Translator: Nox

Chapter 170

“You did all this in a week?”

“Yeah.”

“How?”

“First, I rounded up all the decent carpenters in Yorkshire. I offered them five times their usual wage if they finished the repairs and expansion within five days, so they worked day and night. I couldn’t leave the site for fear of shoddy work due to the time crunch. Once the house was livable, I hired workers to sweep, clean, and wallpaper. It took a full day to get rid of the rats and bugs. The rest was thanks to Remswick’s help. He played a big role in procuring the furniture and decorations.”

‘He went through all that trouble? Just for my request to create a happy anniversary?’

Laura wanted to laugh, but strangely, her eyes stung. She took out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes.

“I can’t cry yet. We still have the barbecue Philip taught you and the 1870 Veuve Clicquot left.”

He brought out a large dish covered with a silver lid and a bottle of champagne. The two enjoyed hot duck barbecue sprinkled with basil and champagne with rising white bubbles. The duck was crispy on the outside and well-cooked on the inside, and the champagne was cold and sweet.

Laura placed her slender champagne glass on the table. Uncharacteristically for Laura, who didn’t usually enjoy alcohol, the glass was completely empty.

“Two years ago, we were shivering here, just waiting for the rain to stop, and now we’re sitting across from each other, drinking the best champagne in Europe.”

He refilled her empty glass with a chuckle chuckle chuckle.

“We were shivering and waiting for the rain to stop?”

“Oh, we weren’t just shivering. You stole my shawl, and I was racking my brains trying to help you marry another woman.”

“We were both such fools.”

The two chuckled.

Ian rested his chin on his hand, reminiscing.

“We listened to the rain together, and we had a heart-to-heart by the warm fireplace. We were honest and kind to each other.”

“I remember. You said there was a woman in your heart. But she doesn’t know her own heart. Why didn’t I realize it? You told me you were relying on me for everything regarding love.”

“We loved each other but couldn’t see each other deeply. We were blind to each other, unable to see that the love in front of us was directed at us.”

“We were really fools.”

“We were fools.”

The two looked at each other again and smiled.

By the time the champagne bottle was empty, Laura’s cheeks were flushed a warm tulip color.

“I just imagined a picnic by the sea. I never imagined this kind of event. Turning an abandoned shack into an idyllic country house, learning to cook for me… You always do the ideal thing I want.”

She fidgeted with her napkin.

“…What should I do for you? What can I possibly do for you, who prepared such a wonderful anniversary?”

“There is something I want.”

Laura looked across at Ian with clear eyes.

“Is it something lewd?”

Ian smiled mischievously.

“If it is, would you do it?”

Laura nodded.

“Really?”

Laura rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand.

“I think I drank too much champagne.”

He laughed loudly.

“Veuve Clicquot isn’t famous for nothing. Turning the conservative Mrs. Dalton into a love slave who grants everything.”

Laura’s cheeks turned a deep rose color. Ian looked at Laura with a smile.

“What I want might be a little embarrassing. But it won’t torment you with shame for days. I wouldn’t ask you to do something like that. So, can you do it?”

Laura nodded.

She was drunk. Drunk on alcohol and love. Even if he asked her to conspire in some sin forbidden by the Bible, Laura would gladly follow.

Laura was a typical English woman who had received a conservative education her whole life, but once she fell in love, there was no escaping the mindset of a fledgling lover. The distinction between good and evil blurred, her self-defense instincts weakened, and she became a reckless fool who could throw herself into any danger.

They moved to another room. On a plush sofa embroidered with wildflowers, the two ate sweet sherbet and cookies.

Since they didn’t have to worry about the servants’ eyes, the two did as they pleased. They hugged each other tightly, put food in each other’s mouths, and kissed each other’s food-filled mouths.

“Laura.”

“…Yes?”

Laura, who was now sitting on Ian’s lap with her arms wrapped around her husband’s neck, answered hazily.

“Shall we go upstairs?”

Laura nodded. Ian lifted her up and headed for the stairs.

Laura’s heart beat anxiously all the way up. The cold sherbet had long since worn off the intoxication. He wanted something from her. And it was something different from what Ian usually wanted.

They arrived on the second floor. There were two rooms. He entered the room on the right.

A lamp hanging on the wall. A large bathtub. A pitcher of water faintly steaming.

Ian whispered in Laura’s ear.

“Let me bathe you.”

“Me? You?”

“Yeah.”

Laura nodded.

Ian gently put her down, washed his hands, and filled the bathtub with water.

He put his hand in the tub to check the water temperature, then approached Laura and began to undress her. Her purple dress fell to the floor with a thud. Her corset, chemise, and drawers slowly fell from his hands.

Laura was naked. He held Laura and gently placed her in the clean bathtub, then filled the tub with warm water.

A soft brush with lather gently swept over Laura’s skin. His touch was as careful as building a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.

Laura occasionally flinched at the touch that swept over all her intimate parts, but she sat still. His touch was filled with meticulous affection rather than lewd desire. Like a mother bathing a child.

After washing her body, Ian moved to wash Laura’s hair. Laura closed her eyes and felt the soft touch rubbing her scalp.

“Ian.”

“Yeah?”

“Was this really your wish? To serve me?”

“Yes.”

His voice was filled with a satisfied smile.

“I’ve always wanted to feed you, bathe you, and put you to sleep.”

“Like a baby?”

“A fitting analogy. Like a baby.”

He wiped the foam from Laura’s ear with his wet hand.

“Sometimes I wish you were a child. Your life depending on my existence, so that if I disappeared, you could only cry and do nothing.”

“…I’m already halfway there.”

“Liar.”

“No. I’m… I’ve been tamed by you. If you weren’t by my side, I would wither and die in less than three days. I’m living like a plant, relying on you, the water and sunlight.”

Laura, with her eyes closed, was honest.

“I’m a flower you’re raising. Rooted in the pot you prepared, I can’t go anywhere. And I don’t want to.”

Ian, who would normally have been impatient and asked her to say it again, only smiled quietly today. He rinsed her hair, then lifted her from the tub and washed the foam from her body with warm water.

Laura, wearing a gown, was hugged by Ian again and moved to another room.

It was a simple bedroom. A bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe, and a dressing table were all there was. But this room offered a more splendid view. Beyond the large open window, the moon and stars, and the forest, all the scenery was spread out. Even a marble palace with gold-plated walls could not give such ecstasy.

Ian sat Laura at the dressing table. He squeezed the water out of Laura’s hair with a towel, then slowly began to comb her hair.

Laura saw Ian standing behind her through the mirror. Lowered eyes. A serious gaze. Fingers groping through her hair to find tangled spots.

‘That’s how he looks when he makes love to me.’

Laura’s face flushed. Her body tingled as if her hair had nerves. Overwhelmed by a lewd feeling, she fixed her gaze on the candlestick on the dressing table. All the way until her hair was done.

Soon, the combing was finished. Ian lifted Laura up, took off her bathrobe, and put on a loose silk dress nightgown.

The texture of the fabric was as ecstatic as rolling on clouds. It felt so good that she never wanted to take it off.

‘But I’ll have to take it off soon.’

Laura thought with a flushed face. Today was their anniversary. It was natural to make love with him.

And the night would be longer than usual. Laura steeled herself. For her husband, who had given her such a wonderful anniversary, she would embrace him as much as he wanted. She couldn’t guess how much he would want.

Ian fiddled with Laura’s hand.

“There’s one more wish left.”

Laura nodded.

She thought he would take her straight to bed, but he took something out of the bedside table. It was a small box.

He led Laura to the veranda beyond the window. A night with a full moon. The veranda was soaked in milky white as if it had been hit by a downpour of moonlight.

He opened the box. With a click, music box music spread out. It was Johann Strauss II’s “The Blue Danube.”

Laura realized what Ian wanted.

He placed the music box on the railing and held out his hand. Laura gladly took his hand. Ian’s arm wrapped around her waist, and Laura’s hand grabbed his shoulder.

The two slowly began to waltz.

Under the moonlight, the two were recalling a single moment. The Lance family’s Ball, the waltz they danced alone on the moonlit terrace. They could tell without speaking. The one soul dwelling in two bodies was the two of them.

Ian gently led his wife and whispered.

“Let’s waltz like this every anniversary. Even after we become grandparents.”

“Even in heaven, past the grave.”

He smiled faintly.

“Yes. There, forever.”

Believing in God meant being promised eternity. That’s why they could be sure of the afterlife.

The young couple was grateful that there was a God they could believe in. Even if their bodies were broken, they would be able to find each other in the afterlife.

So they could dance together forever.

Midnight, when the clock hand stopped at twelve, their first anniversary ended. But even after that, the two continued to dance.

As long as they were together, time had no meaning for them.

Side Story Part 1 Fin.