Sorry, I got distracted by your looks

Before the precious blood trickling down my wrist could stain something irrelevant, I had to quickly press it onto the sheets!

As I anxiously twisted my wrist to press it against the sheet, he suddenly lifted my wrist high in the air.

“So in the end, you intended to leave me? Just like at the valley last time?”

What was he talking about now? I looked up at him, utterly confused.

“Leave? Where would I go? I have nowhere to go.”

At my words, he looked down at me, seemingly bewildered. Frustrated, I muttered at him.

“Once you leave, the maids will clean this room in the morning, right? I was trying to make a ‘first night mark’ for them to find.”

“First night mark?”

His sharp brows furrowed deeply.

“I read about it in a book before. After consummating a marriage, such traces remain… You know, proof that the bride was a virgin.”

“I’ve heard that some barbarian tribes used to hang bloodstained sheets outside their windows after the wedding night. But in Pritan, we have no such disgraceful customs.”

His deep navy eyes gleamed with displeasure.

“Surely a great empire like Harlan doesn’t still cling to such a barbaric practice? Flaunting a bride’s virginity after the first night?”

“O-of course, we don’t hang anything on the windows. But…”

“But?”

“The maids who clean the room after the wedding night spread rumors. Whether the sheets bore the first night mark or not…”

Such gossip spread like wildfire. Even when pretending not to care, both the groom and high society paid close attention to whether the bride had left a mark.

If the bride did, the groom became a subtle object of envy among the nobility.

Because of this, brides who were not virgins went to great lengths to fabricate a mark in their bridal chamber.

Mik let out a sigh, looking down at me fiercely.

“If, in the Pritan palace, anyone dared to spread disrespectful rumors about the King and Queen’s bedroom—”

He muttered, almost growling.

“I would rip out their tongue and burn their eyes on the spot.”

I flinched at his ruthless words. And yet, I thought to myself—

Even crueler than his words was the Harlan Empire’s obsession with a bride’s first night mark.

The hypocrisy of nobles who indulged in debauchery yet fixated on their wives’ virginity on their wedding night was far more brutal and violent.

“Haa…”

As I silently lowered my gaze, he let out a deep sigh.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you worry…”

“I really can’t handle you.”

Feeling embarrassed, I tried to pull my hand from his grip, but a thin stream of blood slipped down my wrist, trailing to the crook of my elbow.

Then, without hesitation, he licked the trickling blood, his lips moving up toward my wrist. The strange sensation made my eyes widen in shock.

“Mik!”

I tried to yank my arm away, but he held me tightly with one arm while gripping my wrist firmly with the other.

“Stay still, Leah.”

His lips moved slowly, like a snail, up to my palm, murmuring as he licked the wound where the blood continued to seep.

My toes curled involuntarily.

“Stop, Mik…”

As I barely managed to choke out the words, his lips, hot and sticky against my palm, finally withdrew.

He slowly lifted his gaze and looked down at me.

“Do you really want me to stop?”

I was momentarily confused. Did I truly want him to stop?

With his warm, damp lips gone, my heartbeat steadied, but I suddenly longed for the ticklish warmth that had spread through me.

I reached out with my free hand and caressed his cheek. This time, I didn’t look away from his gaze.

“No. I want you to continue.”

As soon as I spoke, his lips crashed onto mine.

This kiss, pressing down on me from above, was far more intense and deep than the one at our wedding.

His relentless tongue explored my mouth, pulling and sucking as if trying to consume me whole. I could barely breathe. The overwhelming sensation ignited every cell in my body, leaving me dizzy.

My hands, uncertain where to go, wrapped around Mik’s neck, pulling him closer.

“Haa, Leah…”

He buried his face into the nape of my neck. His hot breath tickled my skin, and we panted together.

“I don’t want you to hate me, but I can’t stop now.”

His lips trailed down from my collarbone to my ear.

“Why would I hate you?”

I trembled from the strange tingling that spread from my ear.

“I heard… it hurts a lot at first…”

He murmured more desperately as he pressed closer.

“I don’t want to leave for battle while you resent me. That’s why I wanted to leave quickly…”

Hearing his uncharacteristic hesitation, my heart swelled with affection. I reached out and gently turned his face toward mine.

I hadn’t noticed before, but his navy eyes were trembling slightly. To think I would ever see hesitation and anxiety in the eyes of the infamous bloodthirsty warrior!

I smiled up at him.

“Do you know how difficult it is to hate a husband with a face like yours? It’s impossible.”

I pulled his shoulders toward me and kissed his lips deeply. He seemed momentarily flustered, but soon, his hot breath pressed into me.

Nothing could stop him now. A blazing fire engulfed us completely.

Mik’s lips roamed every inch of my skin. I was overwhelmed with embarrassment, but it seemed he wanted to mark me as his in this way.

My thoughts faded, leaving only heightened sensations, until a sudden, searing pain split through me like a bolt of lightning. I couldn’t even breathe.

His lips met mine again, and his hands stroked my back soothingly.

As I took deep breaths, focusing on the pleasure his lips and fingers brought, the pain was soon replaced by something even more intense.

As my tension eased, I wrapped my arms around his back. And at last, we became one.

****

Ten days after Leah left for Pritan with King Mikrok, Marquis Derek Uzcal requested an audience with the Harlan Emperor.

There was still unfinished business to settle between them.

“I greet the illustrious sun of the Empire.”

Before the Emperor, the Marquis flashed a sly smile and bowed.

“What urgent matter brings you here?”

“My daughter Leah has left for Pritan with King Mikrok. She will soon be their queen, correct?”

“And?”

The Emperor’s indifferent response made Marquis Uzcal bristle momentarily, but he quickly regained his composure and spoke.

“She was originally meant to be Your Majesty’s Empress. Please understand the heartache of a father who had to send his cherished daughter to a frozen land.”

But the Emperor looked down at him, expressionless.

“You cherished your daughter? That’s news to me.”

The Marquis stiffened in shock. This was not the reaction he had expected.

“Regardless, thanks to Leah, we avoided a clash with Pritan’s formidable army. That should be acknowledged.”

“Are you suggesting the Empire’s valiant army is weaker than those barbarians? That’s offensive. Annoying, perhaps, but not fearsome.”

The Marquis barely held back his frustration. The Emperor continued coldly.

“Besides… I believe the price for peace has already been paid with my brother Grand Duke Jake’s left arm.”

Marquis Uzcal clenched his fists. He raised his head sharply.

“Your Majesty, the proposal was sent after the Grand Duke lost his arm. His sacrifice was not for Leah!”

“Oh? Then what is it you desire, Marquis?”

Seeing the conversation finally heading in his intended direction, the Marquis smiled.

“Had Leah become Empress, Your Majesty was to grant me 80,000 gold. In compensation, I would accept Count Paoran’s forfeited lands as well. That would ease the pain of sending my daughter to such a harsh land.”