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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: A Humiliating Morning
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“...Are you aware of the fact that you’re beautiful?”
I murmured in a husky voice whose origin I couldn’t fathom.
Staring intently at Eric’s lips… I think I might have even drooled a little.
“What?”
Eric frowned, as if he’d suddenly sobered up.
But by then, it was too late.
Using the hands he had been holding, I grabbed him tightly and pinned his own hands to the bed.
“What… are you doing?”
“What do you think? Just one more time…”
“...?”
“Shall we do it just one more time?”
“Do what?”
Eric asked back, dumbfounded.
What do you mean, ‘what’?! Can’t you tell by the way I’m staring, glaring at your lips right now? Huh?!
“...Your… your l-lips…”
Oh, to hell with it.
“A kiss! Let’s just do it one more time.”
“Are you insane?”
Eric stared at my face in disbelief.
His languid face, which had been half-dazed until moments ago, was slowly regaining its vitality. My reason, on the other hand, was dwindling into nothingness…
Eric said through gritted teeth.
“If I use my strength, you’ll get hurt. So just let go.”
He muttered, looking down at my hands gripping his wrists.
“…Why are you suddenly sober? Is it because you’re so big that the love potion wore off quickly?”
“Love potion?”
Eric finally glanced at the bottle of alcohol beside us and sighed.
“Was that what that was?”
“…I drank it without knowing! My mother tricked me, too!”
My heart and body are so hot right now, I feel like I’m going to die!
“What kind of family…!”
“But why did you suddenly snap out of it!”
“Because…! I was just drunk in the first place!”
I tightened my grip on Eric’s hands, trying to pounce on him. I brought my face close to his.
Eric recoiled in alarm, tumbling onto the carpet. Thanks to that, our bodies became a tangled mess as we fell.
Worried about me, Eric urgently grabbed my waist. That freed one of my hands.
I seized the opportunity, just about to press my lips against his.
“...?”
Eric blocked my mouth with his other hand. He glared at me, a look of sheer disbelief on his face.
“You slave to your desires.”
“N-No… I’m not a slave to my desires!”
Being looked at like that, the heat that had been scorching my entire body suddenly seemed to drain away.
I was so captivated by the look in his eyes that I couldn’t do a thing.
Somehow, Eric rolled over, pinning me beneath him. His hands seized my wrists.
Eric looked down at me with suspicion, as if handling a prisoner.
“Kisses are only for people who love each other.”
His red lips spoke those words.
So. Who is it that you love? Could it be… that even if you don’t have a lover, you have someone you love?
…I suppressed the urge to ask a question that would have obviously made the mood awkward and said something else instead.
“You should tell that to the princess. I’m sure she’d laugh in your face.”
This is all because of the love potion!
I could still feel my heart pounding.
“I don’t care. I have no intention of changing my way of life just to please others.”
Eric said firmly, then glanced at my eyes.
“In any case… you don’t love me.”
It was a statement that sounded like a question, yet not quite.
I do not love Eric.
Was there any statement more difficult for me to deny right now?
Why was he throwing such an obvious statement at me as if it were a question? Or was it not a question in the first place?
But Eric remained still, as if waiting for my answer.
During that brief moment that felt like an eternity, I couldn’t think of any response.
Instead, an entirely different thought came to mind.
“I do want you.”
“…Me?”
Eric scrambled off me. Seeing him, I let out a hollow laugh.
Good grief… He’s terrified I’m going to eat him alive!
I let out a deep sigh and lowered my head.
Of course, I want you too, but…
“I want to have all of this, including you.”
I scowled and gestured around the luxurious bedroom.
“A nice house. A good butler. Kind people. Fine clothes… a structure that churns out money… even a husband who boasts every day that he’ll protect me.”
“...”
Eric pressed his lips together tightly.
I glanced at Eric, then turned my head away. On the floor, I could see the moonlight spilling from the window, carved into a rectangle by the frame.
I clenched my fists.
“…Things I’ll have to return once this sham marriage is over.”
I stubbornly refused to look at Eric’s face.
I probably shouldn’t be saying this. It must be some kind of unwritten rule.
But I decided to break that rule. Doesn’t someone like Eric need to be a little more careful?
“You think someone like me wouldn’t covet it all?”
That even a person like me has a heart, has moments she can’t control, and that seeing a house like this, kind people, and a wonderful life would make her greedy…
…That kind, gentle man absolutely needed to keep that in mind.
This only happened because he didn’t!
I could still feel the love potion bubbling inside my heart, its effects spurring me on.
“…Then covet it.”
Just then, Eric gave an unexpected reply.
Covet it?
Flustered, I turned my head.
“Wh-What does that….”
As if he had no intention of answering my question, Eric lifted my prone body.
“...?”
Then, he tossed me onto the bed.
✵ ✵ ✵
That night, I was tied to the bed.
“This is so humiliating! Aren’t the man and woman supposed to be in opposite roles here?!”
I glared at Eric, my wrists tied to the headboard.
All because I might pounce on him!
Eric replied calmly, his eyes closed.
“More humiliating than being tied to that headboard is the fact that you succumbed to your desires. Mull over that fact as you fall asleep.”
After saying that, Eric truly did close his eyes.
A moment later—
“Are you asleep? For real? Really?”
I called out to Eric beside me, but it seemed he had already fallen into a deep sleep.
How could he! After tying me up! I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep all night!
I screamed internally, struggling on the bed.
I’m going to stay up all night with my eyes wide open! I’m going to…
‘…Or so I thought…’
I opened my eyes to an embarrassingly bright room.
Goose down really is the best.
I licked my lips and looked to where Eric should have been lying.
But Eric wasn’t there. Instead, there was only Nina, smiling brightly by the bedside.
“...Nina?”
She replied in a small voice, a peculiar smile on her face.
“...You’re awake?”
What’s with that look on her face?
I squirmed, trying to sit up.
But I couldn’t, because my arms were still tied to the headboard.
‘Ah, right. This…!’
Seeing my discomfort, Nina cleared her throat and asked, her face blushing.
“Sh-Should I untie this for you?”
Why is your face turning red…?
It’s not what you think. It’s really not. If I’d actually… if I’d actually done something to deserve this misunderstanding, I wouldn’t feel so wronged! Ugh!
“Untie me. Quickly.”
Nina quickly untied the ropes around my wrists.
I looked down at my arms, which weren’t even numb—a testament to how well Eric had tied them—and ground my teeth.
“Where’s Eric?!”
I should have asked, ‘Where’s my darling?’, but even as an act, the words just wouldn’t come out.
How dare he tie me up! It’s true I was trying to pounce on him! And I probably would have tied him up if I were in his shoes, but still!
“The Duke sent a letter saying his schedule was delayed a bit further. So the Young Lord went into town to handle some business in his stead…”
He went into town in a situation like this?!
I looked for the bottle of alcohol that should have been on the table. I was ready to grab it and chase after Eric.
But it seemed Eric had cleaned it up; there wasn’t even a trace of the bottle.
‘You little…’
After all the flirting he did first!
Treating me like some kind of pervert! This won’t do. I have to go and confront him!
But my anger subsided for a moment as one memory surfaced.
‘…Then covet it.’
Why would Eric say something like that?
If I were to covet it, how would he know the extent of my greed?
I looked around the luxurious bedroom.
‘I could run off with every single thing in here…’
I wonder if he knows the scale of my ambition…
‘In the end, he was probably just drunk when he said it.’
I sighed and ruffled my hair. What a strange thing to say…
Then Nina spoke cautiously, but with a shyness anyone could read.
“You must have been very tired last night. Shall I have them prepare some restorative food?”
Why would I be tired? What would I be tired from?!
“Why are you glaring at me…”
“When did I?”
I was glaring.
‘Nina, read the room!’
I shot up from the bed.
“Never mind the meal, I have somewhere to be. Help me get ready to go out.”
There’s someone I absolutely must see… I glanced around with a cold look in my eyes.
Just then, the butler burst through the door.
“Where are you going now! You must attend all of your lessons today!”
Ugh, that butler! I take back everything I said to Eric about him being a good butler!
“Eric gave me permission to skip my lessons if I was tired, remember…?”
“Only if you’re tired! You just woke up and haven’t done a thing, how could you possibly be tired!”
Oh, that’s logical…
But can he refute this?
I bowed my head slightly to the butler and murmured lowly.
“You see, I had a very… vigorous night with Eric, so I’m quite exhausted.”
“Young Madam! Such undignified words…!”
“Wh-What did she say?”
Nina asked, her eyes wide. I pointed to Nina and smiled at the butler.
‘How about it? Should I repeat those undignified words to her, too?’
That was the look on my face. Seeing my wicked smile, the butler shut his eyes in frustration.
“…You may go.”
“Thank you. Our Rose will be grateful, too~!”
As my finishing move, I rubbed my belly and slipped into the dressing room.
As soon as I entered the dressing room, I picked out the most expensive and most impressive outfit.
To go see my mother.
✵ ✵ ✵
“My, you’re all dressed up.”
Hearing my mother’s voice as she scanned me from head to toe the moment I stepped into the entryway, I removed my gloves.
“Yes, I am.”
This means war. Giving a love potion to your own daughter? Is this any way for a family to act?!
I’m the one who shed tears when we parted in front of Lady Margaret’s mansion!
Mother, lounging on the sofa, greeted Lily, who followed behind me.
“It’s been a while, Lily.”
“Yes, it has.”
“…We saw each other just three days ago. How can she be so deadpan? Are all the people from the duchy like that?”
I retorted bluntly.
“Better than you.”
At least the people at the duchy don’t scam others!
I cleared my throat and spoke to Lily.
“We need to talk alone for a moment.”
Lily withdrew, as if she had no desire to overhear our conversation anyway.
Once it was just my mother and me in the drawing room, she returned to the sofa as if exhausted. I quickly sat on the sofa opposite her and glared.
“What on earth did you put in that alcohol?”
“You drank it?”
Mother’s eyes lit up as she asked eagerly.
“Yes… I drank it…”
I muttered, my face a mask of resignation.
Mother clapped her hands and burst out laughing.
“How was it? Effective, right? Speaking of that potion, it helps you... you know... when you're... you know...”
“Aaargh! Stop! I don’t want to hear things like that from my own mother!”
I covered my ears, completely disgusted. Mother’s face soured.
Helena swept back her beautiful red hair and narrowed her eyes.
“…So it didn’t work.”
“What effect were you hoping for in the first place?”
“To help you make that Rose in your belly for real.”
Mother poked my stomach and lowered her voice.
Poking my Rose. I clutched my stomach and glared at my mother.
No, more importantly, make who? Has this woman lost her mind?!
“Make one for what?”
Undeterred by my fierce glare, Mother answered.
“For what? You know that Duke is a really strange man, right? If he finds out you entered his family through a sham marriage and a fake pregnancy, do you think he’ll just let it slide?”
He wouldn’t.
That’s why Eric and the princess have to do something about the Duke before then… or the delinquent princess has to get her hands on the Mermaids’ Tomb to secure her claim to the throne…
That’s the only way Philip, Mom, and I can avoid becoming fugitives on this continent!
“…So, to turn this sham marriage into a real one, pregnancy is the only answer.”
Mother blinked and picked up her water glass.
Ha, honestly.
So you prepared a love potion just to maintain my marriage?
I ground my teeth.
“Didn’t you tell me to live well on my own?”
I actually shed a tear when I heard that!
“When you live well on your own for a long time, you naturally start wanting to share.”
I was appalled by my mother’s answer.
“You’re such a liar!”
When I shouted, Mother brought a finger to her lips.
“Shh. ‘Liar’? What a crude word. You have no culture. Do you think you’ll be treated like the duchess at the art salon acting like that?”
The art salon?
Ah. I finally remembered that my mother had also received an invitation to the salon from Lady Margaret Beaufort.
Even if she got an invitation, how did she know I was invited?
“How did you know I was invited to the art salon?”
Mother answered as if my question was utterly foolish.
“In the high society of this palm-sized capital, is there any news I don’t know? I’m starting to doubt you’re even my daughter.”
Palm-sized capital society? How is this place palm-sized in any way?
My face twisted into a scowl.
Come to think of it, how on earth did my mother enter the capital’s high society so easily?
It’s been days since I became part of the ducal family, and I’ve still only received two invitations
