Contract Marriage Rewritten
Chapter 19
The moment she realized what Hyperion meant, Laniakea’s face flushed crimson. It had not been phrased explicitly, but the underlying meaning was utterly embarrassing.
How many times in one’s life would someone hear that they were about to have their clothes stripped away?
Yet the man before her was the only person alive who had the right to demand it of her.
She had no reason to refuse, and if she did, she would have to undress herself—which felt just as humiliating either way.
Laniakea gave a cautious nod. At that moment, the corners of Hyperion’s lips curled upward, breaking the expressionless mask he had worn since entering the room.
Laniakea’s eyes widened at the sight. Of all the expressions she had seen on him so far, she had never witnessed a smile like this.
It was like the smile of a young boy finally receiving a present he had waited an eternity for….
For someone about to undress another person, his joy seemed almost shockingly innocent.
Unlike his initial hesitation, Hyperion’s hands soon began to move swiftly.
The garment prepared for their wedding night came undone with absurd ease. It seemed designed to fall away at the merest brush.
Or perhaps….
Laniakea watched Hyperion’s hands as he worked on the final tie. He moved quickly, yet he was far from deft.
As proof, his fingers slipped from the ribbon several times. They were even trembling ever so slightly.
Nevertheless, his calloused fingers managed to catch the last ribbon and pull it loose.
With a soft rustle, the front of the gown parted, exposing Laniakea’s pale chest.
“Ah….”
A faint sound escaped Hyperion, almost like a sigh.
Though her head was bowed, Laniakea could feel his gaze fixed on her breasts, partially bared between the folds of silk.
A gaze could have no physical form, yet she felt a searing heat graze across her skin.
He swallowed hard.
With that soft sound, his throat bobbed heavily, though Laniakea, with her head lowered, did not see it.
His hands moved once more. As if drawing back a curtain, he pushed the thin fabric of her nightgown aside.
Given her slender frame, her breasts could hardly be called large.
Yet the gentle curves rising gracefully against her pale skin drew a line so beautiful it would have drawn admiration from anyone.
Hyperion’s hand hovered above her chest in hesitation.
Watching his sun-bronzed, rough hand wander over her body, the reality that she was truly going to sleep with this man tonight finally began to sink in.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
All the scraps of knowledge she had gathered over the years only concerned what happened after the act began.
Not a single piece of all that information spoke of what came before. Everyone had only ever mentioned being nervous.
Was she supposed to do something? Or should she just stay still? Why hadn't she thought to take lessons on this beforehand?
She tried desperately to think of something else to ease the tension, but far from relaxing, her fists only clenched tighter.
Just then, Hyperion’s hand moved again. Laniakea braced herself, expecting him to seize her breast. Wasn't this the part of a woman's body men were most obsessed with?
At summer banquets, so many men were unable to tear their eyes away from the women’s dresses, which were far thinner and cut much lower than usual.
So when Hyperion untied her gown, she had thought, as expected. She balled her fists. Among the many stories she had overheard, there were naturally accounts of rough caresses.
Remembering the women who had complained about how painful and grueling it was, Laniakea braced herself for the coming pain.
Contrary to her expectations, however, Hyperion’s hand did not touch her breast, but her cheek.
And rather than grasping her, his fingers stroked her skin with exquisite care, as though caressing a delicate glass.
“…?”
Startled by the unexpected gesture, Laniakea raised her head to look at him. The smile from a moment ago was gone.
Instead, with an expression more solemn and careful than ever, Hyperion gently traced her face with his hand.
Starting with her cheek, he gradually began to touch other parts of her face.
Her cheekbone, her earlobe, her eyebrow, her forehead….
He caressed her face again and again, as if trying to memorize every contour with his fingertips.
Then his hand came to a stop at her lips. Cradling her chin lightly in his hand, he stroked her lower lip with his thumb.
The gentle brushing tickled, making Laniakea flinch several times.
She thought he might pull away, but instead, Hyperion’s touch only grew deeper and more deliberate.
Then, his caressing thumb pressed down with a bit more force. It wasn't hard, but caught off guard, Laniakea instinctively parted her lips slightly.
At that instant, after staring at her lips for a heartbeat, Hyperion leaned down and hungrily swallowed her mouth.
“Mmph!”
Having both her lips and her breath stolen so abruptly, Laniakea struggled in surprise.
Yet under the sheer weight of Hyperion holding her shoulders, refusing to break the kiss, her body collapsed backward onto the bed.
Though it was the very first kiss of her life, Laniakea could tell. Neither she nor Hyperion had any idea what they were doing.
Their noses kept bumping, and her breath caught in her throat. Their lips and teeth clashed, stinging with a faint ache.
In the books she had read in secret as a child, it said that when two people kissed, bells would ring in their heads and they would be swept into an otherworldly ecstasy, but there was nothing of the sort.
And yet….
‘…It isn’t bad.’
It was her first time sharing bodily fluids with another person like this. She had worried it might be unpleasant, and she had feared Hyperion might find it repulsive too.
Yet right now, this clumsy, tangled exchange of breath didn't feel disagreeable in the slightest.
The fleeting thought crossed her mind that it would be nice if they were both a bit better at it. But even that thought did not last long.
Just as Laniakea ran out of breath entirely, Hyperion pulled his lips away.
Pushing himself up, he stripped off the rest of his clothes.
Laniakea slowly turned her head, watching his garments fall carelessly to the side with a soft thud.
Because Hyperion had his back to the lamp, his body looked like an enormous shadow. Thus, at first, she did not immediately register that he was completely bare.
But as her eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light, Laniakea realized something was terribly wrong.
It wasn't as though Hyperion became a different person just because he took off his clothes. There was his slightly ragged breathing, his broad chest that she hadn't been able to take her eyes off of when she first saw him, and his abdominal muscles, now etched even more clearly.
The problem was what lay below.
It wasn't that she didn't know what was down there. Over the past few days, hadn't she stolen glances at the statues in the palace to mentally prepare herself?
So she had thought that even if she saw his, it would merely feel unfamiliar, not something that would truly shock her….
“Gasp!”
Looking below his waist, Laniakea instinctively covered her mouth with both hands.
‘What… is that?’
Hyperion was tall. His physique surpassed that of ordinary knights, and his hands were so large and long that she had once wondered if his single hand could engulf her entire head.
So it shouldn't have been a surprise that other parts of his body were large as well, but still.
“Uh….”
Laniakea could not utter a word, her eyes locked on his lower half.
A sudden wave of dread washed over her.
This was madness. It was impossible. She was going to die.
Of course, she had never heard of anyone dying from doing this, but Laniakea felt certain. She was going to be the very first Empress to die from spending the night with the Emperor.
While she was frozen in shock, Hyperion climbed over her body. He nudged his way between her knees, parting her legs naturally to settle himself between them.
Laniakea held her breath.
It was truly about to begin.
She had to tell him no. She had to say this was too much, that they needed to think about this more before sharing a bed.
She was just about to say so.
“Laniakea.”
A low voice, laced with breathless excitement, called her name. As she shivered slightly at the tickling sensation against her ear, his whispered words followed.
“You have no idea how long I have waited for this day.”
