Chapter 100

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Don't Go
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He looked directly into Aileen's eyes. She had asked him to hold her, but she was already in his arms. It had to mean something else, and Cesare seemed to question if he understood her correctly.

To confirm his suspicions, Aileen reached for his uniform. With a trembling hand, she took hold of a firm button and carefully undid it. His crimson eyes watched her every move. The moment she undid the third button, he caught her hand.

“There's no need for this. I was going to tell you regardless.”

He said in a chiding tone, then gently pushed Aileen a step away. As he refastened the buttons she had undone, he spoke in a low voice.

“Lucio Gietani has been fond of you since your university days. It wasn't pure affection, and he's done some depraved things.”

She knew he had been watching over her during her university days. She had always been under his protection, after all.

But she never imagined he knew in such detail—that he was aware of someone's feelings for her and the actions they took. Aileen, the very object of that affection, had been completely oblivious until now.

“Like smearing his semen on the gifts he gave you.”

His chilling words made Aileen's lips part. She had heard him clearly, but the sentence didn't seem to register. Cesare watched her flustered expression intently as he continued.

“This time, he was about to pull some fucked-up stunt in your laboratory. All while trying to steal your research data on Duke Parvellini's orders.”

“…Lucio.”

Aileen’s heart sank at the profanity he uttered so casually, and she muttered, her face pale.

“I had no idea…”

“Of course you didn't.”

Cesare cupped Aileen's cheek. He held her head steady, forcing her to meet his gaze, and stared into her wavering eyes.

“Because that's how I wanted it.”

Her head was spinning. Aileen finally understood why Cesare had kept everything from her. He must have deemed it all too sordid to reveal to her.

As always, he would take care of the filth himself, wanting Aileen to live in a pristine environment, completely unaware. Inside the walls he had built for her.

“Aileen.”

The low call of her name brought Aileen back to her senses. Seeing the confusion still lingering in her eyes, Cesare continued slowly.

“I won't tell you everything.”

His red eyes were filled with her reflection. Aileen stared at herself in his pupils, an image that looked as if it were drenched in blood.

“But I promise you. I will treat you differently from now on.”

He would still keep things from her, the things he wanted to hide. And he would never allow her to step outside the walls he had built.

But he was, at the very least, promising to tell her what lurked outside those walls.

It was a small, yet definite, step forward. Aileen parted her lips to speak.

“…Because I don't know anything. I almost misunderstood you again.”

She had suspected him of gunning down an innocent Lucio. It had been a fleeting, yet profane, thought.

“I don't make a habit of killing civilians.”

Cesare answered as if he had read her mind.

“Then Lucio…”

“Aileen.”

Cesare's lips twisted into a smile.

“If you keep mentioning him, hmm? It makes me think wicked thoughts.”

He squeezed her face gently. The pressure on her cheeks made her lips pout. His actions were playful, but his tone was chilling as he added.

“Thoughts like… I wonder if my wife had feelings for him, too.”

Aileen's eyes widened. He was misunderstanding this completely. She tried to form a protest with her puckered lips, but Cesare spoke first.

“I know that's not the case.”

His words were filled with the conviction that Aileen's eyes were for him alone. He already knew the truth—that she would never dare harbor feelings for another.

“Still, it's not a pleasant thought.”

He released her face and tried to casually change the subject.

“Did you receive the gift? I acquired it from Duke Parvellini.”

Aileen caught his hand before she even realized what she was doing. Cesare stared down at her hand on his, then asked a simple question.

“Do you want to?”

Aileen couldn't answer right away. She had asked him to hold her because she felt insecure. She had worked up the courage to ask, wanting confirmation of his affection.

But he had coolly rejected her, telling her there was no need for *that*. Cesare didn't want her.

*Was it always just an obligation?*

The more she thought about it, the more she suspected that their lovemaking had always been nothing more than a duty to him.

From what she'd heard, newlyweds were intimate almost every day, but she and Cesare rarely were. Even when they were, he would often end things abruptly, and he always refused if she asked to continue.

*I've misread the situation again.*

Even now, he was only offering to hold her out of a sense of duty. The reality of it sinking in, Aileen slowly shook her head.

“No… I'm sorry. You must be busy.”

Aileen wanted to throw open the back door and flee into the woods. The same woods she'd found so gloomy and frightening now seemed a far better alternative to standing here. She couldn't even lift her head, burning with shame.

Before she gave in to the mortification and bolted into the trees, it would be better to just hurry back to the grand ducal estate. Wanting nothing more than to hide, Aileen took a step back.

“Thank you for telling me. Well, I'll head back to the house first.”

But for every step Aileen took back, Cesare took one forward. She faltered, retreating several more steps without thinking, but it made no difference. Cesare simply followed her at a leisurely pace.

He closed the distance with the unhurried gait of a predator cornering its prey, until finally, Aileen's back hit the wall. Trapped between the wall and Cesare, she looked up at him with panicked eyes and mumbled the end of her unfinished sentence.

“…I'll be waiting there.”

“Aileen.”

“Y-Yes?”

Her voice cracked. Aileen trembled like a cornered mouse. Cesare braced a hand against the wall and tilted his head, casting his shadow over her.

Boxing her in, he popped the top button of his uniform. He undid the rest one by one, revealing the shirt beneath. Then he spoke, his tone casual.

“Where do you think you're going? You didn't finish undressing me.”

Technically, she had started earlier, and now he was undressing himself. But this was no time to argue semantics.

“Um, well… to the house.”

“Why?”

“I have so much to do, and—ah!”

As Aileen listed her chores for the day in a fading voice, Cesare reached out without hesitation. A sharp rip echoed in the quiet room—the sound of her dress tearing.

Startled, Aileen stared up at Cesare, her eyes wide. His held a hint of amusement, but they were savage—the eyes of a man who was deeply displeased about something.

*What did I do wrong?* The thought had barely crossed her mind when he ripped the bodice of her dress away. Exposed to the daylight in nothing but her undergarments, Aileen hastily crossed her arms over her chest.

She could only stare up at him, wide-eyed, as he removed his hand from the wall. He took her left hand and brought it to his lips.

“So, you want to go home now that you've heard all about your precious senior?”

“What? No, that's not…”

Before she could finish, he bit down on her left ring finger. He gnawed on it, the pressure just shy of painful, leaving a distinct bite mark just above her wedding ring.

“Don't go.”

He licked the length of her finger before pressing a kiss to the hollow of her palm. His long, black-lashed eyes narrowed. Looking down at her, he murmured in a seductive voice.

“You're to stay with your husband.”