar? Or was it Father?
“Thanks to this scar, I overcame a near-death experience, but conversely, I also got a chance to live.”
“How…?”
“It’s a long story if I tell you everything. The important thing is,”
Black paused for a moment and pressed Liene’s hand, which had stopped on the scar, tightly against his body.
“Princess is touching that scar, and I’m no longer in pain.”
He didn’t know, but Liene felt like he had relieved the most painful part of her heart. He was hurt at that time, but he said he was okay now. Someone from the Arsac family betrayed her father and drove her to her death, but now the Daughter of Arsak was touching his scar.
“Even if I cry now… will you still say it’s a sight you want to see?”
Instead of simply answering yes, Black said this.
“There’s one thing Princess needs to know.”
“What is it?”
“Normally, Princess looks so beautiful in my eyes that she doesn’t seem like a human being, but it’s even more so when she cries.”
“……Is that so…?”
“So if you want to cry, come to me and cry. Don’t waste it by only seeing it yourself.”
“……”
How could I not cry when he said that? Tears welled up for no reason. Now he wasn’t cold, so I wasn’t sad, but tears poured out as if something was wrong with my eyes. Liene cried endlessly like someone who was learning how to cry for the first time today. It felt like the more Black patted her back gently, the more her tears increased. After crying for a long time, they kissed without either of them saying anything first. Then tears burst out again, and every time that happened, Black would wipe her cheeks without getting tired of it and tell her to cry more. * * *
“Ah…? Did you sleep in this room today?”
Fortunately, Black had gone to wash up when Madam Flambard came. It wasn’t the first or second time she had been caught spending the night together, but it was still more comfortable if she wasn’t caught if possible.
“That’s how it happened.”
“Oh my, goodness.”
Madam Flambard was startled and waved her hand as she watched Liene pull back the blanket.
“Don’t tell me you consummated your Wedding Night yesterday?”
“Huh? No. My period isn’t over yet.”
Three buttons on her pajamas were undone, but nothing happened. Liene was newly conscious of her pajamas slipping off her shoulder and subtly turned her body to avoid the Madam's gaze. But it was no use.
“Really?”
Madam Flambard scanned Liene with narrowed eyes. All she had to do was tell her not to look so closely, but Liene was always weak against the Madam.
“Really… Why would I lie about something like that? Something I couldn’t even lie about.”
Madam Flambard couldn't possibly be unaware of the state of her underwear and bedding.
“No, then what on earth made your voice so hoarse?”
“Pardon?”
“And your eyes are all puffy. And, well, your lips are a bit…”
“……”
Liene, flustered, felt her face.
“A-Am I very strange?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to see for yourself?”
Hearing those words, Liene jumped up. She had believed Black when he kept saying she was pretty, and she had cried her eyes out and blown her nose. This morning, as soon as she opened her eyes, they had faced each other and kissed to their hearts' content. Black, who hadn't even washed, was still handsome from the morning, so she had relaxed, assuming she looked roughly the same as usual. But, what? Liene hurried to her room. Madam Flambard added a word of concern from behind, saying she shouldn't run like that, and what if she tripped with those eyes?
“Ugh…”
Standing in front of the mirror, Liene let out a strange sound that was neither a scream nor a groan.
“Is this… me?”
Her eyes and cheeks were swollen. So were her lips. The tear-stained cheeks were mottled, as if she had drooled in her sleep, and her hair was tangled.
“Ha…! Liar.”
Liene was so embarrassed and ashamed that she collapsed into a chair in front of the mirror.
“Princess? When have I ever lied?”
Madam Flambard widened her eyes and waved her hands.
“No, I’m not talking to you, Madam… That man said I looked fine.”
She wouldn't have said anything if he had just said she looked fine. He said she looked as pretty as someone from a fairy tale, not like a real person… Liar.
“I asked him several times, and he said I was pretty every time… He really told such a lie.”
He even kissed this mottled face. Not just her lips, but everywhere his lips touched, her forehead, the bridge of her nose, her chin, her cheeks. Liene clutched her tangled hair and made a face as if she was about to cry.
“……Pfft.”
Then she heard it. Madam Flambard could no longer hold back the stifled laughter and let it out.
“Madam?”
Liene turned to her abruptly.
“Did you just laugh?”
“No, I tried to hold it in, but I couldn’t help it… I’m sorry… Pfft.”
“Madam…”
Glaring with her swollen face only encouraged the laughter. Unfortunately, Liene didn't know.
“I really didn’t mean to laugh… Oh, really.”
The Madam held her waist for a while and barely managed to get over her laughter.
“Still, because you are usually pretty, you don’t look too hideous.”
“That’s not comforting at all.”
“That’s why you’ve met such a good match.”
“He lied. Wasn’t that on purpose to tease me?”
“Well, wouldn’t it be the truth for him? That this face is also very beautiful.”
“……Surely not.”
“Then wouldn’t it be?”
The Madam smiled contentedly and gently brushed back Liene’s tangled and disheveled blonde hair.
“How good must it look for him to say such things? Even my old heart is fluttering without restraint, Princess.”
“Ah…”
Liene unknowingly opened her mouth and looked at the mirror. The face, which looked uglier than she had ever seen, was very different from usual. His expression this morning as he looked at this face overlapped with the image in the mirror.
-Let me see you a little more.
Black had said that, stopping Liene as she burrowed into his arms, trying to hide her face because she thought her eyes were swollen.
-I haven’t even washed.
-Exactly.
-……Pardon?
-Isn’t it the first time I’m seeing it like this?
There was no laughter in his voice. He stroked her with a careful touch, as if he were treating something truly beautiful. Then he kissed wherever his gaze landed.
“You must be very happy. To be united with such a person. It seems the God of Nauk cherishes you very much, Princess.”
“……I guess so.”
Liene leaned her cheek against the back of the Madam's hand, which was gently combing through her hair with her fingers.
“How can I ever repay him?”
I don’t think I deserve to be loved this much by that man. But what should I do? I’m so happy because of it. What should I do about feeling sorry? What if something goes wrong…?
“What do you mean, what should you do? Just be sincerely grateful. The God will know.”
Madam Flambard, who patted her shoulder and said kind words, then relentlessly urged her to wash her face.
“Still, you should wash now. Lord Tiwakan may find you beautiful, but you can’t go around like that in front of other people.”
“Y-You’re right…”
Liene, feeling very embarrassed, quickly finished washing her face. Madam Flambard even wrapped her face with a towel soaked in cold water to help reduce the swelling quickly.
