Prologue
Ding~! Ding~!
The sound of bells announcing the upcoming wedding rang out all around.
Even though the chime was clear and bright, the face of the veiled woman darkened in an instant.
“……Ah!”
A sudden headache threatened to make her cry out, so Sioana quickly pressed her veil over her mouth.
“Ha.”
She slowly raised her head and saw her pitiful reflection in the mirror.
“Am I really getting married?”
Her eyes, glaring intensely at the mirror, curved as if mocking her.
The white wedding dress wrapped around her body, gloves that reached her elbows, a tulle veil that fell to her feet.
This moment was certainly not a dream.
“If I gouged out both my eyes, would I stop seeing this sight?”
She spat out the words roughly, but her shoulders only hunched further.
Just then—
The door opened, and heavy footsteps pressed onto the carpet. She didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
Her body reacted first to the familiar scent.
“Wasn’t it said that if the bride and groom meet before the wedding, it brings bad luck?”
Beyond the mirror, she saw a man in a black tailcoat holding a wine glass. Sipping his drink, he slowly spoke.
“How could I wait until the ceremony?”
He stood behind Sioana, but she didn’t turn around to face him. When his breath touched the back of her neck, goosebumps rose along her spine.
Clink—
He must have thrown the glass, because the scent of sweet wine filled the waiting room.
“Weren’t you taught to look at someone when you speak to them?”
His rough hand grabbed Sioana’s chin.
Étienne’s red eyes stared at her intensely. His gloved hand swept across her neck, then yanked at her veil.
“That dress I bought you looks lovely on you, Sioana.”
As Étienne licked his lips, her heart sank. She despised herself for reacting to the man she should hate.
‘I must never let him find out how I feel.’
Sioana quickly turned her head away, and his hand holding the veil trembled slightly.
“You won’t even meet my eyes, nor answer me?”
Étienne’s low, simmering voice flowed out. Suppressing her emotions, Sioana barely opened her mouth.
“……Then it’s a relief that it looks good on me.”
She even tried to force a smile toward him. Étienne, staring fixedly at Sioana, gave a short whistle.
“What happened to the real Sioana of Regbel?”
At the mention of her old name, which she hadn’t heard in a long time, Sioana bit her lips hard.
When she showed little reaction, a visibly angry Étienne spun her body fully around. His large hand gripping her waist felt like it would crush her into pieces.
“Do you think acting like this will make me let you go?”
“Étienne—no, His Grace the Duke of Bernhardt. Why on earth……”
“……Your Grace.”
Étienne loosened his cravat, and crimson flames blazed in his red eyes. She could vividly feel just how much he hated her.
Overwhelmed by despair, she mustered her strength and cried out.
“If you despise me so terribly, why are you marrying me?”
It wasn’t the first time. It would be the second.
If his goal was to torment her, surely there were other ways.
“This will only make both of us even more miserable.”
At Sioana’s sincere plea, Étienne’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
He immediately lowered his head deeply toward her, so close that their lips almost touched through the veil.
“Oh dear. It seems you misunderstand my sincerity.”
Just as she gasped in shock, about to scream, he grabbed the rose-embroidered tulle veil. Terrified, Sioana tried to stop him.
“Don’t do this. There’s still a chance.”
She had already begged Étienne many times because she didn’t want to go through with this wedding.
Though her attempts had all failed, Sioana still hadn’t given up.
“……What chance? The chance for you to run off and play with another man?”
Étienne held the edge of the veil between his fingers and spoke in a somber voice.
“I told you, it’s not like that. Please believe me.”
Still not letting go of the veil, he slowly raised his head.
“I believe I’ve already told you that I don’t trust you……”
“What kind of person marries someone they don’t trust?”
When appealing to his emotions failed, Sioana urged him to think realistically.
“Things could genuinely become even harder than they are now.”
She meant it.
Because Sioana already felt like she was standing at the entrance of a blazing hell.
“Sioana, you’re wrong.”
Étienne grabbed her gloved wrist tightly and whispered.
“……É, Étienne.”
“Nothing will ever be worse than this very moment. You can trust me on that.”
His fingers brushing over the tender skin inside her wrist were far too hot. Fearful, Sioana tried to step back.
“Oh dear.”
Étienne twisted his lips, pulled her wrist, and pushed her backward. She fell onto the sofa, a shrill cry escaping her lips.
“……Ugh.”
She closed her eyes from the throbbing pain, and when she opened them, Étienne loomed over her.
Trapped between him and the sofa, Sioana tried to press herself back as far as possible. He gave a bitter smile.
“I’ve been living in hell every single day, but it seems you haven’t?”
The madness veiled in Étienne’s red eyes made goosebumps ripple across Sioana’s arms.
He stretched both arms beside her ears, slowly lowered his head, and whispered close to her ear.
“We’re already husband and wife.”
Sioana twisted her upper body to escape him, but she was trapped in his arms, unable to move.
“Sioana, close your eyes.”
“……N, no.”
Seeing the excitement in Étienne’s eyes, Sioana shook her head. It was already scandalous that the Duke had come to the bride’s waiting room; she couldn’t let things go any further.
“I’m saying this because I don’t want you to get hurt.”
But contrary to his words, his eyes were so fierce that Sioana’s shoulders trembled.
“I said no.”
When she kept refusing, Étienne lowered his head toward her lips beneath the veil.
“……É, Étienne.”
Startled, Sioana grabbed his wrist. Étienne lifted the veil and ducked his head underneath.
“……!”
His blazing red eyes fixed on her lips.
“When you tell me to stop with a face that’s completely lost in me, it’s hard to believe you.”
He pressed her lips with his thumb, then tilted his head.
Gently biting her lower lip, he soon kissed her. His breath, invading her mouth, began to roam through every tender part of her.
“É, tienne……”
Overwhelmed by excitement she couldn’t handle, Sioana reached for him. Instead of pulling his lips away, Étienne cupped her cheeks in his hands.
Thus, he swallowed all of Sioana’s small protests.
Wet, smacking sounds struck her ears, and between their locked lips, her moans continuously spilled out.
“……Ugh.”
Sioana, intoxicated by the heat Étienne gave her, couldn’t breathe.
She beat his chest with her fists, but her resistance only heightened his excitement.
“……St, stop.”
Only then did their lips part. Inside the white tulle veil, they both panted heavily.
“It’s such a shame I have to stop here.”
Étienne lightly traced her reddened lips, swollen from their kiss, and whispered.
“……You really are.”
Sioana felt disgusted with herself for still being unable to hate him, even now.
Étienne slowly rose, adjusting his crooked cravat.
“Sioana, you’d better not think of running away.”
Then, kneeling down, he quietly pressed his lips to the crumpled veil.
“Wherever you go, even if it’s hell, I will gladly jump in, my lady.”
The man who was once her slave and her lover, but now the man she should rightfully hate—Étienne’s red eyes continued to blaze.
“……Ah.”
Sioana’s face completely crumpled.
