Chapter 12.
For a Perfect First Night
The two of them returned to the bedroom, leaving behind the storm-like commotion.
Facing each other once again in their nightwear, they continued the conversation they had yet to finish.
Of course, they also drank the wine they hadn’t properly savored.
“Where were we?”
“Ah, we need time to get to know each other.”
“You said one month, right?”
“I did.”
“But that month isn’t just time.”
“It’s an indicator of our bond and level of intimacy.”
Calling it a month meant it could easily take a year.
It was a slightly annoying yet cleverly calculated strategy.
“Then this is insurance.”
Lucent Blackcarson stripped Applin von Hafen of her negligee in one swift motion.
“What are you doing?”
Instantly left naked, Applin von Hafen curled up tightly.
Lucent coldly stared at the woman at his feet, who had drawn her body into a small ball, hugging her knees with both arms to cover herself.
It would be safer if things went far enough to be no different from taking her purity.
Soon after, Lucent also shrugged off his robe.
“Applin.”
Despite his rough actions, his voice was composed.
After hesitating for a moment, Applin von Hafen lifted her head and witnessed a shocking sight.
Lucent stood completely naked, extending his hand toward her.
“It’s time to sleep.”
“Go to the bed.”
“Do we really have to sleep naked?”
“This is our perfect alibi.”
“……?!”
“We had a love match, didn’t we?”
“We held a grand wedding.”
“So our first night also needs a perfect alibi.”
“There are far too many eyes watching us.”
Even he knew it sounded like complete nonsense.
Still, he intended to match Applin’s cute scheming.
Applin von Hafen tightly shut her eyes and took his hand.
Strangely enough, his naked body vividly filled her thoughts.
Broad shoulders and a wide chest.
Firm muscles and a massive…… well.
That.
Strong arms and legs.
There was nothing unsightly about him.
The two lay side by side on the bed.
They barely covered themselves with a thin wool blanket.
Well, we’re a married couple.
It’s not strange.
In fact, a man and woman properly dressed in pajamas on a bed would be stranger.
Like clothes buttoned all the way up to the neck.
At that moment, something she had read in a novel came to mind.
A noble husband would, without consideration, lift his wife’s skirt and take her simply to produce an heir.
Even reading it had been unpleasant.
At least Lucent wasn’t acting like the man from that novel.
Still, just by taking off their clothes, it felt as though she had taken a step closer to him.
Perhaps clothing had been a curtain separating them all along.
Inside the well-made wool blanket was another world entirely.
A space where only instinct lived, untouched by cold reason or calculation.
The vibrating scent of apples stimulated her nose, numbing her thoughts.
All her senses focused on being aware of each other’s naked bodies.
It was chilling, yet ticklish, like ants crawling over her skin.
They lay tense, swallowing dry saliva, afraid even the slightest movement would make their skin touch.
Then Lucent felt doubt toward his own body, which was reacting to Applin against his will.
Have I ever slept with a woman?
……No.
He had lived measuring time by the second, driven solely by his will to succeed.
There had been no room for distraction.
There were plenty of women who would sell a night for money, but he never wanted that.
It might not fit the image of a perfect man of this era.
Still, he had taken a bride from a fine family in return.
In a way, it balanced out.
Yet he didn’t know where to begin to create an alibi.
Then inspiration struck.
I have to be perfect.
After overcoming countless hardships in life, he couldn’t accept failing at something as trivial as this.
So he turned over abruptly and trapped Applin in his arms.
“Lucent…….”
Applin’s eyes darted around in confusion.
Her cheeks were flushed red like apples.
“For a perfect alibi.”
As his face lowered and covered Applin’s small, soft lips, the door to desire naturally opened.
Red heat intertwined as one.
As their hot, sweet breaths mingled, his cluttered thoughts were purified.
Only the desire for deeper pleasure remained.
Applin’s lips were sweeter and more intoxicating than the wine that had dampened his neck earlier.
So much so that his vision blurred.
In that instant, unknown pleasure flared like fire in both their hearts.
When the deep kiss ended, they gazed at each other.
“Is that it?”
“The perfect alibi?”
Applin asked shyly.
“Of course not.”
“This is just the beginning.”
He no longer lingered only on her lips.
He drew her slender, pale neck into his mouth, savoring its scent, taste, and texture.
“Hk.”
Applin barely swallowed back a moan.
The sensation of his lips pressing, licking, and caressing her neck was dizzying.
Before she knew it, she softly wrapped her arms around his neck.
Meanwhile, Lucent’s mind boiled at the sticky softness of her skin.
Was all women’s skin as tender and sweet as Applin’s?
Entranced by the unfamiliar sensation, he left red marks on her white neck.
Then his gaze traveled over her naked body.
Damn it.
Anger flared at a body so beautiful it drew admiration.
Breasts neither too large nor too small.
A supple figure with flawless, smooth skin.
It had already magnified his desire.
He had thought the one month she proposed wouldn’t be a big deal.
Only after pressing their naked bodies together did it feel like an eternity.
Every time his lips and breath brushed her skin, Applin trembled.
Lucent was neither too rough nor insufficient.
Her mind went blank, and she felt an urge to entrust herself to him completely.
Was it this good?
If touching felt like this, how incredible would sex be?
She even wished Lucent would boldly cross the line.
The idea that human physical desire could be controlled by compromise and promises was foolish.
Reason and desire were clearly separate systems.
They were difficult to control perfectly.
Before his reason vanished entirely, Lucent stopped moving.
The dark desire surging through his body.
He wanted to ravage this small, fragile woman and feel complete satisfaction.
But he didn’t want to be a petty man who ignored her wishes.
One thing was certain.
Soon, he would collapse helplessly before Applin.
At that moment, Applin’s slender arms, which had been around his neck, fell limply.
Drunk, she burrowed into Lucent’s arms.
She’s weak to alcohol.
She had gulped it down so confidently that he thought she could handle it.
That too must have been pride.
He liked how Applin slept in his arms like a child.
Even without knowing the satisfaction after sex, he felt immense fulfillment just having her within him.
Not as the Count von Hafen’s daughter.
But as Applin, a woman.
A wife who sleeps soundly while pushing her husband into a night of ascetic suffering…….
Lucent never let go of Applin as she slept with her face against his chest.
She felt weightless, yet her presence was worth more than gold.
He wished the first night, their carefully crafted alibi, would end like this.
But it didn’t go as planned.
Suppressing his surging desire was difficult.
Each time her small body shifted, Lucent let out a deep sigh.
She has a mean streak.
One month, was it?
He would make her pay properly.
Even if she cried and begged him to stop, he wouldn’t go easy then.
* * *
Applin woke to light seeping through her closed eyelids.
She lay still, moving only her eyes as she surveyed her surroundings.
This was the largest and most luxurious bedroom in the Haven villa.
It felt completely different from last night.
She hadn’t known sunlight could be so dazzling.
The pouring rays illuminated everything.
Then she realized she was alone in the large bed.
It looks like Lucent already got up.
“Ah, my head.”
Applin grabbed her head with one hand.
The wine from last night had been top quality.
Still, she was weak to alcohol.
Yet the intimate, stimulating acts she shared with Lucent replayed vividly.
How am I supposed to face him?
Just recalling it made her face burn.
Suddenly coming to her senses, she lifted the blanket.
We really stopped right there.
Judging by the clean sheets and the lack of pain in her lower body, Lucent had kept his promise.
She felt relieved.
Yet a small sense of disappointment lingered.
Should I be glad about his self-control?
A man who maintained an iron wall of reason even in bed.
She couldn’t tell whether that was fortunate or unfortunate.
