Chapter 6

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Translator: Harry Potta
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Until You Know
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His gaze made Aileen feel ashamed. Even to her own eyes, her male disguise was clumsy at best; she could only wonder what Cesare must be thinking.
Aileen cautiously met his eyes. The moment their gazes locked, she flinched in surprise. She had expected him to look at her with pity, but that wasn't it at all. He was looking at her with an expression she had never seen before.
Red eyes like a ruin, shattered and crumbled into nothing but fragments. It was unbelievable to see his crimson eyes, always so arrogant and perfectly brilliant, now broken.
But the precarious look in his eyes vanished in an instant. Cesare smiled, his face returning to its usual composure, as if what Aileen had just seen was a dream.
‘Did I see it wrong?’
While Aileen was lost in confusion, he rose from his seat. Then he sat down next to her and picked up the snack resting on her lap. He spoke as he nonchalantly unwrapped it.
“What are you so afraid of?”
When Aileen couldn’t answer, he tapped her lips with the small cookie. Aileen slowly opened her mouth. He then placed the cookie inside with perfect naturalness.
“There’s no way I’d do anything bad to you. Unless you count a kiss.”
Aileen almost swallowed the cookie whole without even chewing. As she hastily crunched down on it, he unwrapped a second one.
Her mind was a complete mess. She couldn’t believe she was having a conversation with him that included words like ‘kiss.’ It wasn’t easy to keep up with this suddenly changed Cesare. For Aileen, this whole situation was as shocking as the world turning upside down.
When he tried to feed her the neatly unwrapped cookie, she took it with her hand. Instead of feeding it to her, Cesare gently brushed away the crumbs from her lips.
Gulp. Finally swallowing the first cookie, Aileen asked in a strained voice.
“…Are you really planning to marry me?”
Cesare nonchalantly retorted.
“Why, are you still doubtful? Should I convince you further?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s just.”
Aileen quickly denied it, clutching the cookie he had given her as she spoke cautiously.
“You never acted like this toward me before. Of course, the situation is different now, but still, it’s surprising how suddenly you’ve changed…”
“Seven years is long enough to change.”
“Seven years?”
The war had ended in three. She waited for him to correct himself, thinking he had misspoken, but Cesare just smiled without a word. Aileen pushed aside the brief sense of unease and continued.
“Anyway, so… isn’t there another way?”
She couldn’t bring herself to say it honestly—the confession that because she dared to love him, she didn’t want a loveless marriage.
For those of noble blood, all marriages were transactions. Aileen’s wish to speak of things like love would be nothing more than a childish tantrum.
Suddenly, the memory of his kiss flashed through her mind. Aileen bit the inside of her cheek at the embarrassing recollection. It might have been nothing to Cesare, but for her, it was a memory she would never forget, even on her deathbed. It had kept her up at night for the past few days.
‘It was my first kiss.’
Aileen had kept her distance from men since she was young, entirely because of her father. A man who enjoyed drinking and gambling, he also enjoyed women.
Aileen had grown up watching her mother suffer because of her father’s affairs. Naturally, she developed an aversion to the opposite sex and focused solely on her studies.
On the rare occasion that someone approached her first, they all drifted away when Aileen showed no interest in a relationship. The one persistent pest who tried to do something strange was dealt with cleanly by Cesare’s knights.
Thanks to that, she had reached her current age without ever having had a proper hug from a man, let alone a kiss. At most, she’d had light physical contact while being escorted by knights.
In the words of the capital’s young ladies, Aileen was a “country bumpkin.” A boringly innocent and old-fashioned partner—in short, utterly dull.
But since she had no desire for attention from the opposite sex, she had lived a more or less contented life. And now, such an intensely forward act had been thrust upon her.
The more she replayed the memory, the more the lips that had kissed her so fiercely tingled, and the strange, peculiar sensations she had felt in that moment slowly resurfaced.
“Aileen.”
The low voice pulled Aileen from her thoughts. The man who had given her one of the most shocking experiences of her life asked a question.
“Did you hate it when we kissed?”
She definitely hadn’t hated it. It was a kiss with the person she had a crush on, after all. But she couldn’t declare that she had liked it, either. It was something she had never experienced before, so she didn’t know how to describe it.
Watching the conflicted Aileen, Cesare’s eyes slowly curved into a smile. Aileen’s heart began to pound. The moment she belatedly realized how close they were, she squeezed her eyes shut and blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
“I-I did hate it!”
A crooked smile played on Cesare’s lips.
“I told you not to close your eyes when you lie.”
He was a man who saw through every one of her minor habits. Aileen immediately and meekly confessed the truth.
“To be honest, I don’t really know…”
As she spoke with a mournful look, he tilted his head toward her. The distance between them narrowed sharply. So close that their breaths could mingle, Cesare whispered.
“Then shall we do it until you know?”
Her heart, which had been thumping steadily, began to race even more furiously. It felt like it was beating so hard it would burst from her chest.
His crimson eyes, framed by long lashes, stared directly at Aileen. His well-shaped lips moved slowly, releasing a low tone.
“It would be a problem if you disliked it. We have to do much more in the future.”
His breath tickled her skin, and his deep voice burrowed into her very core. A strange, peculiar feeling crept through her body.
Frozen in place, Aileen let out a short gasp. She quickly turned her head before their lips could touch.
“I’ve had a drink, and the cookie…”
Muttering, Aileen’s eyes widened at what happened next. His lips had touched her neck.
At first, they pressed lightly before pulling away. Then, he pressed his lips firmly against her skin and licked it with his tongue. A soft, suckling sound followed, and his hard teeth scraped against her tender flesh. A faint, hazy sensation, almost like a tickle, washed over her.
What is this?
At the novel sensation, the fine hairs on her body stood on end, and her lower abdomen tightened. Was this tension from having a vital spot bitten? Or was it…
Aileen’s knowledge of sex was limited to biological facts. She had no idea what was what. Trembling, she could only whisper to Cesare in a pleading tone.
“Th-This feels strange, ngh.”
Every time a strange sound escaped her throat, her body would flinch involuntarily. His long fingers pushed back the collar of her loose shirt.
When he kissed her exposed collarbone, a dizzying sensation coiled around her tailbone. She couldn’t take it anymore.
“Stop…!”
Driven by a primal fear, Aileen hastily pushed Cesare away. Cesare grabbed her pushing hand and pulled it forcefully. He bit down hard on the inside of her wrist, right over where the blue veins ran.
Aileen’s fingertips trembled. The teeth that had sunk into her flesh slowly released their hold. Cesare languidly licked the clear imprint of his teeth on her white skin before finally letting her go.
Aileen panted, her chest heaving, as she stared at Cesare. His flushed, crimson eyes drank her in completely. The lust he directed at her was unfamiliar. Aileen whispered without realizing it.
“You’re only supposed to do this with someone you love…”
Even as she said it, she knew how naive and foolish it sounded. But she couldn’t think of a more sophisticated way to express the thoughts rushing through her mind. Her head was a complete mess.
As she stood there, at a loss, he gently stroked her cheek as if she were cute.
“You can also do it with the person you’re going to marry.”
He answered as if it were nothing, then continued in a low voice.
“Come to the imperial palace tomorrow. Attend the victory banquet and congratulate me.”
You can do that, can’t you?
Aileen numbly nodded her head. Cesare then stroked her hair.
“We’ll continue our talk at the banquet. And as for your father.”
He paused for a moment, then continued in a tone that suggested he wasn’t entirely pleased.
“I’ll find him and send him home, so don’t worry.”